Michael Sparling

As the County Council election draws nearer I should like to highlight that Labour does not have a pessimistic view that runs Britain's local communities down all the time. This country has never been broken. It is not now. Nor will it be.

Nationally nearly 3,000 Sure Start Children’s Centres are now embedded in the fabric of local communities. Labour is proud of our country: our communities are getting stronger. So we are optimistic about the future. We are not the broken society the Conservatives claim. There is nothing wrong in Britain today that cannot be put right by what is good about our country.

In West Devon, people are rightly concerned about our beautiful local area, the local environment, and the quality of local services. Here too we have a real opportunity to forge an even fairer and more prosperous local community.

Investment and reform has meant that local public services previously neglected by central government now meet decent standards, so power can be devolved to local government with greater confidence.

Labour supporters can be proud that we have reduced poverty, pursued a meaningful equality agenda, reformed and renewed our public services, and cut crime. We should be proud but not satisfied. To achieve our goals and ensure lasting change, Labour must continue the work of reform, enabling Britain to weather the storm of economic turbulence.

And it is because we live in an era of accelerating change that fairness matters more: fair chances for all, so that everyone can share in the new benefits that progress brings; fair rules for all, so that no one feels exploited; a fair say for all, so that people have more power over their local services.

Looking ahead, on other issues such as licensing laws and control over public spaces like parks and our town centres, people should never feel powerless. In our local communities this means empowering local people to hold local services, like policing, to account. Labour’s neighbourhood policing, where we have set clear minimum standards for every local area including in West Devon, will transform the ability of local people to shape policing priorities. Ten years ago investment in localised measures like these were perceived as a real innovation.

New times ask new questions and demand new answers. Only Labour can provide them for all the people of our communities and I am proud that it is against our principles to leave anyone behind. We will seize opportunities with optimism and continue to help build the new Britain everyone in our country deserves.

MICHAEL SPARLING

Torridge and West Devon Constituency Labour Party