Jim McMahon: We have left the country in a worse state for our children

The UK has “fundamentally” breached the contract with the people of the country by leaving Britain in a worse state for our children, a senior Labour frontbencher has said.

In an exclusive interview with The Yorkshire Post, Jim McMahon, the shadow environment secretary said that the country has changed to the extent that his children will be worse off than he will due to the failure of successive governments.

“I just feel as though that kind of incremental thing that we built together, not just through the Labour years, but over a generation, that's been eroded,” he said.

“The National Health Service that we built together: that is being diminished in front of our eyes. I feel the same with education. I feel the same with the welfare state. I feel the same with workers rights.”

He told the Yorkshire Post that this has led to a deterioration in the quality of life for working class people, where the promise of graft leading to hard work no longer exists.

“The thing about being working class, you work for a reason, you work to provide for your family and the pride that comes with that,” he said.

“When you don't feel you can do that it affects who you are, affects the pride you have in yourself, it affects your own identity, as somebody that works to provide, and it affects the way you feel about the place where you live.

“I think that's a fundamental breach of the British contract. The British contract was always, if you work hard, and do everything that's asked and roll your sleeves up, you'll be able to provide for yourself and your family.

“And more than that, that your children and your grandchildren will be able to do even better than you did.

“Now we have a situation where my son has no chance of getting on the housing ladder on the wage that he is on, with the house prices being what they are, at a time when inflation is going through the roof and mortgages are becoming more and more expensive.

“And I do feel like generationally, we haven't handed over the country, the economy, and society in a better condition than we inherited it, it is harder for people.”

Announcing his party’s policy on sending water bosses to prison, he said this is a just way to punish those who are deliberately leaving the planet in a worse place for the next generation.

“There is a thing about fair play and decency, and making sure that the rules of the land apply fairly across the board,” he said.

“A water boss should be treated no differently than any other member of the public.

"Under the Tories, water bosses have been basically given a Get Out of Jail Free card.

“I want to take our responsibility, which is a generational bond as custodians of the land that we've inherited, more seriously than we do at the moment.”