Letter from Parliament - Simon Danczuk MP

Simon Danczuk MP

I’d like to start by thanking everyone who voted for me in the General Election. I was extremely humbled by your support and I will be working hard over the next five years to repay this vote of confidence and also to support everyone in Rochdale, whether they voted for me or not.

But while it was a good night for Labour in Rochdale, nationally we had a terrible result and the Labour movement has a lot of painful soul searching to do as we begin the process of selecting a new leader. It’s a matter of public record that I’ve long held doubts about Ed Miliband’s leadership and it seems these were also shared by the general public.

It’s important now that Labour selects the right leader to connect with the public and start to speak the language of millions of people’s hopes and ambitions. Towns like Rochdale need a Labour Government and I’ll be doing all I can to make that happen.

But the road to Government always starts with hard work and getting on with the business of bread and butter politics. My office in Rochdale is open five days a week and I’ll be continuing to make local issues a big priority.

Tackling environmental problems is an example of the bread and butter issues we deal with all year round. In recent weeks we’ve met with residents from Old Mill Street, for example, who are concerned about an eyesore site that’s attracting fly tipping. We’ve subsequently got the council to begin enforcement action against the owners of the site to secure the land and remove piles of rubbish.

Helping people live in a clean environment, challenging anti-social behaviour and dealing with housing problems is a critical area of work to ensure that people are happy and proud to live in Rochdale.

But the big picture is Government providing ample resources to fund transport, housing, policing, health and other services so we can make our Borough a great place to live and attract business investment to create well paid jobs.

The Home Secretary has already started talking about more policing cuts and we’re facing a difficult battle to ensure key services are properly funded. I will also be challenging and holding the Government to account over it’s so called ‘northern powerhouse’ policy. In the last Parliament we were treated more as a ‘northern punch-bag’ so it’s vital that Government rhetoric translates into meaningful support for Rochdale.