BUILDING THE GOOD SOCIETY

Let me start by sending my heart felt thanks to all those extraordinary staff on Hogarth Ward at Nottingham’s City Hospital.

Just a few weeks ago, my grandmother was admitted with suspected Cancer. Since when, she has recently moved to a nursing home, having been given the heart breaking news of a prognosis that gives her just a matter weeks, possibly a couple of months.

During her stay in hospital the quality of the care from the nursing, ancillary and other staff was second to none, not just to my grandmother, but to the family as a whole. They were a comfort when the news was devastating, and provided care with the kind of compassion that continues to be the hallmark of our NHS.

There are those who would have us believe that we are somehow a broken society, suppressing all that we have achieved in order to justify they’re own vision for the future.

With the election now in full swing, let the care my grandmother received stand has testament to the good society that we all aspire to.

Are there faults and major problems in society that we need to address? Yes – show me a society that can ever claim to be perfect. However, for all its faults, we should be proud of what we have achieved as a country.

Our country, our society, our communities are made up of individuals, each of who have unique and special talents that we have a moral and economic duty to ensure they have the opportunity to use.

However, talent such as this does not get found and used because of a so called big society.

It gets found when a Government invests, develops and provides an education system that seeks and develops the talents of every child on an equitable basis.

It gets found when a Government stands up for those who do not have a voice, protecting those who feel vulnerable, and those for whom despair comes from a world in which what matters is not your talent, but your ability to shout louder than others in society.

The quality of care my grandmother received is a sign of a society, and a country that is working, one in which dedicated public servants day in and day out provide exceptional services, provide high quality care, showing the kind of compassion that is the hallmark of a good society.

Yes, things are tough, and yes, the challenges ahead are going to be difficult. But let us be clear about one thing. We should be proud of what we have and will continue to achieve.

A Government supporting people to fulfil their talent. A Government that has hope for us all. A Government that will support our police, education and health services. A Government that makes clear that we are not on our own in a world of uncertainty and fear. That is what works. That is why we can hold our heads up high and be proud of what we have all achieved. And the future can be even better.

Ed Jacobs writes in a personal capacity.