PM Andy Burnham writes for Wigan Today about what he stands for ahead of his Labour conference speech

When I address the Labour Party Conference today, I want to make clear what I stand for and why.

As your MP, I wanted to share that with you before anyone else.

We all carry bits of the places and people that shaped us.

For me, that means the communities I grew up around, the people and above all the values my mum and dad passed on to me.

They spent their lives across the North West.

My dad Roy was Liverpool born and bred. It was where he was from and it never left him.

What that gave him were values I've tried to live by ever since: treat people how I'd want to be treated; put caring for others first; fight for your community, and above all, take on the hard issues confronting you rather than shying away from them.

These are the same values I've found on every street in our area.

We look out for each other, we pull together when it matters.

It’s the best of this country and it’s why I'm so proud to speak for you in every room I enter.

Many of you know that my dad lost his battle with dementia recently.

I want to thank you for the warm wishes following that news – it has meant an awful lot to me and my family.

As I return to Liverpool for Labour Party Conference this week, I want to honour him by putting his values – our values – front and centre.

And since becoming your MP, I’ve already been working to do them justice.

I want our towns to have more of a say in the decisions that affect them.

Ashton Library is a striking example – far more than just a building, it was once the beating heart of this community, yet it was allowed to fall into decline.

Together, we’ve fought to make sure it reopened and now it will.

That’s why I believe our community should have a say in shaping what comes next. Not Westminster, but us.

I’m also determined to bring back hope for places like ours.

I know many of you have felt that your voices don’t matter, that problems are simply left to get worse without any solutions.

I’m not content to sit back and let you feel that way.

That’s why I’ll keep fighting until every last scrap of waste is removed from the Bickershaw site.

When I stood there during the by-election, I said it had become a symbol of what was wrong with Britain.

Our community left to live alongside mountains of waste. Primary school children breathing in smoke from fires. Local people feeling like nobody was listening.

I’m not willing to accept “it’s too hard” as a justification for not acting.

I’m determined to tackle the issues that politicians have turned a blind eye to, and none more so than social care.

My dad’s own experience brought this home for me.

I saw how those who cared for him, with humanity and skill are trying to hold a system together that’s long been broken.

I’ve seen how the most vulnerable can lose everything just for seeking care.

Tackling this system head on and building something worthwhile will not be easy, and not everyone will agree with me.

But somebody needs to grasp the nettle and I will be the one to do that.

When I take to the conference stage today, I’ll be speaking with those values in mind. Because that is what my dad taught me.

You don't turn your back on your community. And you don't walk away from a problem just because it is hard.