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8 Queen Street
Hadleigh
Suffolk
United Kingdom
IP7 5DZ
I have lived in South Suffolk since 1999 with my husband and two children. Having worked for 23 years in the NHS I am currently self-employed, doing project work for public and voluntary organisations, with a particular emphasis on work in mental health. I am also active as a musician in the area (and have sung on many occasions in St Peter's!).
I have been a school governor (at Pot Kiln primary in Great Cornard), and campaign locally and nationally on education issues. I was involved in the campaign to stop cuts to the library service in 2011, and am currently chair of the Friends of Great Cornard Library. Along with education and health, my other main campaign interest is climate change.
I voted Remain, and I'm increasingly concerned that the current government is lurching towards negotiations on Brexit with no interest in mitigating its impact on our future prosperity. That’s in nobody’s interest, let alone our collective interest as a society. Meanwhile we are seeing cuts to public services leaving schools with a £3 billion funding gap, public sector workers without pay rises, and fewer police on the streets. And as in the rest of Suffolk, the numbers of older people in the Sudbury area are increasing. That means our health and social care services need to be properly resourced to work effectively, not pressured and thrown into chaos as they are now. As the old saying has it: prevention is better than cure. Failure to invest leads to increased costs in the long run; a more equal society is not only better for us, but also more affordable in the long term.
I love living in Suffolk: it is not only beautiful to look at but full of towns and villages with a clear sense of communiy – Sudbury is a fine example of this. Yet that sense of community is threatened by increased inequality, impoverished public services, and decisions – look no further than the ongoing controversy over Sudbury bus station – that fail to take account of the needs and wishes of local people. Now that the Brexit process has been started, we can’t afford to exchange the protections of the EU for a power-grab by big business. I’m standing to be MP for South Suffolk as I want to work for a Suffolk that is not only beautiful to look at, but has secure, effective public services, and is a vibrant place to live.
If you want to contact me during the election campaign, please email me on emmajbishton@gmail.com
For more information on Labour in South Suffolk go to http://www.southsuffolklabour.co.uk
