Labour party is back on the campaign trail as Sir Keir Starmer visits Cheshire

LABOUR leader Sir Keir Starmer was back in Cheshire yesterday (Thursday) and his message for the people was clear – if you want change, you have to vote for it.

Visiting Bollington, Labour clearly believe they have a chance of snatching the Macclesfield seat from the Conservatives – as other big guns they’ve wheeled in in previous weeks include deputy leader Angela Rayner and Emily Thornberry.

But both Mr Starmer and Labour’s Macclesfield candidate Tim Roca said they took no vote for granted.

The Labour leader told the assembled crowds: “Every vote has to be earned. We can't take anything for granted. The polls do not predict the future.”

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer addresses the crowd in Bollington (Image: Belinda Ryan, LDRS)

He outlined manifesto pledges including an extra 40,000 NHS appointments a week,  more teachers in schools, 13,000 neighbourhood police on the streets and setting up GB Energy, a publicly owned energy company.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service asked how Labour would help cash-strapped councils fund services such as adult social care and special educational needs provision.

Just this week Cheshire East Council said it would have to ask more families of elderly people in costly care homes to pay ‘top-up’ fees.

Mr Starmer said: “We need to build a national care service. We need to start with the staff.

“We will have a fair pay agreement for all staff across the care sector so we can support those care homes and care staff.

“We need to make sure that people can be cared for at home where they can, which is where most people want their care so that has to be a core principle.”

He said a national care service would provide the care that people need and families desperately want.

“It also takes a huge pressure off the NHS, which at the moment, is unable to discharge people as quickly as they would like into the community because the social care isn't there,” said Mr Starmer.

“So this is what we will do, if we get the opportunity, and we’ll make a start on this straight away.”

Sir Keir Starmer arrives at the Vale Inn, Bollington with Labour's Macclesfield candidate Tim Roca (Image: Belinda Ryan. LDRS)

Cheshire East is currently £80m overspent on its special needs budget and is facing a deficit in that area of £285m by the end of 2030/31.

The LDRS asked how a Labour government would help deal with this.

Mr Starmer said: “I’m not going to pretend I've got a magic wand.”

He said Labour would have to work to rebuild the economy.

“On special needs, we will have to get to grips with this early, because it's a really serious issue for people here and now,” he said.

“I think we can do that, working with social care, working with the health service, working with local authorities.

“I think there are some ways in which we can take the burden off local authorities in terms of the way in which they're funded, the structure of their funding settlement.”

He said many councils were paying for people who have been evicted through no fault evictions.

“We're going to end no fault evictions, and of course, when we stabilize the economy, that will bring the inflation risk down for councils,” he said.

“So I'm not going to pretend that, on day one, we can fix everything, but we will roll up our sleeves and make a start and ease the pressure on local authorities across the country, but around here in particular, they're under a lot of pressure.”

Other candidates standing in the Macclesfield constituency are David Rutley (Conservative), Neil Christian (Liberal Democrats), Steve Broadhurst (Reform UK,) Amanda Iremonger (Green Party), Dickie Fletcher (Social Democratic Party) and Christopher Wellavize (Independent).