By Jack Francklin
December 13 2019, 07.30
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Paul Scully infuriated the defeated Labour candidate in his acceptance speech after retaining his Sutton and Cheam seat for the Conservatives.
Bonnie Craven, who has lived in the area since 1980, expressed her rage at the MP’s approach to combatting a hospital crisis which has driven campaign trails in the constituency for many years.
Ms Craven said: “I am furious that in his acceptance speech the winner said we would get a new hospital.
“It is patently clear there is no new hospital. What is going to happen is that we will lose both of our fully acute hospitals in the next year and it is going to cost lives.
“I am very angry that people will lose their lives.
“I rely on that hospital and the local community relies on it and people have been misled very severely about the literature that went out.
“I am also very angry for the sake of my children and for the children in their classes at school who are resorting to taking food out of dustbins and stealing from other children’s lunch boxes because of poverty, universal credit and because of the devastating inequality in this borough.
“People don’t realise the levels of inequality in this borough. Most of that deprivation was on the St Helier estate which is where the hospital is and there are still massive health inequalities.
“I am very worried at the idea of removing the hospital where it is most needed and instead put a wing in the most affluent part of the constituency.
“It is standard Tory policy, take from the poor and give to the rich – the opposite of Robin Hood.”
Ms Craven also expressed fear over the consequences for funding that Mr Scully’s victory may have on the hospitals.
“More than being disappointed, I am absolutely devastated for what it means to our local hospital,” she added.
“They removed the urgent care, the critical and intensive care, the maternity and paediatric care.
“Those services attract the most funding to our hospitals and once they are taken away those hospitals are left fundamentally unable to continue.
“There is no point in refurbishing the hospital if there aren’t any beds, no consultants and if there are basically no services.
“I am really upset and for what it means for the community which I have lived in since I was at primary school.
“I am actually the only candidate here directly affected by this. I am all about public services and I am heartbroken for what it is going to mean for people’s day lives.“
Ms Craven worked and travelled around the country with Jeremy Corbyn to support his campaign.
She said: “He has given us the two very best manifestos I have seen in my lifetime. The one this year was the best manifesto since 1945.
“Unfortunately, we have had to combat a very hostile media where there was no balance.
“The whole election has been focused on Brexit. I voted leave but never campaigned either way because I was fighting to keep our hospital open in 2016.
“Public services to me is first and foremost. Although Brexit is important, the focus of the media on this issue doesn’t actually affect the day to lives of normal people like me and you, I really don’t think it was a priority.”
