Labour kicked off its election campaign in Crewe and Nantwich by wheeling in one of the big guns as it fights to snatch back the seat from the Conservatives, writes Belinda Ryan.
Shadow attorney general Emily Thornberry was in Crewe yesterday (Tuesday) to support local parliamentary candidate Connor Naismith, who is hoping to overturn a Conservative majority of 8,508.
And she wasted no time in stressing how important it is for people to use their vote in the constituency which is number 60 on Labour’s target list.
She said: “There are too many people these days who believe there is no difference in politics, who believe that everybody is the same, that it can only be this way.
“It does not have to be this way.
“There is another way, there is the Labour way but we’re only going to get that if people actually vote.”
Ms Thornberry told party members that under the Conservatives there had been “14 years of achieving nothing”.
“Is anybody richer? Is anybody doing better. Is anybody happier? Have any of our public services got any better? Has there been any infrastructure? Hello – what happened to HS2?
“They spent £16bn of your money not getting to Crewe – not getting anywhere. Imagine what that money could have been spent on.”
When asked by the Local Democracy Reporting Service what Labour could do for Crewe following the scrapping of HS2, Ms Thornberry said: “First of all we need to do a proper review of what’s happened.”
She said the land earmarked for HS2 had since been sold back.
“I think one of the most important things we need to be doing, is connecting up the north across, as opposed to just with the south,” she said.
When asked what a Labour government would do to deal with the funding of social care, which is having a massive impact on council finances across the country, including Cheshire East, Ms Thornberry said Labour first had to implement its plans to grow the economy.
“It’s only when the economy grows, in the end will we able to deal with deeply entrenched issues such as the chronic underfunding of social care,” she said.
“We know social care and the health service are completely hand in hand.
“If you don’t have a decent care service, it’s almost impossible to get the NHS back on its feet.
“We know that, but the problem is going to be the scarcity of money and we’re not making any promises we can’t afford.
“But with a new government, we can get our economy going again and from the profits from that we will be able to pay for public services and make the changes we need to make.”
Connor Naismith, who represents Crewe West on Cheshire East Council, told the gathering: “The Tories have let Crewe and Nantwich down.
“Levelling up is a shambles, it is non-existent and you only have to look across Crewe and Nantwich to see that fact.”
He said he was driven by his concern for his young daughter’s future and for the futures of generations across Crewe and Nantwich “who deserve the opportunity to be able to buy their own home, to be able to get to see a GP or a dentist when they need one, to be able to feel safe in their community, to be able to get a quality education in a state school that is not crumbling to pieces around them”.
He said it is time for change and time to “bring the 14 years of failure, chaos and decline to an end once and for all”.
Other candidates who have so far announced they intend standing in Crewe and Nantwich are Te Ata Brown (Green Party), Ben Fletcher (Con), Phil Lane (Workers Party of Britain), Brian Silvester (Crewe & Nantwich First), Matthew Theobold (Lib Dem) Matthew Wood (Reform UK).
Perhaps Connor needs to actually be visible in Nantwich and let us know what he actually stands for. We have had nothing through the door from him and he’s not exactly a common sight – or is Crewe his main focus (or like the previous numbskull, he doesn’t appear to know where Nantwich is)
I think Society at large needs to remember the Furlough Scheme, Bounce Back Loans. In the Covid19 Crisis the government could have applied Universal Credit instead of Furlough. The high rate of inflation and energy prices was not as a result of the Government.
Why did people have an illusion that the ultra low interest rates would remain at the lowest level since the formation of the Bank Of England 400 years ago. No one complained how savers suffered and subsidised cheap borrowing.
Interest rates have normalised, lets get real. Yes they will come down but I doubt to the ultra low rates people have benefited from since 2008 until they increased some 2 to 3 years ago.
Incomes have started to increase above the level of inflation.
The Public Sector need to stop wasting millions of pounds. Paying my tax is right, waste in the public sector is not. Look at Cheshire East Council, Nantwich Town Council.
Remember the financial support given to pay towards are energy bills.
Sadly we will not escape the effects of world markets.
I hope the residents of Nantwich be carful for what they wish for.
The Financial Crisis under Labour. Gordon Brown taxation of pension funds and the detrimental effect of people in the private sector who witnessed the loss of their final salary pensions. We have a huge divide between employees in the private and public sector when it comes to pensions in retirement. The tax payers pay for the these gold plated pensions in the public sector.
Both Covid19, and the war in the Ukraine we beyond any government’s anticipation. The huge rise in inflation was not down to the government.
It is the dominated labour politicians and independent counsellors who fail to be effectively manage Cheshire East Council.
The money wasted by Cheshire East Council is enormous.
Please analyse the facts, take the emotion away from politics.
Remember how Gordon Brown sold the gold reserves at huge loss.
We live in country where people spend approx. 10 billion pounds a year on illegal drugs.
It is time that certain individual took responsibility for their own actions.
In reality I think most of us are sick of politicians who serve themselves not the people they represent. That includes local politicians and Westminster.
Remember the local council is labour run,if you think that the demolition of Crewe town centre followed up with a pointless multi storey carpark was a good use of your council tax,then please support this young man,it’s a free country after all.
I can only imagine how they would improve the whole country, and no I am not a Conservative supporter,just pointing out that labour my not be the knight in shining armour you are hoping for,please make sure you look at all available candidates and what they stand for before voting.
The Labour candidate is a Cheshire East councillor. Hard to vote then for him given the damage they have done to Crewe and Nantwich. Imagine the damage to the country he could help with !!
We need change urgently! Good luck to Connor, he has my vote.
We so need a change in Crewe and Nantwich as well as nationally. Connor Naismith has my full support and I hope everyone gives him their full support.
Claire, the Labour Newsletters have been titled Labour Rose for many many years.
In your dreams, just when has society actually been fair for all, it hasn’t and will never be, as for equal, well dream on, you are in La La land be careful what you wish for as life will definitely get worse
Funny you mentioned that I puzzled why it had the name Labour Rose too, clearly there was to have been a rose illustration there, if they cannot check that before it hits the streets then they don’t deserve my vote as it smacks of rush out a policy but don’t check the details because the voters are stupid so they won’t notice vibe, says it all really
All parties promise you they will do this and that. Then a party gets in and then NOTHING happens – just moan about what they have inherited. Why not try a mis-mash of a coalition party, across the 3 main parties, Tory, LibDem and Labour – can’t do any worse than the slagging off of each other.
As a long term Tory voter, on the cusp of changing my vote, I had a really good laugh at the Labour leaflet that came through my door today. It’s a very pedantic detail, but ‘Labour Rose’ at the top of the leaflet just shows how quickly the party have rushed it through… Maybe the printers didn’t get the literal request for the labour rose?
Do anything you can to break the Tories, whatever vote it takes.
The incumbent has done nothing meaningful for C&N for the past 5-years.
We need a change and a more equal and fair society.