West Country locals have spoken out following the Spending Review 2025
Eric Williams, SWNS and Shannon Brown Reporter
20:00, 11 Jun 2025
Sarah Ginn, 44, photographer and Bristol resident(Image: Eric Williams / SWNS)
A photographer from Bristol says the government needs to put more money into the NHS pot after ‘years’ of underfunding.
Sarah Ginn, 44, a photographer, from Bristol, welcomed the government’s announcement to increase funding for the NHS, following her elderly father’s heart bypass surgery.
Describing how her sisters work in the NHS – one as a nurse and the other as a GP – Ms Ginn said: “The NHS has been underfunded for years. Their equipment is old. You have to plough a lot more money into it. It’s not going to be a quick fix.
“So you need to start putting more money into that pot. In Hammersmith in London, where one of my sisters was a nurse, sometimes there’s not even enough paper for them to print stuff out on.”
Recalling how her father, 73, had a heart bypass operation surgery, Ms Ginn said: “We’re not ladened with debt. Everyone should be able to get well and not be bankrupt at the same time.
Sarah Ginn, 44, photographer and Bristol resident(Image: Eric Williams / SWNS)
“They’ve got to clear up a long time of Tory rule when they underfunded things and sold things off. You can’t pull that back together immediately.”
Ms Ginn, who until three years ago worked selling Bristol council housing under Right to Buy, also praised the Chancellor’s announcement of £39bn for new social and affordable housing.
“It’s so needed,” she said. “I know because I was in the system. There are thousands of people on the housing list.”
Nathan Jones, 42, from Taunton, Somerset, a painter, working at Hinkley nuclear power station, expressed support for the government’s expansion of capital spending on major projects, but said he remained disappointed by the government’s first months in power.
Discussing the Chancellor’s announcement of £30 billion to nuclear power, Mr Jones said: “It’s astronomical money. It really is. You can’t even fathom it.
“I get it, it is integral to Britain’s campaign to get to net zero and in the long run it will become fruitful. It’s just at this moment in time, it just seems like you’re wasting money.
“Personally, I work at Hinkley, and working in that environment and understanding the project and understanding the direction it’s going, it does make more sense.
Nathan Jones, 42, painter at Hinkley Nuclear power station from Taunton, Somerset(Image: Eric Williams / SWNS)
“I think anyone with an issue with it, they need to do a bit more research into what the bigger picture is. Instead of looking at the now, they’ve got to understand that projects like that are the bigger picture and the future.”
But Mr Jones also expressed frustration at the prospect of potential tax rises come the autumn budget.
Summarising Labour’s first months in power, he said: “To be honest I don’t think they’ve done all that great. I think they’ve disappointed a lot of people.
“I think they lied on their manifesto and they haven’t followed through with what they promised. People feel they’ve had their vote wasted, completely and utterly wasted.”
“My issue with it is that it’s always the taxpayer that has to foot these bills. Lessening the funding for police I think is just ludicrous.
“These are parts of living in Britain that are essential. Order a pizza and call the police and see which one turns up first. You’ll always get your pizza first.
“The real truth is it’s the funding, there’s nothing there. It’s going to run everything into the ground and eventually we’ll be taking steps back in time rather than progressing as a society and a country.”