Jonathan Ashworth, Labour's Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, joins Rob Parsons on The Northern Agenda podcast this week to discuss his plans to help people get back into work.

The Leicester South MP, who grew up in Greater Manchester, used a major speech to accuse the Conservatives of “disincentivising work” as he sets out Labour’s plans to reform out-of-work support and give those with ill-health help back into jobs.

He's promised to devolve more employment support to allow local areas more control over the employment support they want.

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And for the first time, information about sexual orientation and gender identity was included in the Census, giving us a chance to get a sense of the size of the LQBTQ+ communities in our towns and cities across the North.

The Northern Agenda's Dan McLaughlin talks to Malcom Struthers from a pride group in Hebden Bridge, the West Yorkshire town with perhaps the biggest gay and lesbian community outside our major cities about their continuing fight for equality in the so-called Happy Valley.



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The Northern Agenda is a Laudable production for Reach. It is presented by Rob Parsons, and produced by Daniel J. McLaughlin.

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