“As readers of the Oxford Mail will know, the choice that we make on May 6 will have a profound impact on every family, school, and business in this great city.

“So I am delighted to have the opportunity to set out my vision of how we can build a future fair for all in Oxfordshire.

“It is a stark choice.

“A Labour Government which will never place the economic recovery at risk, committed to protecting our schools, children’s centres, NHS and police.

“Or a Conservative party that wants to cut the vital support we have given to families on middle and modest incomes and believes that the role of Government is simply to let people sink or swim.

“We took the tough decisions to get through the downturn. The Conservatives opposed us but if we had not provided support when families and businesses needed it most, then more jobs would have been lost and the country would have built up more debt.

“Oxfordshire’s 44 Sure Start centres have become a crucial community resource available to 34,000 families. But now the Tories want to take Sure Start backwards.

“Labour is committed to educational excellence for every child. We will guarantee one-to-one tuition for primary school children who fall behind in Oxfordshire. But the Conservatives refuse to match our guarantees.

“They want to cut back the tax credits which benefit 10,000 families in Oxford and cut the Child Trust Fund, which is helping 13,000 children build a nest-egg. The Conservatives’ priority is an inheritance tax giveaway to the wealthiest estates in the country.

“Labour is taking sensible measures to reduce crime and allow people to see that justice is being done like the Community Payback scheme, where criminals wearing orange jackets perform valuable environmental tasks, like helping to clean up the streets in Blackbird Leys.

“Labour’s priority is to rebuild an economy based on fairness, backing the aspirations of ordinary families and to invest in the high-skilled jobs of the future.

“And with hard-working Labour candidates like Andrew Smith, who has been fighting to protect jobs at the Cowley BMW plant, Oxfordshire will always have a strong voice in a Labour government.

“I believe that a Labour Government, always on the side of hard-working people, committed to building a secure and sustainable recovery, is the right choice to ensure a new age of prosperity for Oxfordshire.”