Helen Russell, Labour’s candidate for Mid Worcestershire, has announced that, if elected as MP, she would only take an ‘average worker’s wage’.

A world champion athlete, Helen has lived for most of her life in Worcestershire and is a resident of Evesham. She currently works for the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, as the trade union training officer

She says that the pledge for a workers wage is about more than donating part of her salary to good causes. “I commit to taking a workers wage and would urge other candidates to follow suit. This is about a representational principle. I want to show that I am serious about doing things differently. If MPs are in Westminster to represent the many, they should not take salaries that separate them materially from the vast majority of the people they were elected to represent. MPs work hard but so do health and social care workers, firefighters, teachers, postal workers, agricultural workers and staff in retail, logistics and the service sector - all of whom are suffering from years of pay restraint and the drive towards putting profit margins before a decent quality of working life. This pledge makes a statement that the low paid deserve better.”

Q) The Trussell Trust says the minimum five week wait for Universal Credit – either without income or with a Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Advance Payment – has led to acute financial hardship, and damaged households’ longer-term financial resilience. This includes destitution, housing insecurity and debt. Last year staff from Evesham’s food bank told me they were the busiest they have ever been. How will Labour support people in Mid Worcestershire who have been affected in these ways?

"The measure of society is gauged by the way we treat its most vulnerable members, and those more fortunate than others should strive to help and support people less fortunate than themselves, with empathy and compassion. The Social Metrics Commission report that 14.3 million people, including 4.5 million children, are living below the breadline."

"The number of Foodbanks shows the impact that a decade of austerity has had on our communities. In 2010-2011 61,468 food parcels were distributed by the Trussell Trust. By last year that figure had risen to 1.5million! There are now 2000 foodbanks in the UK – that is more than the number of McDonalds! In Evesham last year 590 food parcels were distributed by Caring Hands, up 47% from the previous year. Household bank referrals (for hygiene and cleaning products) were also up 45%. It’s not just foobanks we are seeing but also baby clothes and equipment banks and school uniform banks - such is the level of poverty. There is a real problem of poverty in our constituency: Droitwich West is in the most deprived 10% of all areas across England and Evesham North, Harvington and Norton are within the most deprived 20% nationally;"

"The Trussell Trust report that one of the main causes of an increase in the need for foodbanks the introduction of Universal Credit, especially the 5 week wait for first benefits. 60% of referrals to Caring Hands in Evesham were for reasons of low income, both for those in work and in receipt of benefits. To end foodbanks Labour will tackle poverty by eliminating in-work poverty over the course of our first parliament, scrapping Universal Credit, the benefit cap, the Two Child limit and ending the freeze on working-age benefits, banning zero hours contracts where people potentially earn zero, introducing immediately a Real Living Wage of £10 an hour for everyone over 16 and opening 1,000 new Sure Start centres, amongst other things."

Q) Brexit: What do you think of the current Brexit deal and what sort of deal do you think Mid Worcestershire people need?

"Britain is divided. Boris Johnson’s Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats have taken extreme positions on Brexit. Both parties won’t do anything to heal the division in our country. Boris Johnson and the Tories are trying to hijack Brexit to sell out our NHS and working people by stripping away their rights. Their Brexit will reverse hard-fought gains won by working-class people over generations. Worse, it could lead to £500 million per week of our NHS’s money ending up in the pockets of big, US drugs companies. The Liberal Democrats have taken an undemocratic decision too and would cancel Brexit. But the Liberal Democrats can’t win an election. They make Boris Johnson’s Brexit even more likely."

"Labour is the only party that can and will get Brexit sorted by giving people the final say. Labour is determined to bring a divided country together, and deliver the real change Britain needs after almost a decade of Tory cuts, so we can get beyond Brexit. A Labour government will negotiate a deal within three months of being elected. It will be based on the things we always discussed with the EU and said were necessary and which are supported by trade unions and businesses. This includes a new customs union, a close single market relationship and guarantees of rights and protections. Within six months of being elected, we will put that deal to a public vote, alongside remain. Two clear options, both agreed with the EU – no false promises or bluster. Labour will then carry out whatever the people decide."

Q) What does your manifesto offer Mid Worcestershire constituents that the other parties’ does not

"Our manifesto is the most transformative, hopeful, people-focused, manifesto of all the parties.

"Labour’s manifesto offers a transformative agenda of defending and rebuilding public services, saving the NHS from privatisation, stopping school cuts, improving public transport, giving workers a fair deal at work, a revolutionary green industrial revolution and a public vote on any Brexit deal, amongst many, other things.

"I also have a local vision, including defending services at Evesham Hospital; improving local bus services; calling for more social housing to be part of the South Worcestershire Development Plan; improving community rehabilitation services; preventing the local introduction of charges for prescription deliveries; opposing proposals to scrap guards on West Midlands Rail, and setting up a Mid Worcestershire People’s Assembly."

"I am also the only local candidate who has committed to taking the average worker’s salary and donating the remainder to good causes. This is about a representational principle. I want to show that I am serious about doing things differently. If MPs are in Westminster to represent the many, they should not take salaries that separate them materially from the vast majority of the people they were elected to represent. MPs work hard but so do health and social care workers, firefighters, teachers, postal workers, agricultural workers and staff in retail, logistics and services- all of whom have suffered from years of pay restraint and the drive towards putting profit margins before a decent quality of working life."