THE Burnham bounce continues.
It continues despite the best efforts of certain sections of the media to make sure it doesn’t.
And it moves on regardless of the attempts by members of a hastily reshuffled Conservative front bench who would desperately like it to stop.
It’s worth reminding ourselves that some of these senior Tories are admirers of Margaret Thatcher and were strong allies of Liz Truss – and we all know what happened there.
The prime minister has set out a clear plan to deliver a government focused on growth, better public services, stronger communities and improving living standards – while making sure Labour remains rooted in the priorities of working people across the country.
Two weeks into his premiership Andy visited Barrow where he unveiled £8.4bn funding to support progress on the Dreadnought submarine programme, and last week said he had appointed John Healey as his chancellor “precisely because” of his position on increasing military spending.
BAE Systems, its workforce and our communities can rely on Labour’s rock-solid commitment to defence – and the economic benefits which spring from that pledge.
In his first parliamentary speech, Andy said the government would prioritise cutting the costs of essentials such as childcare and mortgages, the regeneration of communities and greater public control of water, housing and energy.
He said during the Thatcher years political power was centralised, economic power privatised and the country was de-industrialised.
Austerity followed, which damaged local communities; low growth followed, regeneration stalled and working people picked up the tab.
He correctly said that change begins with honesty and unless we are honest about what went wrong, we won’t turn things around.
Andy said a revitalised Labour under his leadership will be “relentless” in giving people and places what they were promised years ago: ownership and control – and from that control over their destiny comes change and growth.
He also announced plans to revive crumbling high streets and impoverished districts and the potential of bringing in legislation to curb houses of multiple occupancy, something I’ve been calling on Westmorland and Furness Council to do.
Labour will also explore ways of devolving powers to mayors and councils to help them regenerate high streets and I will be strongly supporting our candidate Dave Allen for Mayor of Cumbria ahead of the election next May.
Devolution can help to tackle many of the problems we are facing, including inequalities, ageing infrastructure, the way local authorities deliver services to residents, and not least the challenges being faced by Team Barrow.
For way too long towns and regions like ours have been expected to compete for fragmented funding pots, while important decisions were taken in London by officials with limited knowledge of local circumstances.
Labour’s approach offers an alternative based on partnership, stable funding and trust in local decision making.
This will make sure that investment reaches every part of the country and that public services respond more effectively to local needs.
These measures will improve things for people around here and real optimism for the future is back on the agenda.