MPs should be prepared to cross devolution's boundaries to fix people's problems – Christine Jardine

Elected representatives, whether they are at Westminster or Holyrood, have a duty to help their constituents

What struck me most about the audiences in the first public-facing events I’ve done in this general election campaign is that they didn’t seem so concerned with what may or may not be devolved as getting politicians who will fix it. Do the right thing.

The NHS, mental health provision, education and, above all else, the economy were the things that mattered to them. But more than anything else, I detected a genuine desire for a change of government in both places. So often in those meetings, as on doorsteps over the past five years, I’ve heard people sigh and say: “It’s just a mess.” Let’s face it, they’re right.

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This week I found myself talking to people who have just moved into part of my constituency where new housing developments have meant that already bulging GP lists can no longer cope. One surgery has had to close its list to new patients.

People in Scotland should be able to look to the Westminster parliament for help on devolved issues like education (Picture: Susannah Ireland/AFP via Getty Images)People in Scotland should be able to look to the Westminster parliament for help on devolved issues like education (Picture: Susannah Ireland/AFP via Getty Images)
People in Scotland should be able to look to the Westminster parliament for help on devolved issues like education (Picture: Susannah Ireland/AFP via Getty Images)

South Queensferry is a wonderful place to live and has some of the most scenic views in Scotland. But its popularity has meant not only its GPs but its schools, roads and public service are under pressure. It is now typical of so many communities across Scotland where the issue is exacerbated by a lack of funding of their local councils by the Scottish Government. If we don’t address it in this next parliament and focus on the problems rather than whose job it is to fix them, it may be too late.

My party, the Liberal Democrats, has announced policies to address our GP problems, our shortage of dentists and the wave of mental health issues sweeping through our younger generation. We should never forget that those working in the NHS are as badly affected as everyone else as they try to deal with the pressures that a lack of resources increasingly heap upon them.

We want to recruit 8,000 more GPs at a cost of £1 billion a year, but to do that we also have to make the profession more attractive, encourage GPs not to retire and we would change the controversial pensions contract to make that possible.

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Our young people have been through so much, and denied so many opportunities by first the pandemic and then an economic crisis that they need our support to protect their futures. In one TV programme, the audience talked about the problems that mobile phones are causing in schools and the abuse that so many children are having to deal with. Schools and parents are crying out for something to be done. And we would do it.

We would put a mental health professional in every school and pay for it by tripling the Digital Services Tax which social media platforms pay. We need to protect our young people.

When people come to me to ask for help, I don’t turn them away because they’ve raised a problem with their child’s education. For me, it doesn’t matter whether it’s a responsibility that eventually lies with Westminster or Holyrood. We need people in place who are prepared to do that right thing. Over the next four weeks, we have the chance to make sure that we send the people to Westminster who will make that their priority.

Christine Jardine is the Scottish Liberal Democrat MP for Edinburgh West

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