STEPHEN HEPBURN: Another out of touch Tory government

For six years she sat with him at the Cabinet table, voting obediently for every income squeezing, NHS threatening, council service destroying Conservative hammer blow hurting working families.

From forcing nurses to pay for their training and axing university grants for bright students from the poorest homes to imposing the bedroom tax and clobbering the disabled, May was Cameron’s nodding dummy.

She’s talked about bringing back fox hunting so this uncaring Conservative can have no complaints when we savage her history of grisly failures.

The face might’ve changed in Downing Street but this is another out of touch Tory Government.

I couldn’t join the House of Commons ovation for Cameron after all the pain he’s inflicted on people in the North East.

Dozy Dave will be remembered for losing the Europe referendum by mistake but we endure the results of Tory misrule every day in blighted opportunities for the young, puny pay rises and the most desperate relying on the charity of food banks to avoid starvation.

Holidaymakers will be returning furious when they find how little the Brexit pound buys abroad after falling sharply.

May inherited a divided country and is incapable of uniting Britain when she’s playing political games, just like her old boss.

I abided by the Labour Party’s official policy and voted this week to replace Trident with a new generation of submarine-launched nuclear weapons.

I did so as MP for the Jarrow parliamentary constituency when as many as 250 jobs at the A&P Tyne yard in Hebburn depend on the public spending.

The group’s managing director, Andy Shaw, informed me of the prospect of 20 to 30 apprentices per annum in the initial five years - good skilled local opportunities for local lads and lasses.

May the chancer saw Trident as a moment to grandstand in Parliament, showboating now she’s got the Prime Minister’s job at last.

I saw it as a golden opportunity to secure decent jobs for adults and glorious chances for our young here on Tyneside.

This region desperately needs a Labour Government, and a leader who excites voters.

I’m backing Jeremy Corbyn in the Labour contest but respect the views of anyone backing another candidate.

Owen Smith is a great friend of mine and I’m a huge admirer of him too.

The truth is any of them, including Angela Eagle who has since withdrawn from the leadership race, would make a better PM than Theresa May.