For too long, Labour has taken voters for granted in places like Gorton and Denton, assuming that however far it strayed from its values, no matter how many promises it broke, its voters would have nowhere else to go. As a result, it has too often echoed the language of division rather than confronting it, while doing too little to address the real pressures people face: housing costs, stagnant wages, collapsing public services and polluted rivers.
