New analysis I’ve done – based on research by the Resolution Foundation – following the Autumn Statement reveals the staggering hit to living standards in West Cumbria over the last five years. The average household is set to end this parliament £1,900 worse off than in 2019 thanks to low growth, stagnant wages, run-away inflation and the highest taxes in 70 years. Across Cumbria that’s a combined total of £409 million.

This is set to be the first parliament on record to see living standards fall. Real wages are forecast not to reach levels last seen in 2008 until 2028.

Families in West Cumbria can’t afford another five years of Conservative rule.

People in West Cumbria are doing everything they can to get through the Conservatives’ cost of living crisis – but this government is letting them down. After more than a decade of Tory rule all we have to show for it is low growth, stagnant wages, rising prices, the highest taxes in 70 years, record waiting lists, schools falling apart, and filth in our rivers. Our area is crying out for change.

Labour has a plan to get this country moving again. Through our mission-led government we would get the economy growing, get our public services back on their feet and break down the barriers to opportunity for every child at every stage.

295 people were forced to attend A&E at West Cumberland Hospital and Cumberland Infirmary last year due to dental decay, as patients across the county find it impossible to get an appointment with an NHS dentist when they need one. 

At North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust in 2022/23, 235 patients were seen in A&E with a dental abscess, caused by tooth decay, and 60 with dental caries. Across the country last year, 67,000 patients attended emergency departments with tooth decay. 

The number of patients attending A&E with dental decay speaks to the alarming decline of NHS dentistry. Labour’s analysis of patient survey data suggests that 4.75 million people across England were denied an appointment with an NHS dentist in the past two years. Figures show millions of people were either told no appointments were available or that the practice they contacted was not taking on new patients.

The inability for patients to access dental healthcare has forced many into A&E departments when their conditions have worsened. Currently, tooth decay is the most common reason for children aged 6-10 to be admitted to hospital. 

A Labour government has pledged to provide an extra 700,000 urgent dentists appointments and reform the NHS dental contract, as part of a package of measures to rescue NHS dentistry.

Labour’s plans to restore NHS dentistry to all who need it include:

• Funding NHS dental practices to provide 700,000 more urgent appointments, for patients in need of things like fillings and root canal.
• Incentives for new dentists to work in areas with the greatest need, to tackle the emergence of ‘dental deserts’ where no NHS dentists are taking on new patients – including here in West Cumbria
• Supervised toothbrushing in schools for 3-5 year olds, targeted at the areas with highest childhood tooth decay
• Reform the dental contract to rebuild the service in the long-run, so NHS dentistry is there for all who need it

The plans will cost £111 million a year in total and be funded by abolishing the non-dom tax status, which allows people who live and work in Britain to pay their taxes overseas.

Labour’s Josh MacAlister said,

“Far too many people in West Cumbria can’t get an NHS dental appointment when they need one – and all too often the result is severe pain and a trip to A&E. West Cumbria deserves much better – that’s why Labour will get NHS dentistry back on its feet. I’m committed to getting more dentists across West Cumbria treating NHS patients”

Wes Streeting, Shadow Health Secretary said:

“Millions of people are being denied an appointment with an NHS dentist when they need it.

“At North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust, patients are being forced into A&E with tooth decay, as they have nowhere else to turn. 

“Labour will rescue NHS dentistry from this crisis, so people can get an appointment when they need one. We will provide 700,000 more appointments a year to those in the most urgent need and recruit more dentists to areas with the worst shortages.” 

One year on from the Tories’ disastrous mini-budget, new analysis I’ve done, building on a StepChange survey for BBC Money Box, reveals a staggering 82,000 adults in Cumbria are forced to cut back on essentials like heating and electricity to keep up with debt repayments. Over 135,000 are in financial difficulty, and 51,000 have changed their diet to less healthy options to save cash.

This is the result of the Conservatives’ cost of living crisis. After the 13 years of failed Tory rule people in Cumbria are worse off than they have been in years. Last year the Conservatives crashed the economy – and the rest of us are still paying the price. 

One in five are now forced to ration essentials to pay the bills – a third say they are in financial difficulty, and one in eight can’t afford to eat as healthily as they would like. This is the reality of what the Tories have done to our community. Low growth, stagnant wages, failing public services, and ever rising taxes. Yet Rishi Sunak had nothing to say about the cost of living in his speech to his party conference this week. It is time for a change.

Labour has a plan for Cumbria and the whole country. We would get the British economy moving again – we will make it a central mission of the next government to deliver the highest sustained growth in the G7, we will provide stability not the chaos of recent years, and through our Green Prosperity Plan we will help create good new jobs in Cumbria.

Today the Prime Minister had the chance to lay out his vision for the country. He failed. Instead he pandered to wild conspiracy theories and dressed up cynical populism as long-term decision making.

In abandoning 15 years of cross-party consensus and promises he and every Tory PM before him has made to deliver high speed rail to the North of England he has caused untold damage to our regional economy for decades to come. HS2 was vital to free up capacity on the West Coast Main Line for passengers and businesses in Cumbria. Mismanagement of the project and constant dithering mean that billions of pounds have been wasted.

I have written to the Prime Minister to ask that he immediately commits to invest in West Cumbria’s top transport priorities to mitigate the impact this decision will have – before he changes his mind again.

The Tories have had 13 years to invest in transport in West Cumbria but on their watch we’ve had bids worth hundreds of millions of pounds for road and rail projects rejected and our bus services have been decimated. Rishi now needs to put his money where his mouth is and sign the cheque.

I want to see full funding delivered now for the Energy Coast Rail Upgrade – all £424 million we need, a significant settlement to Cumberland Council for major improvements to the A595 through West Cumbria and a substantial funding pot provided to allow us to purchase new buses and introduce new and improved bus routes connecting all our towns and villages.

Read my letter to the Prime Minister:

Latest figures, published by the Home Office, reveal just 8% of crimes resulted in a charge or summons across Cumbria in the last year – that includes just 4% of sexual offences, and just 7% of violent crimes.

Keir Starmer has made ‘Making Britain’s Streets Safe’ a central mission of the next Labour Government. Within a decade that would include halving serious violent crime and raising confidence in the police and criminal justice system to its highest levels.

People in West Cumbria want to feel safe – but these figures show that after 13 years of Conservative rule the vast majority of crimes are going unpunished, including some of the most serious crimes there are. 

Families in West Cumbria deserve better. That’s why Labour will make keeping our streets safe a central mission for the next government. To do that, we’ll put victims first, and we’ll restore neighbourhood policing with 13,000 new neighbourhood police and PCSOs – fully funded through a police efficiency programme – with mandatory patrols of town centres by dedicated officers.

1,151 people died in North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust last year while waiting for care on the NHS, as patients face record waiting times.

Freedom of information requests have revealed that record numbers of people are passing away having never received the treatment they were waiting for.

Latest data shows that around 121,000 people died across England last year while still waiting for NHS care, double the number of people who died on waiting lists in 2017/18, when the figure stood at around 60,000. The figures are also higher than in 2021, when the country was still in the midst of the Covid pandemic.

The NHS constitution states that patients should not wait more than 18 weeks for treatment, but almost half of patients in England today wait longer than that to receive healthcare. At North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust alone, 398 people died having been waiting for treatment for longer than 18 weeks.

The public now face the longest waiting lists in NHS history, with a record 7.6 million people waiting for treatment. There are currently 35,594 patients on the waiting list for treatment at North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust.

Rishi Sunak promised to cut NHS waiting lists, but there are 600,000 more patients waiting for NHS care today than when he became Prime Minister.

Far too many people in west Cumbria are waiting far too long for care, and the result is that record numbers of people are spending their final months in pain and agony, waiting for treatment that never arrives.

The basic promise of the NHS – that it will be there for us when we need it – has been broken. The longer the Conservatives are in office, the longer patients will wait.

But after 13 years of Tory failure, Labour has a plan to get our health service back on its feet. We will train the staff needed to treat patients on time again – funded by closing the non-dom tax loophole – and we will reform the service to make it fit for the future.

Data sourced by the Labour Party through Freedom of Information request has revealed patients at North Cumbria Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust are facing long waits for cancer care, showing that: 

• Patients are waiting up to 87 days to see a cancer specialist after their GP has urgently referred them to hospital. 

• Patients face waits of up to 253 days for a diagnosis or to have cancer ruled out.

• Some patients are forced to wait 226 days to start cancer treatment.

Waiting times for cancer patients in England have worsened every year since the Conservatives came to power in 2010. The government is now set to cut two thirds of existing cancer waiting times standards for patients. The latest figures revealed that the NHS met none of its cancer targets in June 2023. 

52 out of the 60 NHS trusts that responded to the FOI saw a patient wait more than half a year to start their treatment in 2022. The NHS standard is for 85 per cent of patients to start treatment within two months of an urgent referral, a target that has not been consistently met since early 2014. 

The Labour Party has committed to cut cancer waiting times down to safe levels. The party’s plans to deliver better cancer care include training thousands more doctors and nurses every year, providing NHS staff with up-to-date modern technology, and reforming the health service so it catches cancer earlier.

The Conservatives have created a crisis in cancer care, leaving patients waiting dangerously long for a diagnosis or treatment when their cancer could be spreading.

Instead of addressing the problem, Rishi Sunak has now cynically moved the goalposts. The Prime Minister should focus on cutting waiting times, not cutting standards for patients. 

Labour will get cancer patients diagnosed and treated on time again by training the doctors and nurses the NHS needs, and reforming the service to make it fit for the future.

This week I wrote to Kemi Badenoch, Secretary of State for Business & Trade, about the closure of Wilko. I asked what steps her government is taking to support any potential sale to keep as many stores open and protect as many jobs as possible.

You can read my letter below:

Dear Secretary of State,

I am writing to you with deep concern following recent news that hundreds of Wilko stores will likely close.

There are 400 Wilko stores across the UK, representing 12,500 jobs. There are two Wilko stores in Whitehaven and Workington, and for years they have provided crucial jobs for working people in our area. Behind every one of these store closures are workers who will now lose their livelihood. This is truly awful news for them and their families.

The next few weeks will be crucial for these workers’ future, and in turn for their role within our economy during a cost-of-living crisis. I am therefore writing to ask the following urgent questions:

• What steps will you now take to ensure that the tens of thousands of Wilko staff, who could now be facing redundancy, will be supported into new employment?
• What are the government doing to ensure that proper, meaningful consultation is conducted by employers and administrators and that they are prevented from exploiting loopholes that allow for workers to be laid off without having complied with the full 45-day period as clearly stated under law?
• There is still the possibility that some stores may be bought, either as part of a package or individually. What options has the government considered to support the sale of Wilko stores and protect as many jobs as possible?

Sadly shuttered up shops and struggling high streets have become the norm after 13 years of Conservative economic failure. Despite this, the Government has presented no ideas for our high streets. In contrast, Labour has a plan that will tackle the things holding firms back. We will scrap and replace the current system of business rates with a fully costed and funded system of business property taxation that levels the playing field so that our high streets can thrive; crack down on anti-social behaviour; and give council’s powers to put an end to empty premises to bring shoppers back to the high street.

Wilko is not the first example of this tragedy and, without the government matching the ambition of Labour’s plans, I fear it will not be the last.

Yours sincerely,

Josh MacAlister