Where I stand
For too long the people of Thurrock have been held back. The issues of the local communities have been side-lined in favour of what’s best for big business interests, the local MP’s desire for a headline or simply because the voices of ordinary people under this Tory government are simple pushed aside.
Thurrock needs a strong voice. Someone with national experience of influencing policy and representing ordinary people at the highest level. Someone to bring a voice to the issues Thurrock’s communities care about – the things that matter to local people.
We also need someone who can listen. Someone who knows that the role is to serve the community and who is used to working closely with activists and ordinary people. But Thurrock also needs someone who has a track record of winning and who will lead the local Labour Party to the victory they so desperately deserve and that the people of Thurrock need so much. That person is me.
Here you can find out where I stand on the major issues affecting the communities of Thurrock and how my background and experience can help deliver a better life for local people.
Good Jobs
Thurrock’s strategic importance to the country as a whole means that the communities here should benefit from infrastructure investment and be able to share in its prosperity. I have been a senior negotiator fighting for high wages and good jobs for many years. I will use that experience to fight for the best deal for the people of Thurrock. I will be Thurrock’s voice in Westminster, not Westminster’s voice in Thurrock.
The Tories have turned this country into an economy built on low skill, temporary and insecure jobs. Employment through an agency or even an app is now far too common. Employers are able to take less and less responsibility for the workers who help to build their company or maintain their services. We have lost so much of our industry that used to provide many of us with hard, but skilled and stable occupations. I want to see a Labour government that invests in our country so we can nurture the sort of jobs people can build a life around. We need to support employers that provide good jobs, instead of giving tax breaks to those who exploit us. People who work hard deserve a good wage, job security and a decent pension when they retire. I want to see an end to the pay squeeze on public sector workers and return to a culture where a decent job is a right and not a privilege.
I have the experience and track record of winning for working people nationally to deliver real change to every community in Thurrock locally.
A Fair Social Care System and the “Dementia Tax”
Our adult social care system is on the verge of collapse. Councils are being forced to spend more and more of their budgets shoring up the problem, while this Tory government refuses to acknowledge that radical change is needed to protect some of the most vulnerable in our society.
Thurrock’s Tory MP, Jackie Doyle-Price, continues to tell us that the “dementia tax” is the solution despite almost universal opposition. Somehow she believes that, at a time when the younger generation face so many difficulties finding and settling in decent homes, it is acceptable to try and stop their parents and grandparents from lending a hand. I stand against this unfair and divisive approach.
While working at GMB, I led the union’s work in social care. I have links with unions, care providers and policy making bodies and will be able to argue the case for the Labour manifesto’s National Care Service. We need a level of care that allows our elderly and most vulnerable to live decent lives. We must shift the responsibility for providing this to a fully funded body similar to the NHS and away from individuals and families who are already dealing with the most difficult personal circumstances.
Secure and Genuinely Affordable Homes
A secure home is at the heart of feeling safe and part of your community. Too many local families aren’t able to have homes that are fit for their families and this has to end. Nationally, Labour has committed to prioritising council housing building. I would work to make building family homes in Thurrock a priority as part of that strategy. I would also ensure we have new infrastructure, facilities and services to ensure that these communities are the best places to live.
I will use my experience of high level negotiations and influencing national policy to argue Thurrock’s case for housing investment to benefit the people of Thurrock. We can build sustainable and lasting homes for families to build good lives. We can build communities for children grow up and have better opportunities.
A Thurrock Protected from Pollution and Excessive Traffic
The people of Thurrock are rightly concerned about what the proposed route of the new Lower Thames Crossing will do to the area. The communities of Thurrock deserve better than to have their concerns ignored. The issues raised must be addressed: increasing pollution, more heavy goods vehicles travelling through residential areas and no solution in sight to being at the mercy of the Dartford Crossing. I will oppose option C on your behalf.
Thurrock desperately needs a strong and experienced voice that won’t play politics with the issue. I am used to standing up to huge multinational businesses who try and run roughshod over the lives of ordinary people. I am not afraid of giving voice to controversial opinions when it is the right thing to do. Thurrock is a vital hub for the whole country and it’s time that the local communities got the benefits of this and not just the downsides.
A Fully Funded Education System for All
The Conservative government are continuing to push through huge cuts to school funding with all but one of the schools in Thurrock due to have reduced funding by 2020. This will result in larger class sizes, fewer teachers, less choice in subjects and reduced extra-curricular activities. All this means a poorer education for the children of Thurrock. Jackie Doyle-Price simply denies the evidence, attempting to pull the wool over local families’ eyes.
The voters know different. More than 750,000 votes changed as a result of campaigning on school funding cuts in the May 2017 election. I currently work as a National Organiser with the National Education Union, leading our organising work to defeat Tory attempts to mislead parents.
I will build a detailed and comprehensive plan of action to show the impact on our local schools and challenge the government’s policies on schools. I will use this plan to help ensure that Labour wins more votes, and wins Thurrock back.
A Decent Commute
Our railway system is broken. People who commute from Thurrock into London by train are left with no option but to pay huge fares for facilities that are not up to scratch and stations and trains that are understaffed, overcrowded and not as safe as they should be. The profits made from running c2c services now go back to the Italian state railway company.
We need more services designed to get more people to and from Thurrock faster, to help grow our local economy, but do so at a cost ordinary people can afford.
I was a union organiser working with c2c staff for a number of years – spending hours travelling up and down the line meeting railway workers and talking to people about the service. I am dedicated to the Labour manifesto commitment to bring the railways back into public ownership as I know this will represent the best deal for all rail passengers.
I will support these policies at a national level, while applying pressure locally to ensure that money is put back where it belongs – investment for a decent, safe, affordable and reliable train service for everyone.
Protecting Our Health
The communities of Thurrock are at the mercy of major health inequalities, with parts of the constituency having significantly lower life expectancies than others. Tory cuts are decreasing our ability to combat these differences. Even basic services such as GPs are stretched well beyond capacity. On top of this the plans to close Orsett Hospital without any adequate plans to continue to provide the same level of service simply show that Jackie Doyle-Price and the Conservatives do not have the interests of ordinary Thurrock people at heart.
I have years of experience running hard hitting and effective campaigns – on wages and jobs, on public funding and protection of services. Campaigns that reflect real-life experience and expose hypocrisy and unfairness. I would campaign for quality health services and funding for measures that not only protect health, but improve quality of life.
