The very government Department that exists to help get people working is attempting to undertake a move that negatively impact the job prospects of hundreds of Oldhamers that work at the site and in the wider local economy.

After speaking with the PCS Union this week it’s clear that as the one-to-one process gets underway that people do – understandably – have issues with potentially another ten-miles on their commute. The knock-on effect that this could have on the time it takes people to get to work, the increased cost of travel and childcare that comes with that seems to be being ignored by the DWP.

The idea that all of the staff will be able to move to another location, be it Stockport, Salford or Manchester City Centre without any issues is laughable, and any job losses will have a huge impact on the operations that take place at these offices.

It’s all very well the Government saying that these are back office operations and people who rely on these services won’t notice a change in service, but the reality is that our benefits and pensions system in the UK can be complicated for people to navigate and the people that work at Phoenix House are experts at benefits processing – many of them have been doing it for years. I’ve also been told that the Government has also ruled out using working from home or a more flexible hybrid approach as a way to avoid making people redundant.

I’m firmly of the opinion that this office should remain open. The government talks about levelling up but then proceeds with closing down offices in towns like ours who desperately need a new deal. Labour will always be on the side of working people, and I’ll continue to work with neighbouring MPs and the PCS Union to oppose this move.

The Chancellor seems to be unaware of the scale of the challenge that so many families and businesses in Chadderton, Oldham and Royton face in the midst of the cost-of-living crisis. The Office for Budget Responsibility has confirmed that we face the biggest hit to households’ income since records began in the 1950’s.

We heard from Iceland supermarket boss Richard Walker this morning that some foodbanks are rejecting potatoes and root veg because people can’t afford the energy bills to boil them, and yet the government have failed once again to provide support to those on the lowest incomes, who are having to turn to foodbanks.

The decision to continue to raise taxes and national insurance to the highest level in 70 years, only to offer crumbs before a general election is unbelievably cynical and people will see through it.

People across Oldham need real support today, not in two years’ time, they need to know that the government is on their side when they face rising food, fuel and utility bills and the Chancellor has failed today. Not following Labour’s plan for a windfall tax on huge oil and gas companies and supporting those who need it most with up to £600 off their energy bills.

When the Chancellor delivers his Spring Statement tomorrow, he has the chance to prove who’s side he is on, that of oil and gas giants who’s profits have sky-rocketed or hard working families who’s bills have gone through the roof.

All of us here in Oldham are seeing the cost of living crisis spiral out of control, our bills are increasing, the cost of filling up the car at the pump is going up and the weekly food shop at the supermarket is getting more and more expensive.

The Government should take another look at Labour’s plans to cut household energy bills by up to £600 and Rishi Sunak must also halt his deeply unfair tax hikes.

No one in Chadderton, Oldham and Royton in 2022 should have to choose between heating and eating, which is why Labour has set out a fully costed, immediate plan to reduce bills and mitigate the impact of the energy bill rises.

Labour would give families security with fully-funded measures to keep energy bills low, saving families money on their bills and additional help for those who need it most, like low-earners and pensioners.

The actions by P&O Ferries late last week were a national scandal, the decision to fire 800 staff without notice was a betrayal of the workers that kept this country stocked throughout the pandemic.

Today the Labour Party will stand up for these P&O workers in Parliament, we will demand:

P&O workforce reinstated and legal action taken against P&O

Government contracts suspended

Fire and rehire outlawed

Workers’ rights strengthened

Tough words from the Government are not enough when they had the chance to outlaw fire and rehire in October last year and they blocked our efforts. These seafarers do not need meaningless platitudes from Ministers, they need action.

This is the cruel consequence of the Tory assault on workers’ rights. The threat of Fire and rehire as a negotiating tactic is causing workers, unimaginable financial and mental pressure. The Government must outlaw this pernicious practise.

A Labour government will strengthen employee protections and ban fire and rehire to give people the security they deserve for an honest day’s work.

For the third time in four months the Bank of England has moved to increase lending base rates. This will hit around 2 million households who are on either a tracker or variable rate mortgage. In addition, around 1.5 households are set to see their current mortgage deal expire, with a further 1.5m households joining them in 2023.

For average mortgages this means a further increase of around £25 for a tracker mortgage, around £1,000 a year higher than the start of 2022.

Taken with inflation, rocketing gas and electricity bills, mobile phone and broadband, and petrol and diesel families will quickly begin to feel the pressure as any headroom is swallowed by increased bills.

To make matters much worse the government is intent on hiking up National Insurance, Income Tax and Council Tax in April, sending many working households over a cliff edge.

This is a cost-of-living crisis made in Downing Street, and the Tories seem determined to make it worse.

The Tories have turned their back on Oldham and left it’s levelling up promise in tatters.

News that Phoenix House, the Department for Work and Pensions office on Union Street in the centre of Oldham is set to close marks a long and disgraceful programme of removing jobs from the town, at a time when we need support to recover from the pandemic.

There has not been any consultation with local Members of Parliament and follows on from the closure of the HMRC tax office in the same building only a few years ago. According to the PCS union, 168 jobs will be lost as a result of the latest round of cuts.

Taken together it shows a disregard for the town, and the importance of town centre workers supporting the local high street, spending money at lunch time and after work.

So far, the town has seen the closure of the Magistrates Court, the County Court, numerous police stations and custody cells, the HMRC tax office and now the DWP office. Together taking hundreds of workers out of the town.

Just this week it was reported that there were 5,270 unemployed claimants in Oldham West and Royton constituency alone, which was 7.9% of the population aged 16-64. This was 1,665 higher than March 2020, before the first UK lockdown began.

Worst still, the work previously done at Phoenix House will be moved to St Peters Square in Manchester City Centre, where office rents are some of the highest in the region.

The Tories never put towns like Oldham first, they have an agenda to strip back public services to the bone and drive a race to the bottom on living standards and quality of life for working people.

The government had information weeks before that a Russian invasion was coming, yet the Home Office has taken two weeks to get a system in place for processing those fleeing the war. Because of the Ukrainian restrictions on men of working age leaving the country,, those seeking sanctuary are most likely to be women and children.

The UK has some of the most advanced bio-metric and processing facilities in the world, that the government can’t seen to marshal quickly enough isn’t good enough.