Kate Osborne MP gave the keynote speech at this week’s Westminster Hall Debate marking the ninetieth anniversary of the Jarrow March, which we reproduce below, slightly edited.
The Jarrow Crusade is now rightly remembered as a pivotal moment in UK history, not just in my brilliant constituency of Jarrow and Gateshead East, but across the UK.
Jarrow is a town with a proud history of people organising together to stand up to injustice and demand something better – one which refuses to accept that poverty, exploitation and inequality are simply the natural order of things.
On 5th October 1936, 200 unemployed men left Jarrow and began a near-300-mile journey to London. Their petition represented the hopes of a community devastated by industrial decline and mass unemployment. They demonstrated the strength, solidarity and determination of the people of Jarrow.
Ninety years later, their story is still relevant and needs to be heard. Standing with the descendants in front of Number 10 this week, with the original petition box that the marchers carried all that way, was extremely moving.
The Prime Minister bringing the descendants into Number 10 for a cup of tea and a discussion, listening to their memories and our history, helped to right the historic wrong and gave the families the welcome the marchers should have received in 1936.
I want to place on record my thanks to the Prime Minister and his team for the time they spent with us all, and for helping to host the events this month. Listening to the memories and stories of those crusaders from their children has been moving and inspiring.
It is a real honour to lead this debate today. Our history must be remembered and celebrated for the benefit of a new generation, but it must also be used to move forward, to learn from our history and to build a better world.
Because whilst some progress has been made, there is still a lot to do.
Those marchers in 1936 were demanding the right to work, the dignity of providing for their families and the opportunity to build a future for their community. They were fighting against health inequality, poverty and a lack of housing.
And ninety years later, many of those same challenges remain.
In my constituency today, 39% of children still live in food poverty, too many people are still in insecure work, and the North East is still being left behind.
Across South Tyneside, the number of young people aged 18 to 21 claiming unemployment benefits is 61% higher than the national average. Local weekly earnings remain below the national average. Almost a century on from the march, generations are still growing up in and around Jarrow unable to find suitable work and with high levels of inequality and poverty.
Since becoming Jarrow’s MP in 2019, I have had to confront what those circumstances mean for the people I represent.
And we know all too well the lasting consequences that the loss of industry can have on a community.
After the closure of the shipyards, skilled workers were left without jobs, families faced poverty and uncertainty, and the businesses and communities that depended on the shipyards suffered too. The loss of industry was not confined to the factory gates. It reached into people’s homes, affected children’s prospects, undermined the confidence of an entire town and shifted our identity. And we see similar challenges playing out now.
So, whilst these commemorative events and today’s debate are about remembering those who bravely marched to demand better, they are also about looking to the future and embracing the potential of the North East. Because the challenges that faced working-class communities then continue to face them now.
We must appreciate the progress we have made and recognise what remains to be done. Thanks to this Labour Government, good steps have already been taken to deliver for our community, and I want to welcome that.
Our landmark Employment Rights Act means that workers can feel more secure, valued and stable, with stronger rights to dignified, unionised work that pays well. Because access to decent work that pays fairly and provides security is intrinsic to ensuring no community like ours is left behind.
Similarly, thanks to the Pride in Place programme, I have secured £20 million for our community. Priorities for this investment include creating opportunities for young people, rebuilding our town centre and strengthening community organisations.
Strengthening community organisations matters, because investment alone doesn’t change communities. Giving communities a voice in what that change should look like does.
For too many families in Jarrow, being in work does not provide the financial security they deserve. Parents are working hard, but their wages are still insufficient to provide the opportunities they want for their children. And too many young people are struggling to find secure, well-paid employment that would allow them to build a future in the communities where they grew up.
These are the same fundamental challenges that the Jarrow Crusaders marched to confront ninety years ago, and they are why we cannot afford to be complacent about the progress we have made.
So whilst we can, and should, celebrate the progress this Government has made, and the very welcome new steps of our Prime Minister, it is clear that we still need more investment in the North East to create well-paid and secure jobs and give local people more of a say in decisions that affect their lives.
That includes bringing shipbuilding back to the Tyne with more jobs, more apprenticeships and more investment.
We must build on the industrial heritage of the North East, a history of skilled, hardworking people, a history that continues to define my constituency to this day and will do long into the future.
Let me put on record how pleased I was to hear the Chancellor mention Jarrow and the Crusade in one of his speeches, and pleased that he met apprentices from Balaena.
So, will the Minister commit to pushing for more shipbuilding and other investment in the North East, and to tackling youth unemployment and poverty with good, highly skilled, well-paid jobs and education opportunities for our communities?
I want to ask the Minister what further steps the Government is taking to ensure that communities like Jarrow are at the heart of its plans for industrial growth, and that the jobs and opportunities created by that investment benefit local people.
As we mark 90 years since the Jarrow Crusade, will the Minister join me in recognising not only the extraordinary determination of those who marched then, but the importance of continuing the fight for decent jobs, dignity at work and opportunities for working-class communities today?
It has been wonderful to bring that hope the Prime Minister has been speaking about back to the North, and the North East in particular, and to share our history with a new generation.
The greatest lesson of the Jarrow Crusade is what ordinary people can achieve when they organise, work together and stand up for one another.
By the centenary in 2036, I want us to be able to celebrate real progress in tackling poverty and creating opportunities for every child in Jarrow, and I hope the Minister joins me in that commitment.
Closing remarks
I thank the Minister for their detailed response, which I know will mean a lot to descendants and members of our community watching at home.
I also thank Members across the House for their engagement and support today and all those who came along to the exhibition this week.
I will leave this debate reflecting on the legacy left behind by the brave men who marched for better.
To the descendants of those who marched, to those watching at home and to the people of Jarrow generally, this debate belongs to you. Your voices matter today as much as the voices of those in 1936 did.
The greatest tribute we can pay to the Jarrow Crusaders is not simply to commemorate their march. It is to continue their fight for decent work, dignity, solidarity and a fairer future for every community.
Kate Osborne MP is Labour MP for Jarrow and Gateshead East.
Image:https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Official_portrait_of_Kate_Osborne_MP.jpg. Source: https://members-api.parliament.uk/api/Members/4783/Portrait?cropType=FullSize. Author: David Woolfall, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.
