AS what I would hope is the last Labour conference before a general election begins, it’s a good time to assess the state of the country and politics in general.

The picture is a bleak one. A cost-of-living crisis which has got no better as winter once again sets in, public services on their knees, industrial strife and communities across the country strangled by a lack of investment. When Labour wins the next election there is a huge amount of work to do.

At the same time, the past week has seen the Conservative Party in Manchester seeking to perform what looks like an impossible feat.

Their entire conference has been designed to convince the public that they are the party to change Britain for the better.

Given they have been in power for 13 years, it seems unlikely the public will fall for it. Indeed, they must think we are all stupid. The adage goes, unlucky for some, but the reality is after 13 years of Tory government, it is unlucky for all of us.

The country is in a mess. But the Tory conference has not sought to address any of this.

Instead, they have sped up their metamorphosis into a cheap imitation of Ukip by tilting to the right and stoking culture wars on imagined problems rather than providing solutions to the multiple crises we face and that they have caused. It would be laughable if it were not so serious.

The sight of ministers outlining a raft of policies to half-empty auditoriums of sleeping delegates was ridiculous.

But what was frightening were the thronged fringes and rallies frothing at the mouth to see Nigel Farage on the same platform as a woman who, despite being outlasted by an iceberg lettuce, completely tanked the British economy. They were not only well-received by the delegates but lauded as heroes.

As sickening as that was, there was more to come with drunken delegates hanging around Manchester nightspots with Priti Patel and Farage gyrating around in the background. Rumours abound of Farage joining the Tories or, alongside Liz Truss, forming a new right-wing populist party.

If the former the beast will truly have returned to the belly from whence it came, and if the latter, it has the potential, if unchallenged, to drive us further into a dark future.

With extreme rhetoric on climate change, migration, welfare and public services now thrust into mainstream Conservative politics, we are at a crossroads.

We can no longer just sit back allowing them airtime to spew their bile and wait to replace them.

The Labour Party has to offer hope to our people and communities at a time when they are beset by despair and the loudest voices in the media and politics are offering hatred.

This conference is an opportunity for Labour to set out a blueprint for a better Britain, a Britain where hope, not despair, is on offer.

In recent months I have been the target of abuse from many on the left unhappy about Labour’s position on many issues, but the reality is we need desperately to replace this rotten government of Trumpian Tories.

We should continue to articulate what we believe in and always remember that policies such as nationalisation are popular.

The Labour Party will have a huge job on its hands following the election as it gets to grips with the neglect 13 years of Tory government has done.

But with the forces of right-wing populism unleashed in Britain we must ensure that we deliver for the people Labour was formed to fight for generations ago.

We simply cannot afford to let down those who put their trust in us again — because if we do, those with simple answers to complex problems will not think twice about pouring their bile and hatred into the vacuum.

We are in an incredibly dangerous place in politics in the present moment. Labour must be bolder as the general election nears and the Tory media circles the wagons around the current government.

We need to offer hope and a reason to vote Labour rather than the bland managerialism that sets us apart from the current shambles.

Labour will win the next election, but what we do in power could determine a generational shift in politics. If we fail to deliver for working-class communities and people left behind for generations, we could deliver them into the hands of an emboldened far right.

If, however, we offer them hope, and run the country and public services in their interest, we can stop the descent into darkness.

The stakes are extremely high: if Labour delivers for the people it was created to serve we can build a better future — otherwise it could end up as the handmaiden for something much worse than the Tories.

Ian Lavery is the Labour MP for Wansbeck. Follow him on X @IanLaveryMP.