'No more NHS waiting lists' for London under Labour claims party on visit to Croydon

Croydonians would have more money in their pockets and would not have to wait on NHS waiting lists for operations if Labour were to win the General Election, the party has claimed. Shadow work and pensions secretary, Liz Kendall, visited BoonCafé in South Croydon on Tuesday, June 18.

The Trust for London says the borough has an above average poverty, unemployment and income deprivation rate, as well as more people on benefits when compared with the rest of the city. Ms Kendell suggested Labour's performance around NHS waiting lists last time it was in power was enough to show that it could clear the backlog this time.

Labour's manifesto has been criticised by experts, who say it does not outline 'a single concrete action relating to welfare benefits'. It does state: "Labour is committed to reviewing Universal Credit so that it makes work pay and tackles poverty. We want to end mass dependence on emergency food parcels, which is a moral scar on our society.” The document adds: "We will tackle the backlog of Access to Work claims and give disabled people the confidence to start working without the fear of an immediate benefit reassessment if it does not work out.

READ MORE: London's 'most patriotic' estate says country is a 'shambles' ahead of general election

"We believe the Work Capability Assessment is not working and needs to be reformed or replaced, alongside a proper plan to support disabled people to work [...] Labour will reform employment support so it drives growth and opportunity. Our system will be underpinned by rights and responsibilities – people who can work, should work – and there will be consequences for those who do not fulfil their obligations.”

The Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, has talked about how his party's promises would be funded by economic growth. MyLondon asked Ms Kendall how the party would acquire the necessary cash for its plans - including mental health support in every secondary school and career advice hubs - if this did not happen.

'I do not accept defeatism'

She said: "It will. I do not accept defeatism. I am in politics to change things." On the economy largely stagnating over recent years, the East Midlands candidate added: "That's because we have had the Tories in power.

"They have not prioritised [growth]. We will grow the economy, and I'll tell you how I know that, because that's what we did when we were last in government."

She also said that Londoners feel that they have 'had the hope kicked out of them'. Ms Kendall then reminisced about Labour's landslide victory under Tony Blair's leadership 27 years ago.

"I remember in 1997," she said, "we [said] we'd take 100,000 people off the [NHS] waiting list and we were criticised, 'oh, that's not bold enough!' But we left government having ended waiting. So it was a first step as part of a 10-year programme. And I think that's what we need, but we can and will make a start straight away."

Croydonians would be 'better off'

Day to day, she added that Londoners would be 'better off' as they would not have to cope with 'chaos' under the Tories. Skills would also be 'overhauled' with a growth in green tech, and planning rules would be 'reformed' to build new homes.

Labour has promised that it would reclassify former 'lower quality' green belt land into 'grey belt' for development. The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has previously said that he intends to stop 'inappropriate attempts to de-designate the Green Belt', and that 'boundaries should be changed only in exceptional circumstances'.

Ms Kendall would not be drawn on what exactly the party means by changes to Universal Credit (UC) - saying she would like to see it 'make work pay' - and consequences for people 'not fulfilling their work obligations'. MyLondon has approached the Conservative Party for comment. The Tories have pledged to 'increase NHS spending above inflation every year, recruiting 92,000 more nurses and 28,000 more doctors' to help improve waiting list times.

Full list of Croydon South candidates

• Reform UK, Bob Bromley

• Green, Elaine Garrod

• Liberal Democrat, Richard Howard

• Workers Party of Britain, Kulsum Hussin

• Conservative, Chris Philp

• Independent, Mark Samuel

• Labour, Ben Taylor

Want more from MyLondon? Sign up to our daily newsletters for all the latest and greatest from across London here.