Labour’s prospective MP for Truro and Falmouth, Charlotte MacKenzie, spoke in the children, families, and schools debate at the Labour Party conference.

Here’s what Charlotte said:

‘When I went into my Twitter account this morning there was a tweet from someone in Cornwall saying:
“Hmm, I like Gordon’s new policies… Maybe I should actually vote Labour.”

All of us campaigning for Labour to win have our track record of achievements backing us. Where I live before the minimum wage was introduced four out of ten jobs were advertised at below the level at which it was first introduced. I’m delighted to be speaking to you conference the day before this year’s increase to the minimum wage, which has made a difference for thousands of people in my home constituency.

I am going to talk about education – because we all know there is a connection between low wages, lower expectations, and the Tories’ educational failures which meant many children left school with few or no qualifications.

Labour’s investment in education in Truro and Falmouth means we now have 11 children’s centres, mostly purpose built. In Truro, where I’m a councillor, this helped to support the development of three new community centres.

There are new primary school buildings, a new secondary school, new college buildings, a new university – which means that the number of 18-24 year olds in Falmouth has increased by 80 per cent since 2003 – a new medical school based partly at Cornwall’s main hospital site in Truro, alongside which a new dental school is being constructed to provide the NHS dentists Cornwall needs.

None of this would have happened without Labour thinking big, investing in our future, and supporting Cornwall’s case for the European funding which helped to build the new university.

All of this happened despite rather than because of the local authority – whose Liberal Democrat leadership until 4 June presided over deteriorating reports on children’s services which still have some serious issues to address. One of the first acts of the incoming Tory majority executive on 4 June was to place Cornwall Council’s schools for the future bid on hold – they have since decided to proceed with the bid.

Locally and nationally, let’s say clearly to people “if you want change, choose Labour’s continued investment in public services”.’