布莱尔首相演讲.docx

布莱尔首相演讲

inv estme nt

布莱尔首相演讲

tran script of the prime mi nisters broadcast on in vestme nt

wherever you look in our coun try, you can see the result of decades of un der- in vestme nt.

children still being taught in cramped or prefab classrooms. patients treated in wards built long before penicillin was discovered.

our railways and roads fall short of the standards we need. and thats not just bad for travellers but bad for our economy.

and its not just the fabric of our country which reveals the sig ns of

this failure to in vest.

there was a chronic shortage of people, of teachers, doctors, nu rses

whe n we came into gover nment three years ago.

eve n worse, we found that training places and recruitme nt had ofte n

bee n cut back.

now i dont go along with those who claim, for example, that we have

a third world health service.

thats an in sult to the dedicated doctors and nu rses who work in the

n hs. and it also ignores the fact that thousa nds of people every day get superb treatme nt and care.

but we are now the fourth biggest economyin the world. and few people

would claim we have the fourth best public services. i certainly dont.

thats because for far too long - we have nt inv ested. we have nt looked to the Ion g-term. we have nt inv ested for our future.

and thats largely because of the cycle of boom and bust which has gripped our economy for so long.

it mea nt sudde n in creases of inv estme nt followed by panic cut-backs which made it impossible to pla n sen sibly for the future.

we were so determ ined to restore stability to the economy - eve n if

it meant hard decisi ons and some un popularity.

we did nt ignore inv estme nt in our early years. in deed we laun ched the biggest hospital building programmein the history of the health service. the first of these is already open in carlisle. we invested to make sure

that infant class sizes have falle n. over 10,000 schools have bee n

re-furbished or repaired. wherever you live, therell be a school near you which has ben efited.

but there is a great deal more to do. and with inflation and interest

rates low, billions saved in debt repayments and a record number of people in work, the country can now afford the sustained investment needed in our health service, schools, police and tran sport systems.

it meansa 150% in crease in in vestme nt in public tran sport inv estme nt desperately n eeded for our roads and railways.

the n theres a £ 1.4 billio n in crease in health spe nding on hospitals,

cli nics and equipme nt.

and extra inv estme nt, too, for urge nt repairs for 7,000 more schools. but theres little point in having wonderful new schools or hospitals if you dont have the trained staff to go into them.

so were work ing hard to tackle the shortage of nu rses, doctors and teachers. weve reversed, for example, the short-sighted cuts in nurse trai ning

places. weve expa nded medical schools and places.

we are hav ing some success, too - an in crease of n early 5,000 doctors in the health service in the last three years in the health service. an

in crease of 10,000 qualified nu rses too.

and this week welearnt that for the first time in eight years the number of teachers in training has rise n.

that is vital because it is the dedicated teachers who are delivering the real