Ed Davey urges ‘faster and bolder’ action on NHS and social care
The government must “act faster and much bolder” to tackle the crises facing the UK, Ed Davey said in a speech to the Liberal Democrat conference, promising his party would be an antidote to Keir Starmer’s “pessimism and defeatism”.
The Lib Dem leader reiterated his pledge to focus on pushing ministers to take action on the NHS and social care. He said he would try to be constructive, but warned against what he described as a short-term mentality from the Treasury towards investment.
Davey gave a speech to a packed conference room in Brighton, soaking up the aftermath of his party’s hugely successful general election, which saw it rise from 15 seats to 72. He said he hoped to win more seats for the Conservative Party and “consign the Conservative Party to the history books”.
Davey highlighted the huge gains by speaking to his MPs, who walked onto the stage beforehand to loud applause.
Echoing the theme of the triumphant but generally cautious four-day conference, Davey proposed no new policy beyond calling for an expert taskforce to mitigate the effects of the winter crisis on the NHS, and set aside funding for several years.
He stressed that the party had won new seats thanks to a campaign that focused on the NHS and social care, the cost of living and tackling sewage, and that the party would stick strictly to that agenda.
“In July, millions of voters put their trust in us — many of them for the first time in their lives,” he said. “That trust — the people’s trust — is our mandate. And now we must be true to that mandate and fully repay that trust.”
On the NHS rebuild, Davey deplored what he called the Treasury’s prevailing bias against significant infrastructure spending, calling it “short-term thinking to save a bit of money now, when you know it’s only going to cost a lot more in the future”.
Davey said the Lib Dems’ expanded parliamentary delegation would support government policies they liked. Starmer and his ministers had so far shown a worrying lack of ambition and vision.
“We will be pushing the government to act faster and be much bolder,” he said. “Because the challenges we face cannot be solved by burying our heads in the sand and pretending they don’t exist, as the Conservatives do.
“But they also cannot be solved with the pessimism and defeatism we hear from Labour.”
He added: “I call on Labour: don’t make the same mistakes as the Conservative Party. Be more positive. Act now.”
Davey and his team believe their campaign message resonated with voters better than any other campaign, partly because of his camera-friendly stunt schedule, which included everything from bungee jumping to Zumba classes.
Davey, who prepared his speech by playing a game of tennis with some of his MPs, thanked the activists for their leaflets and campaigning, saying their message was “reinforced by the occasional fall from a paddleboard or jump from a 160ft crane”.
Davey also spoke about the reaction to another key election moment for his party: the release of a deeply personal campaign video featuring him with his disabled 16-year-old son John, whom he co-cares for, and in which he talks about caring for his mother as a child.
Staff say that since the video was released, other caregivers have contacted them almost daily to share their stories.
Among those who reached out, Davey said, was a 15-year-old boy, Joseph, who had been caring for his mother, who has MS, since he was 5.
“Joseph wrote to me, ‘I wanted you to know that people like you are everywhere. Still and silent, but we are still here,’” Davey told the audience.
Davey reiterated his call for cross-party efforts to transform social and personal care, noting that he felt obliged to talk about it as care was not mentioned in either the Labour manifesto or the King’s speech.
“But carers did feature in Keir Starmer’s first questions to the Prime Minister,” Davey said. “Because I made sure they did. Prime Minister: if you are prepared to find a solution, I am ready and willing to work with you to make it happen.”