I can confirm that I will be requesting the permission of the NEC to stand in the Makerfield by-election. I grew up in this area and have lived here for 25 years. I care deeply about it and its people. I know they have been let down by national politics. Ten years ago, I decided to leave Westminster. Why? Because, after 16 years, I came to the conclusion that our national political system does not work for areas like ours. I learnt this fighting its failure to invest in the Wigan borough, for justice for the Hillsborough families and against its treatment of Greater Manchester during the pandemic. Over the last decade, I have been challenging this failure from the outside and building a new and better way of doing politics. We have built Greater Manchester into the fastest-growing city-region in the UK and put buses back under public control, introducing a £2 fare cap to help people with cost-of-living pressures. However, there is only so much that can be done from Greater Manchester. Much bigger change is needed at a national level if everyday life is to be made more affordable again. This is why I now seek people’s support to return to Parliament: to bring the change we have brought to Greater Manchester to the whole of the UK and make politics work properly for people. Millions are struggling and they need the Labour Government to succeed. It has already made changes to make life better for them in its first two years. After this week, we owe it to people to come back together as a Labour movement, giving the Prime Minister and the Government the space and stability they need as the by-election takes place. I want to recognise the difficult decision taken by Josh Simons and the sacrifice he and his family are making. I have worked closely with him as Mayor on issues like flooding and illegal waste dumping and have seen first-hand how effective he has been. He has put the communities of Makerfield first, made a real difference for them and should take great pride in that. Finally, I truly do not take a single vote for granted and will work hard to regain the trust of people in the Makerfield constituency, many of whom have long supported our party but lost faith in recent times. We will change Labour for the better and make it a party you can believe in again. ENDS

I wait with baited breath to hear how this brings jobs to working class communities, gets pay up and gets bills down. Or do we just deliberately misunderstand what drives support for reform?

I am pleased to announce that in final weeks of December, I received a letter from the Labour Party informing me that the complaint against me that stopped me from standing had been dropped and I return as a full member of both the Cooperative and Labour Parties. Statement ⬇️

Reform is a party of and for millionaires, which voted against workers’ and renters’ rights, rail renationalisation and GB Energy. We cannot allow them to pitch to Labour’s left. To tackle the cost of living, let’s tax extreme wealth and bring utilities into public ownership.

Fashionably late as always... Best wishes to those staying 🫶

Things can and will get better

The solution to the crisis in higher education is not piling students with even more debt. My column for @LabourList this morning 👇 labourlist.org/2024/11/labou…

The key lesson of the Trump victory for us is that Labour has to deliver the significant improvement in quality of life that people can feel or we face the rise of right wing populism that has swept America. Half measures won’t be enough.

📣INTRODUCING SUSSEX YOUNG LABOUR 📣 Young members across Sussex played a key role in the General Election, so we're bringing together Brighton, Hove, and Crawley YL to take YL in Sussex to greater heights as part of @YoungLabourSE! Message us to join our WhatsApp group!

As Equalities Minister, Badenoch attacked trans people and failed to ban conversion therapy. She's called maternity pay excessive and her campaign leaflets argue that autistic people get “economic privileges”. Her election shows that the Tories only care about culture wars.

Sunak's angry response to the budget is bizarre. Major increases to investment spending are a good thing! His claim that billions could be saved from public spending cuts is a fantasy, and that line of thinking got us into this mess in the first place

No matter your views on her stated reasons for quitting, Rosie Duffield has made a political career out of dehumanising one of the most marginalised groups in society. She should never have been allowed the privilege of resigning. Labour should have withdrawn the whip long ago.

Rachel Reeves: "We said we would act on the carnival of waste & fraud that took place during the covid pandemic... Labour will not stand for it, I will not stand for it... I won't turn a blind eye to rip off artists & fraudsters... we want that money back." #Lab24 #PoliticsLive

I guess this last submission means I am no longer a student 😅

It’s really disappointing to watch some Labour members celebrate the whip being removed from 7 dedicated MPs and suggesting that they have ulterior motives for the way they voted, simply because they’re on the left. Intense factionalism like this will tear the party apart.

Just signed. Please do the same if you're able

92% of trans young people have thought about taking their own life, and 45% have tried. Access to hormone blockers has been shown to reduce mental ill health for trans people. Gender affirming care saves lives. A ban on puberty blockers for under 18s is wrong.

🇫🇷"The NFP’s programme is proudly socialist, conscious of the urgency of the climate crisis and addresses much of the social subsidence that’s made room for the growth of the far right." @charilaou_alex on the lessons for Labour from the French left: labourlist.org/2024/07/franc…

The onshore wind ban has been in place for 9 years. We've been in government for 72 hours, we've lifted it. That's the pace we're going to move at.