THIS is a particularly turbulent time in politics with tensions at their highest.

That is exactly why I am keen to listen to all the voices across our towns, understand your concerns and recommit to doing everything I can to represent you in Westminster.

We need a strong government, one that aims to address the inequalities we see in Leigh and across the country.

But instead we are faced with another Tory beauty pageant and the prospect of even more division not less.

That’s why I have been spending time on the doorstep across the constituency, talking to as many people as possible.

As expected, many conversations did cover Brexit and the future relationship between the UK and EU.

People were very honest, and many were rightly frustrated by the lack of progress being made in Westminster.

It was also good to hear that my pledge to the people here in 2017 to respect the result and push for deal for our towns was one that was widely accepted by a majority from both sides of the debate.

However, many conversations were indeed and rightly about local issues.

Anti-social behaviour was an enormous concern raised by many people and I understand why.

Raising my children in the constituency, I share these concerns – there has evidently been a breakdown of the social glue that once held our community so tightly together.

In the last year in Leigh we have seen a 38 per cent rise in anti-social behaviour in the constituency.

While we must of course look at the 2,000 fewer police officers on our streets across Greater Manchester that has inevitably made matters worse, the root cause goes far deeper.

Many tell me their community is not the same as it once was.

They feel deindustrialisation and austerity led to some of our towns turning in on themselves rather than uniting.

Many also told me of their frustration that us in the north don’t seem to have the fair share of the funding, powers and investment that we deserve.

The Tories’ rhetoric of a “Northern Powerhouse” has been proven empty – the party of the few will never deliver the transformation we need to empower the many.

That is exactly why I’m proud many local newspapers came together to say that enough is enough, it’s time we Power Up The North with the meaningful devolution we deserve.

By rebuilding our local economy using a bottom-up approach, we can restore the community feeling so many of us feel has been threatened.

And by rebuilding our towns through the empowerment of local people we earn the respect of everyone in society – we give everyone a stake.

Strategies such as Regional Investment Banks would go a long way to deliver a place-based approach in the transformation of our towns to tackle the root cause of the anti-social behaviour crisis.

But above else, what the last few weeks has confirmed, is everyone’s genuine concern for their towns.

By finding that common ground that rises above the other divides in our community I really believe that together we can make real progress to reunite, restore and rebuild our towns.