It has been a big week in Westminster. We started with the 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘂𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗘𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗕𝗶𝗹𝗹 returning to the Commons for Report Stage. Great to see my Co op Party colleague Miatta Fahnbulleh leading on this. It is a real step forward in shifting power from Westminster to our regions and local communities.

On Wednesday at Commons Business Questions, I raised the issue of the 𝗛𝗠𝗥𝗖 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝘆𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁. It has been stuck at the same level for 15 years while the cost of running a car has shot up. It is time working people were treated fairly and properly compensated for the mileage they cover.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝘂𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘁 dominated the rest of the week. One of the most welcome decisions was scrapping the two child benefit cap. That move alone will lift 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 6,000 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘖𝘭𝘥𝘩𝘢𝘮 𝘞𝘦𝘴𝘵, 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘙𝘰𝘺𝘵𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘺.

The Budget also delivers real help with the cost of living for working people, including freezing rail fares, extending the 3 pound bus fare cap, freezing prescription charges, and support with energy bills, along with an increase in the National Living Wage.

As Chair of the Co-op Party, it was great to hear the Chancellor talk about 𝗰𝗼-𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗼-𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀. The government has launched a call for evidence on growing the cooperative and mutual economy. We are determined to double the size of the sector and this is an important step forward.

On Thursday, I asked the Minister for Courts about what support their department can offer in our work 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗰𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗱𝘆 𝗰𝗲𝗹𝗹𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘁 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 in the plans for a new Oldham police station.

Before heading back to Oldham for constituency work, party meetings and advice surgeries, I hosted a roundtable with Cllr Abdul Jabbar and representatives from 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗕𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗮𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗵. We discussed how digital platforms and AI can widen access to education in both urban and rural Bangladesh.

A busy week, but real progress being made.

To all in the historic, and surely the best county in England, a Happy Lancashire Day!

The budget has been delivered to parliament, and I spoke about the support being offered to people in Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton as the detail was published yesterday.

The cost of living crisis is still very real for many people. Even though progress has been made with five Bank of England interest rate cuts since Labour came to power, and more possible in the months ahead, some respite has been achieved, but the pace of energy, food and transport costs alone, and rent for those in the private rented sector have all seen increases when wages largely have not risen at the same rate.

So the budget was about action. The removal of the two-child benefit cap is important, lifting over 6,000 children in our constituency immediately out of poverty, of which an around 60% are in working families. Across Oldham over 11,000 children are affected and it’s the single most effective lever the government has to tackle child poverty, and something I called for in the run up to the budget. Taken with investment in breakfast clubs, and raising the National Minimum and Living Wage will give real practical support to help local people.

Action to ease the cost of living includes around £150 off average energy bills, an extension to the Warm Homes Scheme again worth £150, and the decision to freeze rail fares for the first time in thirty years is good news for travellers using Mills Hill, Moston and Manchester’s stations. So too is keeping the £3 cap on bus fares given so many use our buses everyday to get to work, study, shop or to go to an appointment. On top of this prescription charges will be frozen and fuel duty frozen too, with measures to ensure savings are genuinely passed on at the pump.

Businesses are being supported with reductions in Business Rates for small and medium retail, hospitality and leisure businesses, funded by an increase in larger warehousing and other premises worth over £500,000. This will mean real support for our high streets, pubs, restaurants and shops who will all pay less with warehouses like Amazon paying more to cover the cost.

And there will be a boost to apprenticeships with free placements for businesses who take on people under 25 years old.

There was mention from the Chancellor of moves to grow the co-operative economy and a new Call for Evidence has been launched, all making progress to double the size of the co-operative economy.

There are compromises and that is difficult, but the independent assessment shows that lower- and middle-income households all overall benefit when considering all tax changes, welfare, and public services.

I’ve called for more action on apprenticeships to ensure we move to fix what is currently a system letting down young people, employers and skills providers. I’ve also asked the government to conduct a review of procurement so that vehicles bought by police forces, through the mobility scheme, or any part of government buy British first.

I’ve also asked for work to support Building Societies and Credit Unions, and for HMRC to finally reassess mileage rates, which have stood at 45p for 15 years when the cost of running a vehicle has rocketed since then, for instance the Department for Health and Social Care has increased its own rates to 56p a mile following a review as part of Agenda for Change. That is in line with RAC and Unison estimates of today’s running costs and shows that for low income workers in jobs like home care, they are paying HMRC just to go to work, that isn’t okay at all.

The budget will be debated over days until Tuesday next week.

It was great to be at the White Bank Road Vestacare Stadium this weekend to see Avro secure a solid 1-0 win over Nantwich Town, to move to joint top of the NPL West!

Last month, we met with club director Rob Fuller, Oldham Council & Action Together, to discuss progress on investment in the important community ground, thank you for having me once again for the match.

Since taking on the then derelict site, the team have worked tirelessly to transform the ground and clubhouse into a thriving community venue, now home to many junior teams drawing in over 500 boy and girl players, and the Anthony Crolla boxing gym. Local institutions like these are vital for providing opportunities to our young people and put them onto a positive path in their youth.

It was a pleasure to present certificates to the team of hardworking volunteers and to promote the Entain’s “Pitching In” programme and its volunteering hub.

I also managed to pour a good Guinness too, or at least I thought so!

There’s been a lot of talk about the markets lately, and there’s no doubt they can make or break governments – just ask Liz Truss. But all politics is local, and the market I pay attention to is our own Tommyfield Market… or, to be precise, the people of Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton.

I hear time and again about a hardworking community built on graft and contribution, yet one where the cost of living crisis is overwhelming families.

Tomorrow’s budget must speak to local people who are doing everything asked of them and simply want to get on in life. It should at the very least offer some respite from the cost of living crisis, and it must begin to rewrite the economy so it works for working people.

I also see the impact of austerity, lost facilities and its effects have been felt most sharply on our high streets and in our neighbourhoods.

That means giving greater powers and resources to local communities so they can determine their own futures, rather than being beholden to landlords who leave buildings derelict or seek to pack our town, street by street, with low-quality HMOs, profiting from the housing crisis and the misery of decent people.

It also means supporting small and medium-sized businesses so they can thrive, and that of course includes tackling the burden of business rates.

And finally, it’s not just what is done, but how it’s done. People want to be part of the decisions that affect them, not pushed aside. That’s where the idea of a cooperative borough came from, and it’s how the country could finally begin to let people truly “take back control.”

To see a clip from this speech, head to my Facebook page.

It was a pleasure to meet with William Lees Jones from the longstanding family run institution JW Lees Brewery about the pub and wider hospitality industry at the Boat & Horses in Chadderton.

They do a great job, employ lots of local people and provide social spaces for the community to come together.

Thank you to those from Spark Oldham for having me, including founder Kim Rogers, at your community space in Fitton Hill earlier this week. It was a pleasure to get to see a glimpse of the fantastic work you do for our local community to boost mental wellbeing, engage young people, and promote volunteering & community work.

It is clear to see why they received a Quality in Action Award from Action Together earlier this year, and why Kim received the Special Recognition Award at this year’s Oldham Business Awards more recently.

Coming into politics not through a debating society at university, but through the community means that I know first hand that all politics is local and that the impact dedicated community groups like Spark is massive.

While visiting the community space, we popped by the road Holy Rosary Church. I have long support restoring this former institution and bringing it back into community use. This is especially important given the building’s rich heritage with George Mayer-Marton’s mosaic and mural, heritage recognised when it got Grade II listed status in August 2022.

Keep up the great work!