In leading the global fight against rising epidemics of western lifestyle diseases such as cancer, dementia, and diabetes, which most of us are likely to be affected by at some point of our lives, it is also important to our wider wellbeing. ‘Health and Wealth’ go hand in hand.

The Prime Minister’s announcements on Monday set out a new strategy for UK Life Sciences which will help us capitalise on our world class Life Science base of talented and pioneering researchers and compete in this challenging global arena. The UK has been at the forefront of discovery for the past 40 years, but the sector is changing rapidly, putting new pressures on the pharmaceutical sector which requires strategic response.

One such change has been the speed of computing and breakthroughs in genomics. These are opening up untold opportunities, however the time and cost of developing new treatments is rising significantly and the traditional models of research and development, based around large scale establishments, are becoming unsustainable. The future is going to see more tailored medicines, much better targeted at specific patients whom we will be able to predict from their genetic blueprint will be particularly vulnerable to a certain disease. The challenge therefore is to put human clinical disease studies and patients back at the heart of medical discovery and to do this in the UK.

Similarly the current models of funding are under strain. Healthcare providers are looking for increasingly cost-effective solutions, yet we can’t avoid the fact that innovation often comes at a cost. Under current NHS practice, this means that uptake can too often be slow with the knock on effect that industry can often find it increasingly difficult to justify investing in the UK.

The industry has been calling for measures to aid the discovery, development and commercialisation of research; and that is what we have done. The global race is on to maintain the UK’s standing as a leader in medical diagnostics, bio-technology and pharmaceuticals and we need to make sure we become the natural choice for investment in Life Sciences, for the benefit of research, UK plc, and most importantly for our patients.

The core vision at the heart of the Prime Minister’s strategy is to provide an unrivalled ‘ecosystem’ that brings together business, researchers, clinicians and patients to translate discovery into clinical use for medical innovation within the NHS. Through a £180 million Catalyst Fund, a streamlined regulatory framework enabling quicker entry to the market for new discoveries, and a package of reforms to make it easier for industry, universities and hospitals to work together on clinical research, we will provide an environment and infrastructure that supports pioneering researchers and clinicians to bring their innovation to market earlier and more easily.

Most important will be the benefits for patients. Under these proposals NHS patients will find it easier to access the many benefits of being involved in research such as earlier access to innovative treatments and the opportunity to take part in clinical trials. We can stop the stories of cancer patients forced to fly overseas to take part in potentially life-saving trials and open up access to innovative treatments here in the UK.

Just as pharmaceutical research is increasingly driven by genomics, we need to encourage an approach whereby every NHS patient can be a research patient, contributing to the struggle to prevent disease in the next generation by the better use of data on disease and drug side effects to better design and target medicines. This is already happening in the field of Cancer Research, with one in six patients already involved in research. Looking into the genetic trends of drug responsiveness is key to cracking diseases like dementia, diabetes and cancer, and with the appropriate protections in place these measures can radically improve our chances.

The Conservatives are committed to re-energising the UK’s medical science sector. The announcements on Monday were an historic step to accelerate the integration between academics, clinicians and industry we need to deliver better health outcomes for patients. As a new MP with a fifteen year career supporting biomedical innovations I know it was an announcement that will make a real difference.

George Freeman is the MP for Mid Norfolk. In July 2011 he was appointed Adviser on Life Sciences to the Minister of State for Universities and Science, the Rt Hon David Willetts MP.

As recent weeks have shown, being in government produces all sorts of challenges that need a clear response. The hacking scandal has been shocking in terms of the dreadful things that have happened, and profound in terms of its long-term impact. I hope you agree that with a Judge-led inquiry now being established; a proper police investigation under way; the BSkyB merger now off the agenda; and maximum transparency being delivered, we have dealt decisively with this issue.

Overall, I believe we can be proud of the progress we’re making in government. In all the years in Opposition, I had a clear idea in my head of the kind of government I wanted to lead: one that thought about the long term instead of tomorrow’s headlines; one that did the right thing by decent, working people; and one that restored Britain’s standing in the world. In our actions of the past few months, we’re making progress on all three fronts.

First, we’re doing what’s right for our country in the long term, however difficult that may be today. One of the big tests in recent months has been our plans to modernise the NHS. The decision to pause those reforms was the right one. It gave us the time and space to get the involvement and support of doctors and nurses, and we came back to the table with a package that is changed for the better, but not changed in its fundamental drive to make the health service more dynamic, efficient and effective.

We’ve applied the same long-term approach to pension reform. We all know that the pensions system as it stands is unsustainable, and that to duck this challenge would have been a dereliction of our long-term duty to this country. The decisions we have made on raising the pension age are tough, but right. However choppy the political waters may be as we pursue these plans, it is vital we stick to the course.

Second, we’re doing the right thing by decent, hard-working people. Nothing so undermined the value of responsibility in this country than the woeful welfare system allowed to spiral out of control by the last government. That’s why in June we launched The Work Programme, the largest-ever welfare-to-work scheme of its kind. We’re bringing in a whole range of new providers and paying them on the results they achieve – getting people into work and keeping them in work.

We’re also doing the right thing by the Equitable Life policyholders who were so cruelly let down. In Opposition we promised to help those people, and it’s a promise we have kept. Last month the first cheques were sent out – the start of a three-year programme of payments totalling £1.5 billion.

And third, this is a government that is restoring Britain’s standing in the world. In little over a year, through one Spending Review and two Budgets, we have restored this country’s reputation for economic competence. At a time when the shadow of sovereign debt problems is falling across Europe, we can be more confident than ever in the action we are taking. Market interest rates in the UK – vital to encouraging the investment we need – are falling; in so many other countries they are rising.

Holding a Strategic Defence and Security Review when our inheritance was a MoD budget that was out of kilter by £38 billion was always going to be difficult, but we now have a long-term plan to deliver the right defence forces for Britain’s future. Our plan to increase the trained strength of our Territorial Army from 14,000 to around 40,000 in the next few years is something that all Conservatives can be proud of.

And just as we have shown responsibility in our domestic affairs, so we are playing our part in global affairs. Along with our allies, we continue to enforce the UN resolution in Libya, protecting the civilians there from Qadhafi’s murderous regime and pressuring him to go. In Afghanistan, we continue our efforts to pursue a lasting political settlement. The transition of security responsibility to Afghan control for selected districts throughout the country is just about to start and, in line with progress in this area, we have made some plans for modest troop reductions by the end of 2012, with the ultimate aim to have no UK troops in combat roles by 2015.

We have also made good progress in meeting our promises to limit immigration and stop powers being passed from Britain to Brussels without a referendum, and we have severely limited Britain’s exposure to future EU bailouts.

So while the day-to-day of politics can sometimes be tough, I hope you can be proud that you have a government that does the right thing for the long term, that is on the side of responsible people, and that is restoring Britain’s standing in the world.

Since 1999 damages paid to claimants have risen by 33%, but average claimant’s legal fees have increased by 234%. In 2009/10 the NHS paid out £297 million in clinical negligence damages and paid £121 million to satisfy the claimant lawyer’s costs.

Schools are becoming scared to send children on field trips, insurance premiums are rising, small businesses are being put out of business and larger (self insured) businesses are increasing their product prices to pay lawyer’s fees.

One supermarket advised us that 60% of money paid out for “slips and trips” goes to claimant lawyers and only 40% to the injured party. Indeed liability claims cost them the equivalent of running ten superstores for a year!

Our key suggestion is to end the last Labour government’s change, whereby no win no fee success fees and after the event insurance premiums can be claimed off a losing defendant. This will stop the situation where claimants have no interest in what they pay their lawyers because they don’t have to pay a penny- win or lose. Currently claimants are enticed to make claims, however spurious they may be. Why not – they can’t lose!

Under our proposals, fair legal claims will be resolved at a cheaper cost, whilst unnecessary or avoidable claims will be deterred.

We said we’d take the tough decisions needed to rescue our economy and we’ve been doing that. We’ve scrapped Labour’s jobs tax, completed an in-year spending review to save £6 billion of waste and presented an emergency Budget that will balance the books within five years.

We promised radical reform of our public services and we’re delivering, with a big expansion of the academy programme in our schools and unprecedented reform of the NHS – £1 billion of bureaucracy cut, pointless targets scrapped, whole tiers of bureaucracy abolished and real power for GPs and patients.

We campaigned relentlessly on pushing power out from the centre and we’re making it happen. Eric Pickles’ department has been busy dismantling the architecture of top-down control, scrapping Regional Assemblies, Regional Strategies and the bureaucracy of RDAs.

We said we’d do the right thing by our troops and we’ve been doing that too. We have established a National Security Council, made sure we have a clear strategy on Afghanistan and doubled the Operational Allowance for our Forces.

This isn’t an exhaustive list, but it does show our intent to hit the ground running as a great reforming government. And just as we’ve started, so we’ll go on – taking the tough decisions on our economy, radically re-thinking our public services, pushing power out to people and doing all we can to restore Britain’s standing in the world.

But however frenetic the coming months and years will be, however busy life in government is, I will never forget how we got here – through your hard work and your tireless campaigning.

Thank you for your continuing support – and have a great summer.

No government on its own can solve the big problems we face – everyone’s going to have to get involved. That’s why we’ve called it Invitation to join the government of Britain.

This manifesto brings together all the work we’ve done over the last five years as we’ve changed into a modern, progressive Conservative Party.

We’re all in this together, and by working together we can change the country for the better. We won’t get the economy moving with a jobs tax and higher government spending – we need to help businesses create jobs. We won’t solve our social problems with more big government – we need to build the Big Society where families are strong and communities are safe. And we’ll never change politics if we leave it to the Westminster politicians – we need to give people real power and control over their lives.

So yesterday we’ve set out our plans to change Britain. Our school reform plan will raise standards and improve discipline. Our welfare reform plan will make sure that everyone who can work does work. We’ll help Britain become the most family-friendly country in Europe. We’ll cut government waste to stop Labour’s jobs tax, which will kill the recovery. We will back the NHS. And we will implement the boldest and most ambitious set of green measures ever put before the electorate by a mainstream party.

So this manifesto is different from the usual politicians’ promises. We do not say: give us your vote and we will solve all your problems. We say no government can solve all the problems on its own, and no individual can solve all the problems on their own. We say we are all in this together: come with us, and we will build a better country together.

Read our Manifesto in full here.

Andrew has been a regular visitor to Reading, emphasising the Conservative Party’s strong commitment and support for our local NHS services. When he came in December I took Andrew to meet staff at Prospect Park Hospital and visit the dementia ward. We also organised a cuppa with many of the local healthcare charities in the area and they appreciated being able to put their views directly to Andrew.

I am fully committed to protecting and improving our local NHS services and recently carried out a local NHS survey to find out the views and health priorities of local people across Reading West. Over 2,000 local people responded to the survey. One of the key findings was that only 52% of respondents were registered with a local NHS dentist, with 64% finding it difficult to register or being unable to register at all.

So yesterday I decided to take Andrew to meet local dentists at the Castle Hill Dental Clinic, which has around 7,500 NHS patients, to hear their views on how we can make NHS dentistry accessible to a lot more people. Andrew and I spent time listening to the local dental practice team and other staff at the surgery.

They pointed out the shortcomings of the Government’s dentistry contracts. Andrew discussed Conservative plans to change NHS dentistry which will give a million more people access to an NHS dentist. He also emphasised that we will ensure that all children are registered with an NHS dentist and there will be a strong focus on preventative care from an early age.

It was a great visit and another opportunity for me to emphasise to local NHS frontline staff that the Conservatives are the party of the NHS and will increase NHS spending in real terms year-on-year as we build a World Class NHS.

Visit Alok’s site to find out more and donate to the campaign.

Shadow Health Secretary Andrew Lansley joined me and Antony Little, local teacher, city Councillor and candidate for Norwich South, for a forty-five minute meeting with a group of Norwich older voters, from a range of local organisations, to discuss Conservative proposals to provide dignity for senior citizens.

We met in the Forum, the landmark Millennium civic building in central Norwich, and plenty of people got involved both inside and outside the official meeting.

It is vital to have a strong start to the campaign for both Norwich seats. The races here in Norwich are likely to be amongst the most fascinating in the country, after the dramatic Norwich North by-election last July, plus all the signs of a photo finish in Norwich South where Antony is taking on disgraced former Minister Charles Clarke.

I have spoken in Norwich and Parliament about the need for plans that add up on social care. It is a vital issue and one on with which we all have a real choice at the general election. I was proud that we started the campaign on a note of substance in this way.

In Norwich, this election is about picking two local champions with a record of action and a promise of more. It can’t be right that in a city like Norwich we still have real pockets of poverty, fear of crime and overstretched public services.

It is a choice: five more years of Gordon Brown or the kind of energy and leadership we need, locally and nationally. At last we have a date for the General Election and a chance for people to vote for change in our country.

Help Chloe Smith’s re-election campaign in Norwich North.

As a social entrepreneur, I help set up social enterprises and charities that tackle chronic social exclusion. So when I had the opportunity to get involved in writing policy for our vision for a Big Society I grabbed it with both hands. Eleven Shadow Cabinet ministers talked at the seminar about how their policies would help facilitate a big society as opposed to big government; from Michael Gove speaking on schools to Grant Shapps outlining how our vision for a Big Society empowers social housing tenants.

After the eleven Shadow Cabinet Ministers eloquently outlined how the Conservative Party will rebuild society, David Cameron announced new Conservative policies which – as Stuart Etherington, Chief Executive of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, said – marks the culmination of his efforts to modernise and reposition the Conservative Party as one that understands and values the work of voluntary organisations and social action.

If the Conservatives win the General Election, we will create a Big Society Bank – funded from unclaimed bank assets – which will leverage private sector investment to provide hundreds of millions of new finance for neighbourhood groups, charities and social enterprises, fund the training of 5,000 community organisers to help start neighbourhood groups to tackle difficult social challenges and provide neighbourhood grants for charities and social enterprises working in the UK’s poorest areas.

Wednesday once again showed why it is the Conservative Party who are the party who care most about the future of our country. Not only will we cut National Insurance for most working people but we will protect NHS spending and ensure that where there is most deprivation that more money per head is spent on education, healthcare and – as we heard yesterday – to empower communities. It was a day that reminded me why I am proud to be a Conservative.

I was in Milton Keynes yesterday setting out what that change will be. A Conservative government will take action on the deficit to get the economy moving. We’re going to get Britain working by boosting enterprise. We’re going to make Britain the most family-friendly country in Europe. We’ll increase spending on the NHS and improve it for everyone. We’re going to raise standards in schools and give heads control over discipline. And we will completely change our political system, cutting the cost of politics and pushing power out to communities and individuals.

We’re impatient to get on with this work. But Gordon Brown can’t put off calling the election for too much longer. I say bring it on. From now until polling day I’ll be travelling the country, holding events like the one in Milton Keynes, speaking directly to the voters and telling them this: Britain needs new energy and new ideas – and that will only come with a new Conservative government.

Cabinet Office guidance makes it crystal clear that a Government is acting out of line if it makes decisions that could tie the hands of the next Government on ‘large and/or contentious procurement contracts’ in the period before a General Election.

But, when asked directly on the Today Programme, Government Health Minister Mike O’Brien admitted that negotiations on the hugely controversial NPfIT were indeed going ahead.

Not only is this bad news for the NHS, it is highly worrying for taxpayers. The aim of the Programme – to deliver electronic health records to every patient in England – is as far away from being realised as ever. Whilst GPs were well on the way to having electronic records before the NPfIT began, the main focus of the Programme – to create electronic records in acute care and link these up with the rest of the NHS – has failed: only 13 NHS hospital Trusts have full IT systems under the NPfIT to date despite a total spend on the initiative of £6.1 billion.

Mike O’Brien claims that the Government is renegotiating the contracts in order to deliver on the Chancellor’s pre-budget report pledge to cut the Programme by £600 million. But industry experts were quick to point out on Radio 4′s File on 4 Programme this week that the suppliers have the Government over a barrel: as one IT consultant put it, ‘for every £1 taken out of the contracts, £2 will come out of what they have to deliver.’

In the light of Labour’s ongoing dispute with Fujitsu – said to be worth £700 million, and its half a billion pound pay-off to BT last year (rumoured to have been a bargaining chip to keep them from exiting the NPfIT), the public have plenty of reason to be wary about the Government’s latest trip to the negotiating table. At best it is a last-ditch attempt to tackle a deficit of their own making; at worst it is an underhand effort to tie the hands of the next Government and block Conservative plans to finally deliver value for money to the public through our localised, interoperable vision of NHS IT.