‘This is what Labour is doing for you’ was the theme of the stall run by volunteers of the local Labour Party in Clevedon on 22^nd March.

Volunteers from the Labour Party greeted shoppers in Clevedon on Saturday to talk to people about the positive things Labour is doing for the British people. Although the party has only been in power for eight months, it has already put in place several major policies that will directly improve people’s lives — including on Employment Rights, schools, and the NHS.

The impact of a Labour government has also been felt locally in North Somerset. Local Labour MP Sadik Al-Hassan lobbied hard to make sure that the Portishead Railway project got the final go ahead and was delighted to recently announce a new West of England Forest which will see 20 million trees planted in our area by 2050. There will also be a £6.8m boost for public health services in North Somerset; business rates will be cut for North Somerset’s high street businesses; £4.9m has been made available to improve bus services in North Somerset; and £1.8m extra has been provided to fix our potholes.

The purpose of the stall was to listen to the public, and shoppers readily stopped to stick hearts and stars on the topics they felt most positive about. The item that received the most support from Clevedon people was the extra £4.9m funding for local buses, closely followed by the pay rise for care workers and £6.8m funding boost for public health in North Somerset.

Passers-by also raised issues important to them, including several calls for reintegration with the European Union, worries about the situation in Ukraine, wishes for better NHS funding, suggestions for a change in the funding formula for childcare, positive and negative views on the government’s proposed welfare reforms, and concerns about the closure of pharmacies. The latter is a subject close to MP Sadik Al-Hassan’s — a former pharmacist — heart.

All the volunteers at the stall enjoyed interacting with the public and continuing the party’s open lines of communication with constituents. Louise Branch, one of the volunteers, said, “people seemed very aware that things are going to take time, that we can’t fix everything straight away, and that current worldwide political instability means that we need a government which acts sensibly and has a long-term plan.

Hildegard Dumper, another Labour volunteer, was concerned at where people were getting their information on topics such as COVID-19. “Parliament needs to introduce measures to control the spread of dangerous disinformation,” she said.