Today, the Prime Minister has announced she seeks to call a General Election for the 8th of June 2017. Theresa May has once more shown her duplicity, after saying she wouldn’t call a snap General Election; she’s reneged because she has failed to get the terms she wanted at the start of the Brexit negotiations and she fears she will be in a worse position at the end of them.

But I welcome the opportunity for a General Election. The British people now have the opportunity to challenge this Tory Government that has built on the failures of the previous Tory/Lib Dem Coalition: it has failed to rebalance the economy for all, neglecting the North West and boroughs like Oldham and Saddleworth. This Government has focussed on the privileged few, doing nothing to address stagnating wages whilst the cost of living continues to rise, or to help the ‘just about managing’; it has presided over a crisis in the NHS and social care, with plummeting standards in so many of our schools. It has failed our young people, our older people and people struggling to make ends meet.

As a result of this Government’s policies, and the Tory/Lib Dem Coalition before it, we have a country more divided than ever with a shocking rise in inequalities. Those on the highest incomes continue to gain most from the tax and social security changes this Government has brought in.

Labour has the values and policies to address this unfairness. We have an alternative approach to the seven wasted years of austerity which is fair and economically robust.

I am proud to have served Oldham East and Saddleworth since 2011 and believe my record on fighting for fairness across my constituency for example, through the Oldham Fairness Commission, or for small businesses in my ‘Be Fair, Pay on Time’ campaign, or for people with Dementia in my campaign to develop a Dementia Friendly Oldham, reflects that. I hope that the people of Oldham and Saddleworth will continue to show their faith in me and re-elect me on 8th of June.