Having checked out the MP's and prospective MP's website for Bristol East it appears the future of the NHS is the most important issue, although current MP, Kerry Macarthy's website put the economy just ahead on her straw poll. What I would like to determine is what each of the parties propose to do for the NHS as it is difficult to separate the rhetoric from any actual policy proposal. Yes, they all say they will invest more but the issue appears to be about how NHS hospitals especially, are run: more local control in some form v centralised (as has been Labour's policy). If we could distill from the Tories and LibDems what decentralisation would look like then we'd be making a start. I will continue reading around the blurb that is available but if others can help with this, all the better.
Living in east Bristol I know there are plenty of other issues we have that don't seem to be getting mentioned very much such as better housing. East Bristol is an area with very high levels of income deprivation and a high proportion of social housing but I see little on offer so far to explain what the future might be under each of the three or four main parties. Much of the social housing in east Bristol is still council owned and managed and much of it quite old and costly to maintain. I would argue that we need to re-think council ownership of social housing as I have yet to see how it is keeping up with the standards set by central govt.
