Far too many people are struggling to get a GP appointment when they need one, leaving them waiting anxiously for the care they deserve.

In September alone, 8.9 million GP appointments involved a wait of more than a week, with 5 million waiting longer than the Government’s own target of two weeks.

People across the country are suffering from years of neglect under the Conservatives

This has terrible consequences for people’s health, and for our NHS. It can lead to important diagnoses being missed or delayed, and can force desperate people to call an ambulance or take themselves into A&E.

The blame for this crisis is clear, and it isn’t the country’s overstretched GPs. It’s the Conservative Government. Back in 2019, the Conservatives promised to deliver 6,000 more doctors, but the number of qualified GPs has actually fallen by 500.

People across the country are suffering from years of neglect under the Conservatives, who have repeatedly broken their promises on local health services. It’s just not good enough.

we can make sure everyone gets the care they need, when they need it.

That’s why the Liberal Democrats are calling for patients to have a new right: to see a GP within 7 days, or within 24 hours if they urgently need to.

Of course, delivering on that right can’t mean copying the Conservatives’ failed approach, of just setting the targets, cutting GP numbers, and then blaming GPs when the targets are missed.

That’s why we have set out a clear plan for how the Government should step up and recruit 8,000 more GPs and free up more of their time, including by:

• Increasing training places for GPs and medical school places across the country. 
• Fixing the broken NHS pension rules to help experienced GPs stay in the profession.
• Giving more prescribing rights and public health advisory services to qualified pharmacists, nurse practitioners and appropriately trained paramedics.
• Introducing a 24/7 phone line to manage the booking of appointments more efficiently.
• Empowering GPs to spend more of their budgets as they see fit by removing top-down bureaucracy.

By giving doctors the time and the tools they need to do their jobs, we can make sure everyone gets the care they need, when they need it.

October is Black History Month – a time to celebrate the Black British community, recognise their contributions and discover their stories.

The death of the Queen, party conference, possible by-elections and other news in Party President Mark Pack’s September update

It’s a real pleasure to follow the Right Honourable lady, and can I congratulate her on her lovely, heart-warming speech.

Mr Speaker,

Liberal Democrats join Members from all sides of the House in expressing our deepest condolences on the passing of Her Majesty The Queen.

We are mourning a profound loss.

The Queen was a formidable monarch, who faithfully served our country for all her life and was loved the world over. She represented not only duty and courage, but warmth and compassion. And she was a living reminder of our collective past, of the greatest generation and their sacrifices for our freedom.

For many people – myself included – Her Majesty was an ever-fixed mark in our lives. As the world changed around us and politicians came and went, she was our nation’s constant. In challenging times, she was always a source of calm and comfort.

And she tied our nations together. Embodying an unwavering pride in our country. Showing us that patriotism is not defined by political allegiance. And reminding us of the many things that bind us all together – even when it doesn’t always feel that way.

We saw this so vividly during the Platinum Jubilee celebrations in June. I am proud to represent the oldest Royal Borough in England – Kingston upon Thames – and our Jubilee street parties certainly lived up to that status. It was truly wonderful to see such an outpouring of affection from people across Kingston, from all walks of life. School children who baked jubilee cakes. Neighbours who shared bunting. Choirs who sang hymns of praise.

And it was incredibly fitting, wasn’t it, that after so long kept apart by Covid, it was The Queen and a celebration of Her Majesty’s reign that brought our communities back together so joyfully. Just as the whole country is united today so sadly in grief.

The deep mourning across the country now – just like the celebrations of her Jubilee a few months ago – comes not from a sense of duty, but from genuine and heartfelt affection, love and admiration of Her Majesty. It’s not because we were her subjects, but because she was truly our Queen. What she meant to us is perhaps best summed up by a phrase on so many people’s lips over the last twenty-four hours:

“I can’t imagine our country without her.”

For almost everyone in the country, she has been there our whole lives. At times of national grief and national jubilation, she has never not been there for us. So it is hard to accept that she is gone. And hard to see how we go on without her.

But we will. Our great United Kingdom has a great future – because The Queen’s spirit of strength, grace and resolve lives on in her people. One of the greatest privileges of being a Member of this House was the chance to meet Her Majesty. Like when she visited Kingston on the occasion of her Golden Jubilee.

Or when I was deeply privileged to sit next to her at lunch at Windsor Castle. I was initially confused by a silver cylinder beside her place setting. I wondered to myself what treasures it might hold. I had my suspicions when, as dessert was served, her beloved Corgis were let in, and nestled themselves around her feet. And the Queen lifted up the lid of the cylinder, plucked out some digestive biscuits, and began sneaking them to her grateful dogs.

Whenever I met her, I was struck by her warmth, her wisdom, and her humour. And I’m looking forward to hearing similar stories from other Honourable and Right Honourable Members as they give glimpses of the wonderful person beneath the Crown. 

Her Majesty will be remembered with honour, as the monarch who guided our country out of the shadow of a terrible war. Who helmed us calmly through troubled waters. And brought us safely into a new millennium.

And she will be remembered so fondly. As the monarch who leapt from a helicopter with James Bond. And showed Paddington where she kept her marmalade sandwiches. 

And, for the Royal Family, she will be remembered simply as a beloved mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. Our thoughts, prayers and condolences are with them all as they bear this terrible loss.

After a lifetime of dedicated and tireless service to our country and our Commonwealth, Her Majesty has gone to her eternal rest.

May God rest her soul. And may God save the King.

“We are all deeply mourning the profound loss of a great monarch who served our country so faithfully all her life and who was loved the world over.

“For many people, including myself, The Queen was an ever-fixed mark in our lives. As the world changed around us and politicians came and went, The Queen was our nation’s constant.

“The Queen represented duty and courage, as well as warmth and compassion. She was a living reminder of our collective past, of the greatest generation and their sacrifices for our freedom.

“My thoughts and prayers today go especially to the Royal Family. And they also go to people in every corner of the world whose lives she touched. Today our family of nations is in mourning, as we also remember the steadfastness, resolve and love Queen Elizabeth brought to the world.”

Ed Davey
Leader of the Liberal Democrats