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.

Ends

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

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AGAINST DELIVERY***

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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DELIVERY***

 

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.

Ends

9ٖ��J%z���=

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.