We have so much of which to be proud

Just look at what we've achieved together since Labour came to power in 1997. Unemployment at its lowest for a generation - down by 40 per cent in Blaenau Gwent alone.

Mortgage rates at their lowest for 40 years.

Crime is falling.

New investment in our schools creating a new generation of skilled young people ready to take on the challenges of a modern world.

So I can't understand how anyone could think we've been "imitating the Tories".

Can you imagine a Thatcher government ever investing so much money in our schools?

Can you imagine a Thatcher government investing 27.7m in a rail link between Cardiff, Newport and Ebbw Vale?

Can you imagine a Thatcher government investing 76m in our communities after the Corus closure?

The Tories would snatch all of this away, dragging us back to the days when John Redwood, now back on the Tory frontline, saw Wales as a second-class nation where poverty and despair were acceptable, and hope was an eccentric idea from people who should have known their place.

But I've got news for Mr Redwood and Michael Howard. We in the Valleys do know our place and it's leading the world in innovation, education and compassion.

When we introduced the minimum wage, John Redwood and the Conservative Party predicted disaster.

But we stood our ground, not only to introduce the minimum wage but also to boost living standards for those on the lowest incomes.

There are now, for example, over 40,000 Gwent families benefiting from our Child and Working Families Tax Credit.

The minimum wage has lifted thousands of people, especially women, out of poverty.

The New Deal has helped 70,000 people in Wales into work, 1,180 of them in Blaenau Gwent alone.

We have fought hard for these achievements, with the Tories opposing us at every turn. Of course, it is vital that levels of unemployment and economic inactivity are reduced further, and that our communities are made safer from crime and anti-social behaviour.

But who is more likely to tackle these issues? A Labour government committed to record investment in public services, or a Tory Party determined to cut 35 billion from public spending, and take us back to the days of boom-and-bust and mass unemployment?

The danger is that by running down Labour's achievements we run the risk of bringing the disastrous reign of John Redwood back to our communities.

Back to poverty pay, people being forced to pay thousands of pounds for a basic operation and thousands of children being left behind.

I do not believe that Gwent people want to return to this Tory past. Especially not when there is still more work to be done. And I know that our Labour candidates for the general election are hungry for more delivery.

We have an excellent group of local candidates, a mixture of the very best young talent in British politics combined with some of the most accomplished and experienced MPs. These are heavyweight Labour people who want to take Gwent forward.

They want to be part of the Labour government that introduces the Child Trust Fund.

They know that the toddlers and babies they meet in the street will be the first to receive their Trust Funds in the year 2020.

These toddlers will have benefited from the Labour Assembly's massive programme of improving school buildings, the return of free school milk, free breakfasts, free swimming, free entry to museums.

They will be taught in small class sizes. The standard of teaching they receive in schools and their grades will be even better than they are today.

As they get older and start families of their own they will benefit from Labour's vision for universal and affordable childcare.

They will be able to pursue a worthwhile career in Gwent and feel secure in the knowledge that Labour has locked in economic stability.

If they fall ill they will have the comfort of receiving free, quality treatment.

Their communities will be safer, with more police on the streets and more hope for local people resulting in more confident neighbourhoods.

As they get older, they will be valued by a government committed to offering comfort and dignity to our pensioners.

Not only will they be able to travel for free on local transport but they will benefit from a raft of progressive measures such as the pension Credit and Winter Fuel Allowance.

This is the future Labour wants for today's newly-born babies. But this is the future the Tories would rob us of.

This is the future the Liberal Democrats and Nationalists would deprive our people of.

I urge Argus readers to keep a copy of this article on their side tables, dressers or by the phone so that when an election canvasser from another party or a neighbour tries telling you that a Labour government has made no difference to your life, you can tell them the truth and kick into touch the nonsense that runs down Labour candidates and the Labour government that is putting Wales back on its feet.