Hartlepool MP Jonathan Brash writes: 'There is so much in our town that needs to be fixed'

Everywhere we look there is the debris of the previous Government, whose incompetence and failure can be seen in almost every aspect of our lives.

Decisions have been delayed or dodged, public services have been driven to breaking point and our public finances are in the worst state they have been in living memory.

One of the worst examples is the ‘Long-Term Plan for Towns’, much heralded by my predecessor, which was supposed to give Hartlepool £20 million over 10 years. We have now discovered that the Tories only actually allocated money for ONE year.

They launched a ‘long-term’ plan, but only funded it for 12 months! This is emblematic of the incompetent and dishonest way that party treated towns like Hartlepool.

Labour is working to correct these mistakes and, along with my council colleagues, have raised this issue with ministers.

I am pleased that Labour ministers have listened and extended the deadline for submissions so that the right decisions can be made.

Hartlepool’s Chair of Economic Growth, Councillor Pamela Hargreaves, is working with council officers on a plan to help sort this mess out and I will give them every piece of support I can.

Elsewhere, I was pleased to see the defunding of BTEC courses paused by the new Secretary of State for Education, on which our brilliant FE Principal, Darren Hankey has been campaigning, and which I was only too happy to support.

Another extraordinary revelation was the uncovering of the true cost of the Tory Rwanda gimmick. They spent £700 million pounds on a scheme that only managed to send four volunteers to Rwanda.

This is a disgraceful waste of public money and the Conservatives should be ashamed.

There is so much in our town that needs to be fixed, from our broken public services, access to NHS dentists, the unacceptable level of crimes, asylum and immigration and cost of living crisis.

There are no quick fixes, but we have begun the steps for change and, as always, I will be working for one thing, to improve Hartlepool for us all.