Articles - Bridget Phillipson

Bridget Phillipson MP: For Labour, Rishi Sunak’s Budget is an opportunity – but also a danger

Some of the commentary on the Budget suggests that had Labour won the general election, a new chancellor would have presented a similar financial and economic package: focusing infrastructure spending on roads, neglecting to fix Universal Credit, failing to lift working people out of poverty and deprioritising investment in green technologies. Counterfactuals…

Bridget Phillipson MP: Long term funding is the only way to get us back on track

Our region is home to some incredible heritage – from the stunning Penshaw Monument, to the beautiful Victoria Viaduct, running from my constituency, over the River Wear into Washington. Those with longer memories will remember the days when trains passed over the viaduct along the Leamside Line, a rail corridor…

Bridget Phillipson MP: We need investment in education, skills, and infrastructure for our young people

For many people, the work they do is one of the most important aspects of their life. A good job can provide a sense of purpose and meaning, not just a salary. Yet people can only work if the opportunities are there – which is why one of my top…

Bridget Phillipson MP: Lifelong Labour voters felt let down and Party must look to rebuild

I am honoured that the voters of Houghton and Sunderland South put their trust in me again. But I know from countless conversations on the doorstep that too many lifelong voters felt badly let down by Labour, and could not support us. We must now seek to re-build, select a…

Bridget Phillipson MP: Labour needs to learn from the winners, not repeat a losing formula

I suspect it will be months before we have anything more than a fairly broadbrush understanding of what happened in last week’s election, and while the results did not surprise me, the points I really want to make are about the immediate pitfalls to avoid rather than the longer term…

Labour loves nostalgia. But we succeed when our politics is about the future

We love nostalgia in the Labour Party. We pepper our politics with references to people in office seventy years ago. Sometimes we seem to drench our party political broadcasts in a sense of how things were better in the past, an implicit promise that our future will be a recapturing…

Bridget Phillipson MP: Revive our communities and unlock region’s potential

I’m always amazed to see first-hand the invaluable efforts of those in our area who work week-in, week-out to make our community the best possible place to live. Whether they are selfless volunteers or carers going above and beyond for vulnerable people, they are motivated by a desire to help.…

Bridget Phillipson MP: Invoking the spectre of rioting is an insult to those who voted Leave

Using the threat of other people’s criminal violence to demand you get your way is despicable from anyone. It is the politics of the protection racket. It’s not, sadly, altogether unusual these days, but what’s new in recent weeks is threefold. First, these threats are coming directly from government. Not…

Bridget Phillipson MP: The Tories have got their priorities all wrong

Even in these turbulent times, few expected such a calamitous start to Boris Johnson’s tenure as Prime Minister. In a mess of his own making, he has suffered an unprecedented six defeats in Parliament in just six days. But it is essential in our democracy that MPs are able to…

Bridget Phillipson MP: The fate of Nissan is a sure sign of how Brexit will hit the north – we need a Final Say

I was only two when Margaret Thatcher came to the constituency where I was born and brought up. It was 1986 and she was opening the Nissan factory because, as she said, “within the whole of Europe, the United Kingdom was the most attractive country – politically and economically – for large-scale…

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