A Commons exchange between new Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting and our Health and Social Care Spokesperson Daisy Cooper shows that Lib Dem MPs are already making their presence felt.

Watch here

Liberal Democrat MPs will fight in Westminster to restore local health and care services after years of neglect. pic.twitter.com/2C7WTVWsBp

— Liberal Democrats (@LibDems) July 23, 2024

The text is below.

Daisy Cooper

I welcome the Secretary of State and his Ministers to their roles, but let me gently warn him that if he intends to run a contest on which Member can harangue him the most on crumbling hospitals, our 72 Liberal Democrat MPs say, “Challenge accepted.

Under the Conservatives, the new hospital programme ground to a halt. We know the terrible stories of nurses running bucket rotas and all the rest. We have the worst of all worlds at the moment: trusts such as mine in west Hertfordshire are champing at the bit to get going but cannot, and are being held back. Other trusts have capital funds that they want to spend but are not allowed to because of outdated rules, and there are industry concerns that the one, top-down, centralised approach of the Conservatives could decimate competition in that industry, when we need a thriving industry to rebuild our hospitals and primary care. What is the Secretary of State’s response to that approach?

Wes Streeting

I welcome the hon. Lady back to her place. We worked constructively on the Opposition Benches together and, regardless of the size of the Government’s majority, we intend to work constructively with her on this side of the election, too. By extension, I congratulate her colleagues on their election. I have discovered that I have 72 new pen pals, all sitting there on the Liberal Democrat Benches, and they have been writing to me about a whole manner of projects. My colleagues and I will get back to them.

The hon. Lady is right that this is not just about the new hospitals programme, important though that is; the condition of the whole NHS estate is poor. In fact, backlog maintenance, the direct cost of bringing the estate into compliance with mandatory fire safety requirements and statutory safety legislation, currently stands at £11.6 billion. That is the legacy of the last Conservative Government.

* Newshound: bringing you the best Lib Dem commentary in print, on air or online.