Today Labour brings in higher wages, because we know we must put money back in working people’s pockets

‘The Conservatives’ biggest failure was that working people, doing the jobs that keep the country going – in shops, care homes, cafes – weren’t earning enough to make ends meet.’ Photograph: Andy Rain/EPA

A few months ago I visited a school in my constituency and took part in a question-and-answer session with young pupils. One girl raised her hand and asked me: “Why is everything in the shops so expensive?”

In just eight words she had encapsulated the mood of the country. She had cut through to the core question that people had on their minds when they went to the polls on 4 July last year. If the question wasn’t “why is everything so expensive?”, it was “why are our pay packets not going as far as they used to?”.