• I APPEARED on BBC Question Time last week in the city where I was born and raised Hereford, sat beside my mum who has worked for the NHS since the 1980s.

After numerous nurses spoke critically of the Conservative government’s treatment of them, citing the terrible working conditions, record low levels of pay and the scrapping of the bursary for student nurses all contributing to the huge staffing shortages in nursing and low morale, I put the question to Conservative minister Margot James that given the huge amount of public support for paying our nurses more, reinstating the bursary programme and putting more resources in our NHS, why are the Conservatives not doing anything?

Perhaps this government is “ideologically underfunding the NHS so they can make the argument for privatisation”. Cue a huge round of applause from the audience in what is considered a safe Tory seat.

The minister responded: “I’m very sorry there’s such enthusiasm for what you just said because it is utterly untrue. I’ve been accused of setting the NHS up to fail so that we can privatise it. Nothing could be further from the truth.”

The audience interrupted her with shouts of liar and heckling. There was such support for what I said, even in this strong Conservative constituency, this gives me real hope that things are changing, that the public consensus, regardless of political leanings, has turned against the ideological cuts the Conservatives are making.

People can see this false austerity narrative for what it is, privatisation of our public services by stealth.

REBECCA SHIRAZI
Labour candidate for Frognal & Fitzjohns ward