It’s been a hectic few days at Labour Party Conference in Liverpool and it’s straight back to constituency business today.
I had the opportunity to speak in a number of discussions on building a coalition across the country to win across our towns, rural and coastal communities; doubling the size of the co-operative and mutual economy, and on skills, drawing on my experience as an apprenticeship who left school at 16 and straight into the world of work.
The mood was very positive but also realistic about the challenges ahead and what is needed to rebuild our country after a wasted decade which has left households on the brink, the national debt now a trillion pound more than when the Tories took office, and inflation still running at a 40 year high with all of us feeling it’s impact.
As a former councillor and now supporting the local government association and the cooperative council innovation network I was really pleased to hear a clear ambition for devolving power to communities; for too long things have been done to people and not by and along them. That has to change.
But that can only be done with a solid economy which can grow and create decent working class jobs in all parts of the country, and public services which are there when you need them.
Today I have written to Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities following the announcement that Chadderton will be included in the “Long-Term Funding” scheme, which will include the setting up of a Town Board similar to that in Oldham town centre.
Our constituency is made up of three towns in Oldham, Chadderton & Royton, therefore I find it striking that we now find ourselves in a position whereby Royton will miss out on the same level of attention and investment as a result, I have therefore asked the government to include a scheme for Royton.
Oldham, Chadderton and Royton all have distinct heritage and cultural assets that lay the foundation for funding and they all have district centres. This is an opportunity for all three to come to par and have success in the coming years.
The council has already set out on the road well in Royton with investment in the town hall and library, and local people are self organising to invest their own money into small businesses which is creating great places to meet and socialise in the town centre.
It also has significant employment sites, housing development is planned alongside a new tram stop, as well as it having wonderful natural assets like Tandle Hills.
The crack down on Nitrous Oxide, commonly known as laughing gas, is long overdue, and it’s use has been a significant concern in Oldham, with public use seemingly increasing during the period of lockdown when younger people would meet in car parks and other public spaces.
Over the last year I have been increasingly concerned about the scaling of use from small silver canisters which could be found in their hundreds scattered across the borough, to commercial size canisters used on foods such as whipping cream. During community litter picks it would be common to collect smaller units in the hundreds in some locations.
Nitrous Oxide is a colourless, slightly sweet smelling, non-flammable gas which has become popular recreationally because of its euphoric effects. It has been used by around 1 in 12 young people aged 16-24 in the last year making it the second most common street drug after cannabis.
I have asked Oldham Council in its capacity overseeing public health, and Greater Manchester Police for greater awareness raising to be increased both with young people and their parents.
The council report that; The number of deaths and demand for treatment for problematic use of nitrous oxide remains low compared to other drugs with deaths linked to nitrous oxide use are primarily due to oxygen deprivation.
There have, however, been reports of an increase in neurological harms, including nerve and spinal cord damage, related to heavy and persistent use. Long term effects and known harms are limited but regular use can lead to red blood cell problems that could result in anaemia.”
The link to the use of Nitrous Oxide related to anti-social behaviour is reported to be weak, but the harms are of a concern enough to invest in raising awareness to see it’s use reduce.
There has rightly been a significant local and national interest following news that the historic Oldham Coliseum theatre could be lost forever.
As a local MP I committed to doing all I can to help secure its future, and I meant it. Yesterday I held meetings with Oldham Council and Debbie Abrahams MP (Oldham East & Saddleworth) to discuss the current threat, and how it reached the point of crisis ahead of its planned move to a new venue in the town centre.
Further meetings are taking place next Monday with Arts Council England and Shadow Secretary for Culture, Media and Sports, and neighbouring MP Lucy Powell where we will be seeking support to secure the immediate future of the theatre.
We know how important this is, not just for the place it has in all our hearts, with treasured memories and the family outing to the panto, but also the appreciation that to have a producing theatre is something unique Oldham has been proud of. These theatres are as critical to the arts as grassroots programmes are to football in the UK, and it should be seen and valued as such.
This will not be an easy fight, and there will be many barriers in the way of securing its long-term future, but we owe it to the town to do all we all.
We need to harness the outpouring of support locally and beyond as a rallying call, and we need help from government and arts bodies to see a positive outcome.
A joint statement from me with Debbie Abrahams, and Cllr Chadderton is below.
The Coliseum has been the jewel in the crown of Oldham’s cultural offer since 1885, the outpouring of support from the people of Oldham and the countless celebrities whose careers were born at the theatre are testament to that.
Earlier this week the theatre whose history dates back to 1885 announced that it would be shutting its doors at the end of March after losing its Art’s Council funding
This is more than a fight for one town, or one theatre, towns like ours depend on cultural organisations like the Coliseum.
We will fight unreservedly for a thriving, innovative Coliseum theatre production company which is the beating heart of Oldham’s cultural offer. We will be demanding that the government, Arts Council England, and others work with us to secure a sustainable future for this, now and for generations to come.
Last month the Boundary Commission for England released its updated proposals for new constituency boundaries across the country. The recommendation by the Boundary Commission is that the boundaries for both Oldham West & Royton and Oldham East & Saddleworth will stay the same- a proposal both myself & Debbie Abrahams argued in favour of. You can find my full response below.
Dear Commissioner,
I write to you today in my capacity as the Member of Parliament for Oldham West and Royton to respond to the consultation on the Boundary Commission England (‘BCE’)’s 2023 Review of Parliamentary Constituencies.
Broadly speaking, I am pleased with the Revised Proposals, and particularly their proposal to retain the Royton Seats in the Oldham West and Royton constituency. The proposals much better reflect both the Boundary Commission’s criteria and the natural geography of the constituencies in Oldham than the alternative proposals suggested in the Initial Review.
It remains the case, as with my response to the Initial Proposals, that there is no other combination of wards in the borough that would have the effect of meeting all the BCE’s criteria in a better way.
The current constituency is well designed to maintain the special geographic consideration of the importance of practical transport connectivity achieved by the spine road of Broadway which, together with Manchester Road, connects the constituency together. As I will go into below, it also contains 3 distinct areas, two of which in their totality, and does the minimum amount possible to break any local ties.
Therefore, in the absence of any other combination of wards, the most sensible criteria to prioritise are the inconvenience attendant on any changes and the boundaries of existing constituencies. This suggests that it is paramount for BCE to prioritise maintaining the existing constituency boundaries and I am pleased to see that this has been done.
There is just one further issue that I feel needs to be addressed in the final consultation. It is an issue that both myself and, at various times throughout this and prior boundary reviews, my predecessors and all major local political parties have raised – namely, the addition of the name Chadderton to the constituency name in the form of Oldham West, Chadderton and Royton.
While the BCE has previously rejected this name change, this should not prevent it looking at it again. Nor should the fact that no changes are being proposed to the overall make up of the constituency.
There is no legal guidance as to name but the BCE considers that the constituency name should normally reflect the main population centre(s) contained in the constituency. In this respect, the proposed Oldham West and Royton constituency is misnamed in missing Chadderton out. The reasons for this are as follows:
Chadderton residents make up 1/3 of the constituency.
Chadderton is the second largest population centre and is completely within the constituency.
Chadderton is a clearly defined historical township and areas of Chadderton are to be found in eight of the nine wards in the current constituency.
There are three wards in Chadderton (with a population of 33597) and two in Royton (with a population of 20742), yet Royton gets included in the name and Chadderton doesn’t. To be clear, we are not asking for Royton to be removed because it is its own clear community.
While it is accepted that it is unusual for constituency names to have three places named within them, there are two examples in England – Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford in Yorkshire and Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner in London. There are a further 8 in Scotland – Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock, Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk, Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East, Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale, East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow, and Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey.
In each case where three places have been named in the constituency, this is because they all have prominent populations, as is the case with Oldham West, Chadderton, and Royton. The BCE are required to take into account special geographical considerations and changing the name would fulfil this particular criteria.
It is also worth pointing out that another factor that the Boundary Commission England is required to take into account is the inconvenience attendant in making any changes. As an MP, I regularly refer in communications to representing the people of Chadderton, Oldham West and Royton in order to reflect the distinct identities of each area. There would therefore be no inconvenience at all to such a name change, at least over and above a regular constituency name change, while having the positive effect of recognising a distinct and historic community that has long felt left behind.
Throughout the years, the inclusion of the name Chadderton has received widespread cross party support in the area, as demonstrated by Chadderton Historical Society in their response to the BCE’s Initial Proposals. This suggests that it would also be politically uncontroversial and provide low levels of inconvenience.
Thank you for your consideration of these proposals, I strongly urge you to adopt them as such.
Yours sincerely,
Jim McMahon MP
Oldham West and Royton
Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
The Boundary Commission for England has released its updated proposals for new constituency boundaries across the country. In our area the headline recommendation is that the boundaries for both Oldham West & Royton and Oldham East & Saddleworth will stay the same- a recommendation both myself and Debbie Abrahams MP had argued in favour of.
In previous rounds of proposals there had been suggestions of swapping the Alexandra and St Mary’s wards which are currently in Oldham East & Saddleworth with the Royton North & South wards currently in Oldham West & Royton. I wrote to the Commission arguing against this as having no electoral value and not recognising the natural links which shape our area. This is particularly the case given the importance of Broadway & Manchester Road in connecting the constituency through Chadderton and on to Royton. I am pleased that the Commission has taken these proposals on board.
However, while I am pleased the Commission has retained the same boundaries, I am disappointed they have rejected my suggestion of a change of name to the constituency in order to represent Chadderton. I, alongside many people in Chadderton, including the Chadderton Historical Society, proposed that a more appropriate name would be Oldham West, Chadderton & Royton. As Chadderton makes up around 31% of the population of the constituency, I feel this is a missed opportunity for the constituency name to recognise its second largest town. I know many will share this view so if you support the inclusion of Chadderton in the constituency name please do get in touch with my office or the Boundary Commission to show support for the change. This will be a proposal I will continue to advocate for as the Committee makes its final deliberations before producing the final report in July 2023.
Just 7 weeks ago I was writing at the beginning of Liz Truss’ time as Prime Minister detailing how she was not on the side of working people and that her economic claims did not add up. Fast forward to today and those claims have been proven right and we somehow find ourselves with Rishi Sunak as the third Tory Prime Minister in a couple of months.
Over the last 12 years we have seen Tory failure after Tory failure and we now find ourselves in the midst of an unprecedented cost of living crisis. As Chancellor Rishi Sunak failed to grow the economy, failed to get a grip on inflation, and failed to help families with the Tory cost of living crisis. Appointed him as an unelected Prime Minister is not the answer.
He claims his government will have “integrity, professionalism and accountability” but we cannot forget that Rishi Sunak was also found to have broken the law and lied to the British public for attending parties in Downing Street at the height of lockdown. This does not sound like integrity, professionalism and accountability to me.
During the summer’s leadership election (which he lost) Rishi Sunak bragged about taking funding away from areas like Chadderton, Oldham & Royton that need it most in favour of giving more money to wealthy rural areas. This is proof that he and his government will not prioritise working people. Instead, we will have more of the same where the already wealthy are put first and working people are left to pay the price.
We saw from the Conservatives’ disastrous mini budget the consequences of prioritising tax cuts for the rich over economic security. Rishi Sunak and his family have previously avoided paying their fair share of tax in this country while simultaneously raising taxes for working people. There is clearly no mandate for this.
The country needs a fresh start and the public deserve a say on what that fresh start looks like. We need a general election now in order to bring in a Labour government that will provide strong leadership and put working people first.
Liz Truss’ departure as Prime Minister is the latest shambles in the line of 12 years of Tory failure. They have created a cost-of-living crisis and crashed the economy in Downing Street with working people facing record high levels of taxation, sky high bills for food, fuel and energy and £500 extra on their mortgage bills.
People in Chadderton, Oldham & Royton are paying the price for Tory chaos. They deserve far better than this. The answer to this crisis is not another Tory Prime Minister appointed without the consent of the British people- there is no mandate for this.
We even have speculation that the disgraced former Prime Minister Boris Johnson is going to throw his hat into the ring- this is the same man who just months ago was declared unfit for office by his own party.
What we need for Chadderton, Oldham & Royton and the country as a whole is a fresh start. People deserve a say on the direction the country is headed at this critical moment- Labour have a plan to sort out this Tory mess and to do so in a way that prioritises growing the economy and puts forward a new deal for working people. The only way we can rebuild towards a fairer, greener future is with a general election- now.
Jim McMahon OBE MP 