Hello everyone!

It's lovely to be here in Liverpool at St. George's Hall. When I was first approached about running in Merseyside I must admit I wasn't sure. I'm a brummie at heart and well the reputation of Liverpool, of being thick, being thieves, full of crime, rude, insensitive, shit accents, convinced the world is out to get them and so much more wasn't a huge incentive I must admit. However, standing here in the centre of Liverpool I can happily say that I am glad I am running here in Merseyside and that the reputation and stereotypes are almost mostly all false. Mostly.

It's important that you have an MP which understands the truth about Liverpool and will fight to dispel it. Not only that, but it's important that you have an MP who will bring with them a raft of improvements to both the local area and the country as a whole. Is that me as the Labour candidate in Merseyside? In the words of Stevie G, "eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee courseeeeee".

Now you may have heard that under Frosty Labour is on an educational crusade, trying to raise the standards of our education as much as possible. We've already made significant progress in this area, just look at our track record last term. But we can and will go further. We will democratise schools to ensure that those partaking in the education system get a say in how the education system works. This will also instil a good sense of civic responsibility which we do not currently effectively put forward. We will ensure that children with additional educational needs are fully supported in the learning environment. I have a younger brother with severe autism and I'm very well aware of how challenging, unsupportive and dismissive the system can be for people with additional needs. That is why we will not only pass a SEN bill to ensure appropriate protections and provisions are always in place but we will also mandate that all teachers go through neurodivergency training.

For too long education has been focused on funnelling as many students as possible into university higher education. While this can be an exciting and great way to study it is by no means for everyone. Labour understands this better than anyone. In order to help raise awareness of alternative routes and sectors we will start mandatory work experience in KS4 and KS5. Not only will a taste of the real workforce be of immense benefits to all students, it will give an insight into ways of getting into gainful employment without having to go to university. Alongside this we will increase funding for apprenticeships and provide a no teaching examination scheme for workers who may already have the required skills but no qualifications to prove it.

Liverpool is very much a city of culture from the Beatles to a Flock of Seagulls to the Wombats. It is for this reason it was chosen to host the Eurovision song contest this year. This is no small feat and while I am very well aware that Liverpool is more than capable of handling it we will nonetheless support both the city and the BBC with funding and resources should they wish. In order to continue to promote culture and creativity we will funnel more funding towards creative industries of all kinds, including an Actor Access fund to help people enter acting and promote British culture globally.

We in Labour understand that it is, you, the workers, who make this country run. That is why it is imperative you vote for the party which is going to do that for you. We are going to make sure that collective bargaining agreements are legally binding, providing a further degree of legal protection for workers from predatory employers. We will also mandate that employers list accurate salaries on job listings as while salaries are often listed they are neither accurate nor representative of the actual salary to be earnt. It is important that people have an idea of how much they will be earning when entering job compared to a month after starting when they get their first paycheck. On top of that we will support further roll-outs of the 4 day work week across industries and sectors. It has been proven thus far to raise both productivity and employee happiness levels and we believe that we should extend to as many companies as possible.

This is just a snapshot of what Labour can and will bring you. It's important you remember this when you get to the ballot box. Vote for me, vote Chi.