As I’m knocking on doors across Truro and Falmouth, I’m hearing more and more about the struggle to get NHS appointments, scans and operations. People are being told they’ll have to wait years for new hips and knees for example. That leads to living with pain, struggling to work, losing jobs and being unable to pay bills.

Labour governments have always had to fix the NHS after long periods of Conservative government has run it down. We did it before and we will do it again.

Labour will clear the NHS backlog in five years. We will deliver an extra 40,000 appointments a week at evenings and weekends. We will pay for it by clamping down on tax dodgers and cutting loopholes for non-doms. It won’t be easy and we all know the NHS needs more staff, which we will train throughout the next Parliament, but people are suffering through unacceptable delays and we have to get it fixed.

On dentistry, a huge issue in Cornwall where thousands have lost their NHS dentist since Covid (including my son and myself), we will provide 700,000 new appointments and alter the dentistry contract that is at the root of the problem.

Truro is our great little city. But it seems rather down on its luck at the moment. As your MP I would work with residents, businesses, community groups and local agencies to ensure that Truro is a brilliant place to live, work and visit.

Many residents have shared their concerns with me about the number of empty shops and anti-social behaviour in the town centre. Businesses tell me shoplifting gets little response. Increased parking charges brought in by the Conservatives on Cornwall Council, and the recent closure of Moorfields car park, have all made things harder for local traders.

Town centre businesses and Truro City Council are currently footing the bill for extra patrols by Truro Rangers because there simply aren’t enough police officers. Residents are frustrated that reported crimes don’t get followed up, and police are frustrated that they don’t have the levels of resource they need to do the job.

This Conservative government has allowed crime to soar while cutting police forces to the bone. Since 2015, the Conservatives have cut 4,500 Police Community Support Officers across the country. The Liberal Democrats will restore proper community policing, where officers are known and visible in their local area and have the resources they need. I will bang the drum in Westminster to make sure that Truro can benefit from any extra funding and support to tackle crime and support our high street.