Yesterday, May 2, Reform UK was announced as the winners of the Hull and East Yorkshire mayoralty and Scarborough Town Council, in a day that saw them win 677 council seats across the country.
This morning, York Central MP Rachael Maskell – in an interview with BBC Breakfast – urged her party to scrap winter fuel and welfare policies that she said are pushing voters away.
She said: “We’re not any other political party, we were created to serve the needs of people across working areas of our country so that people had a real voice of the kind of change that they wanted to see.
“I think it’s now time, if Labour are going to go further faster, to pick up that voice, to put our fingers on the pulse and to understand that that responsibility that the 1945 government set out putting that safety net in place at the welfare state is on our watch and is our responsibility.
“So, scrapping these proposals to push disabled people into hardship is an absolutely crucial part of that change, showing that we’re going to be listening to the country and protecting the people at their time of need.
“Of course we want to get more people into work. Of course the changes to the health system is really crucial … but also we’ve got to help people and care for people as we go on that journey.”
Ms Maskell added that people “went cold” last winter because of the government’s policies, claiming it’s “not what a Labour government should be doing.”
“We have got that mandate, I believe, as a party to look at how we can better redistribute wealth, as opposed to taking out of the pockets of the poorest,” she said.
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Ms Maskell said Labour needs to be driven by “a framework of values, which is about protecting people, helping people to move forward in their lives and ensuring you’ve got those public services ready and working so that people can have that support when they need it”.
“That is what Labour governments do,” she told BBC Breakfast.
“I believe that when Labour does not meet that sweet spot, that expectation that people have of a Labour government, then they start to look in less favourable places for where that help comes from.
“Yesterday, many people were searching for that response, to find that protection, to get that support.
“But, sadly, if Labour were not offering that, they would look in other places.
“That’s why Labour have got to learn from the results yesterday and ensure that we do meet the needs of people in this country in very, very trying times.”
