Kevin Lee

For decades, regions like ours have driven the country's success but too often haven't seen enough of the benefits of that success stay in the communities that helped create it. This announcement is an important step towards changing that. liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool…

For too long, places across the country have helped create growth without seeing enough of the rewards. Today, we start to put that right. Local areas will keep more of the money their communities help generate, giving them more power to invest in local priorities.

I promised to take power out of Westminster. I meant it. For the first time ever, we’re giving Mayors a share of income tax so communities have more control over jobs, transport, housing and public services in their area. I know what it’s like to be ignored by politicians in Westminster. I won’t make that same mistake as Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister has launched a national conversation on social care. He has made it clear: profiteering – the extraction of profit from the people and firms that produce it – must end. In contrast, care co-operatives reinvest profit back to the carers and care they provide.

Today is polling day. Here’s to hope and ambition 🗳️

Andy Burnham yesterday, before Robert Jenrick condemned a social care policy that doesn't yet exist: "Please can we have a factual debate? Can we allow people to weigh up the different options… and then just come to a considered view based on those facts? “I don’t think it should be too much to ask, because I think the public will give us their view. They’ll make it really clear what they feel they can accept and what they can’t. “We won’t get to that point if there’s all of this stuff swirling around, and everyone frightened about everything. That just won’t get us there.”

Today I’m announcing a major investment in our nuclear deterrent, supporting 22,000 apprenticeships. Keeping this country safe is the first responsibility of any government - but security isn’t just about what we build, it’s about who builds it. The submarines produced in Barrow protect us all, the jobs and apprenticeships they create change lives. This is Britain - reindustrialised.

Today is a difficult day for our region as we remember all those affected by the Southport tragedy two years ago. At 3pm, our region will fall silent in memory of Alice, Bebe and Elsie, the survivors, and all those whose lives were changed forever on this day. In the face of unimaginable loss, the people of Southport have shown extraordinary strength, compassion and resilience. They have supported one another through the darkest of times, reminding us all of the power of community. The entire Liverpool City Region family stands with you today and always - as does the whole country.

I am doing this for my dad and the millions like him up and down the country.

This is the issue governments keep putting off. That ends now.

This Thursday, let’s keep moving forwards together.

Let me say this very directly. Football does not belong to investors. It belongs to the people who fill the stands and who stand on the touchline week in, week out, rain or shine. The World Cup is not a product. It is the greatest competition in world sport, and it was never anyone's to sell. Dress the deal up however you like. Once you have sold a piece of it, you have sold out. Football belongs to the fans. It always has, and it always will.

Andy Burnham's first week suggests he understands something that Westminster has forgotten. People don't vote for governments because they understand macroeconomics. They vote for governments that make them feel somebody is finally on their side. The headlines have been about cheaper energy bills, lower bus fares and support for pubs, clubs and high streets. None of those policies, in isolation, will solve Britain's long-term economic problems. But judging them purely on that basis misses what I think Burnham is trying to achieve. This isn't just about policy. It's about political sequencing. Too many governments begin by asking people to be patient while they pursue long-term reform. Burnham appears to be taking the opposite approach. Demonstrate that government can make everyday life a little easier first, then use that trust to tackle the more difficult reforms that inevitably follow. That matters because people don't experience politics through GDP forecasts, productivity statistics or Treasury statements. They experience it through the bills they pay, the bus they catch to work and whether the local businesses they value are still there next year. Of course, there is an obvious caveat. Britain still faces profound structural challenges. Weak productivity, an ageing population, housing shortages, strained public finances and difficult choices on tax, planning and public sector reform. No Prime Minister can avoid those forever, and retail politics is no substitute for serious economic reform. But the reverse is equally true. Structural reform is politically much harder if voters don't first believe government understands the pressures they're under. Trust isn't built by telling people to wait for a better future. It's built by showing them that government can still improve life in the present. Whether Burnham succeeds will ultimately depend on what happens over the next five years, not the first five days. But if his opening week is anything to go by, he seems to understand something many modern governments have forgotten. Before you ask people to support difficult change, you first have to give them a reason to believe change is worth supporting.

For decades young people have been told that going to university was the only measure of success - at the expense of decent technical education. This is a chance to stop asking young people to fit the system and instead to build a system that fits around their future.

Let’s stop telling young people there’s only one way to succeed.

@JoPlattLeigh Many congratulations Jo, really pleased for you.

Delighted to be appointed Parliamentary Private Secretary to the Prime Minister. It’s a privilege to take on this role and I’m looking forward to getting started. My priority remains delivering for Leigh & Atherton and being a strong voice for our community.

I am delighted that the Prime Minister @andyburnham has appointed me as his Parliamentary Private Secretary alongside the brilliant @NicDakin55 and @JoPlattLeigh. I’m looking forward to assisting the PM in delivering the change St Helens North, our politics, & the country needs.

That’s brilliant news David - very well deserved.

I'm used to people telling me things can't be done. I didn't accept it then. I won't accept it now. It's time to get Britain believing again and bring back hope. This week is just the start. mirror.co.uk/news/politics/…