In April, I visited the Hitachi manufacturing plant. I spoke to the workers there who were staring down the barrel of hundreds of devastating job losses. And I promised them that, if we were elected, a Labour government would work with them to secure their jobs and the future of the industry.
It’s a promise I made not only to those workers but also to the Northern Echo, which has campaigned tirelessly.
I meant that promise. Today, my Labour government will announce a deal that will secure the future of Newton Aycliffe, uplift our industrial heartlands, and boost rail services for passengers across the UK.
The last government sat on their hands and failed to act.
They left people’s lives and livelihoods in limbo. This government has been working from day one to use the heft of government to solve problems, not create them. We’ve been getting people around the table to have the hard conversations that have been ducked for too long. This approach is working – we’ve avoided strikes, saved jobs, protected businesses and begun to improve our rail services for passengers too.
I know that this is about more than good jobs – it’s about pride in what you make. Knowing that your hard work is connecting the nation and leaving a lasting legacy. It’s about the identity of proud working people, and a community who have lived and worked together for years.
The success of our industrial heartlands is the success of our nation. So we’re revitalising our railway industry. Our trains used to be the envy of the world. We laid the tracks for others to follow. This government is going to return our railways to that golden era once more. We’re treating those who build our infrastructure with respect and putting the passengers who use it first.
This week we announced that South Western Railway will be the first rail operator to return to public ownership next year. This is the beginning of our plan to put services back in the hands of the public. We’ll save money that can be reinvested in our services, and improve services after years of delays, disruptions and cancellations.
By creating Great British Railways, we will reform our railways to modernise working practices, make tickets simpler and fairer, deliver a better service for passengers and a better deal for taxpayers.
But the people who work on our railways deserve security, dignity and respect at work. That’s why we’re delivering the biggest uplift to workers’ rights in a generation. We’re ending fire and rehire, scrapping exploitative zero-hours contracts and protecting maternity and paternity leave. We’re increasing the National Living Wage, which will put an extra £1400 a year in the pockets of working people. And we’re protecting the triple lock for those who have worked hard all their lives.
The new Labour MP for Newton Aycliffe and Spennymoor, Alan Strickland, and Labour Mayor for the North East, Kim McGuinness, have made Hitachi their absolute priority. Because after 14 years of Tory mismanagement, it’s communities like this that are paying the price of broken public finances and crippled public services.
In the face of that shocking inheritance, Labour will always stand with working people. That’s why we set out our new Plan for Change yesterday. These are ambitious milestones that will deliver real improvement to people’s lives. We’re determined to raise living standards across the country, rebuild Britain with 1.5 million new homes, end the hospital backlogs, put 13,000 police back on the beat, and give every child the best start in life.
It is Labour that cares about the good, well-paid jobs in the North East. We’re getting on with the job - relentlessly focussed on delivering for working people.
www.thenorthernecho.co.uk
