‘Angela Rayner is right – Labour isn’t facing an impossible task to win back voters’ trust’

“Too many people feel politics is happening to them rather than for them, while too many communities still believe Westminster has failed to understand the pressures they face every day”

Angela Rayner is right that the challenge facing Labour is significant, but far from impossible.

Her message that the party must listen more closely to voters and show it is on the side of ordinary working people is one all its MPs must heed. Voters delivered a stark warning in last month’s local elections, and they continue to deliver the same message on doorsteps across the country.

Too many people feel politics is happening to them rather than for them, while too many communities still believe Westminster has failed to understand the pressures they face every day. Thursday’s Makerfield by-election must be more than another electoral test. As Ms Rayner says, it should be a line in the sand.

Winning back trust will not happen through slogans, briefings or endless debate about personalities. It will happen when people see secure jobs, affordable homes, shorter NHS waiting lists and safer streets.

Labour was elected to deliver change. Listening matters, but acting matters more.

Warning shots

A Russian warship firing warning shots at a British yacht in the English Channel is a serious incident that demands answers.

The Admiral Grigorovich has spent weeks operating around British waters, escorting Russia’s shadow fleet and testing Britain’s defences. This latest incident raises fresh questions about Moscow’s intentions.

Britain was right to act against the shadow tanker Smyrtos at the weekend. Sanctions-busting vessels cannot be allowed to operate unchecked. The full facts must now be established. But Britain cannot allow intimidation by a hostile state to become the new normal in our own backyard.

It’s coming home…

England’s World Cup campaign begins on Wednesday, carrying the hopes of a nation still dreaming of glory 60 years after 1966.

There will be nerves, expectations, and plenty of pressure. But there is also talent and belief.

Now is the time to get behind the Three Lions. Come on, England.