Transcribe: Steve Yemm Exclusive Interview

The contents of the Steve Yemm Exclusive Interview was split into five topical categories. These follow the order upon which this transcribe is written; introduction, the election, life as an MP, the budget, and local issues and labour party policy.

---

Introduction

Euan

“It's been a hundred days since the general election and I think it's safe to say that the news hasn't been particularly quiet.”

“We've seen a labour landslide unlike anything we've since 1997 when Tony Blair won his first term.”

“And we've recently had the autumn budget which is I think is a breath of fresh air for a lot of faces after all the Conservative budgets over the past 15 years.”

“And I'm joined today by a Labour MP who contributes his seat to the majority, Steve Yemm.”

“Steve, how are you doing today?”

Steve

“I'm doing very well Euan, it's great to be here with you and I hope you're well as well.”

Euan

“Thank you so much for coming down, it really means a lot to us.”

Steve

“Super, it's my pleasure.”

Euan

“It's the first time you've been elected. I suppose the first question to start of with is, how do you feel you've gotten on as an MP so far?”

Steve

“Well it's like taking on any new job right. There's a degree of unfamiliariality. I've never been in politics and so we're all learning. I am at the point now where I feel pretty comfortable and I am really enjoying my time in parliament.”

“I spend four days a week down there and then I am back in Mansfield, back in the local area where I live and now we are speaking in the chamber on a regular basis, made a couple of speeches, some interventions, some questions this week.”

“So we feel like we're settling in. And I use the term "we" as I have a very good team of people supporting me as well. So it's not just about what I do down in parliament to represent the people of Mansfield, it's what we're all doing as a team.”

Euan

“Talking down in parliament. What's that like? Because I can imagine it's quite daunting.”

Steve

“You know you can imagine it's quite daunting, and I imagined it would be quite daunting but the reality for me is that I am actually very comfortable in the chamber.”

“Right from the very first questions that I asked and from the very first speeches that I made in there. I feel very much at home, I don't have any nerves or anxieties in speaking in the House of Commons, just a fair degree of confidence about that. And I think that will grow over time, I mean, we're in very early days.”

Euan

“It's still very early. So the way this interview is going to work is that we'll have four sections. First we're going to touch on the election, so both locally and nationally. And then we're going to move on your life as an MP, how it's been, how you interact, how you get voices down in Parliament.”

“Then we're going to touch on the budget a little bit, got a few questions I know a lot of households are going to be asking; whether they're going to be better off, what's it like. And we'll round things off with talking about local issues and Labour party policy. So I think we'll jump straight in.”

---

The Election

Steve

“Let's go for it.”

Euan

“So, as I've said, a Labour landslide.”

“Were people excited to vote Labour? Because I think back in 1997, people we're excited to vote Tony Blair. We're they excited this time around or were they just voting against the Conservatives?”

Steve

“Well I think, you know, what I find talking to voters, is that they knew the country was in a very difficult position. They knew that whoever was to win the election would have some really difficult problems to deal with."

"I think they also knew that the Conservative government has kind of run it's course really and they couldn't imagine another 5 years with the Tories.”

“I think that understanding the difficulties the country faced meant that the voters understand that we're going to have a period of time where we're really fixing the foundations of the country, and putting things back on straight and narrow, back onto an even keel.”

“I think in some respects, it's kind of not as exciting. Everyone knows it needs to happen, it's only when you do those things, that you can do more exciting things in the future."

"So I think naturally that sort of lends itself to less of an sense of excitement but actually more of a sense of responsibility that actually we need to make long term decisions about fixing the position that the country is in.”

“Maybe it's a bit less sexy and a bit less exciting but I think what the election showed is that voters do understand and recognise that we need to do that and that it's vitally important for us.”

Euan

“You touched on a very important point. I think in Mansfield, I mean it was one of the most difficult seats to predict, your predecessor Ben Bradley had a really strong hold on Mansfield and I can imagine he was a very difficult opponent to campaign against and win against.”

“Did you feel confident going into the election that you'd win or did you have any doubt that you think that Mansfield might stay blue?”

Steve

“Well, you know, I don't take anything for granted in life. And I certainly don't take the opinions of Mansfield voters for granted.”

“And so, look, I don't make predictions, or run commentary. I'm a political campaigner, and so my entire focus in the election was about, how do we have those conversations with Mansfield voters?

"And we had tens of thousands on the doorsteps and all over the place, right across the district, right across Mansfield and Warsop.”

“And, for me, it was really about recognising that in the past, in the recent past, Labour had made mistakes and that we had to hear about that from Mansfield voters and that we had to respond to it.

"And we had to have those conversations with thousands and thousands of people, on the doorstep, looking at them in the eye, just like we're doing today, and be able to win over their confidence.”

“So, no I never took that for granted, I never made predictions, I didn't really think that much about the outcome. I thought more on the process of having the conversations and winning the trust of people in Mansfield.”

Euan

“I can imagine it must've been a very difficult process to go through, campaigning on all those doorsteps, it's not easy. What is the sort of typical conversation that you'd have to have. 

“Especially with someone who may be an undecided voter, who's maybe not prepared to vote Labour but are not looking to vote Conservative? What would a conversation look like to that sort of voter?”

Steve

“Sure, I mean there's a lot to that and there's a lot to that and all the conversations are different, right. We're all individuals and we all have different concerns and so forth.

"But to me, it was never hard work, I enjoyed those conversations tremendously. I'm actually never happier than knocking on doors and speaking to voters, and hearing what are their concerns and what they want to get done.”

“And you know, I heard a lot during the election about the issues people face in their lives. The challenges that the country faces, why maybe they may have switched from voting Labour in the past to voting Conservative or other parties in 2019. And you know for me the task was to hear that, to listen to it, and to put my point of view, to give that reassurance, and I was very focused on doing that in the election.”

“It wasn't difficult for me because I derived a lot of fulfilment, satisfaction but actually straightforward just liked having conversations with people.”

Euan

“And obviously, you're Mansfield born and bred here. You know, I suppose, speaking with those people you've got that extra connection with them. Essentially, they're the people you've grown up with.”

Steve

“To some extent, you know maybe because I was born here. I was born in, for anybody viewing this who doesn't know, I was born in Rainworth into a mining family, lived here all my life, went to school here at Brunts.

"I mean of course I grew up with people here, but I think it does, if you have a local person standing for parliament and getting elected as it happened, I think, personally, it's important to have somebody who understands the local area.”

“I think that helped me quite a lot. And I think on top of that, I was very clear with Mansfield people that I intended to be the full time Member of Parliament. I really don't agree with politicians taking jobs outside of Parliament, this is my full time job now and will remain so as long as I'm the Member of Parliament.”

Euan

“Well, let's bring that back to the election, and I'm just going to bring up some statistics. Particularly on the very populist emergence of Reform UK. I think, this election whilst it's a Labour landslide, I don't think you can excuse the fact that Reform did surprisingly well.”

“So in Mansfield, 39.1% of the vote was for Labour, that was what got you elected. 30.6% was for the Conservatives. And 22.8% was for Reform UK. Now, looking at those figures, how much of an impact did Reform have by pulling away votes from the Conservatives and actually splitting the Tory vote in Mansfield? How much of did do you think brought that to you being elected?”

Steve

“Well, again, I welcome the question Euan, but we're onto commentary again, really. I'm not a commentator or a journalist. But my reflection is, and I've had those conversations on the doorsteps with people who were thinking of voting Reform. Many of them were not Conservative voters.”

“If there was not a Reform candidate, they would not have necessarily voted Conservative. They might have voted Labour, or Liberal or Green and actually voters have all sorts of motivations.”

 “I think one of the mistakes that is easy to make, is to assume that if you take Reform out of the equation, they're all going to vote Conservative. I don't really buy that at all, but there's a bit of commentary for you, you know, getting into a little there.”

“But, I don't think, part of my ethos is I don't take voters for granted. I never think, "oh they're over there in that column, if only we do this, they'll switch". There seems to be a lot of talk about that in the election campaign in Mansfield, I think, I never said stuff like that, some of my opponents did. I think that's a fundamental error to take any voter for granted in that way.”

Euan

“Now, nationally, voter turnout was at 59.7% which means that around 4 in 10 people thought that it wasn't their responsibility to vote or rather they didn't want to vote. That has been the lowest since the 2001 election.”

“Turnout in Mansfield was 56%, so it was a little bit lower than that but it was along the same lines. Does that figure worry you considering how many people participate in politics now?”

Steve

“It does, it does worry me. I want to see a lot more people getting interested enough to at least cast their vote on polling day. But look, that is my responsibility, it is incumbent on people like me to show in four or five years, whenever the next election comes, that we delivered on stuff, that we changed people's lives for the better, that the country is going in a better direction.”

“And you know, coming back to your first question, giving people that belief that voting does change things, that not all politicians are making the same offer. That there are choices that will be made in the country and that you can take a look at those choices and have an impact as an individual by voting on polling day.”

“I think it's very important that we provide that degree of motivation to voters that gets them interested enough to go out and cast their vote. So look, all of us who are elected politicians have a responsibility there to have, again back to those conversations, understanding what are the views of the voters and giving them that reason to get out on polling day.”

Euan

“So do you think the government should do more measures to bring up voter turnout or do you think rather that positive impact is what's going to increase voter turnout?”

Steve

 “I think, it's my own view, more the latter. That actually, you know, one of the issues in politics is that we've had a period of government where promises were made and not delivered.”

“I think it is really important for this new government to look at what did we say and ensuring that we do that and being able to demonstrate that when the next election comes and people have that opportunity to cast their vote again.”

“So I understand that people are cynical about politics and look, I'll give you one example. In 2019, at the general election, our former MP and the Prime Minister Boris Johnson, stood up in Mansfield and said "we're going to do something on mineworkers pension".

"And they failed to do so over five years of the Parliament, we made the commitment to do something about it and we've done something within 100 days.”

“I think that's the demonstration on delivery that we need to show, this is a very important issue, this particular one, for Mansfield people. But that's what politicians need to demonstrate. We said we're going to do this and we've done it, rather than five years later and it's failed to materialise.”

Euan

“Well what you touched on there is, I assume you're speaking about the budget, and we've got some questions on the mineworkers pension, and we'll touch on that a little bit later.”

Steve

“Well it's around that issue of trust, right. I think that issue of trust, were these people, with the best will in the world, intend to do the things they say they're going to do?”

“I understand when people see that failure to deliver, that they feel it's not worth casting their vote, that's why I think it's incumbent upon people like me to kind of level with the country and with voters here in Mansfield to say "these are very difficult times we're living in, and there are some very tough decisions to make, but here is some light at the end of the tunnel when we get through this".”

“But the important think is, we said we're going to do these things, and it's fair that voters measure us on this in four or five years.”

Euan

“And you think that lack of trust made people vote Labour this time?”

Steve

“No, and to come back to your question, I think it's that lack of trust that leads to low turnout. I don't think it necessarily leads people to vote one way or another, but people will not vote unless they think it makes a difference.”

“And if politicians don't do what they said they were going to do, it's not making that difference that they signed up to when they casted their vote.”

Euan

“And I suppose, making a difference, every vote making a difference, there's that idea that obviously with our electoral system. The winning candidate in each constituency gets everything, and the votes casted to any other candidate isn't properly represented, or that it doesn't actually make a difference because they've lost.”

“Do you think that's fair, do you think that sort of system of voting is fair in the country? Like you said, every vote counts.”

Steve

“Well what I think is that there are pros and cons to every kind of voting system and look, one of the things that we've seen over the last few years, particularly if you look back to the Truss budget and so forth. A lot of challenges over stability. In the last parliament, we had 3 prime ministers and 5 chancellors with no election whatsoever.”

“I think that's more of a challenge, how do we get to stable government where we have confidence, investors have confidence to invest in the economy.”

“I think part of the challenge around changing the electoral system is you don't have governments elected. If you look at a lot of European countries where governments are elected in a different way, it often takes months and months and months to put together a coalition that falls apart in 12 months.”

“And you don't get that kind of stability of four years of having stable government over a parliament. Now I've put the case there for one approach, you've kind of put a case in a way of saying, well is this a fair outcome?”

“I see the pros and cons there, I think if we're going to change the voting system, that is a big decision for the country. I think there needs to be a referendum on that. I think that would be quite proper.”

Euan

“Similar to the one where Nick Clegg with the referendum of changing that voting system?”

Steve

“Yes, you know, you're referring to that referendum in 2011, some years ago now. But it was overwhelmingly rejected at that time.”

Euan

“Does that sort of illustrate the idea that maybe, people are satisfied with this? Is that they do actually see the pros outweighing the cons?”

Steve

“Well some people do, I mean some people think that it's right that we elect governments in that way and other people will disagree with it. And that debate will be ongoing, I'm sure.”

“But look, when it came to a referendum on the question. Voters were overwhelmingly in favour of keeping the current system. So I do think that is somewhat a once in a generation question.”

“Despite what I might think personally, I voted yes to changing the voting system in 2011 and I was on record as doing so at the time. And I am very open minded on these questions around electoral reform.”

“Like many questions in politics, it's not black and white. There are a lot of arguments on one side and the other.”

---

Life as an MP

Euan

“So, what we'll do now is we'll move onto Life as an MP, when you've been elected, now that you're in properly.”

“Is everything shaping up how you'd expected it to be working as an MP? Or is there anything different as you'd imagined going into the role?”

Steve

“It's pretty hard work, I must say. I am down in London 4 days of the week when parliament is sitting. They're pretty long days. I tend to make Fridays my constituency day when I visit businesses and schools and so forth.”

“Saturday is usually a day for knocking on doors and Sunday is usually is getting prepared for the week ahead.”

“So, I do take this very seriously as a full time job. But look, no complaints from me. It is an absolute privilege to represent the people of Mansfield in parliament and I enjoy it tremendously. And I'm trying to speak as often as I can in parliament, talking about Mansfield and the challenges that we face here.”

“When I'm not in the chamber speaking I'm meeting with ministers in order to take forward some of the things that are important to people here. And then on Fridays and Saturdays I'm listening to what people have got to say.”

“We're going back to that election campaign and the importance of that and what I take from that in terms of listening to Mansfield people. So I fill up my week, this is quite new to me still. I've never been a politician. Maybe I'm bringing a somewhat different approach to this.”

“I hope the people of Mansfield appreciate it. I'm certainly working as hard as I can and doing my best to give it all that we can.”

Euan

“So, let's talk about, what does a usual working day look like? Because you've mentioned about the week, but during the day, from start to finish, what does that look like?”

Steve

“Sure, so days in parliament are very different from days in the constituency. Typical day in parliament is, I don't have a lot else to do while I'm in London, so I'll get into the office around seven o'clock. And I'll do some work on email and maybe I'll get some breakfast. I'll meet with my team when they get in and we'll kind of plan the day ahead.”

“The meetings that I have. I have a lot of organisations, constituents that will come in and have scheduled meetings throughout the day. The chamber tends to open around eleven o'clock and runs through until 7pm so it's kind of a eight hour working day in the chamber.”

“I'll be in there for quite a bit of that time because, look, what you do is you go down to the speakers office and you say "I want to speak in the debate today". And you will often be waiting and people will have seen, if they watch parliament, about people bobbing up and down and waiting to be called.”

“So, thinking about this week, we had a general debate on Monday on remembrance and veterans. I got called to speak in that debate about the particular situation in Mansfield. Tuesday we had a lot of ministerial questions, I was able to get two questions in on Tuesday.“

“And then on Wednesday we had the budget and I was asked if I'd speak on the first day of the budget debate. The budget is debated for 5 days in parliament and I was asked if I'd speak on the first day and I was able to get called to speak.”

Euan

“How rare is that?”

Steve

“Well the rarity of this, I was speaking to other Members, and they said their expectations is that they will get five opportunities to speak in the chamber per year. I've spoken twice this week, five times in the last three weeks.”

“But I, I regard, Dennis Skinner always said this. You regarded being in parliament a bit like working down the pit in the way you put in a shift, it's an eight hour day, you turn up there everyday, and you say what you've got to say. And I've got a very similar approach to Dennis on this.”

“In that it's very kind of workman like for me, so I have those conversations with people in Mansfield, I hear what they have to say and I'm here to represent them as that full time Member of Parliament and I go there to do a days work. I get to my desk at seven, I have those few hours of preparation, we've got the chamber, we might do stuff after that.”

“But look, while we're down in London my family are up here in Mansfield. I don't have much to do in London so I tend to put my most into those days.”

“And you know when I'm back up here in Mansfield, the days are very different. My Friday constituency day usually starts, as we have meetings through the day, we will usually do a meeting with businesses, for instance last Friday I went to meet with Mansfield Garage Doors to hear about what they're doing, the challenges they face. You know, I then might go and meet with a charity, hear about what they're seeing in the district.”

“I like to go to schools, best part of my job. Is going to schools and getting to meet the students and the children and getting to speak to them. I went to a primary school where I spoke at the assembly about what I do in parliament, what I'm there to do. I took questions from the kids.”

Euan

“Not like these questions?”

Steve

“They were much harder than your questions Euan, much harder. They were things like, why did you want to do this? Why did you want to go to parliament? How did you get to do that? Do you know Keir Starmer? Do you know the Prime Minister? Through to wanting to ask me questions about, this was a primary school, about the things that are important to them.”

“That is one of the best parts of this job, and one of the things I find most enjoyable. And then, I tend to do my surgeries, I meet constituents on a Friday afternoon and we may do about 3 hours of those meetings. All sorts of things. So we generally do those from around 3pm to around 6pm. And we're moving it right around the constituency, so I'll be in Warsop on Friday, Forest Town the next, I think Ladybrook tomorrow.”

Euan

“Covering all basis.”

Steve

“We're trying to go to where people are, and you know one of the other things I said in the election is I want to do things where people could turn up and have a cup of tea with me, like what we're doing today and ask questions and we'll have other people there.”

“And, for instance, one of the things we've found is that there are issues with anti-social behaviour and crime in certain areas of the district. I want to go and have those meetings with constituents, together with police officers, so we can really get to understand what are the issues and what needs to happen. And to solve them I really need to be involved in that. As the Member of Parliament I meet with the police on a regular basis. Those questions, as a Mansfield resident, are really important to me.”

“Because I live in this community. Anything that affects other people living in this community affects me, affects my family members too. So I have that vested interest in engaging in all of this. So, you know, from parliament to my constituent days, it's a Thursday now, tomorrow we're going to do all that, Saturday we're out all morning and afternoon knocking on people's doors and having those conversations on the doorstep.”

“So, you know they are, I have to say, are full days but I am enjoying it tremendously.”

Euan

“Well you mentioned going into schools. And I think, obviously everyone is going to be engaged with politics at the minute, you've got the budget and you've just had the election. So, I can imagine that some people are looking looking at MPs, looking at politicians, and thinking, that's what I aspire to be, that's something I want to go into.”

“What's your advice to those people who may want to go into the civil service, or like yourself, become an MP?”

Steve

“Well, the first bit of advice I'd give them is, really establish your why. Why do you want to do this? What is it you believe in? And for me, I have held the political views I hold now since I was a teenager.”

“They are very deeply held. And so establish your why, and take that why and make it big. Understand what is your motivation. Because this is not really a job like any other. This is a job where you have to have a big understanding of what's your purpose in doing this. So think about that first, you know, think about where that can take you is your first step.”

“That is a more important question than thinking about how can you progress in a certain type of career path. Find your motivation and your reasoning.”

Euan

“I suppose everything else will come with that.”

Steve

“Yeah, I think, you know, those are the kind of things you need to do in any career path. I had a career path in science and business, but despite that I have always been involved in political campaigning. Usually for other people rather than myself, but this is not something I suddenly decided that, wouldn't it be fantastic to be a Member of Parliament.”

“All of my life, I have believed in the things that I believe in, and I decided to stand on this occasion not for any career pathway at all, but because a lot of people here in Mansfield said to me I think you should do this.”

---

The Budget

Euan

"So, let's turn to the budget now"

"Recently been announced and I think a lot of families are going to be having questions on it. It was a very technical budget, a lot of classic Labour budget."

"I'm going to ask a fairly straightforward question. What does this budget mean for people in Mansfield?"

Steve

"Well, the thing is Euan. When I stood for election, I set out priorities for Mansfield. After all those conversations that I had, and I think. Well, the Chancellor came to Mansfield and heard this herself. And what I saw is that the budget really helps us, helps me deliver the pledges I made for people in Mansfield."

"So if you think about getting the NHS back on it's feet, cutting waiting times, dentistry and so forth. Crime and anti-social behaviour, we've announced more police and more money for police on the streets. In particular in respect for our town centre and so forth."

"Fixing our roads. So more money been announced for roads and pot holes in the budget yesterday. Over a billion pounds on new housing. So, you know, relief for on housing, whether you're a buyer or you rent. Big changes there in terms of housing supply."

"And then finally stability. Stability in the public finances, in the economy, getting away from the chaos that we've had for the last fourteen years. Those were the things the people in Mansfield were saying to me at the election. Those were the things we are determined to deliver on for people in Mansfield. And I think we made a really good start on that yesterday."

Euan

"I was reading into it, and there was some direct things I know will impact Mansfield. For example, they mentioned the mineworkers pension, How far is those decisions going to be impacting Mansfield? Because I know they're quite personal here."

Steve

"Well, look, they're personal here in Mansfield but they're personal for me. A lot of my family were miners. But you know, I've campaigned this for some time, we made a commitment for doing this. I've done everything I can to get it over the line quickly, I've written to ministers, I've met with the ministers who have had to sign off on this to get it done"

"So I've been pushing very hard and I'm delighted that the Chancellor announced yesterday that she signed over the reserve fund so that member and beneficiaries of the scheme will benefit from this. It's up to the trustees how they use that money, it's about one and a half billion pounds. But what I think this will mean is a 32% increase in the pension for former mine workers and their families."

"It's a huge thing and we want to go further, there are other things we want to do for mining families. The next thing is, how do we look at profit-sharing in the investment scheme, how do we then move on for people who worked in the industry but were not members of the mineworkers pension scheme but were in the British Coal Staff Superannuation Scheme, the BCSSS."

"So they face the same issues about injustice and my next fight is now we've got the MPS over the line, there's some more work to do on that, of course. But the next thing I want to do is move onto those other people who face the same injustice.

"And by the way, there's a lot of other people, there's not just mineworkers. There's a lot of other people who we need to fight for justice in Mansfield, there's the WASPI Women, right."

"We announced yesterday that despite the Tories not funding this, we are putting the money together, not just for horizon and the postmasters, and the people who need compensating, which we will fully fund. But the infected blood scandal, and the nuclear test veterans as well, that we need to fight for. And then we've got all the people who have suffered from medical negligence claims."

"Unfunded by the Tories, but we need to fight for those people in our community as well. And so there are a lot of injustices here that people come to me and they talk to me in my office about. And I'm determined to get into parliament and fight for all of those people."

"So, you know, we had a great victory for mineworkers this week, but we don't rest upon that. There's a lot further we need to go and a lot of other people where I need to put my shoulder to the wheel and fight for justice for them."

Euan

"Now, it's funny you mentioned that because all of this funding, well the money has to come from somewhere. And the Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced a fair hike in tax rises, and I think a lot of people can look onto and see that the clear message is that the tax rises are going to be put on businesses or families who are particularly wealthier than others."

"Do you think that is fair? Do you think it's fair we tax those with the broadest shoulders to fund these sort of promises?"

Steve

"Well look, you know, I think you use the phrase earlier that this is a real Labour budget. And I think if we believe in anything, it's that those who are most able to contribute should do so."

"We remain a difficult situation in the country, we committed at the election that we would not raise taxes for working people. I think it is really important that this budget not only stabilises the economy and public finances, it not only delivers for our public services and in particular the National Health Service and our schools, but it also protects working people from tax rises as well."

"Those are the three important elements of this budget, and I would find it difficult to defend the budget if that were not the case."

Euan

"There is an investigation going on and you mentioned it that Labour promised they wouldn't raise taxes on working people. And there's the National Insurance Contributions going up, which is set to rise from 13.8% to 15%, and that is on employers only, so employees will not be paying a burden for that. But a lot of small business will have to pay that. And a lot of sentiment from the Tories during the election was that Labour would raise taxes, and you said on working people, right?"

Steve

"Indeed."

Euan

"And now Labour has turned around and delivered this budget, found all this money in tax rises and lot of people are saying that small businesses are having to suffer the brunt of the National Insurance Contribution rises."

"Do you think the electorate, who voted Labour in, was misled to believe that the thing's that have happened, wouldn't happen."

Steve

"I don't think so, at all, and look, we were very clear that we would not raise Income Tax, or VAT, or National Insurance Contributions for people at work. Businesses are not people, we asked business to pay more. I think that is the right thing, as we have taken really significant steps to protect small businesses, specifically."

"So in the new rules we announced in the budget, many small businesses will actually pay less in National Insurance Contributions. And actually, we're really asking larger businesses to pay their share and, you know, not to put that burden on working people."

"I think it's the fair thing to do at this point and, you know, I think it is really important we do that, not just to plug the gap in the public finances. But to make sure that we are able to meet our commitments, particularly on the NHS but across public services."

"Look, our schools are crumbling, we've got teacher shortages, we need to fix our roads. We have no capacity in our prisons, we can go on and on and on at the things that the last government let to go to ruin that we need to fix."

"And look, I am not making any apology. We will fix the problems, we will stabilise the economy and the public finances and we will not put that burden on working people, I think they are the choices we're making at this budget and I think they're the right choices for the country."

Euan

"Let's bring that back. Let's talk about minimum wages, you touched on it a little bit. So the minimum wages paid by employers are set to rise by April, the National Living Wage for employees aged 21 and over is going to rise from £11.44 an hour to £12.21 an hour."

"Aged 18-20, £8.60 to £10, the biggest rise here. Those aged 16, 17, to rise from £6.40 an hour to £7.55. I think the message here is that young workers, they're getting the benefit of this budget and whilst it's good that these minimum wages are going up."

"The fact that National Insurance Contributions are also having to going up, is that going to threaten businesses into not actually employing staff?"

Steve

"I don't it should, and look, I heard all of this back in 1997, when we introduced the minimum wage, that it would destroy jobs and look, that did not happen. I don't think there is any excuse for paying young people less than they contributing, and I think the equalisation that we've brought forward in this budget to pay young people increases in the minimum wage is absolutely the right thing to do."

"I'm a very strong believer that in this country that intergenerational equity has gone in the wrong direction and as a country we need to put that right. And so I am completely supportive of the changes that we've made in terms of minimum wage, the National Living Wage in this budget."

"We've been through a cost of living crisis, I think it's the right thing that we're providing that 7% increase in the living wage for thousands of households across Mansfield and that we're providing that degree of equity for younger workers and apprentices in this budget in terms of fair pay."

 "I understand that they are significant but again, they are the choices that we're making and I think it's the right thing to do."

---

Local Issues & Party Policy

Euan

"Well let's talk about more general, moving on from the budget, talking about more sort of local issues, Labour party policy that ultimately is affected by the budget, I mean it is what it's funded by."

"I think, a very topical situation was the Winter Fuel Repayments, and it's that idea cutting back the Winter fuel repayments and installing a means-tested system."

"That number of winter fuel repayments are going to fall from an expected 11.4 million to 1.5 million this winter. Was this a right move from the Prime Minister, and how strongly do you defend that position?"

Steve

"It's the right thing to do, and look, for me it's unconscionable that we have pensioner households that have more than a million pounds in assets are paid a winter fuel allowance when families with children are equally struggling, more so struggling to heat their houses through the winter but will receive no winter fuel allowance."

"In fact many of them are going out to work to pay taxes to pay for that winter fuel allowance. And we know from the government's own wealth and assets survey, two years old now but we're just about to get the new figures, that almost one third of pensioner households have assets of more than a million pounds. It's more than half of assets, more than half a million pounds."

"What I see, fuel poverty in my constituency in Mansfield, we look at families, with young children, rate of fuel poverty is double that for pensioners and yet these people, younger people and families have been excluded from this debate."

"It's the reason why I made the case to the chancellor that we should looking to expand the system of Cold Weather Payments, which is available to all sorts of households and I made a number of suggestions on how we might form that to make it more available. I think it would help all sorts of households, particularly if we have a cold winter."

 "Look, having said all of that, we are protecting the least well off pensioner households. Those who are eligible for pension credit will continue to get the Winter Fuel Allowance, I also think that's the right thing to do. And we're trying to get more and more pensioners onto Pension Credit, so we expand the number of people pensioner households who are continuing to receive Winter Fuel Allowance."

"I think this is the right thing to do, again, it is a question about intergenerational equity. And look, you know, we are committed to the Triple Lock for pensions. This means that pensioners will see quite a big increase in the State Pension and will continue to do so in the remaining of Parliament."

"So I'm really looking for solutions on fuel poverty that help every household, I think Cold Weather Payments are one of them. I am also interested in bringing forward the idea of a Social Tariff, so for less well off households, there is a lower tariff."

"That's not something that can be done immediately, it's not something that will have an impact this winter. And is the reason why I made the argument on Cold Weather Payments, now that offer has not been accepted by government yet but I will continue to make that case as we get further into the winter."

Euan

"Do you think it's fair that the way that they bring across this decision is that everything is cut back?"

Steve

"There's a lot I can say about this, Euan. But I am listening to what Mansfield people have to say on this topic. A lot of people have been in touch with me. There are many people who don't agree with the government, but I have to say there are many people who do agree. And they are the pensioners who get in touch with me and say, "When I get my Winter Fuel Allowance, I give it to my grandchildren, I bought an iPad with it or I put it into my holiday fund"."

"Now at the same time, there are a lot of pensioners who absolutely rely on that for heating their homes, and I understand that fully and I have looked into great detail into the effects that cold temperatures in indoor rooms can have on the health of pensioners, but also people of all age groups. So I understand the disquiet and the alarm of this." 

"It's why I have been making those arguments to government, and look, it's not just about we need to put money into the bank accounts and into the pockets of people who are struggling in fuel poverty, whether they're pensioners or families or other types of households. We need to think about questions like social tariff and we need to think about insulation."

"Look we have the worst, and the most draughty housing stock in Europe. The government has announced a very wide ranging program to insulate our houses and in particular those in lower bands."

"I think that that is really important, but again it's not going to be done immediately, it's going to be done over the next few years, it's more of a long term solution. And look, in the long term, we also need to get bills down, it's why we launched GB Energy, it's why we're moving to carbon free electricity generation."

"But the reason as to why we've got such high prices is because we've allowed ourselves become completely dependent on gas that we import from overseas. We have a long term plan to move away from that, which will lower bills, give us stability, mean that we're not dependent on energy from overseas."

"And, that we create lots of high quality jobs in the process as well. So there's a lot of things that the government is doing to offer solutions in the long term, I'm trying to find some short-term solutions, and I'm advocating for that to government and I'll continue to do that. The things that I set out in my letter to the chancellor, ahead of the budget, saying these are the things that are important to me and to Mansfield. We got all of them apart from that one."

"So I'm going to continue to press on that one. Not just to the Treasury but with the Department for Work and Pensions as well, because look, they're important questions for me, I hear what people in Mansfield are saying, and I want to do everything I can possibly do to help them."

Euan

"So what we'll do, we'll talk about some other topics because I think that's a lot of budget, lot of budget talk."

"One of the things that I think people are watching this interview is going to have in the back of their heads is road maintenance. Because it's a serious issue and I think it's safe to say that the state of roads left by the outgoing Conservative governments, is a real problem, both nationally and locally."

"How are you going to tackle road maintenance here?"

Steve

"Well look, the thing is Euan is that they're not outgoing, right? They're still in power, as far as Mansfield roads are concerned. So our highways authority is Nottinghamshire County Council, it's run by the Conservatives. The leader of the council is my predecessor, Councillor Bradley."

"They are still responsible for fixing our roads in Mansfield, and so you know, we need to make sure that, I made the argument for more money for fixing our roads. We made an announcement in the budget yesterday that we're putting more money to this. I need to go then to the Roads Minister and make sure that we get our fair share here in Nottinghamshire. I then need to make sure that they're doing a good job in terms of using that money properly."

Euan

"Do you think that's fair?"

Steve

"Do I think it's fair? What to them?"

Euan

"That the council has that influence on roads."

Steve

"Well yeah, because they were elected almost 4 years ago to do that job, but look if the people of Mansfield don't think they're doing a good job on the roads. And I'm one them, but I'm a little bit biased on the question, when it comes to the election next May."

"They should not be re-electing those Conservative councillors who have failed to deliver on roads in Mansfield. They should think about who is better placed to give them a better approach on road maintenance here."

"So getting the money from central government is one part of this, right, but at the end of the day that money is going to go to the Highways Authority, run by the Conservatives and Councillor Bradley and Mansfield voters will have a chance to make up their minds next May about whether they have a good record of they prefer someone else to be doing that job."

Euan

"Another concern is the state of the NHS. I think it's those things, it's road maintenance, the NHS and anti-social behaviour, those are the big three. Now you ran on the party pledge to reform the NHS, but on a personal pledge, especially working with people, especially down at Kings Mill Hospital, that you would be able to reform the National Health Service.

"Can you offer some comfort to those people sitting at home, who may be thinking whether they might not be able to get adequate healthcare at the minute?"

Steve

"There are all sorts of challenges, and if you've been with a close family member, or a friend in A&E, and you've seen how long you've had to wait."

"Or you've not been able to get into see a GP for your child or yourself. Or, as I hear very frequently from people in Mansfield, you can't register with an NHS dentist. These are terrible positions to be in."

"And look, my view is, I'm a Bevenite, I believe that we should have a health service that is available and free and you should be able to get healthcare that's not about how wealthy that you are, right. And so for me, the NHS and the support for the NHS and those principals are really fundamental."

"Every time we have a Conservative government, they run it down because they don't believe it, they voted against it. And so every time we have to come in and repair it, look it's at the top of our list that we might be just a hundred days in but yesterday in the budget we announced record investment, another 25 billion plus for the health service. But let me say, this is not just about money, it's about reform for the NHS, about making it work better. About making it fit for the digital age as well."

"And so when I talk to people who work in the NHS, including members of my own family. They say, things get done on paper, we use pages, information gets faxed around, there's no interoperability of records and so forth."

"There is so much we need to do to boost productivity so that when taxpayers money is going into the NHS, they can have a greater degree of comfort that that will provide healthcare outcomes effectively, and so you know, we have a reform agenda that is mainly about investment. Not just investment in IT systems, but also in the latest diagnostic and approaches as well."

"Because my view is that the people of Mansfield deserve the very best healthcare that we can provide to them. And I am determined that is not just NHS dentistry but we also get primary care back on it's feet, and GP's."

"That people are not having to wait more than two years for surgery, and that we're getting that down to weeks, rather than months and years. So these things are really important for me, I believe that they are really important for the people of Mansfield. I think we made a really strong down payment on fixing this in the budget, we will need to go further but this is really number one priority for me."

Euan

"A similar question but on a different topic, on anti-social behaviour. It's something that makes a lot of people uncomfortable, especially going into town centres. And socialising around is that the main concern is they will be bothered by anti-social behaviour. And it makes a lot of residents concerned about their safety."

"The question I've got to you, is what's your message to those people who may be concerned about going out in public in the town centres because of these groups of people?"

Steve

"My message is, I hear what you're saying, and I share the concern because it's my town centre as well. These are my streets here, my family lives here. I have all of those concerns. I think that they are really important and I take them seriously. I take budget and government level and recognise that we're putting more money into policing. We're doing some reform around procurement in the police force to save money."

"Ultimately, we need more police on the streets solving these problems. We're committed to that, and look, my relationship with the police force here, I meet with them on a regular basis. I'm hearing what residents have to say about the issues in their neighbourhoods."

"We're having that dialogue with the police, we're actually promoting the idea of multi-agency meetings in Mansfield so we can get the police and my office, with relative agencies to solve those problems around anti-social behaviour, low-level crime and quite frankly sometimes quite alarming levels of crime that I hear about and come into my office. I'm really determined that my constituents should not have to live with those kind of issues."

"I would say to them, if you're facing those kind of challenges, let me know about it. Because we're really determined with other agencies to really take action to find solutions to those kind of problems."

"And there are many individual situations which are very difficult, I want to do everything I can do with my office to assist in resolving those situations. And at the more macro level, it is about how do we get more funding in to put more police on the streets."

"And we're having that discussion with the police about what would more officers mean in Mansfield, how would you deploy them, what does more money and resources look like."

Euan

"I suppose that's the worry is that the logistics of it, because it is all well and great to get funding but to be able to translate that funding into actual progress is what concerns a lot of people."

Steve

"Well the two things go together, it's about the cash but there's also the execution piece of it. What I would say to people is, report crime, it makes a big difference. So you have crime on your street, let the police know. Use Crimestoppers, because the way the police work is that if they get reports of crime in a particular area, that's where they put the resources."

"So we know that some of the areas that face the highest degree of challenge over anti-social behaviour, the level of reported anti-social behaviour is some of the lowest in the district. So there's sometimes some of the challenges around reporting and intelligence and so forth." 

Euan

"What do you think makes people not want to report crime? I mean it's a very silly question because it should be second nature to report crime."

Steve

 "I think sometimes, Euan, it's because they don't realise that they should. They don't realise that it's so important to the police that they hear about this, or that it's important in directing police resources. So sometimes people just don't know that, or they don't know how to."

"So there's some communication  there, and as an office, we're going to be saying to people, very frequently, this is how you do it, and you should do it. I think it's some of those, they don't realise always the impact it has to report it, or how they should go about doing it."

Euan

"Rounding up the interview, I think we've got a final question, I think it might be the most interview one of the entire set list."

"Do you think Mansfield Town going to beat Wrexham on the weekend?"

Steve

"Well I certainly hope so. The team is really important, I spent this interview saying I don't make predictions or commentary and so forth, but I'll be rooting for Mansfield, of course and hoping and expecting we're going to get a win on Saturday so fingers crossed."

Euan

"Well I think that's everything."

Steve

"Wonderful, well I appreciate it, it's been a lot of fun, I've enjoyed it."

Euan

"So that was Steve Yemm on our first debut interview on For The Record Journalism. If you liked our content, if you liked the interview, please follow us on all social media and we've got much more interviews coming soon, and I look forward to seeing you next time."