Across the country there are thousands of examples of outstanding schools, hospitals and GP practices. But with the population rising - amongst the young and the old - our schools and NHS needs greater funding if they are to prosper in the years ahead. That's why I was delighted with a number of new policies in the Conservative manifesto:

• NHS: an extra £8Bn per year of extra funding by the end of this Parliament
• Schools: as well as bringing in a national funding formula which is much fairer to all schools across England, all of our local schools will see their budgets protected
• Mental health: recruit 10,000 more mental health professionals.

The reason we can afford these investments without the big tax rises and extra borrowing that Labour is proposing is that we are growing the economy and employment. This generates extra tax revenues which we can invest into our public services. That's why we will be able to provide more funds for health and education than the Labour Party, which will crash the economy and see tax revenues fall.

As an MP I will be a strong voice to ensure that our area receives its share of the extra funds from economic growth and to benefit from new health and education initiatives that are launched in the coming years.