Fighting poverty must be Labour’s core mission

Tackling poverty has been the core mission of every Labour Government and this one must be no different. The last Labour government lifted over half a million children and well over a million pensioners out of poverty. The progress made in those years transformed life chances for thousands of people across our area, but the social contract that bound us together twenty years ago has been eroded by fourteen years of Conservative government.

During their time in office, child poverty went up by 700,000, with over four million children now growing up in a low-income family. This not only harms children’s lives now but damages their future prospects and holds back our economic potential as a country. I want our country to be a place that, whatever your background, allows you to get on in life.

To do this, this Labour Government is following in the footsteps of previous Labour governments to take on the social imperative to defeat the scourge of child poverty. We have already introduced free school breakfast clubs across the country. In High Peak, the clubs have been rolled out in New Mills Primary, Bamford Primary and Peak Forest Primary. I’m looking forward to seeing how they all get on and hopefully the clubs will be rolled out to all our local primary schools in the near future.

Last week, it was announced that free school meals will be extended to all kids whose families get Universal Credit. This will put more money in people’s pockets by saving parents up to £500 a year and divorce hunger from academic achievement. It’s common sense that children who are hungry will do worse at school and I am proud that over 3000 children in High Peak will now be able to receive free school meals.

Through difficult choices in the Autumn Budget, wide-reaching trade deals and tough fiscal rules, we have now brought inflation under control and begun to fund our public services properly. This has meant that we can raise the income thresholds for the Winter Fuel Payment, which will mean that around nine million pensioners will now receive vital support to help with energy costs this winter. I have been campaigning for a fairer system and this change will ensure support goes to those who genuinely need it – not to millionaires or people who choose to live overseas during winter.

Helping people out of poverty underpins everything that I believe in and remains one of the foundational missions of this Labour Government. I look forward to us being able to take further measures, as the economic situation improves, that will improve the life changes of people across High Peak.