Back from the conference bubble of Liverpool, I stayed at a somewhat musty hotel, a brisk and bracing 15-minute walk from the venue by the River Mersey.
I did a short daily video report on my Facebook page ‘matt4watford’ which may interest you.
The slogan this year was ‘change begins’ and it certainly has. At the heart of it is the NHS and economic stability. Two of Labour’s first six steps.
Clearly, as I’ve written before, having inherited a £22billion black hole in the nation’s finances is extremely challenging. You can rise to it and tackle it or shirk responsibility and seek to run away from it – that never works.
A secure economy must be the foundation for all else and the budget at the end of the month will tell us more about how it will be done.
We’re not 100 days in yet as a government, but already change is happening. The junior doctors’ strikes have ended and emergency measures have been taken to recruit 1,000 additional GPs.
A new UK Border Security Command has been launched to smash the criminal smuggling gangs with new counter-terror style powers.
We’re setting up Great British Energy – a publicly-owned clean energy company to bring cheaper bills using solar and onshore wind.
On crime there’s now a National Violent Disorder Programme to stop criminals causing violence and unrest.
In schools we’ve improved teachers’ pay and are improving workload and flexibility as well as having launched a recruitment drive for 6,500 extra teachers.
We’ve started to bring about change and a better Britain. The task of government is never an easy one, but one thing is for sure, it beats being on the sidelines in opposition after 14 years.
- Matt Turmaine is Labour MP for Watford
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