Sir Keir Starmer says new Basingstoke hospital will be built

The opposition leader held a press conference in the Gabardine Bar alongside former Dragon's Den star Theo Paphitis at the Top of Town on Tuesday, June 18, giving an exclusive interview to the Gazette to discuss one of the most pressing issues in the town - the new hospital.

As part of the New Hospitals Programme, laid out by the Conservatives, a new hospital was promised to be built in Basingstoke by 2030, however, speaking to the Gazette in recent weeks, Lord Nick Markham who is in charge of the scheme, along with Dame Maria Miller, confirmed that this is not the case and that the Conservatives would open the doors of a new hospital building in 2032.

Speaking to the Gazette today, Luke Murphy, Labour candidate for Basingstoke, ensured readers that Labour would deliver a new hospital on time.

READ MORE: New hospital site 'ready to go' if public consultation 'works out' says Lord Markham

Sir Keir Starmer answering questions with Theo Paphitis (Image: Matt Rooks-Taylor)

He said: "We are 100 per cent committed to the re-build of the hospital. The Conservatives have failed to deliver it, they are not going to deliver it by 2030, they have already admitted that.

"No funding has been committed by the Conservatives to the build of the new hospital. Both I and Keir now are absolutely clear that we are going to get that hospital built here in Basingstoke."

Sir Keir told the Gazette: "We'll get the hospital built, but we will also deal with the waiting lists because we don't want a hospital that is only dealing with a backlog of waiting lists, so that's the 40,000 extra appointments each and every week under our plan.

"Then the replacement staff or the next generation of staff coming in under our staff plan and making sure that we've got an NHS that is back on its feet and actually fit for the future."

Mr Starmer also addressed the fact that Labour has never held the Basingstoke constituency but insisted that Luke Murphy is he right man for the job.

He said: "We've got an excellent candidate, a really excellent candidate.

"And that matters because if Labour win here, that means that this constituency will be represented by a Labour MP in what I hope will be a Labour government, sitting not on the opposition benches, but on the government benches.

"Making sure that every single constituent here, not just the ones that voted for us, but every single constituent has a voice in the heart of government and I think that is vitally important.

"And that's why I would say, not just withstanding that it hasn't happened before, but this is the time to vote for change, this is the time to vote to be better off and to be better off with Labour."