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Category: Speeches

  • Anneliese Dodds – 2023 Speech to the Labour’s National Annual Women’s Conference

    Anneliese Dodds – 2023 Speech to the Labour’s National Annual Women’s Conference

    The speech made by Anneliese Dodds, the Chair of the Labour Party, in Liverpool on 7 October 2023.

    Thank you for that introduction, Angela.

    And thank you for all the great work you do for women, not least on the New Deal for Working People which will massively improve women’s working lives.

    Speaking of great work for women, wasn’t this a brilliant summer for women’s sport?

    The Lionesses’ amazing run to the World Cup final. The thrilling Women’s Ashes series. England reaching the Netball World Championship final.

    I want to congratulate these women for smashing through barriers in sport. And send my solidarity to Jenni Hermoso and her Spanish teammates.

    These women faced open misogyny in their moment of ultimate triumph and said: we won’t stand for it. Sisters, we stand with you.

    I also want to send my solidarity to the women of Ukraine and Afghanistan, who have showed such courage in the face of oppression, harassment and violence.

    And for those women and their children who have fled their home to seek refuge in our country – you are welcome here.

    Friends, we gather today for our first in-person women’s conference since 2019.

    The last four years have been immensely challenging.

    First Covid-19. Then the cost of living crisis.

    Thanks to the Conservatives, women paid the price for both.

    Who stood by while women bore the brunt of rising poverty before the pandemic?

    The Tories did.

    Who left women hundreds of pounds a year worse off today than they were in 2010?

    The Tories did.

    Who allowed the gender pay gap to rise?

    The Tories did.

    This is the cost of the Conservatives – and women can’t afford another five years of it.

    Politics is about priorities. And the Conservatives have deprioritised women.

    Just look at the ministerial merry-go-round in the Government Equalities Office.

    At our last women’s conference in March 2022, Liz Truss was Minister for Women and Equalities – remember her?

    By this time last year, ‘Lettuce Liz’ had replaced herself as Minister for Women and Equalities with Nadhim Zahawi – but never bothered to allocate him any responsibilities.

    Today Kemi Badenoch holds the role – a Minister who, when faced with the epidemic of violence against women and girls, soaring NHS waiting lists for women and the pernicious gender pay gap, is nowhere to be found.

    She does, however, have time to pursue her top priority – appointing a toilet tsar.

    And she’s supported in that vital work by Rishi Sunak, the former Chancellor who did nothing to help women brutally exposed to the cost of living crisis.

    Well, today I have a message for them both:

    You can’t try and claim ownership of women’s equality if your party has been failing women for thirteen years.

    It’s Labour that is the true party of women’s equality. The party of the Equal Pay Act. The party that supported women to exercise bodily autonomy with the right to choose. The party of the Equality Act. And so much more.

    We’ll take no lessons on women’s equality from the Conservatives.

    Instead, we learn from those who actually delivered for women in government. Leaders like Harriet Harman, the architect of our Equality Act.

    Harriet is standing down at the next election after more than forty years as an MP. The Mother of the House. The second woman Leader of the Opposition. A woman who has done so much to advance women’s equality.

    Harriet, you have been a brilliant servant to our party and our country. I’m sure the whole hall will join me in thanking you for that service.

    Harriet’s achievements remind us of the progress we have made for women’s equality. And the need for strong women in Parliament to deliver it.

    Because as Harriet herself said: “There are some things only women MPs can do, and without women, they will not be done”.

    That’s why women’s representation in Parliament is so important. And why I’m so proud that Labour is the first political party to reach parity in terms of men and women MPs.

    A great example of how positive action works.

    Action that was taken by Labour. But opposed by the Tories. The same old story.

    And for 13 years this useless Conservative Government has failed to do anything to boost diversity in politics. So as usual, it is left to Labour to put that right.

    I can announce today that the next Labour Government will enact Section 106 of the Equality Act. We will require political parties to publish anonymised data on the diversity of their candidates – so that every party competing for elections to Westminster, to Holyrood or to the Senedd has a duty to demonstrate progress.

    The Conservatives could have done this years ago, but they didn’t have the guts. Only Labour will act to make politics more representative of the country we serve.

    To bring people with different experiences and backgrounds into Parliament, to do the things that only women MPs, Black, Asian and ethnic minority MPs, disabled MPs and LGBT+ MPs can do.

    Take the menopause. This is a condition that affects 51% of the population. If it happened to men, there would be outrage. Research. Policy solutions. And action. Instead, change has happened at a glacial pace.

    Six months ago, I started a national conversation about how we properly support women in their 40s, 50s and 60s.

    Women of our age do a lot, and complain little.

    We’re often holding down a job, going through menopause, caring for elderly parents, supporting older children and more. The pressure is immense – and our potential too often untapped.

    If women aged 50-64 had the same employment rate now as before the pandemic, they could be contributing up to £7 billion more to the UK economy – £7 billion worth of untapped contribution and creativity.

    It’s a tragedy that one in ten women experiencing menopause leave their jobs and 14% reduce their hours due to the lack of support in the workplace.

    The Conservatives don’t care about this. But Labour does – and that’s why I announced this year that Labour will require large employers to publish menopause action plans to support their women workers.

    It’s also why I can announce today that the next Labour Government will produce menopause workplace guidance to help women working for small and medium-sized businesses too.

    Conference, with the right support we can unleash the talent and creativity of women across our country. That’s good for women. Good for business. And good for the economy too.

    Because we know that women’s equality and economic growth go hand in hand.

    That’s why the last Labour Government legislated to support women to reach their full potential.

    Legislation like our Equality Act, which is still protecting women from discrimination in countless ways every day.

    The Conservatives will never understand that success is not achieved by pushing people down – but by pulling everyone up.

    For them, equality is just an afterthought or a fight to pick. But for Labour it is fundamental to who we are.

    That’s why it’s such an honour and a privilege to do this job. If Labour wins the next election, I will become the UK’s first ever Secretary of State for Women and Equalities, with a seat at the top table, dedicated to advocating for women in all their diversity in every Cabinet conversation.

    That alone though won’t be enough to give women their future back. To do that, we must harness the talent, creativity and brilliance of every woman in our country.

    How? With Labour’s mission-driven agenda for a better Britain.

    Because to deliver the highest sustained growth in the G7, we will create better workplaces for women.

    We’ll start with our New Deal for Working People. From flexible working to stronger equal pay rights to tackling workplace harassment and so much more, this will transform the lives of working women everywhere, including LGBT+, Black, Asian and ethnic minority, and disabled women.

    And we will tap into the talents of women of all ages, whether by supporting start-ups and female entrepreneurs or by bringing in that better workplace support for women experiencing menopause.

    We’ll also tackle the Gender Pay Gap, building on the findings of the review currently being led by Baroness Frances O’Grady, supported by Rachel Reeves, Angela and myself.

    We will make Britain a clean energy superpower, ensuring women benefit from the good, new jobs the transition will create.

    We will build an NHS fit for the future to support women with their health and wellbeing, from cutting gynaecology waiting lists to delivering better access to mental health support.

    And we will incentivise continuity of care in maternity services to reverse the shameful increase in women dying in childbirth – and set a target to close the shocking gap that leaves Black women four times more likely to die while giving birth.

    We will deliver safer streets, homes, and workplaces – and use every lever to halve the level of violence against women and girls, making this a government-wide strategic commitment.

    We will make hatred against women the hate crime we know it to be, and strengthen existing laws so that hate crimes against LGBT+ and disabled women attract the same, tough sentences.

    We will break down barriers to opportunity at every stage by enacting the socio-economic duty in the Equality Act and introducing a Race Equality Act to tackle the structural racial inequality that scars our society.

    And we will oppose any Conservative attempt to undermine Labour’s Equality Act, and protect and uphold it in government.

    Sisters, this is Labour’s plan for women.

    To put women at the heart of our mission-driven agenda for government.

    To provide every woman with a fair shot at life, in every part of our country.

    To give women their hope, their optimism and their future back.

    Thank you.

  • Angela Rayner – 2023 Speech to the Labour’s National Annual Women’s Conference

    Angela Rayner – 2023 Speech to the Labour’s National Annual Women’s Conference

    The speech made by Angela Rayner, the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, in Liverpool on 7 October 2023.

    Good morning Ladies of Liverpool!

    It is an honour to stand here today, as your Deputy Leader, and look out at so many inspiring women.

    Let’s face it – sometimes it’s tiring being a woman in this world.

    Especially under a Tory Government!

    But that is why it falls upon us to continue the work the last Labour government started, standing side-by-side, so that all of us succeed in battling inequality, together.

    I want to start today with a story.

    Picture the scene.

    A baby boy is born.

    Destined for Eton, or Harrow or Winchester.

    Then PPE at Oxford.

    When he walks into the Houses of Parliament he feels no imposter syndrome.

    Only the feeling that he is home. He is exactly where he should be.

    He doesn’t struggle to make his voice heard.

    No hesitation to steal a well-made point and call it his own.

    On the other side of the country, a girl is growing up on a council estate. In poverty.

    Taught that women do certain things, and men do others.

    To put everyone else first.

    Overlooked, undervalued, underestimated.

    She’ll never walk in the corridors of Westminster.

    It’s not the place for her.

    Only that isn’t what happens.

    She joins a union.

    She learns the power of workers coming together… to fight for more.

    A Labour Government introduces the minimum wage. She can afford more than one meal a day.

    A Labour government builds council houses. She gets the keys to her first home, to stability.

    A Labour government introduces the equal pay act. She gets a pay rise – enough so she can save.

    A Labour government builds a sure start centre at the end of her road, where she learns how to be a good mum. She meets other young mums and they find power in each other.

    And in the end, that girl goes from her council estate to the parliamentary estate!

    Conference, like so many of us in this room today, I wouldn’t be standing here today without a Labour government.

    Labour is the Party of equality. Of the Equality Act. Of Equal Pay. Of Sure Start.

    I’m proud to say that in the Labour Party today, we now have more women MPs than men.

    With Rachel’s eyes fixed on being the first woman Chancellor.

    We are turning the tide of history.

    But the battle isn’t won. There still aren’t enough women around the table.

    It is not enough for us to cling onto our seats and celebrate the fight it took to get us here.

    You only need to look at the horrific acts of powerful men abusing young women and hiding in plain sight.

    This is why the next Labour government will fight for every girl in this country to have a bright future.

    To stand up for every woman.

    To break the glass ceiling and the class ceiling.

    Our New Deal for Working People will make work more family friendly, crack down on unfair pay and improve access to justice for those discriminated against at work.

    And as I was pleased to announce today Labour would properly tackle sexual harassment at work

    A shocking two-thirds of young women have been sexually harassed at work. This must change.

    That’s why the next Labour government will amend the Equalities Act to introduce a legal duty for employers to take all reasonable steps to stop sexual harassment before it starts.

    But that’s not all.

    We’ll make misogyny a hate crime, toughen sentences for perpetrators of rape and stalking, and halve the level of violence against women and girls.

    Women suffering the awful symptoms of menopause at work will get the support they deserve.

    We will empower women entrepreneurs.

    And we’ll tackle the crisis in women’s health by training 7,500 more doctors and 10,000 more nurses and midwives each year.

    When it comes to building a better future for women – we won’t just talk the talk. We’ll walk the walk.

    Because our lives, our careers, our futures depend on it.

    We can’t continue down the path we are on.

    Women unsafe on Britain’s streets. Two-thirds of us harassed in our workplaces.

    We must get into government and build on the legacy of the last Labour Government. We must get into government and continue the fight for equality.

    And Conference, Labour must get into government to give that young girl living in poverty her future back.

    Now, without further ado.

    I want to introduce one of the most formidable women in our movement.

    She is working across our movement – the Shadow Cabinet, members and activists – to build on the legacy of the last Labour Government and empower women everywhere.

    Anneliese Dodds.

  • Benjamin Netanyahu – 2023 Statement on Attack on Israel

    Benjamin Netanyahu – 2023 Statement on Attack on Israel

    The statement made by Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, on 7 October 2023.

    Citizens of Israel. We are at war, not an operation, not an escalation, a war.

    This morning Hamas launched a murderous surprise attack against the state of Israel and its citizens. We’ve been at it since early morning.

    I convened the heads of the security system, first of all I instructed to cleanse the settlements of the terrorists who had infiltrated – this operation is being carried out during these hours.

    At the same time, I ordered an extensive reserve mobilisation and a retaliatory war with a strength and scope that the enemy had never known.

    The enemy will pay a price he has never known. In the meantime, I call on all citizens of Israel to strictly obey the instructions of the army and the instructions of the Home Command.

    We are in a war and we will win it.

  • Gillian Keegan – 2023 Speech at the Confederation of School Trusts

    Gillian Keegan – 2023 Speech at the Confederation of School Trusts

    The speech made by Gillian Keegan, the Secretary of State for Education, in Birmingham on 5 October 2023.

    To start, I want to say thank you. For your leadership, your resilience, your incredible work.

    I really mean this because I do see your work as incredible and achievements as outstanding. It has been difficult, especially as we continue to recover from the pandemic, nobody in this room thinks it’s anything but, and most recently as we have grappled with the RAAC (reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete) issue.

    I want to put on record my thank you to Baroness Barran for her brilliant leadership on RAAC. She’s done a really amazing job.

    I’m here today with a simple message. I promise that I will do everything I can to support all of you. I see that as my job; to minimise the disruption our kids face, and to keep them in the classroom and get a great education.

    But there is another reason it’s really great to be here today and that is because I look at the theme on your banner today we’ve spoken about it, about ‘belonging’, and how important that is.

    It’s not often that conference themes really hit the mark but for me, this one does.

    Because I can bet that at one moment, every one of us has felt that we don’t belong.

    I’ve felt it in the world of business where I spent 30 years. It is hardly dominated by people who started on the factory floor.

    That can be hard enough for an adult but when you’re young, if you don’t feel like you belong, everything becomes that bit harder.

    It’s thanks to you, your staff, your teachers, that kids feel not just that they are there to learn, but that schools are happy places, safe places, places for them to explore, to grow and places for them to flourish. That is the environment you create day in and day out.

    Belonging is not only fundamental within schools. Our entire education system needs to prepare young people to find their place and thrive in a complex and ever-changing world.

    A child starting school today at the age of five will join a labour market that will be unrecognisable to us.

    Their jobs will be shaped by artificial intelligence and quantum. They will need to have the skills to deliver the net zero transition that we have legislated for. They could be part of profound advances in life sciences or leading the way with advanced forms of manufacturing.

    Around the world, students need their options open, not narrowed. We must harness everything we know that drives high quality education for every young person up to the age of 18 and beyond.

    There is strength, not just in depth, but also in breadth.

    This means strengthening teaching and achievement in maths and English as well as science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects. It means offering breadth as well as rigour. It means achieving genuine parity between the academic and technical routes.

    That is why we have announced that we will introduce a new Advanced British Standard (ABS) for 16–19-year-olds. I’m sure you’ve got many questions around that and we can work together to answer those questions.

    This is the next chapter in our reforms.

    It builds on a journey that we started together. Between 2005 and 2010, Michael Gove and Nick Gibb did a lot of work to prepare for what we thought was going to make a massive different to our children’s education.

    You have all been instrumental in making huge strides over the last decade to drive up standards in our schools.

    88% of schools are now Good or Outstanding. Our 9 and 10 year olds are the best in the west at reading. You did that, our children did that.

    You have worked with us as we have introduced rigour and new standards to post 16 education in this country. We worked together to update and overhaul A Levels, introduce T Levels and build a world class apprenticeship system which you’ll know is very dear to my heart.

    But still we know that between 16 and 19 our young people study fewer subjects compared to their peers in other countries. And they have far fewer contact hours in which they can learn from the experts – their teachers. And still too many young people leave at 18 without the critical maths and English they need.

    We need to build on those reforms and we need to go further. Because the world is changing faster than we’ve ever known. We have to lift our sights. We have to be bold and even more ambitious about what our young people need, what will help them succeed.

    The new Advanced British Standard will expand the range of what our 16 to 19 year olds learn, increase the amount of time they spend with their teachers and finally end the artificial divide between academic and technical education – crucially, we will build on the strong foundations of A Levels, and on the high quality, employer-led occupational standards, underpinning T Levels.

    I am under no illusion about the scale of these changes. They are profound and they are long-term. I’ve only come here to do difficult things because difficult things make a difference.

    They will take time and care to implement well. We will need to work together to develop our plans with schools, colleges, further education providers, unions, employers and the high education sector. With all of you.

    But there are some things we need to start straight away to lay the groundwork for this plan. So we have announced that we are investing over £600 million, over the next 2 years, to improve the recruitment and retention of teachers of key shortage subjects in schools and colleges, strengthen support to those pupils who need to resit GCSE maths or English, and spread teaching excellence.

    To improve the recruitment and retention of teachers in key shortage subjects, this package includes investing around £100 million each year to double the rates of the Levelling Up Premium and expand this to include FE (further education) colleges. All teachers who are in the first five years of their career, teaching shortage subjects and working in disadvantaged schools, will be paid up to £6,000 per year tax-free.

    This package also includes £60 million over two years to improve maths education, including through expanding teaching for mastery approaches across the country, using our maths hubs and increasing access to core maths. All of which revolutionised maths and the teaching of maths.

    In developing this plan we will continue to build-upon the knowledge rich focus of our reforms so far. Because we know a knowledge rich curriculum is what builds understanding and unlocks the skills needed for problem solving, reasoning and critical thinking.

    We will continue to be evidence led. The Education Endowment Foundation (EEF), which was established in 2011 and didn’t exist before, sets the standard now across the world on better use of evidence to improve education. From them, we know what works to improve teaching and learning. That is why our funding package includes an additional £40m million for the EEF so they can create and share high quality evidence of what works at 16 to 19, particularly what works to close the gap for disadvantaged pupils at that age.

    Thanks to you and your trusts we have a tried and tested model of improvement for our schools. You have led the way in changing the landscape of the school system over the last decade – sometimes let’s be honest in the face of resistance.

    We were talking in the cabinet about new ABS and at that point we were reminded of the resistance that Michael Gove and Nick Gibb faced trying to reform our school standards and school system. It’s never easy. Change that is truly worth it is never easy but the results are worth it. But we are really confident having seen the results that you have delivered over the past decade and more that I can ask you once again to work with us to turn that same focus to our 16 to 19 year olds.

    I have heard those who say that now is not the time for long term ambitious reform. That we have plenty of challenges in the system today. Change is already here. We sometimes don’t get to set the agenda because it’s being shaped by everything around us and technological advances is definitely one of those.

    If we want an education system in 10, 20, 30 years’ time that ensures all young people leave education better prepared to find their place in the world then we can’t afford to wait.

    A functioning society and a growing economy relies on an education system that delivers for everyone. Even today in our country we have a massive skills gap that is slowing down our growth which is a lot faster than anyone predicted. But still it would be even faster if we had the skills and talent that we need.

    I agree we must work relentlessly on today’s challenges in our schools, which we will continue to respond to. But it would be wrong to ignore the future. These reforms will help pave the way. We always have to deal with the now while looking towards the future.

    The pandemic cast a long shadow. It changed everything. You worked tirelessly to support schools, teachers, pupils and parents throughout.

    I know we have not yet recovered. I look at the data all the time, I go into schools all the time.

    Particularly for the most disadvantaged kids. You made so much progress closing the disadvantage gap between 2011 and 2019 it narrowed by an outstanding 9% at secondary and by 13% at primary school. But it’s true the pandemic set us back and we need to rebuild.

    I believe in life that you don’t write anyone off. It’s a personal belief, and in this case it means one thing which is reducing the disadvantage gap. It is the only option.

    The kids who are struggling don’t have any less potential.

    As I hope I have demonstrated already, I will continue to argue the case for what schools need. I do understand. That’s one of the benefits of having a Knowsley comprehensive school education myself.

    I know that funding won’t fix everything, but I’ve made sure that from next year overall school funding will be more than £59.6 billion, the highest per-pupil figure in real terms ever.

    But that will only take us so far.

    It’s people who make belonging happen. Its people who make sure all children get the opportunities to succeed. And only with people, including every single person in this room, can we solve the challenges we face.

    Take one that we always talk about – workload. It’s a word, but what it really means is teachers feeling tired, unsupported, overworked. Doing tasks which they don’t feel are even that useful.

    We need to support teachers. They are our most vital assets. It’s not the buildings and it’s not even all the other things that we provide. It is teachers. They want to focus on what they do best which is teaching, changing lives.

    I was at a school in the Wirral yesterday and there were five of us in a room and we were all in our 40s and 50s and I said I strongly believe every single person in our whole country can talk about a teacher who changed their lives. We went around the room and every single one came up with one immediately, not even with a seconds hesitation. 40 or 50 years later.

    Mine is a teacher called Mr Ashcroft who stayed behind after hours in my comprehensive school so he could teach me technical drawing and engineering – unbelievably it was a subject that only boys were allowed to study.

    So I really believe in teachers.  I really believe that what they do with most of their time is change lives. Our Workload Reduction Taskforce which met for the first-time last month will get results. We’ve done it before.

    This isn’t one of those things where we kick the can down the road. They will report their interim findings to me shortly, and we’ve set a deadline of spring so that we can work out what is needed to further reduce working hours by 5 hours per week.

    I’ve asked for proper solutions. We did it before the pandemic, we can do it again now. Absolutely reason why not.

    Because no other profession is as important in shaping the lives of the next generation. In shaping the future.

    I pay tribute to every single teacher, and I mean every word I say – but I also know – thank you isn’t enough.

    We need to ensure teachers feel valued and supported when they join, and to stay in the profession. Indeed, we will need even more teachers in order to meet our longer-term ambitions for the Advanced British Standard.

    We are offering  new teacher starting salaries of at least £30,000. But we must and we will go further. The world has changed following the pandemic.

    Flexible working is an example. You can love it or hate it, there’s a great debate on the pros and cons, but you can’t deny that expectations are changing.

    Some of you are already adapting. You tell me that expanding and promoting flexible working opportunities for staff can help you get the right people and keep them.

    To support this, we are funding a programme to embed flexible working in more schools.

    But there is more we can do. Mental health is another area.

    I know the value that you in this room, and so many school and trust leaders across the country place on having a whole school approach to mental health and wellbeing.

    You are already making a difference. Nearly 3,000 schools and colleges have already signed up to our wellbeing charter.

    You’ve told us that technology could have a potentially transformative effect on reducing workload and help on wellbeing and mental health. I hope to be able to say more shortly on how we will explore the potential impact of generative artificial intelligence on education, including reducing time spent by teachers on administrative tasks.

    We will bring all of this together by updating our teacher recruitment and retention strategy. I want to make sure this reflects the real context you face.

    I’ve not come into this job to write bits of paper that don’t make a difference to you. I want to make sure we can continue to recruit and retain the best teachers.

    But great teaching doesn’t matter unless the kids are in the classroom.

    People make a community, and children make a school.

    It’s so important that every child attends school every day. That they’re supported to feel that they belong.

    Too many children are missing school regularly, or are persistently absent. More children are missing school more often than before the pandemic.

    As I have said before, solving this is one of my top priorities. Because nothing would be worse than giving up on those children.

    I know that the challenge has grown since the pandemic and made your jobs more challenging. Thank you for the hard work you are doing to tackle the absence problem. It is slowly starting to make a difference but we know the size of the challenge.

    Only you will know how to best deal with the individual issues each child will face. But I am here to help you.

    Leora, through her membership of our attendance action alliance, rightly challenges me on what you need to support you.

    Attendance needs to be everyone’s business. So we have set out new stronger expectations to work together to improve attendance and a support-first approach.

    We’ve also expanded our attendance hub programme.  We have launched 14 hubs, supporting around 800 schools, and launched our attendance mentors pilot in Middlesbrough, Stoke, my home borough of Knowsley, Salford and Doncaster.

    We have to get this right. I believe that by working together and supporting families, we will build that sense of belonging and get children into school with the support and stability they deserve. But we do know it’s more challenging, we do know children have lost their confidence, they are more anxious and they need help to take that step back into school, to feel they belong.

    I truly believe that ability is spread evenly, but opportunity is not.

    I know that because I’ve lived it, it’s in my DNA. If you sat next to kids in a Knowsley comprehensive school every day and you see the outcomes of their lives 40 years later, you know that is true.

    That’s why a high-quality curriculum matters, because we just can’t just let ourselves have the soft leadership of low expectations for those children.

    That’s what we had. We were not deemed to have as much potential because of postcode. We had that in the past, we had that when I was at school. It will not happen on my watch, on Nick Gibbs’s watch or Diana Barran’s watch.

    It’s why sports and activities matter, because they offer an opportunity to get involved, to feel like you’re part of something bigger and find something you’re good at.

    These are the things that boost confidence, improve mental health, and grow friendships. They’re the things that mean you live a healthier and happier life in the future.

    It’s about making sure kids, including kids with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND), get the support they need. There’s a lot of children now with children who have an additional need. I’m pleased that next year, high needs funding will rise to £10.5 billion. That’s 60% more than it was just five years ago.

    But it’s not just about funding – it’s also about how we use it to provide support in the right place at the right time.

    Tailoring our support matters, and it helps kids with special education needs and disabilities to access full-time education. That’s their right, and it’s what ensures they can fulfil their potential.

    Through our SEND change programme we’re testing our improvement plan reforms. This includes supporting mainstream schools to meet the needs of an increasing number of pupils.

    But we know we can go even further to create a sense of belonging for pupils with SEND. The professional community, the CST, has established on SEND and inclusion, alongside the five principles of inclusion are a fantastic place to start.

    For some pupils, timely access to local special schools will be the right approach. That is why we are building 7 new special free schools alongside 83 already committed to opening so that so that every child’s needs are met.

    These are some of the challenges I am focused on today.

    But I see opportunities too. I recently visited Exeter University to open their new Centre of Degree Partnerships.  A few years ago I opened one at Warwick University.

    Degree apprenticeships can be transformative. I know, I did one.  And it is excellent to see such a prestigious university showing such a strong commitment to apprenticeships by making it a strategic priority. Because working with employers is strategic. It will strengthen research, it will strengthen those bonds and improve the academic offer.

    Some may say it is unrealistic to reach into these new spaces when the day job is so full on. But I know that together we can face down the challenges we have today and build towards an ever stronger education system for our children in the future.

    We must do this. We must ensure our children can compete globally with the best education we can provide by providing them with the best opportunities. There is no other option.

    I will back you, and I will make sure that you and your staff have what you need to succeed.

    If the prize is a country where every child feels that they belong, they can build their confidence and be the very best they can be and they will succeed, then the challenge must be worth it.

    Thank you very much for all the work you’re doing. Let’s keep on going, together.

  • Mark Rutte – 2023 Statement on Hamas Attack on Israel

    Mark Rutte – 2023 Statement on Hamas Attack on Israel

    The statement made by Mark Rutte, the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, on 7 October 2023.

    Just spoke with Prime Minister @netanyahu about the unprecedented attack by Hamas on Israel. I told him that the Netherlands unequivocally condemns this terrorist violence and fully supports Israel’s right to defend itself.

  • James Cleverly – 2023 Statement on Hamas Attacks on Israel

    James Cleverly – 2023 Statement on Hamas Attacks on Israel

    The statement made by James Cleverly, the Foreign Secretary, on 7 October 2023.

    The UK unequivocally condemns the horrific attacks by Hamas on Israeli civilians.

    The UK will always support Israel’s right to defend itself.

  • Rishi Sunak – 2023 Statement on Hamas Attacks on Israel

    Rishi Sunak – 2023 Statement on Hamas Attacks on Israel

    The statement made by Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, on 7 October 2023.

    I am shocked by this morning’s attacks by Hamas terrorists against Israeli citizens.

    Israel has an absolute right to defend itself.

    We’re in contact with Israeli authorities, and British nationals in Israel should follow travel advice.

  • Rishi Sunak – 2023 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

    Rishi Sunak – 2023 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

    The speech made by Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, in Manchester on 4 October 2023.

    Thank you, Akshata for that introduction…

    …and thank you for always being there for me.

    My wife: truly the best long-term decision for a brighter future, I ever made.

    I have been blessed in my life.

    I have a wonderful wife and two daughters who make me proud every single day.

    And I was also lucky enough to grow up in the most loving of homes.

    My Dad was a GP and my Mum a pharmacist…

    …you did need a smaller mention than last summer I know.

    In so many ways, I wouldn’t be standing here before you today without them.

    They were—and are—my inspiration.

    Thank you, Mum, thank you Dad.

    Like so many of us in this hall, they understood the importance of community…

    …and made sure that I did too.

    They didn’t believe community was some extension of government.

    Rather, they understood community is sustained by individuals…

    …by those who look out for their neighbour, treat others as they would like to be treated.

    They understood the fundamental importance of service.

    It was seeing the difference they made to people’s lives that made me want to go into politics.

    My mother set up her own pharmacy.

    It was a proper family business.

    We all chipped in; as a teenager I helped deliver prescriptions and do the books.

    I learnt there the importance of being able to meet your commitments and make good on your promises.

    My parents are long retired now.

    But the Sunak pharmacy left me with a lasting respect for every small, family business.

    This Conservative party, the party of the grocer’s daughter and the pharmacist’s son, will always be the party of enterprise, the party of small business.

    I have been Prime Minister for almost a year now.

    We have done good things in that time.

    We have made progress on our five priorities…

    …to halve inflation, grow the economy, reduce debt, cut waiting lists, and stop the boats.

    But today I want to share with you my reflections on what I have seen and what I have learnt doing this job.

    I have seen up close the quality of our armed forces and intelligence services.

    Truly, the finest in the world.

    The debt of gratitude we owe them is why we are making this the best place to be a veteran.

    I know we will deliver because we have a Minister for Veterans Affairs sitting in Cabinet.

    Johnny served in Afghanistan; this is personal for him.

    He stood with his fellow soldiers in battle…

    …and now he is ensuring that it is this Conservative government making our country fit for our heroes.

    We have backed our military with record investment.

    Working with Ben—a great defence secretary–we put the defence budget on a sustainable footing.

    Now, Grant will ensure that our advanced Aukus submarine alliance…

    …with Australia and the United States…

    …keeps the world safe for decades to come and create jobs here at home.

    And, through our leading role in NATO, we remain the bulwark of European security.

    All testament to this country’s global reach and influence…

    …and our determination to take long-term decisions in the national interest.

    By contrast, just remember that not once, but twice…

    …Labour tried to make a man Prime Minister who didn’t believe in NATO…

    …who would have surrendered our nuclear deterrent and who blames Britain for every problem.

    Sir Keir Starmer might want us to forget about his repeated support for Jeremy Corbyn, but we never will.

    You can never trust Labour with our country’s security.

    I am proud to say we have led the world in providing support to Ukraine.

    We were the first country to send Western battle tanks to Kyiv, now more than ten others have followed.

    We were the first country to send long range weapons to Kyiv, now France and the United States have followed.

    We were the first country to agree to train Ukrainian pilots, now more than a dozen others have followed.

    I say this to our allies, if we give President Zelensky the tools, the Ukrainians will finish the job.

    Slava Ukraini.

    Doing this job, I meet and talk to inspirational men and women across our country.

    You see that our most potent strength, our most powerful resource, our greatest hope is our people.

    But what I have learnt is that there is an undeniable sense that politics just doesn’t work the way it should.

    The feeling that Westminster is a broken system—and the same goes for Holyrood, Cardiff Bay, and Stormont.

    It isn’t anger, it is an exhaustion with politics.

    In particular, politicians saying things, and then nothing ever changing.

    And you know what: people are right.

    Politics doesn’t work the way it should.

    We’ve had thirty years of a political system which incentivises the easy decision, not the right one.

    Thirty years of vested interests standing in the way of change.

    Thirty years of rhetorical ambition which achieves little more than a short-term headline.

    And why?

    Because our political system is too focused on short term advantage, not long-term success.

    Politicians spent more time campaigning for change than actually delivering it.

    It doesn’t have to be this way.

    I won’t be this way.

    Conference, our mission is to fundamentally change our country.

    The Labour Party have set out their stall: to do and say as little as possible and hope no one notices.

    They want to take people’s votes for granted and keep doing politics the same old way.

    It is a bet on people’s apathy.

    It does not speak to any higher purpose, or brighter future.

    It is about power for the sake of power.

    It is in short, everything that is wrong with our politics.

    So, if this country is to change, then it can only be us who will deliver it.

    Because if we do not our growth will be stunted.

    More places will be left behind.

    And ever more of our time will be spent debating the side issues and symptoms…

    …rather than the deeper, more structural challenges we face.

    We won’t allow this to happen.

    So, where a consensus is false, we will challenge it.

    Where a vested interest is placing itself above the needs of the people, we will stop it.

    And where common sense is under attack from an organised assault, we will defend it.

    Today, I will set out how we will achieve this.

    Beginning with a set of long-term decisions…

    …to build a brighter future for our children…

    …and fundamentally change our country.

    And conference, you can already see my approach in the course I charted on net zero.

    We Conservatives love our natural world.

    We are determined to be good stewards of it.

    In my own constituency, it is the beauty of the North York Moors…

    …and Swaledale and Wensleydale that makes the place home.

    We Conservatives also value frankness and consent.

    We believe that politicians have a duty to treat household budgets with respect…

    …and that change only endures if we bring people with us.

    As you could tell by the reaction to my decision to chart a new course to Net Zero…

    …it was not the easiest argument to have.

    But when I looked at the reality of what people were being asked to do…

    …the thousands of pounds people would need to pay…

    …all of that disproportionately falling on the poorest in society by the way…

    …and all of it not actually necessary in those time frames to meet our net zero targets…

    …and in spite of us doing more than any other country—I concluded it simply was not right.

    So, I decided to take a pragmatic, proportionate and realistic approach to reaching Net Zero.

    And I won’t take any lectures from other countries that have done far less than us…

    …or from those for whom spending thousands of pounds of means nothing.

    Change is difficult, particularly for those who disagree.

    But remember this: we will still meet our international obligations…

    …we will still meet our domestic targets and we will still get to Net Zero by 2050.

    We have solved a problem and offered an unapologetic defence of good Conservative common sense.

    So as much to the country, I make this promise to all of you in this hall.

    As I did last summer: I will tell it as it is.

    I will lead in a different way.

    Because that is the only way to create the sort of change in our politics and in our country that we all desperately want to see.

    Now I came into office in difficult circumstances…

    …and I don’t want to waste time debating the past because what matters is the future.

    The facts are the facts.

    You can’t borrow your way out of inflation.

    And if we want fundamental change in our country, we need a strong economy as a foundation.

    That is why halving inflation was the first and most important of the five priorities I set out at the start of the year.

    Everything that we want to achieve requires getting inflation under control.

    ‘Inflation is the biggest destroyer of all—of industry, of jobs, of savings, and of society.’

    ‘No policy which puts at the risk the defeat of inflation—no matter its short-term attraction—can be right.’

    Not my words, but those of Margaret Thatcher: as true now as they were then.

    I know you want tax cuts, I want them too—and we will deliver them.

    But the best tax cut we can give people right now is to halve inflation and ease the cost of living.

    And with inflation under control, our debt reduction will become easier…

    …and as debt falls, confidence grows, and as confidence grows so too will our economy.

    We need our economy to grow faster, and for people across the country to feel the benefits of that.

    Like other Western economies, we haven’t grown quickly enough in recent years.

    But don’t let Labour and the others talk down our country.

    We now know that we have had one of the fastest recoveries from the pandemic of any major economy in Europe.

    Since leaving the single market, we’ve grown faster than France and Germany.

    Not despite Brexit, because of Brexit.

    We have the largest life sciences, financial services, creative and tech sectors in all of Europe.

    And we have near record numbers of people with the security that a job provides.

    And if we want to keep growing…

    …we have to create the conditions in which businesses can drive growth…

    …and that’s exactly what we’re doing.

    We still have the lowest corporation tax rate in the G7.

    And thanks to the Chancellor’s business tax cuts…

    …we are the best place to invest in the machinery and equipment that your business needs to grow.

    Innovation drives growth in a modern economy…

    …so, we also have the most generous tax regime for research and development in the G7.

    And our Brexit freedoms make us ever more competitive.

    From financial services to clinical trials to agriculture, we are creating a more agile regulatory system…

    …freeing up businesses to drive the growth our country needs.

    The fact we control our own trade policy now is why we can be the first European country to join the £11 trillion Pacific trade pact…

    …linking us to the fastest growing region in the world and opening up new markets for our farmers and great British products.

    We have new free ports from the Firth of Forth to the

    Solent…

    …ensuring the benefits of trade and investment are spread across our country.

    And thank you Kemi for cutting away Brussels red tape and saving small businesses a billion pounds a year.

    Brexit was more than a vote to leave the EU: it was a vote to change, to become something more.

    It was a statement of our belief that Britain could begin a new story…

    …one which reached all parts of our country and everyone in it.

    We must keep making the case for taking back control because if we don’t…

    …our opponents will try and neuter this change.

    To align us with the European Union so that we never seize the full opportunities of Brexit.

    We know where Keir Starmer’s heart lies on this issue—and we know he can’t be trusted on it either.

    First, he said he’d respect the referendum result.

    Then he wanted a second referendum.

    Then he wanted free movement.

    Then he didn’t.

    He said he wouldn’t try and renegotiate our deal.

    Then he said he would.

    And then just two weeks ago he was caught on camera telling a meeting of international politicians…

    …that he now just wants to follow all the EU rules.

    The irony isn’t lost on me.

    While we’re busy thinking about the future of the United Kingdom…

    Keir Starmer’s just banging on about Europe.

    You just cannot know what you are going to get with him.

    The only thing that is certain is that it won’t be what he is promising you.

    But the worst thing about Sir Keir is that he just says whatever he thinks will benefit him the most.

    It doesn’t matter whether he can deliver it…

    …doesn’t matter if it’s true…

    …it doesn’t matter if he said the opposite just a few weeks or months ago.

    He is the walking definition of the thirty-year political status quo I am here to end.

    That is why we have to beat him—and Conference that is why we will!

    If we are to create change and drive growth across our country, then we must get our infrastructure right.

    A false consensus has taken root that all that matters are links between our big conurbations.

    This consensus said that our national economic regeneration should be driven by cities…

    …at the exclusion of everywhere else.

    It said that the most important connection those cities could have was to London, and not anywhere else.

    And it said that the only links that mattered were north to south: not east to west.

    What we really need, though, is better transport connections in the North.

    A new Network North that will join up our great towns and cities in the North and the Midlands.

    I wanted to come here to Manchester today, to say that this will be our priority, our focus, our project.

    HS2 is the ultimate example of the old consensus.

    The result is a project whose costs have more than doubled, which has been repeatedly delayed and it is not scheduled to reach here in Manchester for almost two decades…

    …and for which the economic case has massively weakened with the changes to business travel post Covid.

    I say, to those who backed the project in the first place, the facts have changed.

    And the right thing to do when the facts change, is to have the courage to change direction.

    And so, I am ending this long running saga.

    I am cancelling the rest of the HS2 project.

    And in its place, we will reinvest every single penny…£36 billion pounds…

    …in hundreds of new transport projects in the North and the Midlands, and across the country.

    This means £36 billion of investment in the projects that will make a real difference across our nation.

    As a result of the decision we are taking today…

    …every region outside of London will receive the same or more government investment than they would have done under HS2…

    …with quicker results.

    No government has ever developed a more ambitious scheme for Northern transport than our new Network North.

    This is the right way to drive growth and spread opportunity across our country. To level up.

    With our new Network North, you will be able to get from Manchester to the new station in Bradford in 30 minutes…

    …Sheffield in 42 minutes…

    …and to Hull in 84 minutes on a fully, electrified line.

    Don’t worry. There’s more.

    We’ll protect the £12 billion pounds to link up Manchester and Liverpool as planned…

    …and we will engage with local leaders on how best to deliver that scheme.

    We’ll build the Midlands Rail Hub, connecting 50 stations.

    We’ll help Andy Street extend the West Midlands Metro…

    We’ll build the Leeds tram, electrify the North Wales main line…

    Upgrade the A1, the A2, the A5, the M6…

    There is more. There’s lots more.

    …and we’ll connect our Union with the A75 boosting links between Scotland and Northern Ireland.

    We’ll fund the Shipley bypass, the Blyth relief road and deliver 70 other road schemes.

    We’ll resurface roads across the country.

    We’ll bring back the Don Valley line.

    We’ll upgrade the energy coast line between Carlisle, Workington, and Barrow.

    Build hundreds of other schemes.

    And keep the £2 bus fare across the whole country.

    I challenge anyone to tell me with a straight face that all of that isn’t what the North really needs.

    Our plan will drive far more growth and opportunity here in the North than a faster train to London ever would.

    As John Stevenson and Ben Houchen have long argued, east-west links are more important than north-south ones.

    Given how far along construction is, we will complete the line from Birmingham to Euston.

    And yes, HS2 trains will still run here to Manchester. And journey times will be cut between Manchester, Birmingham, and London by 30 minutes.

    And I say this to Andy Street, a man I have huge admiration and respect for, I know we have different views on HS2. But I also know we can work together to ensure a faster, stronger spine: quicker trains and more capacity between Birmingham and Manchester.

    The management of HS2 will no longer be responsible for the Euston site.

    There must be some accountability for the mistakes made, for the mismanagement of this project.

    We will instead create a new Euston development zone…

    …building thousands of new homes for the next generation of homeowners, new business opportunities and a station that delivers the capacity we need…

    And in doing so, for the first time in the life cycle of this project – we will have cut costs.

    The £6.5 billion of savings that Mark and I are making will be taken from the Euston site…

    …and given to the rest of country.

    The decision I have made and the stance I am taking will be attacked.

    They will say that halting it signals a lack of ambition.

    There will be people I respect, people in our own party, who will oppose it.

    But there is nothing ambitious about simply pouring more and more money into the wrong project.

    There is nothing long-term about ignoring your real infrastructure needs…

    …so, you can spend an ever-larger amount on one grand project.

    They will say that we have already spent so much on it that it would be embarrassing to stop.

    That, though, would be an absurd reason to continue: an abdication of leadership.

    They will say that there is somehow a cross party consensus on the project…

    As I have already said… that consensus is wrong.

    For too long, people in Westminster have invested in the transport they want…

    …not the transport the rest of the country, particularly the North and Midlands, wants and needs.

    And to those who disagree, who will focus on what I have stopped, I ask you to consider what we have just created with Network North.

    An alternative, which in place of one delayed and over running project…

    …will now begin hundreds upon hundreds of new projects…

    …large and small, road and rail, bus and train, covering the whole country.

    That will be delivered faster.

    That will see every region receiving more investment than they would have done.

    You can’t have both.

    So those who wish to disagree with me, I respect that.

    But they should have the honesty to admit that they would now be cancelling the hundreds of alternative projects…

    …right across the country, that people will benefit from instead.

    Conference, I think our new plan is simply a better long-term investment of £36 billion of taxpayers’ money.

    We need to bring this willingness to make the right decision, not the easy one…

    …to every aspect of our national life.

    The NHS is important to us all.

    It is the birthright of every person in this country.

    It was the NHS and social care staff who worked night and day to get us through the pandemic.

    Our commitment to the principle of an NHS free at the point of use is immovable.

    And this Conservative government is putting record resources into our NHS, and social care too.

    But we Conservatives know that you don’t measure your affection for the NHS…

    …just by how much money you put in, but by how you reform it for the challenges ahead.

    I know that right now waiting lists are patients’ most pressing concern.

    Just as in Scotland and Wales, they have risen because of the pandemic.

    And now strikes have led to more than a million cancelled appointments.

    Now, this is a reasonable government.

    We have negotiated and reached pay deals with over a million NHS workers, including nurses and hospital porters.

    We have met the recommendations of the independent pay review bodies for junior doctors and consultants in full.

    We have cut their taxes on their pensions as they requested.

    But they continue to demand, massive unaffordable pay rises.

    And that they have chosen to walk out this week says it all.

    This strike is all about politics, not patients.

    These strikes are not in the spirit of the NHS.

    This year we celebrate its 75 years of service…

    …and one of my abiding aims as your Prime Minister is to set the NHS up for the next 75.

    True believers in the promise of the NHS want it to reflect the world we live in today.

    That means a higher quality service that offers you—the patient—more choice…

    …allowing you to use any provider, independent or NHS, free of charge, if that will get you treated quicker.

    A common-sense reform that this Conservative government has made.

    Next, Steve and I want to give the NHS the staff it needs.

    For decades, we have not trained enough doctors and nurses.

    The result: the NHS either hiring staff from abroad or paying temporary agency workers huge fees.

    And we are ending that with the first ever long-term workforce plan for our health service.

    Let me repeat that, the first ever long-term workforce plan.

    It says everything about the short-termism of our politics that for the last 75 years…

    …not a single government has planned for how many doctors and nurses the NHS will need in the decades ahead.

    Our plan doubles the number of students training to be doctors and nurses.

    But it is also a reform plan for the NHS with new ways of training…

    …new roles and new ways of working, all driving up productivity.

    I know vested interests will oppose some of these measures.

    But we Conservatives must do the right thing and make the changes that will enable the NHS…

    …to work as productively as the best healthcare systems anywhere in the world.

    And this is what a long-term decision really is.

    Given it takes up to 15 years to train a consultant, there’s no politics in this investment, it’s not about credit.

    It’s about our kids and their kids, they’ll get a much better and stronger NHS.

    And that’s why we’re here.

    That’s why we Conservatives do what we do, up and down the country from Whitehall to Town Hall.

    We’re building a better future for the next generation.

    But to ease the more fundamental burden of demand on the NHS…

    …we need more preventative care to stop people having to go to hospital in the first place.

    We must tackle the single biggest entirely preventable cause of ill-health, disability, and death and that is smoking.

    In our country smoking causes one in four cancer deaths.

    It kills 64,000 people a year and leads to almost one hospital admission every minute.

    It significantly increases the risk of strokes, heart disease, dementia, and stillbirth.

    Now we’ve made great progress in tackling smoking.

    The number of people smoking is down by two thirds since the 1970s.

    But if we are to do the right thing for our kids we must try and stop teenagers taking up cigarettes in the first place.

    Because without a significant change…

    …thousands of children will start smoking in the coming years and have their lives cut short as a result.

    People take up cigarettes when they are young.

    Four in five smokers have started by the time they are 20. Later, the vast majority try to quit.

    But many fail because they are addicted and they wish had never taken up the habit in the first place.

    If we could break that cycle…

    …if we could stop the start…

    …then we would be on our way to ending the biggest cause of preventable death and disease in our country.

    So, I propose that in future we raise the smoking age by one year, every year.

    That means a 14 year old today will never legally be sold a cigarette…

    …and that they—and their generation—can grow up smoke free.

    We know this works.

    When we raised the smoking age to 18, smoking prevalence dropped by 30 percent in that age group.

    When the US raised the age to 21, the smoking rate dropped by 39 per cent in that age group.

    Smoking places huge pressures on the NHS and costs our country £17 billion a year.

    We have a chance to cut cancer deaths by a quarter, significantly ease those pressures and protect our children, and we should take it.

    This is not a values judgement on people who smoke.

    I don’t believe it would be fair to take away the rights of anyone to smoke who currently does so…

    …and the vote on this in parliament will be a free vote…

    …as the bar on smoking in public places was and raising the smoking age to 18 was.

    There will be no government whip, it is a matter of conscience…

    And I want you all, and the country, to know where mine is.

    For a Conservative, measures that restrict choice are never easy.

    I know not everyone in this hall will agree with me on this.

    But I have spent a long time weighing up this decision.

    Simply put: unlike all other legal products, there is no safe level of smoking.

    And what has ultimately swayed me is that none of us, not even those who smoke, want our children to grow up to be smokers.

    This change can make that a reality.

    It will save more lives than any other decision we could take.

    And as any parent or teacher knows, one of the most worrying trends at the moment is the rise in vaping among children: one in five children have used vapes.

    We we must act before it becomes endemic.

    So, we will also bring forward measures to restrict the availability of vapes to our children. Looking at flavours, packaging, displays and disposable vapes.

    As Prime Minister I have an obligation to do what I think is the right thing for our country in the long-term.

    And as Conservatives we have never shirked that responsibility.

    We have always been at the front of society, leading it.

    And when we have the tools at our disposal…

    …to deal with the biggest cause of preventable illness and death in our country…

    To cut cancer deaths by a quarter…

    …to significantly reduce long-term pressure on our NHS…

    …and to do for our children what we all, in our heart of hearts, know is right…

    …we must act, we must lead.

    Conference, we must put the next generation first.

    And that is what I will do.

    But all the boldness in the world will only mean so much…

    …if we can’t similarly deal with matters of fundamental sovereignty, safety, and control.

    I’m talking of course about illegal immigration.

    It is non-negotiable that you, the British people decide who comes here… and not criminal gangs.

    Those gangs ply a trade that leads to innocent people dying, we have a moral duty to defeat this evil — and we will.

    I never pretended that stopping the boats will be easy.

    At the time I committed the government to delivering that goal the consensus was simple…

    …there was nothing we could do about it.

    They pointed to four years of growing crossings and said ‘impossible.’

    Well conference: they were wrong.

    It is not impossible and we are proving it.

    Small boat crossings are, for the first time since the phenomenon began, down 20 per cent this year.

    All while entry into Europe is up.

    We are by no means where we want to be.

    But don’t let anyone tell you we aren’t making progress.

    We are.

    And we will get there.

    Our new law will ensure that if you come here illegally, you will be detained and swiftly removed.

    I am confident that once flights start going regularly to Rwanda, the boats will stop coming.

    Just look at how our returns agreement with Albania has seen the numbers coming from there fall by ninety per cent.

    I am confident that our approach complies with our international obligations.

    But know this, I will do whatever is necessary to stop the boats.

    By contrast, Labour’s plan is to cook up some deal with the EU…

    …which could see us accepting around 100,000 of Europe’s asylum seekers.

    If your answer to illegal migration is to increase it…

    You clearly just don’t get it.

    And that’s why we have got to stop them.

    And that’s because on this and so many other issues Labour simply don’t share our and the country’s values.

    My values are simple: service, family, work.

    I was brought up to understand the value of work.

    Work gives you security, work gives you purpose.

    When the pandemic hit, we were faced with the prospect of 12 million people losing that security, that purpose overnight.

    And once you’re out of work, it can be hard to get back in.

    I wasn’t prepared to cast 12 million people into that darkness.

    I am proud that furlough not only prevented this…

    …but helped ensure our economy recovered more strongly from the pandemic…

    …than France, Germany, and Japan.

    Never forget the scale of what we did for so many.

    In six weeks, we did something that had never been done before: from scratch.

    I was told it wasn’t possible, that it wouldn’t work, but I got it done.

    Furlough was compassionate Conservatism in action.

    If furlough was one thing that helped us get through Covid, then Iain Duncan Smith’s welfare reforms were another.

    The old system could not have coped with the pressure in the way that universal credit did.

    But we have more to do.

    We must end the national scandal…

    …where our benefits system declares that more than two million people of working age are incapable of actually doing any.

    That’s not Conservative, that’s not compassionate—that must change.

    In 2011, one in five of those doing a work capability assessment were deemed unfit to work.

    But the latest figure now stands at 65 per cent.

    Are people three times sicker today than they were a decade ago?

    No, of course not.

    It’s not good for our economy…

    …it is not fair on taxpayers who have to pick up the bill…

    …and it’s a tragedy for those two million people being written off.

    I refuse to accept this and that is why we are going to change the rules so that those who can work, do work.

    Your values and your priorities should be expressed in everything the public sector does.

    Too often it is not.

    In too many parts of our permanent state, virtue-signalling has replaced common sense.

    As Suella has said, there is no such thing as a minor crime.

    If the police tolerate crime and anti-social behaviour in any form, we will have more crime of all sorts.

    So, that’s why we now have record numbers of police officers and every crime should be investigated. Our streets will be safer, our communities more secure, no one should be afraid to walk home alone at night.

    Our London mayoral candidate Susan Hall is doing a great job of holding Sadiq Khan to account for his failings on policing.

    Londoners, you will be safer with Susan.

    And I am clear: there are some crimes so heinous…

    …that those who perpetrate them should spend the rest of their lives behind bars.

    So, I can confirm that we will legislate for sexual and sadistic murders to carry a full life term…

    …with no prospect of release.

    We are going to change this country and that means life means life.

    Now that shouldn’t be a controversial position.

    The vast majority of hardworking people agree with it.

    And it also shouldn’t be controversial for parents to know what their children are being taught in school about relationships.

    Patients should know when hospitals are talking about men or women.

    And we shouldn’t get bullied into believing that people can be any sex they want to be.

    They can’t; a man is a man and a woman is a woman.

    That’s just common sense.

    We also should never be afraid to talk about the thing that matters most to most of us, family.

    Whenever you want to talk about family, someone whispers ‘is that wise Prime Minister?’

    You’ll be accused of promoting a one size fits all view.

    But in this Conservative Party…

    …the party that legislated for same sex marriage and is investing record amounts in childcare…

    …we know that what matters is that love cascades down the generations.

    It is family that cares for us at the beginning of our life…

    …it is family that helps us learn…

    …it is family that sustains us…

    …and in old age it is family that lightens the autumn of our days.

    Family matters, and as proud Conservatives we should never be afraid to say that.

    And there’s another family that matters to us all, our family of nations: England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

    Today, our Union is the strongest it has been in a quarter of a century.

    The forces of separatism are in retreat across our country.

    Nicola Sturgeon wanted to go down in the history books as the woman who broke up our country…

    …but now it looks like she may go down for very different reasons.

    We are a remarkable combination of four nations with a proud history…

    …and that history should give us enormous confidence in our future.

    My grandparents did not emigrate to just Leicester or Southampton, but to the United Kingdom.

    They came here because our country stands for a set of values.

    We are the home of fair play, the best of British.

    We are the place for those who want to add to our national story.

    The United Kingdom has done a huge amount for my family.

    I often think about how different our lives would be…

    …if my grandparents had not left India and East Africa all those years ago.

    I owe our country everything.

    And it is my duty to do what I can to help this country take the right long-term decisions for the years ahead.

    This United Kingdom is also the most successful multi-ethnic democracy on earth.

    And our party has led the way on that.

    We had the first ethnic minority Prime Minister when Queen Victoria was still on the throne…

    …we have had three female Prime Ministers…

    …and I stand before you today as the first non-white leader in our country’s history.

    Meanwhile, Labour’s last three leaders all live within the same square mile of North London.

    When the Richmond Conservative Association selected me in North Yorkshire, people in other countries couldn’t understand it.

    One American magazine even sent a reporter to Yorkshire to write about how…

    … ‘a candidate of the wrong race [could] cost the Tories one of the safest seats in England?’

    But they should not have projected their own prejudices onto our country.

    The people of North Yorkshire were not interested in my colour, but my character.

    Never let anyone tell you that this is a racist country.

    It is not.

    My story is a British story.

    A story about how a family can go from arriving here with little to Downing Street in three generations.

    What does the Conservative Party offer a family of immigrants?

    The chance to become Energy Secretary, Business Secretary, Home Secretary, Foreign Secretary…

    Even the chance to become Prime Minister.

    When I first became an MP, my grandfather came to parliament to see me.

    As we stood in Westminster Hall, on that floor which Disraeli and Churchill had walked across so many times…

    …my grandfather got out his mobile phone and made a quick phone call.

    I was a new MP and I wasn’t quite sure whether phones were allowed there or not.

    I was like, Nanaji, can this not wait a moment.

    He replied that he was calling the landlady he had when he had first arrived in this country:

    He said to me, ‘I just wanted to tell her where I was standing.’

    I am proud to be the first British Asian Prime Minister, but you know what…

    …I’m even prouder that it’s just not a big deal.

    And just remember: it was the Conservative Party who made that happen, not the Labour Party.

    If we want to change the direction of our country and build a better future…

    …nothing is more important than making our education system the best it can be.

    When our party came to power in 2010, our schools were slipping down international league tables.

    Now, they are rapidly rising.

    Of what we have done in government since 2010, what I am proudest of is our record on education.

    With Michael and Nick Gibb, we took on a failed ideology.

    We brought back proper knowledge.

    We empowered reformers.

    We gave parents more choice and helped them to hold schools to account.

    But, perhaps, the most profound thing we have done…

    …is to disprove the idea there is something pre-destined about who will succeed and who won’t.

    We have state schools in some of the most deprived parts of the country, producing some of the best results.

    These state schools, empowered by reform, don’t think there are limits to these children because of the postcode they were born in.

    Rather, they demand, inspire, and deliver excellence.

    A Labour government would never have done this.

    Rather, Labour pursued the false dream of 50 per cent of children going to university and abandoned apprenticeships.

    This assumption that the only route to success was the university route…

    …was one of the great mistakes of the last 30 years.

    It led to thousands of young people being ripped off by degrees…

    …that did nothing to increase their employability or earnings potential.

    So, we are stopping universities from enrolling students on courses that do nothing for their life chances.

    Under us, no more rip off degrees.

    And if you want to know how much I value apprenticeships, look at the fact that in Gillian we have our first ever apprentice to be Education Secretary.

    Today, I want to build on these Conservative achievements and take a long-term decision to address the problems with our 16 to 19 education system.

    Technical education is not given the respect it deserves.

    Students don’t spend enough time in the classroom.

    A quarter of our children leave education without the basic literacy and numeracy they need to fulfil their potential.

    And our students study too narrow a range of subjects.

    Today, I am changing all of that, pulling one of the biggest levers we have to change the direction of our country.

    We will introduce the new rigorous, knowledge rich Advanced British Standard…

    …which will bring together A-Levels and T-Levels into a new, single qualification for our school leavers.

    First, this will finally deliver on the promise of parity of esteem between academic and technical education.

    Because all students will sit the Advanced British Standard.

    Second, we will raise the floor, ensuring that our children leave school literate and numerate.

    Because with the Advanced British Standard all students will study some form of English and maths to 18, with extra help for those who struggle most.

    In our country no child should be left behind.

    Third, our 16- to 19-year-olds spend around a third less time in the classroom than some of our competitors.

    We must change this.

    So, with our Advanced British Standard, students will spend at least 195 hours more with a teacher.

    And fourth, A-Level students, generally, only do three subjects compared to the seven studied by our economic competitors.

    The Advanced British Standard will change that too, with students now, typically, studying five subjects…

    …and thanks to the extra teaching time that we are introducing…

    …this greater breadth won’t come at the expense of depth which is such a strength of our system.

    Our new plan will require more teachers in the coming years.

    So, I can announce today that in order to attract and retain more teachers…

    …those who teach key subjects in schools and, for the first time, in our further education colleges too…

    …will receive special bonuses of up to £30,000 tax free over the first five years of their career.

    Our teachers do one of the most valuable jobs in our society, and we should reward them for that.

    And Conference, I can tell you: my main funding priority in every spending review from now on will be education.

    Why?

    Because it is the closest thing we have to a silver bullet.

    It is the best economic policy, the best social policy, the best moral policy.

    It the best way to spread opportunity and to create a more prosperous society. It is not just my way. Conference, it is the Conservative way.

    I know times have been tough.

    We have all had to deal with unprecedented challenges.

    And I will be straight with you: we have mountains to overcome still.

    But today we have made three huge decisions to change the direction of our country.

    We will give Britain the infrastructure it needs…

    …protect the long-term future of our NHS and cut cancer deaths by a quarter…

    …and create the best education system in the Western world…

    …to set our children up for the opportunities of the future.

    If we commit, if we come together, then we can achieve truly great things.

    We can build a country where work is truly valued…

    Where welfare is a safety net and not a way of life…

    Where small businesses drive our economy…

    Where innovation makes life better…

    Where our NHS is properly funded and properly reformed…

    Where our children are the best educated in the western world…

    Whether that’s at university or yes: through an apprenticeship.

    Where the scourge of anti-social behaviour is treated as the crime it is and not some social condition…

    Where for the most violent offenders life means life…

    Where the people and their government decides who can come here and who can‘t…

    Where the next generation can achieve the dream of owning their own home…

    Where the elderly grow old with dignity and where the young grow up with opportunity…

    Where decency and mutual respect bind communities together.

    Where the very idea of Britain is a symbol of hope and stability across the world…

    And where our United Kingdom remains united.

    All this and more is ours if we want it…

    …but we have to fight for it.

    At the next election, the choice the people face is bigger than party politics:

    Do we want a government committed to making long-term decisions…

    …prepared to be radical in the face of challenges, and to take on vested interests…

    …or do we want to stand still—and quietly accept more of the same?

    You either think this country needs to change or you don’t.

    And if you do, then you should stand with me—and every person in this hall.

    You should stand with the Conservatives.

    Today this party put the needs of the British people first.

    We’ve taken the decision many should have done: but didn’t.

    We’ve ended the HS2 drama…

    …and in its place will embark upon a full-scale national reinvestment…

    …in the infrastructure people actually use and want…

    …and the skilled workforce who’ll build it.

    And no more hiding: no more pretending in the face of overwhelming evidence.

    Too many sons and daughters, fathers and mothers are lost to lung cancer, heart disease, dementia, still birth and we can change that.

    Today we went beyond ideology and put the people first again…

    …and committed ourselves to ensure our children and grandchildren…

    …can be the first generation that doesn’t have to suffer the false choice to quit smoking or not…

    …because they will have never started.

    Today we set a course for our education system that will set our children up for the opportunities of the future.

    No more rip off degrees; no more low aspiration; no more denigration of technical education.

    Just the best education system in the Western world.

    We will be bold.

    We will be radical.

    We will face resistance and we will meet it.

    We will give the country what it so sorely needs, and yet too often has been denied:

    A government prepared to make long-term decisions so that we can build a brighter future—for everyone.

    Be in no doubt: it is time for a change.

    And we are it.

    Thank you.

  • Johnny Mercer – 2023 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

    Johnny Mercer – 2023 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

    The speech made by Johnny Mercer, the Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, in Manchester on 4 October 2023.

    If it’s any consolation, I’m surprised they gave me this slot as well!

    Conference, thank you very much and good morning and thank you to Penny.

    It’s good to be here today. Because these are important days.

    It’s good to be able to say thank you to all of you who have taken the time to attend this week.

    It’s not been easy. I know that – you know that. I just wanted to say thank you to you, very publicly, for all that you have done over the last year.

    You are the heart of the party. The volunteers, who are simply there because you believe in our mission; in what the Conservative Party is trying to do. It’s been hard. I acknowledge that.

    But I have one purpose standing here before you today.

    Because yes, I’m a campaigner,

    An irritating, ruthless campaigner for veterans’ rights.

    I love Plymouth.

    But above that I’m a patriot.

    And the truth is, the truth is, we stand at a cross-roads,

    And I want us to focus on what lies ahead.

    Because out there is a Country that is yearning to be won over.

    That really does not want to vote and have a Labour Government.

    But they want a change that works better for them.

    Everyone wants change after 13 years – just ask my wife.

    Because life is really difficult out there at the moment, really tough in cities like mine.

    We’ve done a lot to support people – you cannot argue with that.

    Paying half of the average household energy bill,

    Freezing fuel duty,

    And benefit’s rising in-line with inflation to look after our poorest through these storms.

    But for too many people, it doesn’t feel like that.

    And we haven’t got it always right. And we all know that.

    But change is afoot and I would not be here today if it that did not mean something.

    You can feel the change. You can feel it this week.

    Long term decisions for a brighter future – it actually means something.

    Take my personal crusade on Veterans.

    I joined this Party because like many ordinary Britons today, I saw it as the Party of the Nation.

    Moderate, patriotic, committed and values-driven.

    And I believed that if I could show the values that were missing in the care of my generation of Veterans of Afghanistan, this Party would close that gap.

    Because it was a values thing, a values thing – how we look after those who have served.

    Those who instead of shouting loudest about their country outside another yet Party conference, actually crossed the threshold and were prepared to sacrifice body and mind for our way of life.

    For our Country, for our values.

    And in the last thirty years, we have seen politicians repeatedly failing to take the long-term choices for our veterans.

    But this PM has been different from the start. I would not be here if he wasn’t.

    He made a conscious decision straight away,

    that we were going to follow in the footsteps of our American, Australian, Canadian and other peer nation allies, and change our structure of Government to better look after our Veterans.

    He decided that he would have a veterans minister in his Cabinet for the first time,

    That he would constitute the Office for Veterans Affairs properly,

    And that we would finally close the gap between what we say about our veterans – including from this very conference stage,

    and how it actually feels to be a veteran in the United Kingdom today.

    Because the truth is, that Veterans’ care in the United Kingdom has been transformed.

    Single dedicated pathways for physical and mental healthcare in our NHS – backed up by millions of pounds of long-term funding.

    From specific programmes reaching vulnerable veterans in the criminal justice system, to a compassionate but aggressive pathway to end the stain of veterans’ homelessness in the United Kingdom this year.

    Many governments around the world have tried that,

    But we are actually going to end rough sleeping because of a lack of provision in our Veterans, by this Christmas, under a Conservative government.

    And finally, that totemic scourge on the lives of our extraordinary people who served in Northern Ireland has been removed.

    The hounding of these special people who stood against terror and violence in Northern Ireland on our behalf was appalling and a stain on our Nation.

    Not just the veterans’ community, but the Nation as a whole.

    The sight of these men being arrested in their eighties, dragged back to Belfast, hounded literally to death; was the totemic symptom of a nation’s moral ambivalence to those who served.

    To end that was about hard choices. It was about principles; it was about honesty about what could be achieved in that space. It talked about who we are as a party, who the Prime Minister is as a man – his character, what he believes in.

    It was about values.

    With the Northern Ireland Legacy Act we have now achieved that change.

    I pay tribute to Chris and the team at the NIO.

    But mostly I pay tribute to the unstinting bravery, patriotism and courage of that generation of Veterans who served in Northern Ireland.

    I know how you have not always felt it, but your sacrifices brought the peace we have today in the United Kingdom, and we are unequivocal in our admiration and total respect for your service, and I hope that you can now begin to feel that for yourselves as well.

    I stand before you as perhaps the one-time fiercest critic in this space,

    But acknowledging we have further to go, but honestly tell you Veterans’ care has never been better because of a Conservative Government.

    These are things a Conservative Government can do. Long-term decisions for a brighter future.

    Labour? They don’t even have a veterans’ minister in their shadow cabinet.

    They’ve already said they will repeal the Northern Ireland Bill I’ve been talking about. They have no plans for an Office for Veterans’ Affairs.

    Because to do this stuff you have to actually believe in something.

    And if we know anything, it’s that Sir Keir Starmer believes in nothing at all.

    He’ll bend to the highest bidder; the first bit of rough water he’ll bail out.

    And contrast this with Rishi.

    Voting for Brexit despite being told it would end his career;

    Creating a world-leading furlough scheme throughout the pandemic,

    Taking a leadership role in our approach to Net Zero with working families at the heart of it,

    Because he’s in it to serve.

    I know him. I know that central in his mind are the working families of this Nation.

    Who drive this nation, who serve in the Armed Forces,

    Who drive the economy, and frankly deserve better than they’ve had from Westminster.

    And the British people deserve that. They deserve that leadership. We must not consign them to years of a feeble Labour Government they don’t want and doesn’t believe in anything at all.

    We must hang together in the months ahead – this is the vital piece.

    We must hang together.

    Now is the time for focus, a focus on our nation, on the mission above ourselves.

    If we do that, I’m convinced we can get there.

    Let’s get to it.

  • Penny Mordaunt – 2023 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

    Penny Mordaunt – 2023 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

    The speech made by Penny Mordaunt, the Leader of the House of Commons, in Manchester on 4 October 2023.

    Conference, I want you to know the feeling is entirely mutual.

    What a great conference.

    I love conference.

    It is a chance to see you all. To be able to thank you for all that you do. For all that you believe in. And for being here today. And it’s important that you are. Because this is the turning point.

    It is the point from which we are going to be measured.

    Now, physically getting here has not been straightforward.

    Mick Whelan will be very disappointed to see so many of you here.

    But we’re quite used to people trying to disrupt our conference.

    Whether you’re a new member and this is your first conference, or you have been a stalwart of the party for decades. You have all had to stand up to bullies.

    You’ve had your offices graffitied, you’ve been trolled online, you’ve been called scum, you’ve had physical threats. Some of you have had death threats. I know that some of you in this hall today have faced sanctions and threats from hostile states. No matter what the attack, we don’t back down.

    39 years ago, this conference met, in the aftermath of the Brighton bomb. Standing up to bullies is what we do.

    So I know that you are a tough bunch.

    Our strength comes from a deep motivation to serve, and respect for the rights of the individual. And I am glad of that courage. Because what I have to say to you today is not for the faint hearted.

    Conference, we face the fight of our lives.

    And our country needs us again, to stand up and fight.

    Stand up and fight.

    Against the odds, against the polling, against the sneering commentary, against the “inevitability-of-decliner”s and the “despite-Brexit”ers. Stand up and fight against the sanctimonious clap trap of a Labour Party who have forgotten their MRSA infected hospitals, their soaring council tax and fuel duty, mass youth unemployment and the economic mess they left us to sort out.

    Stand up and fight.

    Stand up and fight, because when we do, all is possible.

    Now, later on, you will hear from our brilliant Prime Minister.

    He is going to be talking about the future. About the long-term. And how politics needs to change for a brighter future.

    But for the time I have with you I want you to cast your minds back.

    Now, as you know, I’m a Portsmouth girl.

    Over the years, we have been in one scrap after another, and my city still bears the scars to this day.

    Many of you in this hall will remember the 1980s.

    I know what you’re thinking: Mordaunt couldn’t remember the 1980s! She’s far too young.

    Conference, I have to tell you, I was there!

    One of my first memories was standing on the Hot Walls in Portsmouth, and I was watching HMS Hermes take the Falklands taskforce out of the harbour. And I stood proud that day.

    I knew watching those men and those ships that my country stood up to bullies.

    Those men and those families knew that some would not be coming back.

    It was deeply moving. And it moves me still to think of it.

    You see, it was the moment I realised that courage is infectious.

    You see, that is what the Conservative Party is for.

    That is what our nation is for.

    We stand up and fight.

    We are the party and the country that stood up and fought against Nazis and fascists.

    We are the party and the country whose resolve enabled superpowers to end a cold war.

    We are the party and country that sent my classmates’ father and ships from my dockyard to stand up and fight for the rights of the Falkland Islanders to self-determination. All against the prevailing wisdom that it could not and should not be done.

    We are the party and country that has stood from the start with Ukraine. We are the country and party that stood up for democracy. Who gave our countrymen the choice to join a European trading bloc and 40 years later the choice to leave what it had become.

    We are the party and country that transformed the sick man of Europe into a titan on the global stage; who stood up and fought against militant trade unions and broke their chokehold on Britain. A few brave people with courage and conviction and love of country who thought about the long term, not short-term popularity.

    Who knew what needed to be done and took on the bullies to achieve it.

    Margaret Thatcher.

    And every single person who stood with her and fought for a better future.

    I happen to know that Lord Tebbit is tuning in from home. We remember you today. Thank you.

    All of you still inspire.

    Never forget those who went before us. And remember that without a Churchill, you can’t have a Zelenskyy.

    Conference, I’m telling you all of this because I want you to remember that our greatest moments as a party and as a country come from when we feel at our lowest ebb.

    And we face such a moment now.

    Unprecedented threats yield unprecedented opportunity.

    Unprecedented fears provide unprecedented challenge.

    So, why have I taken you all back to the 1980s?

    Very simply conference, because that is where the Labour Party now wishes us to return. Make no mistake, they want to fight the battles of the past.

    All that we have worked so hard to achieve is in peril.

    The freedom to use our roads without protesters or politicians stopping you.

    The freedom to access public services and public transport.

    The freedom to build a business and create wealth.

    The freedom to invest in your children.

    The freedom to make of ourselves everything our talents and determination allow.

    The freedom to speak one’s mind.

    The freedom of political association.

    The freedom to take personal responsibility.

    All at risk.

    Make no mistake what will happen if we fail to win at the general election.

    And the biggest threat of all is that the sons and daughters of Scargill are ready for a rematch of battles of the 1980s.

    No less than the repeal of all of the reforms and freedoms we have brought in.

    Aided and abetted by Labour.

    Fuelled by the politics of envy, identity and class hatred.

    Outdated, dogmatic, irrelevant to the needs of the people.

    We have seen this before. We have seen this before.

    The Labour controlled city of Birmingham Council following the Labour controlled Liverpool City council into scuttling around, handing out redundancy notices to its own workers in the wake of bankruptcy.

    We have seen this movie before.

    They want to return us to the 1980s.

    Conference, we are not for returning.

    We must never again let this country be subject to the bully boy barons of militant trade unions – the Matt Wracks, the Mick Lynch’s.

    People who say they are going to defend your community while destroying it.

    People who say to hard-working families the best way they to make ends meet is to drive those ends further apart by going on strike.

    People who tell you your cancelled operation on your national health service, that you fund, is a price worth paying to meet their agenda.

    People who want to turn the BMA into the NUM.

    Conference, we’ve seen all this before.

    We must never again let this country be tortured by the Wrack and the Lynch mob.

    They are the iron fist, the iron fist.

    So now let me tell you about the velvet glove. The smooth, silky red velvet glove that would give them cover.

    You see conference, I don’t know about you, but I do not trust the leadership of Keir Starmer to be able to stand up to the iron fist.

    Why?

    Because he is not even capable to standing up to Mark Drakeford and his plans for an independent Wales. A 20mph independent Wales.

    Or Sadiq Khan and his taxes on the working poor.

    Or Angela Rayner and her Trade Union Charter.

    He is incapable of standing up and fighting.

    He doesn’t believe in anything.

    He doesn’t stand for anything.

    Who is he?

    A few years ago, he wanted you all to think he was Jeremy Corbyn.

    He sat in his shadow cabinet, knowing full well what that would mean if that man ever got into Downing Street, what it would mean for our defences.

    He watched while colleagues of Jewish heritage were driven from his party.

    And at the turn of this year, he wanted you all to think he was Neil Kinnock.

    He used the exact language that Kinnock used in that fantastic conference speech he made when he took on the hard left of Hatton and Heffer. And at that moment, we conservatives, we cheered. We cheered Kinnock. Because we recognised his courage. We recognised his motivation because it was ours too. It didn’t matter that he was our opponent. He was fighting for our country.

    When has Sir Keir ever done that?

    No, Starmer has emboldened militant trade unionism and voted against protecting the public access to the services that they pay for.

    And now, in Act III, he wants you all to believe he’s Tony Blair.

    Starmer will do anything and say anything to win an election. And that is where his ambition ends.

    Along with the power he will cede to his union paymasters and an NEC which needs a focus group to tell them to sing the national anthem.

    He will not stand up for anything or anyone.

    He will not stand up for you.

    More likely, he’s gonna lie down.

    Lie down in the street with Just Stop Oil.

    Lie down with the Lib Dems and the SNP.

    Lie down with Ed Davey – the man that makes Tim Farron look like a giant.

    Lie down with Humza Yousaf – the man that made Nicola Sturgeon look competent.

    But, just think for a moment what they would mean for our relationship with the EU, and for the union of our precious United Kingdom.

    Right at the point when our brilliant nation should be focussed on the new opportunities ahead.

    When it should be thinking about the future.

    Taking the long-term decisions to guarantee its success.

    Be in no doubt what is at stake. These people will erase everything we have achieved. They will deny Britain all it can be.

    So, if you remember nothing else from what I have said today remember this – stand up and fight.

    Stand up and fight for our families.

    For workers, for the protectors, for the wealth creators.

    Stand up and fight for those that take responsibility.

    Stand up and fight for those that voted to leave the EU and those who voted remain and accepted the result and wish our country well.

    Stand up and fight for your communities, for Scotland, for Wales, for Northern Ireland, for England.

    Stand up and fight for the freedoms we have won against socialism, whether it is made of velvet or iron.

    Have courage and conviction, because when you do you move our countrymen, our communities and capital of all kinds to our cause.

    Stand up and fight.

    Because when you stand up and fight, the person beside you stands up and fights.

    And when our party stands up and fights, the nation stands up and fights.

    And when our nation stands up and fights, other nations stand up and fight.

    They stand up and fight for the things upon which the progress of humanity depends. Freedom.

    That is what Conservatives do. That is what this nation does.

    Have Courage.

    Bring Hope.

    Stand up and fight.

    Stand up and fight.

    Thank you, conference.