Ashfield MP calling on government to free King's Mill Hospital from PFI contract

What a wonderful legacy and gift to us all and I feel fortunate to have been born there, as were my two sons.

I feel even more fortunate that I am now the MP who can shout out at the highest level to make sure the hospital gets the best deal possible which is why I am pushing Government to look at the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) that was used in 2005 to rebuild the hospital.

The most recent freedom of information request revealed that the trust spends £134,534 a day on this PFI and the original cost of the hospital looks set to rise from £300 million to £2.5 billion when the contract ends.

This is a shocking waste of tax payer’s money and the hospital trust is paying 15 per cent of its budget on servicing this debt, this money which is £1 million a week could be used on treating patients instead.

I really hope Government can find a way to get it out of this contract.

have written to the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster to ask if all schools and public buildings should fly our Union Flag.

I am proud to be English and equally proud to be British, as are most people in this country, and to see our flag flying in every part of the country would go a long way to reminding us that we live in a great country we should be proud of.

I spent the weekend volunteering again at the Ashfield Health Village as and it was especially pleasing to see my dad come through last Thursday to get his vaccination.

It has been very difficult for families not to see each other and sometimes people think that MP’s do not understand this.

But I do understand and I cannot wait to get back to normal and reduce the amount of time I spend on this computer talking to people.

Lockdown has not been good for people’s mental health but during it, I have started walking five miles a day and eating healthier which has led to me losing more than a stone.

I need to shift some more weight because I am overweight which is a major factor in hospitalisation for people suffering from Covid.

We all need to do our bit to help protect the NHS.

Lee Anderson is MP for Ashfield.