Author Archives: joshmacmp

One of the most brutal consequences of more than a decade of Conservative austerity is the effect it has had on local services delivered by councils.  While demand has risen, a quarter of council funding from government has been cut in real terms since 2010 under the Conservatives. Council tax has become a bigger andContinue reading “Weekly Column – 26.02.2025 – Rebuilding local government”

Whitehaven and Workington MP Josh MacAlister put his pottery making skills to the test on a visit to West House Pottery in Workington. The Pottery is a not for profit social enterprise run by West House, Cumbria’s leading care and support provider for children, young people and adults with learning difficulties. Josh visited West HouseContinue reading “MP gets crafty at West House Pottery on eve of breaking ground”

Energy bills for heating homes and powering businesses are some of the highest in the world. Speeding up the transition to homegrown clean power – nuclear and renewables – is the best bet for creating new jobs and bringing down bills.  Which is why I was struck by seeing Reform UK’s new energy policy launchedContinue reading “Weekly Column – 19.02.2025 – Nothing patriotic about Reform’s pro-Putin energy plan”

I’ve spent my first seven months as your MP banging the drum for West Cumbria in Whitehall to secure the tools and resources we need to deliver new nuclear, retrofit cold homes, invest in our roads and railways, rebuild our towns and improve public services. Imagine if we had the powers and the funding weContinue reading “Weekly Column – 12.02.2025 – It’s time for Cumbria to take back control”

This letter appeared in the Whitehaven News on 29th January 2025: Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Trust’s engagement exercise on the future of Yewdale ward closed last week. I met the chief executive of the trust shortly before it closed and know that a huge number of people responded. From my conversations with residents,Continue reading “The fight to save Yewdale continues”

Storm Eowyn tore through Cumbria over the weekend and left devastation in its wake. Thousands of local premises were without power, in some cases for almost four days. It was a difficult time for our community, but it also showed the best of us. I want to put on record my thanks to the engineersContinue reading “Weekly Column – 29/01/2025 – Lessons to learn from Storm Eowyn”

This country’s first ever independent Armed Forces Commissioner, a voice to champion service personnel and their families, is one step closer to reality this week, as it passed its third reading in the House of Commons.  This change, a vital one for our brave service personnel, can’t come soon enough.  The importance of the BillContinue reading “Labour’s new independent Armed Forces Commissioner will champion brave service personnel and their families”

In September last year, two months into my time as your MP, I was confronted with one of my first major challenges.  Dozens of residents in the Slipway flats in Whitehaven had been issued with eviction notices and given two months to find new homes. Some had lived there for decades. Many struggled to findContinue reading “Weekly Column – 22/01/2025 – Protecting renters in West Cumbria”

Patients in West Cumbria will be able to access more appointments closer to home and get the treatment they need faster under Labour’s plan to tackle hospital backlogs. In the NHS North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board area there are 354,743 people on waiting lists at huge cost to their health. 110,532 ofContinue reading “Josh MacAlister MP welcomes Government plan to clear local backlog of 110,532 patients waiting more than 18 weeks for NHS treatment”

I have spent my career supporting vulnerable children. First as a teacher in some very tough schools, then as the founder and leader of a national charity bringing new people into frontline children’s social work to give every child the champion they need, and then as the Chair of the landmark national Independent Review ofContinue reading “Weekly Column – 15/01/2025 – We need action, not words, to tackle child sexual abuse”