Dissolution of Parliament

Parliament has now been dissolved until after the General Election meaning there are no Members of Parliament sitting during this period.

In the time since I was elected in 2015, my local office has been supporting over 8000 cases per year and we are proud of the hard work undertaken on behalf of constituents.

Due to strict rules, the constituency office will only be able to offer very limited support for outstanding urgent casework, with the Parliamentary email system not being in use.

Any emails which relate to the election campaign will not be answered, instead constituents should use jim@jimmcmahon.co.uk which will be monitored throughout the election campaign.

I am now the Labour and Co-op candidate for Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton. Thank you!

Promoted by Kyle Phythian on behalf of Jim McMahon both at Oldham Labour Party, Kershaw Road, Failsworth, M35 9PU.

BBC Politics North West Appearance

It was great to appear on BBC Politics North West on Sunday morning to put forward Labour’s plans to end the cost-of-living crisis, rebuild our public services, and get Britain’s future back.

No amount of Tory unfunded spending commitments will make up for the chaos and cost working people have paid thanks to the Conservatives. After party-gate, the mini-budget market crash and years of record high waiting lists, the country is ready to turn the page on 14 long years of Tory government.

Making sure we can have pride in our communities has always been a driving passion of mine in the 20+ years I have been in public life.

That is why for the people of Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton, if re-elected as your Labour & Co-op MP, I have a plan for creating a thriving local economy, providing decent homes, ensuring a safe place, and fostering community ownership.

Achieving these will require increasing the number of decent, well-paid jobs; increasing the amount of police on the street to address both incidents and causes of violent crime; tackling HMOs and poor quality housing with family homes for local people; and safeguarding heritage, community venues, and sports grounds.

Our changed Labour party is for stability over chaos, for service over self-interest and for change over more of the same. Labour is ready to fight for every single vote at the General Election on 4th July.

Local Transport Investment

Last week, I spoke in the debate on rail investment. I do think sometimes when connectivity is talked about, while the great powerhouses that are our cities are rightfully mentioned, our towns are too often ignored.

On a more local level, these projects, along with Labour’s plan to bring rail back into public ownership, present us with an opportunity to really bring forward plans to have an orbital tram route for the north-east of Greater Manchester. It could connect the Bury line to Middleton, Chadderton and Oldham (with a spur to Royton) and then through to the existing Ashton line.

Further to this, Oldham deserves better heavy-rail connectivity, after all, since the light-rail system was introduced, Oldham town centre has been without a heavy-rail station. Why can’t we have that national connectivity at Mills Hill, Moston and the currently defunct Middleton Junction station? Each could be joined onto the line Lumo have proposed from Rochdale to London Euston via Manchester Victoria line, and properly serve the people of Oldham, Chadderton and Royton?

We can create a multi-model public transport service that constituents of mine deserve, one that can revitalise local investment and reignite community ownership – ensuring the North is no longer undersold by their government.

High-speed Rail for the North

This week, I spoke in Parliament regarding the HS2 phase 2 cancellation and the Northern Powerhouse Rail project.

I believe that generations to come will look back at this period of our history, when the Prime Minister woke up one morning and decided to cancel HS2, with regret and see it as a missed opportunity to really invest in the future of our country. Rishi Sunak, on a whim, ripped up over a decade of Conservative promises to deliver High Speed Rail to Greater Manchester through a high-speed line from London and has since dragged his feet about providing a high-speed line across the major cities of the North.

The double standards on display are shameful. Yes, the proposed £12 billion of investment in rail from Manchester to Liverpool is of course welcomed but London didn’t have to choose between HS2 and the Elizabeth line that cost £19 billion. If London doesn’t have to choose, why on earth should the north of England have to choose on the same basis?

We can create a multi-model public transport service that constituents of mine deserve, one that can revitalise local investment and reignite community ownership – ensuring the North is no longer undersold by their government. In the end, if London didn’t have to choose between its sub-regional investment and its national investment, why on earth should the north of England have to?

Meeting with the Palestinian Ambassador

Yesterday, I met with Husam Said Zomlot, Palestinian Ambassador to the UK in Parliament.

I expressed the solidarity shown by the people from across the constituency who have long stood with the people of Palestine.

We discussed the humanitarian crisis which has led to the loss of tens of thousands of innocent civilians including children, and the desperate need to secure the safe passage of aid including medicine.

I shared the strength of feeling and also the significant charity work underway locally. Many local groups and constituents have worked hard to rally for aid and it’s essential it gets to civilians.

We talked about the announcement from Ireland, Norway and Spain earlier in the day to formally recognise the state of Palestine. Labour has called for the recognition of Palestine, which is essential in securing peace and viable two state solution.

I’ve talked before about the representations I’ve made in Parliament, some of which have been shared on social media, most recently calling out the current government supply of arms for use against international law.

We want to see peace; an immediate ceasefire, the flow of urgent aid, the release of hostages, upholding of international law, recognition of the remit of the international court (ICC), recognition of the Palestinian nation in its own right and not at the gift of any neighbour, action on illegal settlements and critically a path to a long term peace and security for both Palestine and Israel people.

I’ll contribute as I have in speaking truth to power, true to our shared values, and speaking for innocent victims wherever they are.

HMOs in Oldham, Chadderton and Royton

Today, I raised in the Chamber the rapidly increasing issue of HMO, houses of multiple occupation, development across Oldham, Chadderton & Royton.

This was previously an issue with our pub industry, where we saw pubs on mass being bought up and converted for a profit, losing those focal points in our communities. Even pubs which were just about profitable couldn’t compete with the inflated income the same building could attract as the building was carved up into single rooms.

We are now seeing good, quality family homes being bought up by landlords looking to make a large profit by converting these family homes into HMOs, making a profit per room far more than the regular monthly rents for a family home, which are already eyewatering. This also means that working families who want to buy are losing out because it then inflates the sales market too.

Tied into this supply issue is the Home Office contract with Serco, who currently have hundreds asylum seekers placed in private rented properties across the borough, as well as the temporary use of hotels. Our borough has always played its part in offering sanctuary, but it can only ever take a fair and proportionate number to other towns if it is to manage the knock-on impact of family homes being taken out of the system.

This is a very real issue with losing more family homes is further highlighted with currently 500 children being housed in temporary hotel accommodation in Oldham, with such limited supply of family homes leading to there being nowhere to go for these families and their children.

We are in a housing supply crisis, we need more family homes and to stop the ones we have being lost to HMOs.

The Governments response was to blame local planning authorities for allowing the developments to go ahead. This is weak, the Government know that Councils are legally bound by national planning policy and in reality the Government knows that it is their own legislation, the National Planning Framework 2019 that has watered down planning regulations and left communities and families wide open and defenceless against developers looking to make a quick profit. Local planning authorities are too often unable to stop a development without the real risk of it being overturned in appeal, with costs awarded against the council.