Listening and learning are the two key issues stressed by Gordon Brown as he makes his pitch to become Leader of the Labour Party and the next Prime Minister of Britain. As I write, I have just left Brown's campaign launch in the House of Commons and Brown has already begun to energise Parliament and confound his critics. Already, the man the Tory press would have you believe is a dour, bristling, super-intelligent bruiser has proved himself to be in public as he actually is in private - warm, funny, energetic, optimistic and, yes, super-intelligent. But even given his obvious abilities, Brown is humble enough to recognise that nothing is his by right, not the leadership of the Labour Party and not the Premiership of our country. Brown knows that politicians aren't rewarded by the public for past achievements, but because the public believes in their ability to achieve future successes. In Britain, there is no one better equipped than Gordon Brown to help us achieve our potential, not just nationally, but locally. Public servants should listen and learn much more than they do. Whether it’s our health service, our police service, our schools, our newly elected councillors or Members of Parliament, public servants must always listen because we can always continue to learn from the people we exist to serve.

There can be no doubt that for the immediately foreseeable future Tony Blair will be remembered for Iraq. Precisely how and when our involvement with Iraq will end we will not know for some years - had weapons of mass destruction been found by the Allies in Iraq, then Blair would probably see out the remainder of his third term in office as being amongst the most successful and popular Prime Ministers this country has known. Iraq has claimed many victims and the Prime Minister's reputation as he leaves office is amongst them.
Blair has changed Britain for the better and for good to such a degree that Britain in 2007 is unrecognisable from the Britain of 1997. Schools in Copeland are better now than they have ever been. Results have improved at all levels with some of our schools now ranked amongst the top 5% in the country. Unemployment has fallen dramatically, life expectancy has risen, by almost every measure we are doing better. Westlakes Science Park has boomed, doctors, nurses and medical professionals are getting paid more than ever before (we all remember the poverty pay of the 1990's), we will soon have our own university and subject to public consultation, a brand new state of the art acute hospital. Our police force is amongst the very best in the country and Copeland amongst one of the best places to live. Perhaps most importantly, for the first time in decades we now have a pro-nuclear government committed to Sellafield and the nuclear legacy in an unprecedented way. His recent endorsement of the Masterplan for West Cumbria is unprecedented for our part of the world and lays the foundations for what should be our future prosperity and success. No other Prime Minister has ever done this. Blair has achieved a huge amount for the people of Copeland, but there is still much to do. Now let's get on and do it.