There is no point pretending the last week has been anything other than bruising for the Labour Party.
The May election results were devastating. Across the country, voters sent a very clear message. They are angry, they are frustrated, and they do not feel that politics is delivering quickly enough for them, their families or their communities.
I understand that. I have heard it on doorsteps, in my surgeries, in village halls, and on high streets in conversations with thousands of people across West Cumbria over the last few years.
People are working hard but still feel squeezed. They wait too long for NHS treatment. They worry about the future of their town centres. They want decent jobs, safer streets, better public services and a government that gets the basics right.
I do not think politicians should hide from that. The public have spoken and we have to listen.
What is happening in Westminster now is the Labour Party genuinely trying to work out how to respond. That is messy. It is noisy. It is not always pretty. But behind the headlines, the basic question is a serious one: how do we move faster, listen harder and show people that change is real?
In all the noise of the last week, three important pieces of news risk being missed which do show progress.
First, the asylum claim backlog – which hit record levels of well over 150,000 under the previous government – has been cut by more than 50%. That matters because a broken asylum system is unfair to everyone: unfair to taxpayers, unfair to communities, and unfair to people waiting in limbo for decisions.
Second, NHS waiting lists are falling. The overall waiting list is now down by more than half a million since last July. That does not mean the NHS is fixed. Far from it. But it does mean progress is being made, and I know how much that matters to families here in West Cumbria waiting for treatment. And it isn’t the only sign of progress in the NHS – we’ve recruited more GPs, more NHS dentists and more mental health staff.
Third, Britain had the highest growth in the G7 in the first quarter of this year. Our growth projection for the whole year has also been revised up by international experts. Growth is not an abstract statistic. It means more jobs, more investment, stronger businesses and more tax receipts that can be used to tackle the cost of living and rebuild public services. We’ll be laying out further support for fuel costs and energy bills later this week.
None of this is a victory lap. People do not want lectures or excuses. They want delivery.The message from last week is clear: shake up the system, deliver results and show whose side we are on.
That is what I will keep pushing for – in Westminster and here at home.
Josh MacAlister MP 