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Local Government and Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

I am pleased to be able to take part in the debate on the Queen's Speech, but the contents of the Government's programme do not match the expectations raised by the Prime Minister's hype of the past few months. In fact, the Government seem to have run out of steam. Much has been rehashed and restated and there is little in the Government's programme that will be welcomed in my constituency of Bexleyheath and Crayford. In particular, I fear that many of the problems facing the country are not being addressed by the Government. The problems of the national health service locally and especially in my borough of Bexley in south-east London are not addressed in the Queen's Speech. We face real problems of NHS cuts and downgrades in our area and there are threats to the accident and emergency and maternity units at the local hospital of Queen Mary's in Sidcup. It appears that the Government are not really concerned with that.