ANDY Burnham has pledged to spend billions on defence – and this week I will be meeting him to discuss the issues facing the people of Barrow and Furness.
The shipyard and its workforce will be high on the agenda, but we will also be discussing Team Barrow and the plans for town centre renewal, the future of the ICU critical care unit at Furness General Hospital and services provided by Westmorland and Furness Council.
Andy has my vote to become our next prime minister.
His return to parliament has generated an atmosphere of optimism within the country that has been missing for some time.
And as prime minister he will address the issues that ordinary families are grappling with – not least the cost of living.
Let the record show that I hold Keir Starmer in high regard.
His role in helping to rebuild Labour from the broken pieces that were left following the general election defeat of December 2019 should not be forgotten.
He has also been a good friend to this area, and he recognised the importance of our shipyard and of the crucial role played by Barrow-built submarines in this increasingly volatile world.
It was Keir who delivered the funding for Barrow that was promised but not budgeted for by the Tories.
Andy is a completely different flavour and clearly he understands the needs of areas like ours and is passionate about bringing about the change that is needed.
I feel confident that the people of Barrow and Furness will feel the benefit from the substantial changes he intends to bring to the way national and local government is run and how services are delivered.
Andy has pledged to give the country the new direction it is looking for after the 10 years of political turbulence that followed Brexit and almost 20 years of falling living standards since the global financial crash.
He isn’t the first politician to say that growth will be key to bringing back the good times.
But he’s going to address this situation differently from the predecessors.
The imbalance in resources between the south east and the rest of the country is holding back growth.
We also need to put more powers in the hands of local people. If areas like ours are struggling to fix potholes, what chance do we really have of bringing forward major regeneration schemes to get growth moving?
The pothole-peppered highways of Furness and the snail’s pace progress to transform Barrow town centre is perhaps a case in point.
Rome wasn’t built in a day – and nor will be Andy Burnham’s mission to transform Britain.
Overall, it’s a 10-year programme to raise people’s living standards.
People can’t wait forever for change, Andy says, people need help right now with rising costs and the other problems of everyday life.
They need to be able to look forward to a night out, or a holiday with the kids, and I agree.
As Andy has said:
“Imagine good growth in every postcode and hope in every heart”.
That is a vision we can all get behind.
Let’s make it happen.