Jake Berry
Rossendale MP
I WAS humbled to receive over 50 per cent of the vote at last month’s General Election and to be re-elected as your MP.
In my acceptance speech I promised to continue to work closely with our local Council, regardless of political colours to get the best deal for the Valley. That’s why one of my first meetings back in the constituency was with councillor Alyson Barnes where we put our rosettes away to discuss a range of issues that we can work on together to make the Rossendale Valley a better place for all of us to live.
Down in Westminster the Prime Minister has now formed a Government in the national interest. With the most seats and votes, only the Conservative Party had the ability and legitimacy to do that. The Conservative Party have had a strong relationship over many years with the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), and have now finalised a confidence and supply deal. I know there are concerns with this approach that I want to address. As your MP I will continue to promote and champion equal rights. Conservatives in Government introduced same sex marriage and earlier this year passed ‘Turing’s law’ to remove historic convictions for consensual acts. As I work with others to govern in the national interest we will continue to promote and champion the equal rights we believe in.
Governing in the national interest will also mean delivering a successful Brexit that works for the whole country. It means building on our economic record of more jobs, cutting the deficit and investing more in public services like the NHS. It means tackling the social issues we face in the country: issues like mental health, housing, and proper technical education for young people. It also means continuing to meet with and listen to the concerns of everyone who lives here in the Valley.
Many people have also been in touch with me to ask if now is the time to look at the public sector pay cap, following the vote as part of the Queen’s Speech. This is something that is being looked at but the time to deal with these issues is in the autumn, when the independent public sector pay review bodies report on their recommendations. Voting to end the freeze during the Queens Speech could have forced another General Election and was a short sighted political game played by the Labour Party.
The pay cap, over the last seven years, meaning that people received a one percent pay rise every year, was a difficult decision but it has safeguarded over 200,000 public sector jobs, including those of nurses, police officers, firefighters, teachers and members of our armed forces.
We had to make a choice between giving bigger pay rises to public sector workers and safeguarding jobs. I think the balance was right but in the autumn the government will make a decision on the future of the pay cap, with inflation now running at over 2% it may be now time to rethink our plans.
Locally I’ve had a busy few weeks catching up on casework, holding advice surgeries in Bacup, Darwen and Rawtenstall as well as visiting Edenfield Village Fete, Whitworth Library and volunteering with the brilliant people from Bacup Pride to help put the finishing touches to their Britain in Bloom displays.
I’ve also met with representatives from Lancashire Police about the proposed closure of the front desk at Waterfoot Police Station. I accept budgets are tight but I am extremely uncomfortable about the loss of this service and have already written to the Police and Crime Commissioner for Lancashire to ask for this decision to be looked at again.