Labour

Keir Starmer MP,  Shadow Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, speaking at the Labour Party Conference in Brighton today, said:

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Thank you conference.  Thank you to everyone who has taken part this morning. Thank you also to Labour’s fantastic Shadow Brexit team: Jenny Chapman; Paul Blomfield; Matt Pennycook; Dianne Hayter; Karin Smyth; Emma Hardy; and Jess Morden. ardBelieve you me, they could all have chosen easier jobs in the last year.

What a year it has been. Article 50 triggered. A snap election. It was meant to be a coronation, but it left us with a broken Government. Too weak to govern. Too divided to negotiate Brexit. Constructive ambiguity is now official government policy.

It would be funny, if it wasn’t so tragic.

Britain’s place in the world is at stake. People’s jobs are at stake. People’s mortgages are at stake. People’s futures are at stake. And who are the authors of this Tory tragedy? 

First, David Cameron, who gambled his country, because he couldn’t hold his party together. Then, Boris Johnson, standing in front of his red bus, with a lie on the side – a false promise of £350m a week for the NHS. Ruthless about his own ambitions, but reckless about our country.

Now Theresa May, robotically marching towards an extreme Brexit – focussed on her own survival not the national interest. Maybe the Tories can afford this disastrous approach to Brexit. Maybe the Tories would benefit from a Brexit of deregulation, where rights are put at risk.

But you know, and I know, that millions of working people cannot. Whether you’re in the front seat with Theresa May, or in the backseat with Boris Johnson, there’s nothing patriotic about joy-riding our country’s economy off a cliff.

This has to stop. It’s time for a different approach. So let me share with you Labour’s approach. An approach that is both democratically legitimate and economically sensible. That respects the referendum result and puts jobs and the economy first. An approach rooted in our core values.  Values that bind us together. Labour values.

Values of internationalism: we have always been an internationalist party; reaching out to Europe and the rest of the world rather than turning inwards.  Values of co-operation, solidarity, and a simple belief that we achieve more together than we do alone. An unflinching commitment to human rights, the rule of law, rights at work and the protection of our environment. Fairness, equality and social justice in our economy and in our society.

As we exit the EU, we should not abandon these values. On the contrary, these values should drive everything we do in these uncertain times. That is why, over the summer, Labour reached an agreed position that transitional arrangements on the same basic terms that we currently have with the EU are in the national interest. For Labour that means that during the transitional phase, we would remain in a customs union with the EU and within the Single Market.

The Government on the other hand spent their summer squabbling in public. So dysfunctional had it all become, that the Prime Minister had to fly to Florence on Friday, only to accept Labour’s position on transitional arrangements. Let’s see if that survives contact with Tory party conference.

But let’s not be fooled by what the Prime Minister said in Florence. All she has done is to delay the cliff edge. All her ideological red-lines remain. She still prioritises arbitrary immigration targets over jobs and the economy.  She has no answer to fundamental questions in Northern Ireland. And she still insists – in spite of all the warnings – that no deal is a viable option.

The Labour Party rejects that approach. If we were in Government, we would build a new progressive partnership with the EU. We would negotiate a final deal that ensured continued co-operation and collaboration with our EU partners in all fields. And a final deal, that retained the benefits of the Customs Union and the Single Market. Options for achieving this should not be swept off the table.

Subject, of course to negotiations, remaining in a form of customs union with the EU is a possible end destination for Labour.

We are also flexible as to whether the benefits of the Single Market are best retained by negotiating a new Single Market relationship or by working up from a bespoke trade deal. No rash, ideological red lines preventing a sensible deal. No fantastical, ‘blue sky’ proposals. A pragmatic approach. Labour are now the grown-ups in the room. We stand ready to take charge of the negotiations. Not acting for narrow political gain. But in the national interest.

Conference, the way the Tories are handling Brexit tells you a lot about their competence – or should I say incompetence.  But it also tells you about their character. About their dogmatic disregard of the national interest; about their sheer sense of entitlement; about their post-imperial delusions; about their willingness to put other people’s jobs at risk.

Our country today is so much better than our Government. This is a country yearning for change. Theresa May – and whichever Brexiteer replaces her – cannot deliver that change. The old politics and the Tory old guard have had their day.

We need a transformative Labour Government. Not just to break the impasse in Brexit negotiations and to deliver a progressive new partnership with the EU – vital though that is. But to tackle the wider injustices and inequalities we see all around us. To give hope that our society, our public services and our economy don’t have to be like this. That we can build a better, fairer and more inclusive Britain.

That’s why I came into politics. That is why you are in this hall. It’s why Jeremy has been able to mobilise 600,000 members …and inspire the support of over 12 million people. It’s why the clock is ticking for this Prime Minister and this Government.

We have come a long way in the last year. Now is the time for us to lead. To bring a divided country back together. To mend our broken politics. This is Labour’s opportunity. This is Labour’s responsibility. And, working together, this can be Labour’s achievement.

Delivering a Government for the many, not the few.

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Glenis Willmott MEP, Leader of the European Parliamentary Labour Party, speaking at the Labour Party Conference in Brighton today, said:

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Conference, this is my final speech as Labour’s Leader in the European Parliament. Next week I will be retiring as an MEP. And while I must sadly, inevitably, talk about Brexit, perhaps you can indulge me for a minute in a little nostalgia.

Look back with me to a simpler time. Before the Tories’ EU referendum divided our country. When Britain was known around the world for its values of tolerance and fairness at home and for its international leadership on the global stage.

It was a time when if Britain’s negotiations went badly in Brussels, all we had to fear – if you believed the papers – was quieter hoovers and slightly straighter bananas.

It is not that long ago, but it feels like a different world to today. And while you can still find bendy bananas on the shelves of our supermarkets, a lot of changes did come through our membership of the EU, that have made Britain a better place.

Now, we might not have not solved all the problems facing our country. but I am proud of the work of Labour’s MEPs who have, working through the EU, helped in the fight to overcome them:

·         Better workers’ rights, such as equal pay for part-time workers and guaranteed paid holiday;

·         Investment in poorer parts of the country at a time when the Tory government was unashamed in its disregard for our industrial communities;

·         Environmental standards making the products we buy safer and helping to clean up our beaches and the toxic air in our cities;

·         Improved financial regulation, to tame the casino capitalism that led to the last global financial crisis.

Conference, I never claimed the EU was perfect, but as we now prepare to leave, we need to remember the victories we have won. Because let us be in no doubt: many of the politicians who are leading our country through the EU exit door want to leave those rights and protections behind.

It is one of the things they always hated about the EU – their desire for a free-market free-for-all has been tempered by European values of social justice and equality, by a belief in government stepping in to help the most vulnerable.

And as our country enters its most important negotiations in my lifetime, there is a real danger that Britain will plummet out of the European Union with no deal in 18 months.

And no deal is not better than a bad deal: our country will become poorer; jobs will be lost; whole sectors of the economy will grind to a halt.

It is more than a year since the EU referendum. Six months since the triggering of Article 50. So it is a good moment to take stock of those Brexit promises.

Remember? International trade deals ready to go; British trade with Europe to be guaranteed. Nobody, be they EU citizens in Britain or Brits abroad need worry about their status.

Conference, the government is no nearer to moving forward on these issues than it was when Theresa May first entered Downing Street.

Now, the government will claim the problems lie with the EU. Theresa May has called on EU leaders to be creative and to show more imagination.

But our colleagues in Europe simply see a government stuck in a world of its own imagination: an expectation that we be released from the rules of European trade, but then just continue to trade like we used to; the idea of putting up a new customs border that both exists and doesn’t exist at the same time.

Conference, it’s not creative, it’s science fiction. And I’ll tell you something else that’s science fiction: the outrageous claim that our NHS will get an extra £350 million a week because of Brexit. It isn’t true. It was never true. Shame on you Boris Johnson.

Conference, I raise these examples because there is a danger that the prime minister leads the country into Brexit in the same failed way she led her party into the General Election.

Back in May and June, Theresa May kept proclaiming herself to be a strong and stable leader, when all around her could plainly see she was anything but. She was the only person left believing her own propaganda. And once again her strategy is failing.

She chose to start negotiations on a note of confrontation putting her party before the country. She tried to regain lost trust with her speech in Florence, yet all can see that her government policy is still just broad aspiration at best.

From manufacturing to medicine, financial services to food processing, sector after sector of our economy is facing uncertainty. Investment decisions are delayed.

So let’s be clear: the government’s fly-by-night negotiating strategy is a threat to jobs, it is a threat to tax revenues, and, in undermining the economy of our country, it is a threat to the future of our public services as well.

Conference, I’m not going to stand up on this stage and tell you that I think Brexit is the answer to our country’s problems. I don’t. I put my heart and soul into campaigning in the referendum for Britain to stay in the European Union, to maintain our alliances, to protect our trade and the jobs that depend on it. It is what I think would have been best for the country. But, and it really does pain me to say this, we lost.

And just like after any electoral defeat, we need to pick ourselves up, look at the challenges facing our country, and begin the next campaign.

So now Labour MEPs are looking ahead to what will probably be their final vote: sometime in the next 18 months the European Parliament will have to decide whether to approve – or not – the final Brexit deal.

And on behalf of my Labour colleagues, and on behalf of our sister party colleagues across Europe, I can tell you:

·         There will be no backing for a deal that undermines the peace process in Northern Ireland;

·         There will be no backing for a deal that fails to give peace of mind to EU citizens in Britain and Brits who have made their home abroad;

·         And there will be no backing for a deal that opens the door to attacks on workers’ rights and safety standards.

So conference, as the Brexit talks continue, let’s stand united in holding the Tories’ feet to the fire. In challenging the heartlessness of the right-wing vision for Brexit Britain. And let’s stand united as Labour campaigns as the true voice of our country.

Ian Lavery MP, Chair of the Labour Party, speaking at the Labour Party Conference in Brighton today, said:

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Conference, colleagues, brothers and sisters. We nearly did it! Who would have thought this time last year that we would be here, having been a hair’s breadth away from having the keys to Downing Street?

The snap general election, that Mrs May said wouldn’t happen. saw us do something that political pundits said was impossible.

·         Winning the support of nearly 13 million people – our best vote for 20 years. 

·         Achieving the biggest increase in Labour’s share of the vote since 1945.

·         Denying the Tories an overall majority.

·         Turning the tide in Scotland and gaining six seats

·         Achieving our best share of the vote in Wales for 20 years

·         Achieving our highest share of the vote in England since 1966. And winning some seats we have never won, and only imagined winning in our wildest dreams.

Conference, we achieved something special with an unashamed message of hope

Just over a year ago Theresa May was swept to the leadership of the Tories and the country without being elected – even by Tory Party members. So emboldened was Mrs May, that the architect of Tory austerity, George Osborne, was kicked out of cabinet like a dog in the night.

What a contrast to now – denied a mandate by the great British public. So embattled is Mrs May that she is being led a merry dance by bungling Boris. And so chaotic is the Tory Party that its members believe the best choice to replace Mrs May is Jacob Rees-Mogg.

Can you imagine Jacob Rees-Mogg leading this country? It would be funny if it was not so serious. But the danger is the people of these countries will pay for the Tory chaos with their jobs, and we can’t let it happen. And that’s why it’s so important that we build on the achievements of our election campaign.

And that’s why we must continue to campaign – so when the next election is called. We are in pole position in the race to Downing Street. This is no pipe dream; this is political reality

In April, the Tories and most of the media expected Labour majorities to crumble and for the Party to be destroyed as an electoral force. On election night, Andrew Marr said “no one expected Corbyn to be such a good campaigner.”  Really Andrew? No one? Where have you been? But Jeremy would be the first to say the campaign was not a one-person show.

What a great campaign Labour waged. From the members who went out knocking doors and handing out leaflets, to the staff and volunteers who came together as one team at Southside. From the trade unions who mobilised their members, to the teams in our offices in Wales and Scotland and every region. Everyone deserves to give themselves a pat on the back.  And a special thanks to those who came along to our rallies, across the UK.

Who made politics exciting again and contributed to an atmosphere of change? The statistics speak for themselves. They’re in the report. But I’ll mention just a few.

Huge increases in our social media reach – for example, Labour’s Facebook ‘likes’ increased 44% to nearly a million and Jeremy’s rose 31% to 1.2 million. We came of age digitally in this election. A fantastic voter registration campaign that saw more than two million visit the electoral commission’s voter registration site. Four million visitors to Labour’s website. Eight million people watching our Party-political broadcast on the NHS on TV – that’s two million more viewers than the Great British Bake off!

And none of this could have been done without cash to match the Tories. In just six weeks, our supporters gave nearly £5m in donations, averaging £19 – that’s more than a quarter of a million donations. And that’s on top of £4m donated by our trade union affiliates. It was a truly amazing campaign. Positive, hopeful, funded by the many.

And what a contrast with the Tories. Theirs was a campaign funded by a handful of super-rich donors. With a leader who was hiding from the voters. And a manifesto that failed even to give the electorate the courtesy of some costings. And, as the polls narrowed, the bankruptcy of the Tories was plain to see – all they could do was escalate their scurrilous personal attacks – above all, on Jeremy, on John, and on Diane.

Diane – let’s take a moment to consider what you had to put up with. According to Amnesty International, you were the target of 45% of all the twitter abuse directed at female MPs. The Tories have questions to answer – they deliberately targeted you and spent a fortune smearing you. But you responded with dignity and discipline and your own constituents in Hackney North and Stoke Newington rewarded you – with a thumping 35 thousand-plus majority.

Conference, the Labour Party has had a massive impact since the election. Two weeks after the election, on the back foot, the Tories’ Queen’s Speech made no mention of:

·         Scrapping the winter fuel allowance for millions of pensioners.

·         Of ditching the triple lock protecting the value of pensions.

·         Of a dementia tax on social care.

·         Of taking free meals away from younger primary school children.

·         Of new grammar schools.

·         Or of unbanning fox hunting.

If this is what we can achieve in opposition, imagine what we could achieve if we had the keys to Downing Street

We would start building a Britain for the many not the few, by:

• Introducing     a £10 living wage by 2020.
• Banning     zero hours contracts.
• Introducing     free schools means for all primary school children.
• Scrapping     tuition fees and reinstating maintenance awards.
• Giving     the NHS the money it needs.
• Tackling     the crisis in social care.
• Scrapping public sector pay     cap.
• And putting trade union rights     at the heart of our agenda.

Unlike the Tories, everything we promised in our manifesto was fully costed. And, unlike the Tories, we also had a plan for rebuilding the economy,  a plan for investing in sustainable growth, for investing to create the wealth and decent jobs that would underpin a fairer society.

The Tories have been – and continue to – giving away tens of billions of pounds through cuts in corporation tax, capital gains tax and other tax breaks for big business and the very wealthy. They say it’s to incentivise investment. But that hasn’t happened. In every single year of the last seven years under the Tories, capital investment as a percentage of GDP has been lower than the average under the last Labour Government. So, the Tory tax breaks for the rich are not only unfair. They are also not working.

Conference, this is why we cannot afford to rest on our laurels. Denying the Tories a majority was a great achievement, but it’s no substitute for winning power. 13 million people voted for a message of hope in June. Millions more can be won over to our cause.

It doesn’t have to be like this, there is always an alternative. By stepping up our campaigning and mobilising our membership. We can take our message of hope to every city, every town and every village across this country. A united Party, living our own values of solidarity to transform society. It is high time we invested in people and began to instil hope and aspiration.

Conference, together we will build an economy that works for all, a country where no one is held back.

A society for the many, not the few

Iain McNicol, General Secretary of the Labour Party, speaking at Labour Party Conference, said:

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Thank you, conference and it’s great to be back in Brighton.

That’s Labour-run, Tory-free Brighton & Hove.

Being back in Brighton reminds me of so many Labour movement conferences: TUC, the Labour Party, my union the GMB.

BUT there’s someone on my mind this week.

Someone we’re missing.

That’s Mary Turner.

Mary was the very best of the Labour movement.

Passionate about social justice.

Driven by her values.

We miss her. I miss her.

We honour her memory.

Like Mary, I’ve always believed there is power in a union.

When I was an organiser for the GMB, I saw first-hand that without trade unions, the lives of working people can be hell.

Without trade unions:

no limits on working hours,

no rest breaks,

no paid holidays,

no safety on the building site or factory floor.

But there’s something more.

Mary Turner knew it:

trade unionism can take you so far, but only Labour Governments can transform the lives of the many.

Our founders in 1900 knew it.

That’s why they started the Labour Party in the first place.

To form governments and deliver policies.

The welfare state.

The United Nations.

Comprehensive schools.

The Open University.

A national minimum wage.  Sure Starts for the children.

And the greatest achievement of any government:

the National Health Service.

So this week in Brighton let us focus on what the next Labour Government, led by Jeremy, will achieve.

How our generation will leave a lasting legacy like the generation of ’45, or ’64, and ’97.

Let us start with the results of the last general election.

Despite losing the election, Labour outperformed expectations, and secured 41% of the vote, an increase of nearly 9 points since 2015.

And whilst we should not forget the six Labour seats we lost, we can be proud of the net gain of 30 seats, mostly from the Tories, in seats such as…..

Battersea,

Bedford,

Plymouth,

Cardiff North,

and Portsmouth South.

We won in Canterbury, where Labour took the seat held continuously by the Tories and their like since 1295.  

And Labour is back in Scotland.

Winning seven seats, with six gains from the SNP.

Isn’t it marvellous to see so many more Labour women elected, the highest proportion of the Parliamentary Labour Party in our history?

More Labour MPs from Black and Minority Ethnic backgrounds,

More Labour MPs with disabilities,

More LGBT Labour MPs.

A Parliamentary Labour Party that looks like the UK: modern, diverse, grounded in reality.

This was an election where our online campaigning came into its own.

Labour had more than 1.2 million shares on Facebook.

We reached over 29 million unique Facebook users.

In the last two days of the campaign alone, 7.3 million individuals viewed our Get Out the Vote message on Snapchat.

We used professional, targeted, high-quality digital communications to support local campaigns, to register people to vote, to guide activists to key seats, and to get out the vote.

It was a brilliant campaign, and we should applaud all those involved.

Victory next time is in sight.

The campaign to win started within hours of the election result.

Over the summer, Jeremy completed his 50 Seat Tour, campaigning in

Bournemouth, Blackpool and Bolton

Crawley, Carlisle and Copeland

From Hastings to Harrow…

From Southampton to Southport…

Aberconwy to Arfon…

Glasgow,

Rutherglen,  

The Western Isles,

Kirkcaldy,

Edinburgh and all points in between.

Thousands of members have been out on the doorsteps of Britain.

New members joining with veterans.

Young with old.

That’s what I call real progress.

That’s what I call real momentum.

A united party, on the road to victory.

Let me turn to the Labour Party staff.

It is a daily privilege and honour to work with the dedicated and talented party staff.

They are the best in the business.

In the smoke and heat of an election campaign, there is no-one better to have on your side.

In every one of the speeches I’ve delivered as General Secretary, I have talked about the vital role of party members.

Not just cogs in an election machine, but as year-round advocates, developing policy, changing communities.

This conference thanks you, for everything you do.

Today, I am proud to announce we have 570,000 members, making the British Labour Party the largest political party in Europe.

We’re picking up council seats in places such as….

North Somerset,

Thanet,

Suffolk…

and Airdrie.

In Worthing, up the coast from here, our candidate Becky Cooper won a council seat for Labour for the first time in 30 years.

And next year we have local elections across England, with millions going to the polls.

We are working hard to get our parliamentary candidates in the places we need to win.

We will continue the work of the Jo Cox Women In Leadership Programme, which has already seen two of its alumni elected to Parliament.

And while I am happy to debate it,

I will not give an inch,

nor make an apology,

for using All-Women Shortlists to get even-more Labour women into Parliament.

In every one of my reports to this conference, I’ve talked about the steady improvement in the party’s finances.

It has taken a decade of hard work, but we are today mortgage-free, debt-free, loan-free.

So this is today’s Labour.

Growing in size and confidence.

Financially secure.

Reaching into the Tory heartlands.

In contention to be the next Government.

Labour has the leadership in Jeremy, and the manifesto, the country is crying out for, on

education,

on health,

on social care,

on crime,

on transport,

on the environment,

on housing, and especially

on Brexit.

And on Europe, let me say how much we value the work of our colleagues in the European Parliament, and the leadership of Glenis Willmott.

Glenis: thank you for your service to our movement, party and country.

The Tories may be in office, but they have no mandate,

no majority,

no unity,

no authority.

But that doesn’t stop them.

They think they’re born to rule.

So who is going to stop them?

Not the Lib Dems.

Not UKIP.

Not the SNP.

And definitely not the DUP.

Who is going to stop them?

We are.

Since the election, thanks to the surge in our support, we have prevented the Tories from….

legalising fox hunting….

building more grammar schools….

Scrapping free school meals…

Ending the winter fuel payment….

And imposing a Dementia Tax.

Labour has dumped the Tory election manifesto in the shredder, and left Theresa May with nothing to say.

I said at the start how much I value the trade unions, and value the advances we have made for British workers.

But imagine if all of these hard-won gains are flushed down the drain in a Tory Brexit.

Imagine the Britain our children and grandchildren would inherit.

Only Labour can deliver a Brexit which looks after the many.

Finally, conference I hope you enjoy your time in Brighton & Hove.

A shining, diverse, European city, everything the Tories hate.

I propose only one improvement.

It’s a small thing.

It’s not much to ask.

Let’s make the trains safer, more secure, more reliable

and run on time;

Let’s nationalise Southern Rail!

Enjoy conference, and thank you.

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Carwyn Jones AM, Leader of Welsh Labour, First Minister of Wales, speaking at the Labour Party Conference in Brighton today, said:

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I want to begin by extending my thanks to Christina Rees, our Shadow Secretary of State for Wales. Sadly she can’t be with us this week as she’s nursing a broken foot.

I don’t think there’s any truth in the rumour that she broke it kicking Alun Cairns around Parliament in the first week back, but we’ll ask her when we see her.

We all wish you a speedy recovery, Chris.

Secondly, let me say thank you to Jeremy for his continuing friendship and leadership.

Thank you, Jeremy for the dignity you showed in a tough general election campaign.

The Tories came after you in a personal and offensive manner, and you stood up to that onslaught and led the party with great determination and defied the odds.

This time last year, the Tories thought they were marching to a 100-seat majority. Right now, they’re scared of their own shadows, let alone another general election. What a turn around that is.

Conference, when I heard Theresa May was giving a speech in Florence, I thought how apt. Not so much in relation to the Renaissance, but more with a thought to the works of that great medieval poet, Dante. It has been clear to me for some time that the Department for Exiting the European Union regard the “Divine Comedy” as some sort of instruction manual. That masterpiece imagines in glorious detail the dark and terrifying journey through the nine circles of hell.

Well, we’ve been going on our own journey for 15 months and still remain in the first circle of hell – limbo – a remarkable achievement. But, then Dante did have Virgil as his spiritual guide.

David Davis has got Nigel Farage. The book really is worth a read as Brexit re-interpreted.  At one point, at the close of chapter XXI, Dante witnesses a demon mobilising his troops by using “an ass as a trumpet.”  Which goes to show that every century has its own Boris.

Conference, this week in Wales we marked the 20th anniversary of the vote to establish devolution in our country.  It was a turning point for Wales, and a turning point for our Party. The list of achievements is one of which we can be proud – and it belongs not just to Welsh Labour, but to the whole Party and movement who made devolution possible.

·         Unemployment in Wales – routinely lower than the UK average. More jobs, better jobs – Welsh Labour delivering in Government.

·         Wales, the first country to move to a deemed consent model for organ donation in the UK. People owe their lives to that change in the law. Better laws, saving lives, Welsh Labour delivering in Government.

·         Free school breakfasts in primary schools. Giving children the best start to the day, giving parents a helping hand, giving teachers the attention they deserve in the classroom. Welsh Labour delivering in Government.

·         The attainment gap between better off and poorer pupils in England and Scotland continues to grow – in Wales it continues to shrink. A fair start to everyone in Wales, no matter where you’re born – that is Welsh Labour delivering in Government.

·         Our university students in Wales getting the best deal anywhere in the UK.

·         And who gets the best deal of all? Those students who can least afford university – that is Welsh Labour delivering in Government.

But, it isn’t just about policy. It’s also about having a voice and someone to fight your corner. This week I gave a cautious welcome to the news that Tata Steel and ThyssenKrupp entered the first stage of a merger deal.  A deal that should safeguard sites and thousands of jobs in Wales.

Does anyone honestly think that without devolution, without a Welsh Labour Government determined to take measures to save that industry, putting money on the table when others looked away, that those steel jobs would still be in Wales today?

Would the Tories have knocked down walls for the people of Port Talbot, Shotton, Newport or Llanelli? We all know the answer to that.

With our colleagues in the trades unions, our MPs, our AMs and local councillors, Welsh Labour stood up for the steel industry – and we did what those banners and badges asked us to do – we saved our steel.

Conference, we are proud to work with our trades union colleagues in Government.

Together we have built a genuine social partnership and together we are making Wales a Fair Work Nation.

And Conference, earlier this month our Trades Union Act received Royal Assent.

That means that the pernicious attempts of the Tory Government to attack workers’ rights in Wales have been dis-applied, and, once again, workers in Wales have the protections we fought so hard to achieve. Protections everyone deserves.

That’s Welsh Labour delivering in Government.

Devolution has given Wales a voice. And with Welsh Labour that voice speaks the language of social justice, fairness, good work, decent pay and thriving communities.

Devolution has given us something else. A new-found confidence. It is something I see every day in young people in work, and in our schools and colleges. So where has that confidence come from? If you could personalise it, you’d have to give credit to my predecessor, Rhodri Morgan. As you know, Rhodri passed away earlier this year, leaving behind a fantastic roller coaster of a political career, a wonderful family and an ocean of anecdotes.  In May the Welsh Parliament held the closest thing Wales will ever have to a state funeral, and we gave Rhodri the perfect send off.

It started late. It finished even later. In between there was a fantastic mix of poetry, politics, sport, laughter and tears. And at the end, no-one really thought about Rhodri the politician, but Rhodri as a big-hearted, intelligent and inquisitive man who loved his family above all else. A fine role model, who we all miss.

Rhodri always said that Labour did best when it managed to mix together the mushy peas of old Labour with the guacamole of New Labour. Now, I’ve been in Rhodri’s kitchen and I can tell you that when it came to culinary combinations, Rhodri was not always the person you would go to – but on the politics, he, as so often, was absolutely right.  He was absolutely right about the need for our Party to reflect all sections of our membership, and all parts of this country.

That was the key to our success in Wales in the last three elections.

When the Party at UK level was under serious pressure, our unique and united Welsh Labour identity meant we remained relevant and competitive in the Assembly and local elections, when sadly others struggled. It was the unity that gave us success against the odds. And when in the last days of the general election the whole party surged, it meant we, in Wales, were starting from a higher base-line and, as a result, achieved 50% of the vote for the first time in 16 years.

Our identity as a Party is robust, authentic and complementary to the UK Party as a whole. And, just as a country we will not countenance a roll-back of our devolution settlement; there can be no question of Welsh Labour’s long fought for, and hard won voice being diluted as we look to the future of our Party. I know that both Jeremy and Tom understand this, and I welcome their unwavering support for Wales. Thank you, both.

Because Conference, we know Labour works best when we work together. Together, we fought a hugely successful general election campaign – not just holding on to what we had, but winning back seats for Labour.

Vale of Clwyd – according to the bookmakers, Tories were 1/5 on to win. Result? Labour Gain. Gower – according to the bookies, Tories were 1/9 on to win. Result? Labour Gain. Cardiff North – Tories were 1/9 on. Result? Labour Gain.

Working together we have exposed the Tories on broken promise after broken promise. On rail electrification in the north and the south – and we know what’s coming next – they’ll axe Swansea’s Tidal Lagoon.

But, because Welsh Labour is in Government – there are things we can do. We are already delivering on our manifesto promises.

·         100,000 new good quality, all-age apprenticeships.

·         The most generous childcare offer for working parents anywhere in the UK.

·         And 20,000 more affordable homes.

We can also deliver on priorities for the future of our NHS.

There is no privatisation of the NHS in Wales – and whilst we have a Welsh Labour Government there will be no privatisation of the NHS in Wales. Only in Wales are ambulance crews hitting their targets – because we’ve worked with the service and designed a better way of working. And next week, the Welsh Government will publish new guidance for our pioneering legislation on safe nurse staffing levels in Wales.  

Conference, Wales is the first country in Europe to legislate on nurse staffing levels. I am proud that Wales has taken the lead in this area, empowering nurses and ensuring the resources are there to care sensitively for patients. Legislation that the Party promised in the UK manifesto in May, already being delivered by a Labour Government in Wales.

And working together we are making our communities better, fairer places to live.

When Carolyn Harris MP began her brave and dignified campaign to end child burial charges in the UK, we in Wales did not wait for the Tory Government to act. We said, yes, that is the right thing to do, and, as a result, the Welsh Labour Government has announced the abolition of all child burial charges in our country. That is what we can do when we work together.

And the country needs us to work together more than ever before, as we fight the fundamentalists pursuing a hard Brexit. We are fighting tooth and nail against the Tory power grab, dressed up as the EU Withdrawal Bill. It shows up their Government as simply incapable of listening to other people’s views, or respecting their legitimate interests – in other words, as lacking the basic skills needed to negotiate successfully.

And looking at the way in which they are failing the country in their negotiations with the EU, I guess we shouldn’t be surprised.

I’m delighted at the support we are receiving from Labour colleagues in Parliament at fighting this real threat to devolution as we have known it for the past 20 years.

I’m also incredibly proud of the work we have done together already – our team in Cardiff Bay has worked hand in glove with Keir Starmer and the front bench in developing our Brexit policies. As a result of that work, in Labour we now have a sensible, evidence-based, economically sound set of principles and ideas that can see this country through Brexit in an orderly manner.  

Contrast that with the spectacle of the Tory approach. Sorry, correction – the various Tory approaches. Does anyone really know who speaks for them on Brexit anymore?

Where has the Prime Minister of this country gone? If,  before the general election, the country felt as though it had a robot for Prime Minister, we’d now be forgiven for thinking we have a hologram.

She went to the country and asked for the support of our communities for a hard Brexit, the country said no. The country said no to some other things as well – our older people said no to being taken for granted. Wales said no to being short-changed. Scotland said no to independence. And crucially, our young people said no to being ignored. They said, through their votes, what we all feel – Britain deserves better than this. This country deserves a Labour Government in Westminster.

A Government that actually cares about the future.

I know that the people of Wales need that more than ever. Under the Tories, we have had to take £1billion out of our public services in Wales. That’s the annual budget of the entire North Wales health board. Our communities are resilient, but they’re being unfairly punished. And with Theresa May and the Tories they will be asked to give yet more. To give up. To give up their livelihoods, their libraries, their leisure centres, and their right to a fair deal. To give up hope. Enough is enough. It is time for hope.  

It is time for Labour, in Wales and in Westminster.  Standing up for Wales. Working for fairness. Working, together. Winning, together. That’s a future the country hopes for and that’s the country we can deliver. Together for Wales.  Together for Britain.