Politically Speaking column with Simon Lightwood MP: Politics can do better

That’s what people tell me when I’m out across Wakefield and Rothwell, and I get it.

The weekly shop costs more, energy bills are still a worry, and bus fares take another bite out of household budgets… when they turn up! At the same time, too many decisions are made miles away by people who don’t understand places like ours.

People aren’t asking for miracles. They want decent public services, secure jobs, affordable bills and a government that feels like it’s on their side.

A month into Andy Burnham’s time as Prime Minister, it feels like things are moving in the right direction.

Andy gets places like Wakefield and Rothwell. He understands the pressures people are under, but he also knows how much potential there is here. Above all, he knows Westminster has held too much power for too long.

For years, things have been done to communities like ours rather than with us. Andy wants to change that by moving power out of Westminster and giving local people a proper say.

Nobody is pretending one month can fix everything. It can’t. People will judge us on what we deliver, not what we say. But these first few weeks have shown what kind of government this will be.

Andy’s first instruction as Prime Minister was to start the work of ending rough sleeping. In a country like ours, nobody should be left without a safe place to call home.

Then, on his second day, he announced help with energy bills. VAT will be taken off household electricity bills for six months, knocking around £45 off the annual price cap over winter. Will £45 solve everything? Of course not. But it is real help when people use the most electricity.

That’s on top of the £150 taken off energy bills earlier this year and extra support for six million households through the Warm Home Discount.

Buses another issue people raise with me all the time. From January, bus fares will be capped at £2 for the whole year, backed by almost half a billion pounds.

Buses aren’t a luxury. They’re how people get to work, school or college, make hospital appointments, visit family and get into town.

Nobody should have to turn down a job or spend a big chunk of their wages getting there, because the bus costs too much.

Cheaper fares are only part of it. I know we need better services too. After local bus routes fell by 50 per cent under the Conservatives, our Buses Bill is giving local areas more control over routes, fares and timetables. We’ve matched those new powers with millions of pounds for West Yorkshire to improve our local bus services.

Our local pubs, clubs and music venues will get a boost too, with business rates cut to save many of them more than £1,000 next year. Because our locals are about far more than a pint, they're at the heart of our communities.

There’s still plenty more to do from building more council homes and helping young people into work to improving mental health support and moving forward with a National Care Service.

People will rightly judge us on what we deliver. But Andy’s first month has shown that politics can do better, and that things are starting to move in the right direction.