News

Dr Phillip Lee calls for investment in wider M4 and new hospital

By Hugh Fort
January 02, 2013

The need for a wider M4 motorway and a new hospital serving people in the Thames Valley was raised in Parliament by Bracknell MP Dr Phillip Lee.

Dr Lee called for the Government to support funding for improvements to the region's infrastructure in a debate on the Growth and Infrastructure Bill on Wednesday, December 17.

The proposed bill could deliver a £1 billion's worth of investment to local authorities across the country and Dr Lee wanted to know whether the cash would be used for improvements in the Thames Valley.

He asked Nick Boles, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary from the Department for Communities and Local Government:“I had the good fortune to be born in the Thames Valley and I represent a constituency in the Thames Valley.

"In my lifetime, I have watched tens of thousands of homes being built and many industrial estates and business parks.

"The M4 motorway has never been widened and the hospital has never been built to serve the community that has grown so much.

"Can my Honourable Friend confirm that the levy to which he refers goes towards a new motorway and a new hospital?

"My region desperately needs them.”

Mr Boles responded: “It will be for my Honourable Friend’s Local Authority to specify the infrastructure.

"Those are good examples.

"The money could go towards a hospital, a school, drains or whatever is required.

"He is right that that has not been available previously.”

Afterwards Dr Lee said: "“I am delighted the Government acknowledges that our region has not received the improvements in infrastructure that it so desperately needs.

"Furthermore, I am grateful for the Minister’s confirmation that the money could be used to widen the M4 and to support my proposal to build a new Royal Thames Valley Hospital to replace much-loved but nonetheless ageing hospitals which are no longer fit for purpose.

"That is why I pledge to work with all Local Authorities across the region to secure the best possible improvements for the benefit of all people in the Thames Valley.”

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Most recent user comments 23 of 23

Maddie - excellent post. Made me laugh out loud. Just hope his form of renewable energy is on it's way out :)

Neal Evans, Forest Park
03/01/2013 at 18:34

I think Phillip Lee is doing a fine job as our MP.

He's reliably proving his commitment to alternative sources of energy - he's a one man hot air power station, and the heat potential of manure* is well known.

*or Horse S#%! as we know it.

Maddie Vegas, Hanworth, Bracknell
03/01/2013 at 17:05

Thanks for the link Winstanley

Local meeting Maidenhead? To discuss a hospital not in his constituency?

Out of recesssion?

Bracknell not moving forward, retail poor, regeneration at a stand still, healthspace ignored

Council tax stays the same but youth clubs closed

Is this man an MP or just a wind up merchant?

CMK
03/01/2013 at 12:50

Why not get train fares reduced... no more road widening so more cars and trucks can pollute...typically no commitment to a greener environment. You cannot just keep you interests in the Nhs there is far more out there...

Maxdubber
03/01/2013 at 11:58

Neal - a Happy 2013 to you too.

If I have anything to do with it he'll be a one term MP. At the very least we'll see his majority slashed, thus proving he actually represents even fewer of Bracknell's hard pressed voters.

Winstanley, Bracknell
03/01/2013 at 11:51

Winstanley - I really preferred your first link. I do so enjoy a good gadget. You then bring me down to earth with the correction. I do so enjoy Dr Lee's tagline "Caring for Bracknell Constituency".

Glad to see he is still banging on about his retirement plan, sorry I mean hospital with yet another "local" appearance - "Holiday Inn, Maidenhead, Manor Lane, SL6 2RA from 19:30 – 21:30 on 10th January" .

I do so hope your last sentence below is prophetic and he is a one-term only MP.

Happy New Year.

Neal Evans, Forest Park
03/01/2013 at 10:54

that's not his website link - what a fluffer!! Mrs Winstanley's been getting all Countryfile again.

Here we go - http://www.phillip-lee.com/article/2012-political-summary/

Winstanley, Bracknell
03/01/2013 at 10:44

I did find his 2012 political summary quite a hoot on his website.

http://www.flyonthewall.uk.com/infrared-wildlife-camera-dvr-p-252.html

The UK came out of recession? I must have missed that one amidst the reports of double-dip recession, consistently downgraded growth figures, levels of incompetence unimagined in any generation of Tories, and the persistent whiff of an out of touch and indifferent political class.

How ignorant is this man when he uses employment figures to solely gauge the economic health of the country? Growth in the economy is measured using a range of macroeconomic indicators – such as consumer spending levels and GDP. The UK has been widely seen to still be in recession, growth and consumer spending stagnating, and only set to get worse as 2013 heralds the arrival of the real sting of austerity.

Lauding the Golden Jubilee and Olympics is fine as far as it goes – great set pieces of very welcome theatre, pageant, and triumph. But that doesn’t mean the outlook is rosy for the ordinary man, woman, and child.

The most telling thing about this article is what Lee didn’t say. He raised a question regarding spending and infrastructure for his constituency. But nowhere has he commented on the alleged regeneration in the town that bears the name of his constituency.

"That is why I pledge to work with all Local Authorities across the region to secure the best possible improvements for the benefit of all people in the Thames Valley.”

He pledges to work for all people in Thames Valley? Just concentrate on the people you were elected to represent.

He may well prefer the leafy loveliness of Finchampstead, Crowthorne, and Sandhurst – even Wokingham, Marlow, and Bisham - but it’s his lack of engagement in the issues that matter to Bracknellian’s that will define his one term parliamentary career.

Winstanley, Bracknell
03/01/2013 at 10:42

THE STRANGE CASE OF THE INVISIBLE MP: a political mystery of the shires.

A Happy New Year to the hard working – and much put upon - residents of Bracknell.

Do we really need Phillip Lee darkening our door step so soon? We may just be getting over the hangovers of the silly season but 2013 sure looks like the kind of hangover that’ll take more than fatuous plaudits from A-lister MP’s to shift.

But then this is the MP for Bracknell who stated that he does not support walk in clinics, did not support NHS funding for Healthspace – yet interestingly works privately as a GP for a private health provider based in Wokingham.

What is it that he has against his own constituency? Claims a public sector wage as a GP in Slough (a Labour seat) and a private income from a company in Wokingham (Redwood’s constituency). Then there’s his Super Hospital meeting in Maidenhead next week (the Home Sec’s seat). Meanwhile we pay our taxes for him to ‘represent’ us?

Winstanley, Bracknell
03/01/2013 at 10:41

And Again Mr Evans! So kind!

Wondurus Woofer, Bracknell
03/01/2013 at 10:17

Thank you Mr Evans.

Wondurus Woofer, Bracknell
03/01/2013 at 10:16

UKIP - now there's a thought.

Reading all the comments below it seems everyone is against this fool of a man. Dr Who, Dr Doolittle or the muppet does nothing for the area, apart from spew rhetoric which nobody is really interested in. Or, he is pulling pints!

The rest of the time its an expenses fuelled jolly whilst pretending to be an MP or GP. Neither of which he seems to really practice in Bracknell.

Whatever happened to his recent scheme for the unpaid intern in Bracknell? I want to know why he can't consider the area he was elected to represent and actually pay a local person to staff his office. But no. The almighty DOCTOR needs a profile in Parliament!!

Please, please, please the electorate of Bracknell. In 2015 show how we feel and vote this non-entity into non-existence.

Bob Barks, Bracknell
03/01/2013 at 09:54

Roll on 2015. The BCA has two options, deselect this idiot and adopt a local candidate who really has Bracknell's best interests at the forefront of his/her political agenda, or keep him and watch Bracknell become a Conservative loss.

If the latter I wonder whether it would be Labour or Bracknell showing the way by voting in a UKIP MP?

Neal Evans, Forest Park
03/01/2013 at 09:37

Shut up you pathetic little man, and stop trying to get in with the big boys in parliament. You're a shining example of the worst type of MP, (unfortunately a pretty standard MP). You have no thoughts or concerns for Bracknell or its residents, you care only for boosting your own ego and position. Your existence offends me, and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

Bruce Wayne
03/01/2013 at 09:23

Forget widening the M4. How are we supposed to get through the congestion to get to it in the first place. One accident on the A329M/M4, or the roads that lead to them causes the surrounding areas to come to a standstill - How are we supposed to get to the dream hospital of the 'GP pretending to be an MP'

Dr Lee, if you cared at all about the people you represent you would listen to them, not play with your Lego hospital plans. Can you do us all a big favour and step down before the next election, before we become a Labour constituency. I and many other Tory voters don't want you!

Time4tea
02/01/2013 at 18:16

It's a bit rich, on a day when the Wokingham borough has been revealed as the best place in the country in terms of healthcare, and Bracknell the 20th best place in the country overall (of 405 areas), to complain that the Thames Valley is in desperate need of a hospital. Surely other areas are a higher priority?

Damiano_Tommassi, Wokingham
02/01/2013 at 17:00

Widening motorways is a poor tactic. All it does is create more demand and more traffic ~ it's already 6 lanes wide for heavens sake. More to the point would be reducing the demand/need to travel and educating car drivers so that they might actually use all of the lanes we already have.

Frank Chicken
02/01/2013 at 15:58

Agree PoneRana - Dr Who seems to forget what Bracknell actually needs!

He keeps pressing on with his hospital near Maidenhead - how about one for Bracknell seeing as by 2025 they want to build at least 10000 new houses!

As for road widening on the M4 how about the A329M and how congested it gets especially as this is the main route for Royal Berkshire

When can we vote this muppet out?

CMK
02/01/2013 at 15:02

Dr Lee lives near Maidenhead, practices as a GP once a month in Slough, what does he do for Bracknell..... Nothing. He needs to remember he was elected to represent the people of Bracknell not the Thames Valley. How about him doing something about the regeneration of Bracknell, that has been ongoing since my family moved here in 1970, the first phase was the development of Princess Square, the second was The Point.. The third was the supposed redevelopment of the town centre with a specialist Healthspace to be built by a private company, Ashley House. What has happened to that? Devote your efforts to the things that matter to the people of Bracknell, Education, Health and Employment.

Mumra, Bracknell
02/01/2013 at 15:00

So the Bracknell MP wants a new hospital close to Slough and a wider M4 that also services Slough. Guess where he practices as an GP.

Bracknell needs an MP that looks after the interests of the town not the area where he lives. How about expanding Heatherwood or Frimley Park, improving the M3 and its links and the local rail links? Has he noticed that the M3 is closer to his constuency than the M4?

PoneRana, Wokingham
02/01/2013 at 14:22

Apologies for the poor spelling in my last post! New Year blues.

Goldfish62
02/01/2013 at 13:53

Funny how our MP campaigns for widening of a raod that doesn't go through his constituency. Better he campaigned for an improved train service for Bracknell.

But I'm not suprised - I know full well where his priorities lie.