GMB North West & Irish Region

“It’s clear that this General Election is a choice between a Labour Party who will stand up for the many and a Conservative Party which only looks after the privileged few.

Under the Tories, the NHS and social care have been pushed into a state of emergency. Schools across the country face cuts and class sizes are rising.  Those young people who want to go to university face huge debts. House building has fallen to its lowest peacetime rate since the 1920s, while homelessness rockets.

We need a government for the many not the few. But the Tories have proven that cannot be them. They have spent the past seven years giving the super-rich tax breaks, worth tens of billions, while working families are set to be on average over £1,400 a year worse off. We even see working families needing to turn to foodbanks, because their wages won’t stretch to cover the cost of living.

In my constituency of Oldham West and Royton, people have seen the dire effects of a Tory government intent on pulling away the ladders of opportunity – especially the young, who will face crippling cuts to their education if the Tories are re-elected.

This election is not a re-run of the EU referendum. The decision to leave the EU has already been settled by the British people. But we oppose Theresa May’s reckless approach to Brexit and her not-so-hidden agenda to turn Britain into a low wage, tax haven for big business. Labour is the only party that can be trusted to put the interests of working people first in the Brexit negotiations.

This general election can be the chance for a fresh start with a Labour government. Instead of a country run for the richest, Labour wants to see one in which all of us can lead richer lives. It would be a fairer Britain in which no one would be held back.

Labour will invest to create shared prosperity. We will protect our public services, giving the NHS the money it needs and delivering good teaching in good schools for all our children. And we will take an alternative approach to Brexit: one which protects jobs and the economy, investing in infrastructure, skills, new technology and the green industries for the future.

Labour will stand up for you. We will deliver a better, fairer Britain where prosperity is shared, everyone is rewarded fairly for hard work and where a home to rent or buy is affordable. We will build a Britain for the many not the few.”

Jim McMahon - Labour Parliamentary Candidate for Oldham West and Royton

E: press@jimmcmahon.co.uk