Andrew
Gwynne MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local
Government, speaking
at the Labour Party Conference in Brighton today, said:

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I’m delighted to respond to the ‘Protecting Communities’ debate as
Labour’s new Shadow Secretary of  State
for Communities and Local Government.

I want to begin by thanking my immediate predecessors, Graeme Morris and
Theresa Pearce, and to introduce our new CLG team in Parliament – Yvonne
Fovargue, Jim McMahon, Roy Kennedy, Jeremy Beecham and my PPS Stephen Morgan,
the first Labour MP for Portsmouth South, in the seat’s 99 year history.

I served for 12 years as a councillor in Greater Manchester.  In fact all of the Labour CLG team began our
political journeys in local government.
And I want to thank our Labour councillors who do an outstanding job
across the country.

I also want to thank Councillor Nick Forbes for his leadership of the
LGA Labour group. Nick has long campaigned against the “scissors of doom” forced
onto local authorities by this Tory Government. Thank  you Nick and the LGA Labour Group team.

Let’s also pay tribute to the emergency services, the volunteers and the
community who rushed to the aid of Grenfell residents on the 14th June.

The support that has been shown by the community in response to this
incident has continued to show how sorely lacking the response has been from
Government.

Thank you, John Healey and Emma Dent-Coad, for your work following this
tragedy. We will not stop until every resident of Grenfell tower has a safe
place to live, and the support they need to rebuild their lives.

Conference, we know the difference Labour in local government can make.

In Bristol, Labour has pushed the social care crisis into the spotlight
– leading the call for city leaders to come together to lobby central
government over cuts.

South Tyneside has developed a purpose-built facility to support
integrated health and care services, designed to support the needs of those
with varying stages of dementia.

In London, Sadiq Khan, has called an end to Boris’s vanity projects,
instead prioritising the development of new affordable housing.

In Greater Manchester and Merseyside, our Metro Mayors, Andy Burnham and
Steve Rotheram, understand that ‘a Northern Powerhouse’ is one built by local
people, and by investing in our communities – and not through slogans alone.

And after one of our darkest nights this year, as Manchester woke to
find children, young people and their families had lost their lives, Andy
offered the unifying leadership that was needed .

Labour in local government will continue to innovate to make a real
difference to people’s lives. But I also know the very difficult decisions that
councillors have had to make over the past seven years as this Tory government
sneakily attempts to devolve the blame for their cuts away from Whitehall – to
local councillors in town halls.

Conference, we won’t be fooled. Police cuts. Fire Service cuts.
SureStart closures. The crisis in social care.

They all have the same root cause: a Tory dogmatic vision of a smaller
state.

Austerity is a political choice. And we also know their cuts have hit
the poorest communities the hardest.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. This was the simple message that our leader Jeremy Corbyn took to the
country in June’s Election.

If, like me, you went to see Jeremy speak, you would have seen the very
real desperation for change that greeted him. The emotion in the eyes of those
who, for the first time in years, felt hope.  People who don’t accept this
country – the fifth richest in the world – should be defined by growing
unfairness and inequality.

That’s why a vote for Labour will always be a vote for a fairer Britain .

But conference, we cannot empower our communities if we impoverish them.

That’s why we have promised to put council funding on a sustainable
footing.

Councils would be £1.5bn better off under a Labour Government next year.

But seven years of savage cuts has created a hole in our public services
that demands more from us than increased investment; it demands that we
consider fresh ideas and approaches.

A generation of outsourcing and forced privatisation of public services,
has hollowed out the capacity of our councils to deliver for our communities.
For the past 3 decades, we’ve been told that outsourcing delivers better value
for money.

But, all too often, when savings are made, it is because services are
cut back, charges are introduced, and the pay and conditions of our valued
public service workforce are attacked. Meanwhile, those decisions are hidden
behind a cloak of commercial confidentiality.

And we know what else happens when our local services are handed over to
private companies.

Our councils continue to have responsibility for local services, but
they lose the ability to deliver them. So that when you report a pothole or
complain about street cleansing, it is to someone in a call centre far away who
doesn’t know your area, and has never walked down your streets – that’s if
you’re lucky enough to speak to someone at all. And with every contract that’s
outsourced, our democratic institutions lose dedicated, qualified staff.

Across the country Labour councils are already showing that it doesn’t
have to be this way. Labour Councils in North Tyneside, Islington, Stockport,
and many others, have shown that local services can be delivered better and
more efficiently in-house.

Austerity demanded innovation from the sector – and the ideas and
innovations from Labour Councils must not be forgotten as we plan for
Government.

So, today I can announce Labour’s radical plan to renew faith in local
services and deliver a renaissance of local government. Building on the work of
my colleague, Jon Trickett, the next Labour Government will deliver a Bill to
rebuild our local services.

In it, we will give councils greater powers to deliver services
themselves; because our services should be run for our local
communities alone.

We’ll extend transparency and Freedom of Information rules, so that
communities know where their money is going. And we’ll end the two tier workforce with a “Fair
Wage” clause. Taken together, this will be some of the largest set of reforms to
local government in modern times.

Empowering communities and rebuilding local institutions and local services.

Because they’re our public services – and we should always put people
first. It’s about strengthening society.  It’s about putting our values
– our socialism – into
practice.

We understand that it is by the strength of our common endeavour that we
achieve more together than we do alone. And it is communities  – properly empowered and renewed – that are
at the forefront of delivering that Labour vision of a better, fairer, more equal
society. We are so close to having the chance to make our vision a reality.

So let’s make it our sole mission – a Labour Government. Standing up for
our neighbourhoods, protecting our communities. For the many, not the few.
Let’s get to it.

Diane
Abbott MP, Shadow Home Secretary, speaking at Labour Party Conference,
said:

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Good morning conference.

It is a pleasure, and a privilege to
address this conference as Shadow Home Secretary.

But I would like to begin by thanking the
members and supporters up and down the country, and those of you in this hall,
who helped to deliver the stunning advance in this year’s General Election.

You were the architects of our success.
And you were able to do it because: you believed in our values; you believed in
our manifesto and, above all, you believed in the Labour party leadership.

Many commentators did not foresee the
General Election result that we had.

Some even said that we would be
annihilated. But today the Labour party is stronger than ever, we are still
standing… I am still standing.

But there is much more to do. We have to
get rid of this appalling FAILING Tory government. We have to win the next
General Election. Whenever it comes. AND WE WILL.

The theme of this session is “Protecting
Our Communities”.

And there is no greater responsibility
for government than keeping the nation safe from the menace of TERRORISM. 
Tragically last week we saw the fifth terror incident this year at Parsons
Green tube station. This comes after the terrorist atrocities at: Westminster;
the Manchester Arena; London Bridge; Borough Market and Finsbury
Park.   Looking back we must pay tribute to: the brave police
officers; firefighters; NHS workers and transport police who ran towards danger
and rose to the challenge of keeping us safe.

The Tories have no respect for public
sector workers as their unfair public sector pay cap shows. But in its moments
of greatest peril the nation turns to its public sector workers. They should
NOT be played off against each other and they should ALL be paid properly.

Because you cannot keep the nation secure
on the cheap.

Yet only on Friday the Chair of the
National Police Chiefs Council warned that that counter-terror funding to
police forces was to be cut by seven-point-two per-cent over the next 3 years.

Yet, Home Office documents reveal that
the budget for the Office for Security and Counter Terrorism will fall by more
than fifty million pounds over the next two years.

We
oppose these cuts and Labour will reverse them in Government.

And, as part of combatting terrorism
effectively, Labour is committed to a thorough review of the “Prevent” strand
of counter-terrorism policy. Increasingly there is a concern that Prevent is a tainted brand and not fit
for purpose.

Trampling on our civil liberties will do
the terrorists work for them.

What makes us free is what makes us safe.

And what makes us safe is what will make
us free.

Another key aspect of protecting
communities is POLICING. I have represented an inner city constituency for thirty
years. I know it is the poor, women and minorities who suffer most from crime.
I have always taken fighting crime very seriously, and will continue to do so
as Labour Home Secretary.

And the reality of the Tory record on law
and order is a long way from their rhetoric. Since 2010 Theresa May has been
Home Secretary and now Prime Minister. But ON HER WATCH: the number of police
officers has dropped by twenty thousand. Two-point-three-billion has been cut
from police budgets.

The truth is austerity undermines
policing in exactly the same way that it undermines our health service. We see
the consequences of this around us, with rising levels of homicide, knife, and
gun crime. And the police themselves are suffering from spiralling levels of
overwork and stress.

Labour in government will work to make
communities safe. And we will recruit ten thousand new police officers working
in the community.

Another key aspect of protecting
communities is keeping them safe from FIRE risk. Once again, this is something
where this Tory government has let the people of this country down.

And the extent of their failure is
symbolised by the Grenfell Fire.

Who can forget those images of Grenfell
tower ablaze? And this did not happen in a slum in an impoverished country far
away. It happened here in Britain, in one of the wealthiest areas of the
country, in one of the richest countries in the world.

The Tory controlled Royal Borough of
Kensington and Chelsea treated the residents of Grenfell like second class
citizens.

And when the disaster struck the Royal
Borough’s response was shameful. Even now, out of the all the families made
homeless only a handful have been offered permanent homes. And this in a
borough with over two thousand empty properties. Am I the only person wondering
why Commissioners have not been sent into the FAILING Royal Borough of
Kensington and Chelsea?

But Tory failure in relation to Grenfell
goes further than the borough council. Events at Grenfell are also a direct
consequence of: deregulation of fire standards and inspection; privatisation
and outsourcing.

We demand justice for the Grenfell
survivors. They will not be FORGOTTEN.
We demand an immigration amnesty for former Grenfell residents so they ALL feel
able to come forward for help.

Labour in government will recruit three
thousand additional firefighters. We fully support the campaigning of the Fire
Brigades Union, against the cuts. We all saw the photographs of the brave smoke
blackened firefighters insisting on going back into the flames to save lives.
We relied on our fire brigade at Grenfell. And the fire brigade must be the
lead agency for assessing risk, fire inspections and proper sign-off for all
major works and refurbishment.

No more outsourcing to the private
sector.

And I cannot leave this subject without
paying tribute to my colleague Emma Dent Coad, the MP for Kensington.

As a new MP, she found herself having to
deal with a national tragedy on the scale of Grenfell. She has offered love and
leadership to her community in full measure and conference should applaud her.

Emma has shown that Labour can make a
difference EVERYWHERE. And that Labour can WIN anywhere.

We finally had an Inquiry
into the Hillsborough tragedy, thanks to tireless campaigning of the people of Liverpool with
the support of my colleagues Andy Burnham and Steve
Rotherham. But as Labour Home secretary I promise: a full Inquiry into
Orgreave; an inquiry into the trials of Shrewsbury twenty-four AND an
inquiry into what happened to the thirty-seven Cammell Laird workers.

They ALL deserve justice

Another vital Home Affairs issue is
IMMIGRATION.

Tory opportunism on immigration is a
disgrace. They continue to talk about bogus immigration targets, which they
have not met and will never meet.

The Tories have weaponised immigration.

They have pandered to anti-immigrant
sentiment whatever the cost to the economy and communities.

Many of you will have seen the Panorama
program which revealed the brutal regime at Brooke House detention centre.

Labour will put an end to indefinite
immigration detention.

There ARE real labour market issues. But
the Labour party under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn will not scapegoat
immigrants for these issues.

Labour in government will work across
departments to counter the effects of deregulation, liberalisation and
weakening of trade union rights and freedoms.

Far from immigrants being a drain on the
public sector the truth is that, without immigrants, and the children of
immigrants we would not have a National Health Service we have today.

And of course EU citizens in this country
also play a vital role in the economy.

The willingness of the Theresa May to use
them as bargaining chips in the negotiations is shameful. We will guarantee the
rights of EU nationals living in this country. It is both vital for our economy
and it’s the right thing to do.

I have visited refugee encampments in
Calais, Greece and Lebanon and seen the pitiful conditions that so many
refugees live in.

And even in Britain the current
arrangements for housing refugees are not fit for purpose. They are not fair to
refugees and they are not fair to our communities. We will review these arrangements.

Labour under the leadership of Jeremy
Corbyn will fulfil its responsibilities to refugees, in particular child
refugees.  Parliament passed the Dubs Amendment and we will implement it
fully.

The watchword for our approach to
immigration in government will be fairness and the reasonable management of
migration.

But as the child of immigrants,
Conference must believe me when I say that, under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership,
immigration policy will always be shaped by enduring Labour values.

Conclusion

Thank
you again, Conference. For coming to Brighton, for listening to me, for
participating in the debates to come and helping to formulate policy.

Andrew
Gwynne MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Communities and Local
Government, speaking at the Labour Party’s Annual Conference in
Brighton, will say:

On the work of Labour councils, Andrew Gwynne will say:

“We know the difference Labour in local
government can make.

“In Bristol, Labour has pushed the social care crisis
into the spotlight – leading the call for city leaders to come together to
lobby central government over cuts.

“South Tyneside has developed a purpose-built facility
to support integrated health and care services, designed to support the needs
of those with varying stages of dementia.

“In London, Sadiq Khan, has called an end to Boris’s vanity
projects, instead prioritising the development of new affordable housing.

“In Greater Manchester and Merseyside, our Metro Mayors, Andy
Burnham and Steve Rotheram, understand that ‘a Northern Powerhouse’ is one
built by local people, and by investing in our communities – and not through
slogans alone.

“Labour in local government will continue to innovate to make a
real difference to people’s lives. But I also know the very difficult decisions
that councillors have had to make over the past seven years as this Tory
government sneakily attempts to devolve the blame for their cuts away from
Whitehall – to local councillors in Town Halls.”

On funding
for local government, Andrew Gwynne will say:

“Police cuts. Fire Service cuts. SureStart closures. The crisis in
social care. They all have the same root cause: a Tory dogmatic
vision of a smaller state.

“We cannot empower our communities if we impoverish them. That’s
why we have promised to put council funding on a sustainable footing. Councils
would be £1.5bn better off under a Labour Government next year.”

On empowering local communities, Andrew Gwynne will say:

“A generation of outsourcing and forced privatisation of public
services, has hollowed out the capacity of our councils to deliver for our
communities.

“Today I can announce Labour’s radical plan to renew faith in
local services and deliver a renaissance of local government.

“We will give councils greater powers to deliver services
themselves – because our services should be run for our local communities
alone.

“We’ll extend transparency and Freedom of Information rules, so
that communities know where their money is going.

“And we’ll end the two tier workforce with a “Fair Wage” clause.

“Taken together, this will be some of the largest set of reforms
to local government in modern times: empowering communities and rebuilding
local institutions and local services. Because they’re our public services –
and we should always put people first.”

Dawn Butler MP, Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities, speaking at the Labour Party Women’s Conference in Brighton today, said:

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Welcome to the start of Conference – yes Labour Party Conference starts today, starts now – and starts with you.

In celebration of Jeremy’s new, kinder politics, I wanted you to be the first ones I share my cleanest political joke with. What have Theresa May and a circle got in common? There’s just no point in them.

Good morning.  My name is Dawn Butler, and I am your new Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities.

In this new role, I want to tackle all injustices – my teachers told me I wouldn’t amount to anything – racism and sexism has always featured heavily in my journey. I have always worked in male-dominated industries, and it was the trade union movement that taught me that others will stand beside me in my times of despair.  It taught me that united we stand, divided we fall.

Today, at our new transitional Women’s Conference, be united in our fight against injustice.

All of you in this room are phenomenal women – what are you?

Our Conference today is to discuss policy, but also to empower you and for you to empower others.

We are all on a journey and, as Martin Luther King said, “I cannot be where I ought, until you are where you ought to be, that is the interrelated structure of reality.”

Therefore, how you travel your journey is vital.  Your dream should not be built on the pain of other women. You should not travel your journey on the backs of women, so they are looking down whilst you climb up. You should aim to travel your journey on the shoulders of women. Let other women look up to you as you progress.

If you are on the ladder of success, lay the foundations for an escalator.  If you are on the escalator, lay the foundations for a lift. Ensure that the women following behind you have an easier journey, and be proud that you have helped smooth her journey. Be a friend of women.

We may have a female Prime Minister, but she is no friend of women. She says all the right things, but her deeds are destructive – 86% of her Government’s cuts have fallen on women. Black and Asian women have suffered particularly badly. And disabled women really suffered, so much so that a UN panel criticised our Government for not protecting the rights of disabled people in this country.

Since 2010, women’s life expectancy has worsened. We will not live as long as other women around Europe. This Government is literally killing us.

I want us at this Conference to commit to helping women and young girls; females who can’t afford to buy sanitary products. I want us at the start of Labour Conference to lead the way and say no more period poverty. Say it after me – no more period poverty.

On average, every female spends around £5000 in their lifetime on sanitary products. In the year 2000, Labour reduced the VAT on sanitary products from 17.5% to 5%. It was a good start, but we could have done better.  David Cameron was pressured by the tampon tax campaign, helped by one of my team, the MP for Dewsbury.  But the response has been lacking in real commitment.

Low income families shouldn’t have the additional burden of struggling to afford sanitary products; or homeless women suffering on the streets; or young girls having to use socks in their pants; or missing school once a month because they just can’t afford sanitary protection.

There are many solutions to this problem: free sanitary products in schools and colleges; free prescriptions for sanitary protection or reusable cups.

With all of our efforts, we could eradicate the problem in our lifetime. After all, it’s not our choice whether we have periods. It’s far from a luxury, so why should we suffer? If men had periods, this would have been resolved a long time ago – period.

I am proud to announce here today that you are now part of Labour’s official launch on period poverty.

The next Labour Government will provide funding for free sanitary products for secondary schools, foodbanks and homeless shelters,

I will work with Monica Lennon MSP, Member of the Scottish Labour Party, who has tabled an excellent Bill on period poverty.

The Labour Party wants all women, regardless of age, social status or background, to be able to easily access the sanitary products they need.

We will pay for it by scrapping vanity projects like grammar schools and free schools.

I am a phenomenal woman.

Intersectionality, is about double, triple or quadruple discrimination. I will admit at first, I didn’t like the word, mainly because I could hardly say it. But I realised during my journey I have suffered triple discrimination. I used to be discriminated against because I was black, being a woman and I was young. OK, one of those is no longer an issue, although in Parliament with the average age still being around 75, I am still quite young

Just imagine, a working class, trade unionist, black woman, I became an MP against the odds, and I became the first black woman in the House of Commons to ever be a Minister in the UK. It was not easy, but as time goes on, I realise we are all phenomenal women, and anything is possible.

Peter Dowd MP, Labour’s Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury, responding to the down grading of the UK’s credit rating by Moody’s, said:

“This is a hammer blow to the economic credibility of the Tories and Philip Hammond, who used to claim it was “critical” for the UK to maintain the highest credit ratings.

“For the second time under the Tories the UK’s credit rating has been downgraded, and on this occasion citing their lack of faith in the Chancellor to meet his own spending targets as a result of unfunded spending commitments such as the deal with the DUP.

“Only Labour has a plan for a strong growing economy underpinned by our Fiscal Credibility Rule. A Labour Government will provide much needed high-paid, high-skilled jobs to build a country for the many not the few.”