Ian Lavery MP column: Labour must learn from our local election trauma

I was devastated to see many hard-working, dedicated Labour colleagues lose their seats, but it was also traumatic seeing the extent to which people in my community just could not bring themselves to vote for the Labour Party that they had previously trusted implicitly.

The Labour Party was founded to represent working class people and to put their interests above all others.

I have been a life-long member because I believed in its fundamental mission to create an economically fairer society, thereby allowing everyone a decent, rewarding life.

Something has gone badly wrong when so many of our former supporters feel that such a party no longer cares – and I understand why.

Since the Thatcher government, our neglected region has seen well paid unionised, industrial jobs destroyed and not replaced.

People’s living standards have stagnated, making ends meet is very hard and the Government has not convinced them that things will ever improve.

We are told that we cannot afford to give them hope, even though we are one of the wealthiest countries on Earth and could, if we have the political will to do so, demand that the super rich pay more taxes on fortunes that have for years enjoyed eye-watering growth.

Our people are crying out for improving public services and a well-funded NHS now, not in years to come.

Accordingly, the Government must alter its unnecessarily tight fiscal rules without delay. It cannot put excessive deference towards financial institutions over the nation’s well-being.

As I said recently in Parliament, I did not become a MP to make people poorer.

I cannot, for instance, support the Government’s plans to cut the benefits paid to vulnerable disabled people, something that no Labour government should ever contemplate.

It is a stark example of the drastic need for the Prime Minister to change direction, something anyone should do when it becomes clear that they have lost their way.

Residents in the Blyth and Ashington constituency can contact my office by calling 01670 852494 or emailing [email protected] and there are also regular updates that are posted on my Facebook page (Ian Lavery MP).