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Category: Speeches

  • Stuart Andrew – 2025 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

    Stuart Andrew – 2025 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

    The speech made by Stuart Andrew, the Shadow Health Secretary, in Manchester on 7 October 2025.

    When I took on this job as Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care I did so in the knowledge that we have a huge challenge.

    Because even though we all in this Hall have been treated by our NHS

    And Some of our families and friends’ lives have been saved by our NHS.

    We all also have something else in common.

    As members of the Conservative family, we’ve all been accused of wanting to undermine the core principles of our National Health Service,

    So let me clear from the outset, the National Health Service will always be free at the point of use under the next Conservative Government.

    And we’ll strengthen it, harness it and make it even better.

    Because I’ve seen what our health services in this country do everyday for people,

    Before becoming an MP, I worked in the hospice movement and saw the wonderful services they provide to children and adults across the country.

    When families face the most challenging times in their lives, our hospice movement and the NHS is there to support them.

    Always.

    But let’s look at what this Labour Government has done in 14 months.

    Strikes despite huge pay rises that Wes Streeting signed off on.

    Remember when he told us to ‘get around the table?’ Well perhaps he should listen to his own advice.

    Because more strikes are threatened.

    And remember when they criticised NHS reorganisation plan, well they have now started a reorganisation without any funding allocated to deliver it.

    Now I’m not against reforming our NHS, conference, the Conservatives always back good reforms, but we are a party that always makes sure we have the money to pay for it and the will to deliver it.

    Because our NHS staff need certainty, certainty to do the job that they love with stability,

    And a clear direction from their government.

    But conference I also want to be constructive in opposition, where Government seeks to bring about meaningful and effective reform we will not oppose for the sake of opposition.

    We will look at the detail. We will ask the difficult questions and where we can agree we will be constructive.

    Because at the end of the day we want a NHS that works for the patient

    It was in that spirit that in my first week in this job I attended the cross-party talks on the future of social care.

    For too long governments of both colours have failed to address the increasing demands on social care,

    Which is putting strain on NHS budgets, local government budgets and the personal budgets of families across the country.

    We will engage in these talks in the spirit of seeking a genuine long-term solution.

    It’s not going to be easy, but I believe it’s the right to sit down and talk to find the areas where we can agree.

    My vision is simple: a health and care system where patients are in control, staff are valued, and innovation is harnessed to save lives and improve wellbeing.

    This isn’t about ideology, it’s about outcomes. Whether you are a patient waiting for surgery, a carer looking after a loved one, or a nurse working a night shift, what matters is not the politics, it’s whether the system delivers.

    And I am ably assisted in this task with a fantastic shadow health and social care team, who have real experience in the sectors. Thank you to Dr Caroline Johnson, Dr Luke Evans, Lord Kamal, Dr Neil Shastri-Hurst and Greg Stafford.

    Now, clearly, we as a party are embarking on a major policy renewal programme, and today, for what is I think the first time ever, you will have an opportunity to vote on what you think should be the key priorities of the next Conservative Government.

    To help in that task I’m delighted to be joined by Lord Markham CBE, who will be advocating that we need to use technology to build a truly 21st century national health service.

    Dr Kartik Kavi, who is a GP who will argue we need to get patients out of hospitals and into primary care.

    Former Olympic Swimmer Sharron Davies who will make the case for prevention being better than cure

    And Dr Robert Kilgour who is the founder of the social care foundation who will argue for reform of our social care system.

  • Chris Philp – 2025 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

    Chris Philp – 2025 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

    The speech made by Chris Philp, the Shadow Home Secretary, in Manchester on 7 October 2025.

    In the last reshuffle, the Prime Minister removed more ministers from the Home Office than he has illegal immigrants back to France.

    Now, let’s start with a simple fact. Keir Starmer lied to get power. He lied to the Labour Party about what he believed in, he lied to the country about what he would do, and he lied to himself that he was up to the job.

    No wonder Labour spent their conference plotting to replace Keir Starmer, who believes nothing, with Andy Burnham, who apparently believes anything.

    Keir Starmer came to office with no proper plan, no competent team and no principles. The result? The worst start for a newly elected government in decades.

    So, we must learn not just the lessons of our defeat last year, but also the lessons of Labour’s victory. We must never repeat Labour’s mistakes: winning an election on a false prospectus and arriving in power with no plan.

    The last general election was incredibly tough for us. But I know this: Conservative values and Conservative principles are more important today than ever before. We have a Labour government taking us back to the 1970s – inflation doubling, unemployment rising, taxes skyrocketing, successful people fleeing the country in droves. A real fiscal black hole opening up to swallow Rachel Reeves. Rampant trade unions dictating policy. All led by a weak Prime Minister who’s lost control of his government and watches passively as they drift a million miles from moderate Blairism. It’s a cross between incompetence and old-school, destructive socialism, and we Conservatives will fight it tooth and nail.

    And what does Reform offer? They offer simple slogans with no substance, scribbled in a pub on the back of a fag packet. That will not fix our country.

    So, we must show we have the right principles and the right plan. Because if we apply Conservative principles with courage and conviction, I know our country will be strong, prosperous and safe again, and that our best days still lie ahead.

    And that’s why I’m proud to be a Conservative. As a south London grammar school boy, I believe in opportunity. Having studied Physics at university, I believe in practical solutions which actually work. Before Parliament, I set up and ran several businesses. My very first business, set up when I was 23, was a delivery company. I started off driving the delivery van myself and generally managed to avoid crashing it.

    A few years later, that company was listed on AIM and was bought by a large competitor, which in turn is now part of Tesco.

    So, I believe in hard work and free enterprise, and I literally know what it is to deliver.

    It’s a shame no Labour cabinet minister, not even one, has ever set up a business. Although some do seem to have worked in the creative industries – mainly CV creation.

    Look, Rachel Reeves may not be a real banker, but she did work in customer complaints, which I imagine is coming in handy now.

    Now, let me start with Labour’s clearest failure, which is on borders. Their weak gimmicks have not worked. First, they said they would smash the gangs. Well, that is laughable. Then they said the French would stop boats near the coast. That hasn’t happened either.

    Next, they said they would send a handful of people back to France. Maybe one of them can have a turn at being French Prime Minister.

    But none of their gimmicks have worked. This year so far has been the worst in history for illegal immigrants crossing the Channel.

    And Channel migrants have committed some terrible crimes, including brutal rapes and sexual assaults of young children. Some have even blamed that on their own culture. Labour has lost control of our borders, and they are not fit to govern.

    And Keir Starmer has been saying for decades that calling for border control is somehow racist. We have seen him smear campaigners as “far right” for demanding the very inquiry into rape gangs he was finally forced to agree to.

    His government even instructed lawyers to argue that the rights of illegal immigrants were more important than the rights of people in places like Epping. It’s disgusting.

    Well, I’m here to say border control is not racist. Standing up for rape gang victims is not far right. And if Keir Starmer won’t stand up for Britain, then this Conservative Party will.

    Now, this weekend saw a historic announcement: that a Conservative government would leave the ECHR. Because we cannot, any longer, remain part of a system that prevents us from controlling our borders, no matter how noble its original aims. Those aims have been twisted over the years by judges here and in Strasbourg, so the ECHR now protects dangerous foreign criminals and illegal immigrants.

    This madness has to end. We must leave the ECHR. We must do it as soon as possible.

    And we will use the freedom provided by leaving to ban asylum and other claims for illegal immigrants. We will abolish the immigration tribunal, thereby getting rid of every single activist judge. We will stop vexatious judicial reviews, and we will end legal aid for immigration cases, so our money is no longer wasted on this.

    We will use visa sanctions to make sure countries take back their own nationals. We will set up a removals force to remove 150,000 a year who have no right to be here – three quarters of a million over a Parliament.

    And we will deport all illegal arrivals within a week and all foreign criminals. That’s our plan: back to their country of origin if safe and possible, or a third country like Rwanda if not.

    So, Labour’s gimmicks are not working. And Reform’s slogans, written on the back of a fag packet, collapse after a few minutes of cursory scrutiny. We are the only party with the courage to act and the diligence to do detail. We will secure our country’s borders. We will end illegal immigration.

    Let me turn to legal migration. I’ll start by being brutally honest. For many years now, legal migration has been far too high – high under successive governments, including the last one.

    It was a mistake. It should never have been allowed to happen. And under new leadership, we pledge it will never happen again.

    Here’s another truth. Mass low-skilled immigration is not good for our country. It puts pressure on housing. It puts pressure on hospitals and schools. And before the open-borders Left say anything, less than 3 per cent of recent immigration has been for NHS doctors and nurses.

    It also undermines social cohesion. Over a million people speak little or no English. In one east London borough, a shocking 73 per cent of children don’t speak English as their first language.

    For some nationalities, workforce participation – especially for women – is pitifully low. And Afghan national men are 22 times more likely to be convicted of a sex offence. We can’t carry on like this.

    A nation that is not united by common values and a common identity will fracture and break. As Abraham Lincoln said, a house divided cannot stand. And so it is with our society. A fractured society will lead to a broken country.

    Being British is not about colour. But it is about accepting and embodying our long-standing values as a nation. It is about loving this country and its history, and believing in this United Kingdom. It means caring more about this country than about any other. That is what it means to be British.

    And here’s another truth. We must also be honest that mass immigration is not good for the economy. Just one in seven of recent arrivals from outside Europe came here primarily for work. And even those who did come here to work, around half did so for low wages. People who work on low wages pay less in tax than they consume in services. So, it is a myth – it’s untrue – that mass low-skill immigration is good for the economy. It isn’t.

    Perhaps one reason that productivity has stagnated is that some businesses have relied on importing low-skilled workers instead of investing in technology and automation, as many other countries have.

    And one of the reasons there are nine million adults not working is that business has hired low-skilled foreign workers instead. So, rather than import low-skilled workers, let’s get people here into work and let’s invest in technology.

    Now, of course we welcome limited high-skilled immigration – in the tech sector, in the finance sector, in scientific research, or for medicine. We should make it easy to come and work in those high-skill, high-wage sectors. But the days of mass low-skilled migration have to end.

    And that is why we will ensure that those who have come here to work, but have not worked or have only worked on low wages, must leave when their visa expires.

    And that is why only those who are making a contribution can stay permanently, and those who are not citizens cannot expect to receive any benefits funded by taxpayers.

    And that is why we will set a binding annual cap on immigration, voted on each year by our sovereign Parliament. A Conservative government will set that cap at a low level to ensure more people leave than arrive. We will deliver sustained negative net migration.

    This is a common-sense plan. Strong policies, properly worked through. Real change. Building a genuinely united society. That is the change we will deliver.

    And we will have a common-sense plan for crime and policing too, supporting the fantastic Conservative Police and Crime Commissioners we have elected. Stand up and have a round of applause. There we are. Fighting crime up and down the country.

    And while I am saying thank you to our team, I should say thank you to Katie Lam and our shadow ministerial team, and to Matt Vickers, Alicia Kearns and Harriet Cross.

    Now, nothing is more important than keeping our families safe. And this calls for zero tolerance on crime.

    But Labour seems more interested in what people say on social media than in catching burglars. It is time to end the madness of police showing up on someone’s doorstep because they have offended someone online. The police should catch real criminals, not off-colour tweets.

    Policing non-criminal social media posts is a catastrophic waste of time, and it tramples on free speech. In government we would end this nonsense, and we will abolish non-crime hate incidents. So you can tweet away.

    Conference, there is no room in policing for politically correct posturing. And what I have to tell you now will shock you: there is a so-called anti-racism commitment plan from the College of Policing and the Police Chiefs’ Council that literally says policing should not be colour-blind.

    Let me be clear: yes, it should.

    Treating racial groups differently to engineer the same arrest rate even if offending rates are different is immoral. It’s plain wrong. People should stand equal before the law. It is that simple. Woke nonsense in policing has to end, and as Home Secretary I will scrap that absurd document.

    Now, we left office with record-ever police numbers – nearly 150,000 in fact, 149,769 to be precise, in March 2024. Not that I was counting. Now, under Labour these numbers are already going down, while shoplifting has surged 20 per cent to a record level, and overall crime went up 7 per cent in Labour’s first year, reversing the declining trend under the last government, I might add.

    Real crimes are going uninvestigated. Weak on crime, weak on the causes of crime. That is Labour today.

    So, we need to turn this around. We commit today to hiring 10,000 extra police officers at a cost of £800 million per year, funded by some of the Chancellor’s savings announced on Monday.

    These 10,000 extra police officers will catch more criminals, and they will protect our streets. That is our commitment.

    And we will use some of these extra officers to deliver surge hotspot policing in 2,000 high-crime neighbourhoods across the country. They will deliver eight million hours a year of hotspot surge patrolling and prevent 35,000 crimes.

    Every area where there is a serious crime problem should have intensive patrolling, all year round. That will deter crime and catch criminals. All of the evidence clearly shows that this works, as I saw with Katy in Brighton a year or so ago – Katy Bourne, the PCC for Sussex. So, we will mandate this hotspot patrolling. And I hope there will be support for her mayoral campaign too.

    Now, we will also take knives off the streets. As a London MP, I’m afraid to say I’ve seen first-hand the devastating effects of knife crime, including the unimaginable grief of bereaved parents at their child’s funeral. I will never forget that as long as I live.

    Stop and search takes knives off the streets. It catches criminals. When its use is measured not against the general population, but against the offending population, the use of stop and search is not racially disproportionate.

    Under the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, stop and searches dropped 60 per cent – and what do you think happened to knife crime? It went up by 86 per cent under Sadiq Khan. People are losing their lives as a result of this piece of Labour woke ideology.

    It’s insane that the smell of cannabis alone, or someone wearing a menacing mask, does not generally allow a stop and search.

    In my view, a single suspicion indicator should be enough. So, in our hotspot areas, we will allow routine stop and search without suspicion – anyone can be searched. We will change the law to do this, and we will triple the use of stop and search. Lives will be saved, and knives will be taken off our streets. We have the courage to do that; Labour does not.

    We will also continue to fight for victims of rape gangs, where the sickening rape of young girls was covered up because the perpetrators were of mainly Pakistani origin. The government only agreed to a national inquiry, as you saw from that video, because they were forced to. And months later, that inquiry has still not been set up. Keir Starmer may think standing up for rape gang victims is a far-right bandwagon, but we think it’s justice, and we will keep fighting until we get it.

    We will also fight the scourge of terrorism. We stand here on the anniversary of the atrocity committed on 7 October 2023 – a day that will live in infamy. And we saw it on the streets of this city, just a few miles from where we now stand, at 9.31 last Thursday morning.

    But let me say this: we will never be intimidated by terror. We will stand with this country’s Jewish community and fight, with all our energy and all our resolve, the ancient evil of antisemitism wherever it is found.

    And we must be honest. Islamist extremism makes up the clear majority of counter-terrorism caseloads. We must all stand up, all of us in society, to extremism wherever we see it. Because standing by and saying nothing when encountering extremism is complicity. Those expressing extremism, antisemitism, racial or religious hatred of any kind, or support for terrorism, who are not British citizens, should be removed from this country, including those at the student marches today.

    I would like to thank all the officers who responded bravely to last Thursday’s terrorist murder, and all the officers and security services up and down the country who take risks to protect us every single day. So let us say this to them: thank you.

    Now let me finish by saying this. There is now only one party that will stand up for working families and for business; only one party that will stand up for pensioners, for farmers, for parents and pupils; only one party that will stand up for our military; only one party that will stand for law and order; only one party with a proper plan to protect our borders; and only one party that will stand up for Britain and all its people. That party is the Conservative Party. And if we stand together, if we stick together, we will win together, and deliver the change this country needs.

  • Laura Trott – 2025 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

    Laura Trott – 2025 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

    The speech made by Laura Trott, the Shadow Education Secretary, in Manchester on 7 October 2025.

    Conference, hello.

    It is an honour to address you as Shadow Education Secretary, a job I have always dreamed of doing.

    Education Secretary would obviously be better, but I am working on it.

    Three people are on my mind as I speak to you today, three people who have shaped my thinking, whose stories I want to replicate across the country.

    The first is a girl called Celine, who I heard about from her headteacher.

    She lived on a dangerous council estate in Sheffield.

    The closest school to her home was not delivering for children.

    It was unsafe, with dismal results and terrible behaviour.

    It had been that way for years, as was the case with all the schools in the area.

    That is, until the arrival of the free schools programme, a Conservative policy pioneered by the formidable Michael Gove and Nick Gibb.

    Thanks to them, a brilliant headteacher called Dean Webster was able to establish Mercia School.

    When Mercia opened, Celine got her sliding doors moment: a chance to attend a different, better school.

    When she started at the new school, the headteacher Dean visited Celine in her flat.

    He told me how, on his way there, he passed gangs on the corner and had to step over people passed out on drugs.

    It was a glimpse into the world awaiting Celine. However, through a traditional academic education, a longer school day, and zero tolerance for bad behaviour, Mercia School gave Celine a lifeline.

    I am delighted to tell you that this summer, Celine achieved top A-Level results and is now going on to study Law at university.

    A brilliant school set her on a very different path, a school which did not exist 15 years ago and would never have existed without Conservatives in Government. That is the difference we can make.

    The second person whose story I would like to share today is a young boy I met in Ilford. I shall call him Mason, but that was not his real name.

    He had a horrendous home life and, for understandable reasons, was acting out terribly at school.

    He was not coping.

    He was making life a misery and learning impossible, not just for him but for the other 29 children in his class too.

    Enough was enough, and Mason was rightly removed from mainstream education and placed in alternative provision for children with behavioural problems.

    That is where I met him. This specialist provision helped change his life. It was his version of intensive care, helping him to get back on his feet, with the highly specialised support that he needed and so craved.

    There are too many who think it is compassionate to keep a child like Mason in mainstream school, at the expense not just of his future, but that of his classmates’ futures too.

    Let me tell you what real compassion looks like:

    It is taking Mason out of a setting that was failing him, letting him get the extra support he clearly needed.

    That is what we need to fight for, for children like Mason.

    The third person whose story I would like to share is a teacher called Kat.

    I met Kat on a recent visit to her school, Trinity, a free school in a deprived area in Leeds where she is the Principal.

    Sixty-one per cent of her pupils are disadvantaged, and over 70 per cent do not have English as their first language.

    Kat radiates passion for her school, her teachers, and her students, and her energy is infectious.

    She was rightly proud of the curriculum they have developed, the high standards of behaviour they expect from every student, and the results they are seeing every day, which far outstrip anything previously achieved in the local area.

    Results, I might add, that they can only achieve because of the freedoms that come with being an academy.

    Freedoms that I refuse to let the Labour Government take away casually without any thought for the consequences.

    Celine, Mason, and Kat: I am in their service, and that of the thousands like them.

    They are why I do this job.

    Unlike Bridget Phillipson, I will never come to work thinking only about the unions.

    Conference, we know that this Party, the Conservative Party, is the true party of opportunity.

    We know it is not about where you have come from, but where you are going.

    You should not be defined by who your parents are or where you were born, but by your ideas and what you have to contribute.

    That is why the Conservative Party is the party of opportunity. We Conservatives never succumb to the soft bigotry of low expectations, because we believe that every child should have a chance in life.

    Reforming schools unleashes opportunity. Plain and simple.

    However, it is not enough just to believe in public service reform. The inconvenient reality, and other parties might want to note, is that you actually have to have a plan to deliver it too.

    That is exactly what the Conservatives in Government did.

    An Academies Act passed in 77 days.

    Hundreds of new free schools.

    Thousands of new academies.

    A rigorous curriculum.

    High-quality technical education.

    Tougher exams.

    Better teaching standards.

    Phonics.

    A stop to grade inflation.

    Calculators in exams thrown out.

    Millions more children in good and outstanding schools.

    That is what Conservatives did in Government.

    We reformed schools, and standards went through the roof.

    Those schools have improved not through words, but through strong accountability, academic rigour, rigorous inspection, and freedoms.

    Crucially, all of that happens with teachers, not bureaucrats, in control.

    Conference, under us, English children became the best at reading and maths in the Western world.

    This is an achievement that other countries marvel at. They look to us as an example of what they want to replicate in their schools.

    They are eager to learn how this was achieved. However, unbelievably, all of these reforms are under threat.

    They are under threat from a Labour Party who believe in backing unions over backing children, a Labour Party that even booed one of Britain’s best headteachers in the House of Commons, simply because she runs a school that was opened by a Conservative Government.

    The only consistent strand of this Labour Government is that union demands come ahead of the interests of children in this country.

    It should be no surprise to anyone that Bridget Phillipson is running to be deputy leader of the Labour Party.

    As Education Secretary, she has spent more time appeasing union bosses than standing up for children.

    From the outset, her loyalties were clear.

    In her first few months, she held dozens of meetings with union leaders, allowing them to write her policies.

    What was the result?

    A Schools Bill that nobody voted for.

    Botched Ofsted reforms.

    A dumbing down of standards.

    A misguided curriculum review.

    Every single time the Education Secretary has been confronted with a tough decision, she has capitulated to the left.

    This might help with her deputy leadership election, but it does not help children at school.

    In all the chaos going on in the world, we must stop and realise the extent of the damage that Labour are doing to schoolchildren, and that starts with unpicking our school reforms.

    There is no evidence that Labour’s so-called reforms driven by unions will improve a single school. Not one.

    The sad fact is, we already have a live case study of why Labour’s changes will not work. It is a little over 40 miles away from this hall.

    Over the border, children in Labour-run Wales are being let down. They are untouched by the education revolution seen here in England. Unfortunately, Wales has seen plummeting standards and poorer outcomes.

    Just look at this graph. Instead of learning what not to do from Wales, the Education Secretary is inexplicably repeating the very same policies. The very same mistakes.

    Why? Because union bosses want her to.

    Trading policy for their votes.

    All to the detriment of children’s education.

    Shame on the Labour Party.

    Shame on them for letting that waste of potential happen here.

    Labour are turning their backs on everything we know improves schools, everything that people in this hall have worked so hard for, everything that Celine, Mason, and Kat need.

    This is a quiet betrayal of all children, but it is the poorest who will be most affected.

    This is nothing less than educational vandalism.

    Conference, together with my brilliant Shadow Education team, Diana, Saqib, Rebecca, and Jack, we will fight it every step of the way.

    Let me turn now to one of the key problems facing our schools: behaviour.

    We must ensure that every child who goes to school is given the chance to learn from excellent teachers and without fear for their safety.

    I went to a good comprehensive, with some brilliant teachers to whom I am extremely grateful.

    However, I also saw the consequences of bad behaviour.

    I can tell you, being at a school where teachers are sometimes locked in cupboards, things are thrown in the classroom, and fights break out in the hallway does not make it easy to learn, or for teachers to teach.

    The truth is that children cannot learn if they are stuck in a chaotic environment where bad behaviour runs rife.

    You would think this is obvious, but not, it seems, to the Labour Party.

    Sadiq Khan thinks that when you bring a knife into a classroom, you should not be expelled.

    Andy Burnham, who has been a popular topic of conversation recently, called for an end to pupil referral units, so no more expulsions for the most disruptive pupils. That is mad.

    North of the border in Scotland, the SNP have actively sought to keep disruptive pupils in mainstream schools, to the point where last year just a single pupil was permanently excluded over an entire academic year, across the whole of Scotland.

    Conference, turning a blind eye to aggression, disruption, or violence is not moral leadership; it is an abdication of responsibility.

    Pursuing inclusion at the expense of order is the opposite of compassion.

    It abandons the child who needs real specialist help and who is crying out for support.

    Instead of this left-wing nonsense, we have a blueprint to improve discipline, building on the work of the last Government.

    It starts with being honest about the need for permanent exclusions.

    We cannot shy away from setting clear boundaries, excluding pupils when they have been extremely violent or are carrying a knife.

    This is not about giving up on those children. It is the opposite.

    Children must learn that actions have consequences. That is how the world works.

    Under the Conservatives, our policy is simple: one knife and you are out.

    If you assault a teacher, then you are out.

    If you sexually assault someone, then you are out.

    If you have been expelled from not just one but two mainstream schools, then it is clear that mainstream classrooms are not for you.

    If children bring knives into the classroom, then they should not be there.

    If they are violent, then they should not be there.

    Under the Conservatives, they will not be there.

    However, the important piece of the jigsaw here is that, once children have been excluded, it is our duty to them and their future to give them the support they need, moving them into specialist alternative provision, where they stand a real chance of success.

    Staff in these settings work with extraordinary dedication to turn around the lives of children.

    I have seen this first-hand. When done well, it is a quality of education that can be tailored to their needs.

    I saw that with Mason. However, we need more places like this.

    It is clear to me that there is not enough high-quality alternative provision, and as a result, disruptive pupils are being kept in mainstream education for far too long.

    Our blueprint will create more high-quality places in alternative provision, reducing disruption for the many who suffer from it and delivering specialist support for the few who need it.

    Every local area should have specialist provision, partnering with football teams and sports clubs who are brilliant at engaging young people.

    Just yesterday, I visited Old Trafford and saw the amazing work that Manchester United Foundation are doing to provide young people with role models, mentors, routine, and discipline. This should be everywhere.

    Girls should have separate provision from violent young men. We should push standards up through every academy chain, partnering with one.

    We should make alternative provision independent of local authorities. We should ensure that every provider is registered so that every setting is inspected by Ofsted, ensuring proper accountability and rigour, especially in those settings for some of the most disadvantaged and challenged children.

    We must ensure that those children, especially the most violent, are turning up to their alternative provision, that they are not slipping out of sight and into criminality.

    We believe children should be in the classroom, not on the street. Fines should be issued automatically when they are not there, because these children need help, and we need to ensure they get it, and they only get it if they turn up.

    If we do all this, we can show compassion for those who need it most, not by some false inclusivity that damages everyone, but by challenging and fixing the behavioural issues.

    Now, let me address another problem causing behaviour issues: smartphones.

    Time after time, teachers have told me that smartphones are one of the biggest causes of bad behaviour.

    The government’s own research shows that they disrupt nearly half of GCSE classes every single day.

    Look abroad: in Portugal, schools that banned smartphones saw a huge drop in bullying.

    Australia, Norway, Finland, and France are all tightening restrictions on smartphones.

    Meanwhile, Labour ignore our calls for action.

    The single biggest thing Labour could do, right now, to improve behaviour is to get smartphones out of the classroom.

    Yet, the Prime Minister says a ban is unnecessary.

    Bridget Phillipson calls it a gimmick.

    While they stick their heads in the sand, who suffers the most?

    It is the most disadvantaged.

    When I first started going into schools to talk about this to the students, I did not necessarily expect to be the most popular person.

    Taking away smartphones from teenagers is not something you think will go down particularly well.

    Yet I have been overwhelmed by the response.

    The most frequent reaction from students after a ban has been put in place is one of pure relief.

    I will never forget the face of one boy when he told me that it made him feel safe.

    Young people do not want this to be an issue they have to deal with. They want the adults to sort this out.

    I am speaking to Bridget Phillipson directly now:

    For goodness’ sake, just get on and do it.

    The sad truth is this: we have had broken promise after broken promise from the Department for Education.

    You simply cannot trust Bridget Phillipson when she says she is going to improve our schools.

    Conference, you all know about Labour’s plans to become the only country in Europe to tax education.

    It was one of their core manifesto pledges and one of their most vindictive.

    The result of their attack on the independent sector is not more teachers in state schools, but fewer. Four hundred fewer, to be precise.

    We have not got a better state school system from Labour’s education tax. We have just got more crowding in classrooms, because independent schools are closing at a record rate.

    Pressure is being piled on the state sector in a way that teachers across the school system warned about.

    The Prime Minister himself admitted money is not going to state schools.

    Conference, and I promise you I am not making this up, instead of using the money to hire more teachers as the manifesto said, the Prime Minister is using the money to house illegal migrants.

    Under the Conservatives, we will never tax education to make our state schools worse off.

    Conference, as I have laid out for you today, by blindly following trade union orthodoxy, Labour are taking us backwards.

    It took real courage and conviction for us to get those school reforms through 15 years ago. Headlines of local papers at the time read: “Hands off our failing schools.”

    Unions were allergic to the change, competition, and accountability.

    Decades on, Labour’s stated ambition for their so-called reforms is to create more consistency in the education system. Not excellence.

    In practice, that means levelling down across the board.

    In recent decades, parents and children have voted with their feet.

    Bad schools closed. Good schools thrived. That is the strength of choice. Those are Conservative principles in action.

    Labour’s Schools Bill rips that apart, handing local authorities sweeping new powers, not only to block good schools from growing, but even to stop an outstanding school from keeping the same number of pupils. This is madness.

    It risks shattering the life chances of some of our most deprived children.

    We know that turning failing schools into academies is the single most effective way of helping children.

    Yet Labour will keep children trapped in failing schools for longer, denying them the opportunity they deserve.

    This will be Labour’s record.

    That will be Bridget Phillipson’s legacy.

    That is why we must fight them all the way.

    Fight the educational vandalism of Bridget Phillipson, who puts the unions’ interests above British interests, above the interests of Celine, Mason, and Kat.

    Teachers deserve better. The next generation deserves better. Our country deserves better.

    It is the Conservatives who have reformed education for the better before.

    We will do so again.

    Thank you.

  • James Cleverly – 2025 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

    James Cleverly – 2025 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

    The speech made by James Cleverly, the Shadow Housing Secretary, in Manchester on 6 October 2025.

    Owning your own home should not be a luxury.

    The Conservative Party is the party of aspiration.

    We are the party that believes in reward for hard work.

    So, when we see home ownership becoming a fantasy for many people, when a home of your own is an impossible dream, no matter how hard you work, we know we must act.

    And when Conservatives are in charge, we do act.

    Remember, it was the Conservatives who cleared the slums in the 1930s.

    Harold Macmillan built 300,000 homes a year in the 1950s.

    And Margaret Thatcher made home ownership a reality for millions of people with the Right to Buy in the 1980s.

    The point is, we don’t just have to look at the distant past.

    Since 2010, Conservatives have delivered 2.5 million homes, a million of those in the last Parliament alone.

    Last year, in the South East of England and the East of England, Conservative-run regions, about 2.5 new homes were built per thousand people.

    In London, run by Labour for the best part of a decade, 0.5 homes per thousand.

    And so, what do those figures mean for real people, for ordinary hard-working Londoners?

    In 1980, the average London home cost £25,000, about four times the average national salary.

    Today, the average London house costs over half a million pounds, and that is fifteen times the average salary.

    That is Sadiq Khan’s record of failure.

    We should not, and we cannot, and we must not accept it.

    But what did Angela Rayner do when she was Housing Secretary?

    She gave Sadiq Khan a free pass.

    She dropped the Government’s call-in for the London Plan.

    And she cut London’s housing target.

    And what was the result? A mere 5,000 private homes are forecast to be built across the whole of London this year, against a target of 88,000 homes.

    Rayner’s failure to deal with Khan’s failure ends up by dumping that housing shortfall on rural Britain.

    I’ve got a small confession to make, ladies and gentlemen.

    I was actually looking forward to holding Rayner to account.

    I was looking forward to going toe to toe with a real firebrand of the modern Left.

    Instead, I’m up against Steve Reed.

    Steve “I’m not Wikipedia” Reed.

    No, Steve, you’re not Wikipedia, Wikipedia can actually be useful.

    And let’s remind ourselves, ladies and gentlemen, Steve Reed is a man who has just spent the last year destroying family farms so that he can spend next year concreting over them.

    He wears a baseball cap that says “Build, Baby, Build”, but in reality, it’s “Block, Baby, Block”.

    Because he said no to new homes being built in his urban London constituency, where they are both needed and wanted.

    And that’s Labour all over, isn’t it?

    Slogans say one thing; their record shows something completely different.

    And as for the Labour Government’s pledge of 1.5 million homes built by the end of this Parliament, either they are lying about how many homes they are going to build, or they’re lying about how long this Parliament is going to last.

    And what about these fabled Labour new towns?

    Initially, they said they were going to build twelve of them.

    Then they said they only might start three during this Parliament, and that’s only if you count one spade in the ground as progress.

    For me, it’s like being promised a pony for Christmas and ending up with a goldfish.

    Now, when I drive through London, from my home in Essex, I see the Olympic Park, a brownfield site transformed into homes and businesses by Boris, a Conservative Mayor of London.

    I see Canary Wharf, derelict docks turned into homes and a world-class financial hub, by Heseltine and Thatcher, a Conservative Government.

    And that same story is true beyond London: Ben Houchen in Teesside, Paul Bristow in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, Conservative Mayors rolling up their sleeves and getting stuff done.

    And look, I know London isn’t the only place that matters, we all understand that.

    But the UK’s biggest city does have a unique role to play.

    And the Labour Mayor of London has not, and will not, get a grip of the situation, which is why we need a Conservative Mayor of London who will.

    We need a Conservative Mayor to rewrite the London Plan, focus on delivery, and unlock tens of thousands of desperately needed homes in that city, near transport links, near the night-time economy, and near job opportunities.

    By prioritising brownfield sites and turning them into business and housing hubs, just like we did before in Canary Wharf and in the Olympic Park.

    Now, to get this done, we need to cut down the mountains of well-intentioned regulation.

    We have affordable housing targets so high they basically prevent anything from getting built.

    And I wonder if the Steve Reed now in charge of housing will look back at the Steve Reed who was in charge of environmental regulation and have a word with himself.

    Because we’ve made it too easy to say no to housing.

    And we need to find reasons to say yes to housing.

    We need to win the argument.

    We need to make people want to say yes.

    Now, just so you know where I’m coming from, I reject the false choice between low-rise sprawl into the green belt and soulless tower blocks.

    We can, and we should, build homes that are liveable, attractive, and welcomed by their neighbours.

    Because beauty in the built environment should not be the preserve of the wealthy, it should be for everyone.

    Building is important, of course it is.

    But we must also make better use of the homes we already have.

    I’m going to give you a scenario, and I expect a few of you will recognise it.

    In every town and city across the country, there are roads full of empty nesters.

    You know the kind of houses I mean, three, four, maybe even five-bedroom family houses, where the children have grown up and moved out, and now just one or two people are living there.

    I don’t want to force anybody to leave the home they love.

    But we should make it easy for older couples to downsize, without punishing them with ever more property tax.

    Because encouraging downsizing frees up a whole chain of homes, helping retirees, bigger families, smaller families, and first-time buyers all at the same time.

    And that, ladies and gentlemen, is just common sense.

    And that is what should underpin Conservative housing policy: common sense.

    Easing the burden of regulation, getting stuff built.

    Easing counterproductive taxation that stops homes being bought and sold.

    That is the Conservative answer.

    But compare that with Labour’s answer, even more taxes.

    They are hiking council tax by more than £11 billion over this Parliament, with more to come, through higher tax bands and new taxes on family homes.

    But we Conservatives know that you cannot tax your way to growth.

    Real growth comes not from the state, but from its citizens and the communities they build.

    Strong communities need a smaller state, and we know strong communities matter.

    Many of you in this hall today are councillors, and you are on the front line, working in and for your local communities.

    You are the manifestation of Conservative values that people actually see in their day-to-day lives.

    And I want to thank you.

    Because when I speak about Conservative leadership, and I try not to do that so much these days, I’m talking about Conservative leadership in town halls, county halls, and village halls.

    Conservative councillors who improve their high streets, who stand up for local businesses, who defend community pubs, local parks, and village greens.

    Who deliver leaflets late at night and early in the morning, whatever the weather.

    Whatever the political weather, and whilst you deliver, other parties let their communities down.

    Labour councils, taxes up, bins uncollected. Over-taxing, under-delivering.

    Liberal Democrats, hiking council tax to some of the highest levels in the country.

    And Reform? Well, being angry about stuff doesn’t get bins collected, or schools run better, or parks maintained, or old people cared for.

    Because being a keyboard warrior doesn’t prepare you to manage a multi-million-pound council budget.

    That is why they are failing and infighting wherever they get elected.

    So, let Reform chase the clicks and likes online, and let real Conservatives serve their communities.

    In our party, we understand the difference.

    But we must understand why so many people are angry.

    And rather than just reflect that anger back to them, we look to do something about it.

    Because that’s how you build policy, not just press releases.

    A party that is ready to govern, and communities built on unity, not division, that is us.

    And we also know that the scale of immigration has put unprecedented pressure on housing provision and on our neighbourhoods.

    That’s why, as Home Secretary, I took action to halve net migration.

    Because people are angry when they see an immigration system that gives houses to asylum seekers whilst local families wait for years.

    This madness has got to stop.

    That is why we brought in the Rwanda plan that Labour scrapped as soon as they entered office.

    That is why we have committed to leaving the ECHR so that we can prioritise the people of our country.

    That is why we must have stronger borders.

    That is why we must have a stronger economy.

    Because simply building more homes is not enough.

    We have got to cut immigration, and we have got to rebuild our communities too.

    The foundation stone for successful communities is the simple fact that we all play by the same rules, and that people who break those rules are punished, not rewarded.

    Where no group is above the law, and where the laws are universally applied.

    Communities where hard work is rewarded.

    Where pride in place, pride in country, is valued and praised, not vilified and mocked.

    A tradition of free speech, and yes, that does mean the right to offend.

    But the right to offend is not the same as a duty to offend.

    Because we do have a long-standing tradition of decency, politeness, and good manners.

    But we don’t need to turn that tradition into law, which is why blasphemy laws have no place in the United Kingdom.

    The cherished right of freedom of religion must be protected, and protected robustly, by all of us.

    Protected with the strength of the Jewish men and women who held that door shut at the synagogue on Yom Kippur, here in Manchester just last week.

    Because warm words or empty symbolism will do nothing to keep people safe.

    That is why, when I was Home Secretary, I overruled officials to ensure record funding to protect the security of Jewish communities.

    But we must do more to tackle the growing challenge of antisemitism in this country, much, much more, with the strength of our words and our actions.

    And as we see Labour councils bringing in anti-Israel boycotts and divestment in a cynical, sectarian attempt to win votes, we should recognise what it is and call it out for what it is.

    Labour is currently trying to jump on a patriotic bandwagon.

    Starmer is trying to wrap himself in the Union flag.

    But in reality, he is an emperor with no clothes.

    Labour is not fooling anyone.

    Did you see it at Labour Conference in Liverpool?

    You could see it on their faces.

    They were forced to wave the St George’s flag and the Union flag with gritted teeth, and Andy Burnham scuttling out via the back door.

    Starmer allegedly opposes division, but frankly, he can’t even unite his own party, let alone the country.

    It is his party that is pushing identity politics.

    It is their misplaced ideal of multiculturalism that leads to parallel cultures rather than integrated communities.

    The Conservatives have always been, and will always be, the party of patriotism.

    And more than that, we know the formula for success.

    Multi-ethnic communities, of course.

    Diverse religions within communities, yes.

    But an adherence to the norms, values, and laws of our country.

    That is how successful, integrated, sustainable communities are built.

    And that is what we should work towards, bringing society together across class, colour, and creed.

    That is how we build trust.

    That is how we build strong neighbourhoods.

    That is how we make Britain a home for everyone who is willing to play their part.

    I was chuffed when Kemi asked me to take on this role, because fixing our housing crisis and restoring pride in our communities are two of the biggest challenges we face.

    And the simple truth is, Labour does not want to fix these problems.

    And Reform cannot fix these problems.

    But we can, and we will.

    We will build more homes.

    We will build stronger communities.

    We will build stronger borders.

    We will build a stronger economy.

    And we will restore pride in this great country once again.

    Thank you.

  • Andrew Griffith – 2025 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

    Andrew Griffith – 2025 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

    The speech made by Andrew Griffith in Manchester on 6 October 2025.

    Conference, business builds Britain.
    It is business that takes ideas and turns them into reality.
    Takes jobs and turns them into livelihoods.
    And it is business that pays the nation’s bills.
    With strong business, everything is possible.
    I spent 25 years in business where I saw optimism at work every day.
    That is why I am optimistic.

    I know Britain can return to being a world-leading economy.
    Our country has huge strengths which even years more of this government will not diminish.
    The English language, respect for property, our deep, sophisticated financial markets, and a mix of the businesses that thrive globally.
    Around the world, people want what we produce.
    And they want our skills, our capital and our ideas.
    Thanks to the last Conservative government, we have an independent trade policy which allows us to sell not just to Europe but to our long-standing allies and most of the fastest growing economies on the planet.
    Compare that distinguished record on trade to the press release politics we’ve seen over the last year.
    The Prime Minister told us in May his US deal was signed, sealed and delivered.
    Yet tariffs remain.
    He told us he had a deal for pharmaceuticals.
    But it never materialised, and our drug companies are leaving.
    He told us he finally understood Brexit
    And he then went running back to Brussels to let them dictate our rules, killing our flexibility for future deals.
    It’s clear that Labour and the other parties simply don’t understand business.
    How could they? Unlike our Party, their ranks are full of professional politicians, trade unionists and the public sector.
    No government that understood business would ever have imposed a jobs tax and changes to national insurance thresholds which hurt those employing the most the hardest.
    Or the family business tax – a death tax.
    Or doubled rates on the very businesses which keep our high streets alive.
    And conference, no government that cared about British firms and British workers would ignore energy costs that are four times higher than our competitors.
    Instead of creating wealth, they attack it, driving away entrepreneurs, investors, and top talent.
    Too many of our best and brightest are exchanging Docklands for Dubai or Manchester for Milan.
    And what Labour do nationally, the Greens, Lib Dems and the nationalists do locally.
    Hostile planning policies frustrating businesses trying to expand.
    Blocking new infrastructure.
    And suffocating firms with traffic congestion, parking restrictions and red tape.
    The next government will fix this and more just as after the failed consensus of the seventies, Britain picked itself up, restoring our pride and our growth.
    But the process of change requires being honest about where we start.
    We are no longer the rich country many think we are.
    For too long we’ve been slipping down the international rankings in GDP per capita, competitiveness, and inward investment.
    Under Labour, Britain is competing in the veterans’ race – comparing ourselves to the G7 – when the real competition are those younger, fitter economies who are overtaking us.
    We Conservatives know that it is only private enterprise that creates growth, not government.
    There were moments in office where we strayed from that truth.
    More regulations, raising taxes, the state as nanny.
    Indulging the idea that government is the solution, when we know very often it is the problem.
    But the Conservative Party is under new management.
    And at the heart of our strategy is an approach that’s proud to champion wealth creators and risk takers.
    Creating a new generation of entrepreneurs and backing our businesses.
    I am announcing clear policies today which start that work.
    In our very first budget, we will repeal the family business tax which punishes success and dis-incentivises growth.
    We will build a tax system which values those who take a risk and helps the smallest businesses.
    And the next Conservative government will actively reverse the job destroying measures in Labour’s Unemployment Rights Bill.
    A Bill which allows strikes to be called even if just a tiny fraction of the workforce vote.
    A Bill which will destroy job opportunities for young people whilst topping up Labour’s political fund without workers being given the choice.
    And the opposition to this terrible Bill in Parliament has been led by your Conservative shadow business team.
    David Hunt and Andrew Sharpe in the House of Lords.
    My shadow Ministers Harriet Baldwin, Gareth Davies and my PPS, Ali Griffiths in the Commons.
    Not by any other party. By the Conservative Party.
    And there is more.
    I understand there are far too many hurdles for small businesses to jump.
    Red tape that steals away the precious time of those who run them.
    Take HMRC, an organisation which literally tried to turn its helplines off for six months of the year.
    We say ‘enough’. That is unacceptable.
    So, within weeks of entering government, we will that ensure every time a small business contacts HMRC, they are given the opportunity to rate their experience in the same way as companies seek customer feedback.
    No more hanging on the phone for an hour with no one held accountable.
    No one loves paying their taxes. But the taxman needs to respect those whose hard work and enterprise pays their salaries.
    Nowhere. Nowhere is that more important than the self-employed.
    They’re risk-takers, striking out on their own, often with nothing more than a laptop and a belief they can make it work.
    That’s why we commit today to doing better for the self-employed. And that includes looking again at reforming IR35.
    Because if Britain is to have ladders of opportunity, then the self-employed need to be able to climb them.
    Similarly, opening a bank account today is so hard it is a miracle anyone starts a business at all.
    It can take weeks or even months to do what other countries do in minutes.
    It shows just how far our regulators have lost the plot and it’s a brake on growth we cannot afford.
    So, we will transform a process which makes banks treat you as guilty until proven innocent.
    From the tone at the top of the regulators to repealing EU era rules, we have a clear plan, and we will fix this.
    So: scrapping the family business tax, reversing the Unemployment Bill, easier bank accounts and a better service from HMRC.
    Real policies that will make a real difference.
    And, where we can, we need a tax framework which shows our support with actions not words.
    No sector has been hurt harder by Labour’s onslaught against enterprise than hospitality, retail, and leisure/
    89,000 jobs lost in the hospitality sector alone since Rachel Reeves’ Autumn Budget.
    One of her first actions in office was to more than double business rates for many of our high street businesses by cutting the relief that previous Conservative governments introduced.
    Because of the choices she’s made, the life in our high streets is ebbing away.
    And we know the heart of our communities are suffering.
    So, we want to give them hope.
    Today, we are announcing that when we return to government, we will introduce a permanent, one hundred per cent rate relief in business rates for retail, hospitality, and leisure.
    250,000 businesses will benefit from that change.
    Pubs, shops, restaurants struggling across the country will be saved.
    And our high streets will get an enormous boost.
    But conference there’s one more thing.
    We want to reignite a culture of entrepreneurship in Britain.
    To support and celebrate those who take a risk.
    A mission the like of which we’ve not seen since my friend and mentor, Lord David Young was Mrs Thatcher’s Secretary for Trade and Enterprise.
    To create a new generation of entrepreneurs.
    As Business Secretary, I want to see young entrepreneur schemes flourish in every school and college in the country.
    Building on existing schemes, delivered by people who’ve been there and done it and who want the next generation to succeed.
    We will provide the support to make this happen because this is what we believe a stronger economy requires.
    So, Conference, let me be clear.
    The Conservative Party as the party of enterprise, the party of the entrepreneur, the party of business.
    On the side of the pub landlord, the restaurateur, the small business owner, the self-employed, and the family business.
    Those who work for themselves and give work to others.
    The builders, not the blockers.
    Those that make, not those that take.
    That’s who we support, that’s who we believe in, that’s who our government will serve.
    Nations that seize opportunity, rise.
    We will seize that opportunity, and together we will make Britain’s economy strong again.
    Thank you.
    ‍

  • PRESS RELEASE : Pension firms urged to boost investment into the UK sci-tech unicorns of the 2030s [October 2025]

    PRESS RELEASE : Pension firms urged to boost investment into the UK sci-tech unicorns of the 2030s [October 2025]

    The press release issued by the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology on 2 October 2025.

    Science Minister Lord Vallance urges pension schemes to invest more in world class UK firms as new innovation cluster map outlines areas of outstanding research and commerce.

    • Pension schemes and venture capital are ‘underexposed’ and should invest more in world class UK science and tech firms
    • The UK has deep pools of institutional capital, yet only a small fraction reaches our most promising growth companies, says Science Minister Lord Vallance at BVCA event
    • To support pension firms to invest with clarity, government unveils innovation cluster map, outlining pockets of outstanding research and commerce across different parts of the UK – helping to boost growth and jobs through our Plan for Change

    Pensions firms should capitalise on the enormous opportunity to boost private investment into UK science and technology, Science Minister Lord Vallance will tell an audience of top investors later today (Thursday 2 October), as part of a speech at the British Venture Capital Association’s (BVCA) private capital showcase.

    The Minister will acknowledge that the UK has long been renowned for excellence in research and incubating companies at the very cutting-edge of the most important fields of our generation, including life sciences, AI and quantum technology – but many promising UK companies have been held back from scaling to their full potential due to a lack of available capital.

    While $16 billion has been invested into UK start-ups and scale-ups last year, and more than $8 billion raised in the first half of 2025, exceeding France and Germany combined, the government wants to go further and faster to boost growth through its Plan for Change.

    Taking Cambridge-founded Arm as a flagship example of British innovation that scales globally, he will call on private pensions investors to work with VCs and other assets managers to back our next generation of high growth companies. This would deliver long-term returns for investors, while keeping more of the value and jobs created by those companies in the UK.

    Science Minister Lord Vallance said:

    There are far too many UK companies operating at the cutting-edge of emerging technologies, like AI, biotechnology and quantum to which UK investors are underexposed.

    Through our Industrial Strategy, we are building an environment where public funding, streamlined regulation and partnerships with industry are channelling investment into science and technology.

    Encouraging greater flows of capital into the sector is another piece of the puzzle, supporting companies to grow and jobs to be created.

    To help support investors to better identify the companies, sectors and regions of the UK to target for investment, the Minister has today also unveiled a new and improved Innovation Clusters Map.

    This map identifies areas and regions where networks of businesses and research institutions are benefitting from close proximity to one another, boosting the effects of research, development, and innovation. This means investors know where to seek out expertise and crucially how to make the most of the skills that exist around the country – supporting regional growth and creating quality jobs in places where they are most needed.

    It will include detailed information on a range of sectors, aligned with the government’s Industrial Strategy, including:

    • advanced manufacturing
    • creative
    • digital and tech
    • financial services
    • professional and business services
    • life sciences

    Clusters ripe for investment featuring as part of the map include the north west of England, where life sciences companies are developing new drugs to fight cancer and inflammation and vaccines to protect against bacterium behind diseases like pneumonia and sepsis. Meanwhile the Glasgow city region, also known as ‘satellite city’, is building the satellites that help to underpin modern technology, keeping Britons connected.

    The tool allows potential investors, industry, research institutions and government to understand local innovation ecosystems and identify growth and investment opportunities.

  • Mel Stride – 2025 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

    Mel Stride – 2025 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

    The speech made by Mel Stride, the Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, in Manchester on 6 October 2025.

    Ladies and Gentlemen

    I’ve just come back from another world. Silicon Valley.

    It really is a different world over there. The innovation, the dynamism, the constant yearning for faster, better, stronger.

    I visited technology companies at the very forefront of the revolution in artificial intelligence.

    Venture Capitalists ploughing billions into bristling new things.

    Lower taxes, cheaper energy and a people plugged into making things happen.

    Right there, in that place, you could almost reach out and touch the future.

    I glimpsed everything from driverless cars to humanoid robots, to AI, to advanced reasoning, to Quantum Computing, to simulated brains to neuromorphic architectures.

    And no I didn’t know exactly what that means either.

    Now you might think that a trip like that would have depressed me when I look at our own economy – stagnating under the cold dead hand of a Labour government.

    But far from it. Far from it. It raised my spirits. Because it reinforced in me the sense of what is possible for OUR country.

    For ours is a great country of drive and ambition and creativity. Of decency, of tradition and heritage. We made the modern world and we can re-make ourselves.

    For there is a path, for us, to a more prosperous future.

    Where this country, our country, can get back to a sense of ‘we can’ and ‘we will’.

    A country in which it is instinctively understood that wealth creation should be fostered and cherished.

    A country that once again understands that wealth is created not by governments, striking unions and a bloated public sector but by entrepreneurs, businesses and the hardworking millions.

    That the makers matter.

    And to business today I say loud and clear, Labour may have given up on you but this Conservative Party never, ever will, we will always be there for business!

    And I know about the vital importance of business, I have lived it all my life.

    And our great country can bring that culture of enterprise but to do so the first thing we need is hope.

    In a world of great uncertainty, of a failing government and a populist alternative that is totally detached from reality, it is our party that has to provide it.

    Not in the way of glib words, but in that deep well of thought that will provide the solutions to our many problems.

    In short: hope can only come with a plan.

    A radical plan to re-build our economy.

    And today I want to tell you how we will do it, together.

    But first let me tell you why I am so passionate about this better vision for Britain.

    Why I feel that we can reach out and seize it. Why I know that we can and we will.

    Well, I look back at my own story.

    My mother and father left school at 15 and 14 years old.

    They had to make their own way in the world.

    But they had drive. They wanted to create a family. They wanted to provide.

    So, they started their own business. And I saw close up what that really matters and means.

    The long hours. The risks. The stress. The setbacks and the triumphs.

    And my parents gave me opportunities that were not there for them. I won a free place at a grammar school. I studied hard.

    I earned a place at university the first in my family to go to university.

    And you know that I seized that opportunity with both hands and I ran with it as far and as fast as I possibly could.

    I never looked back not once. And I had those age-old words ringing in my ears ‘if you have a good education then you have the whole world laid out before you.’

    And when I left university, I didn’t go into politics. I did what my mum and dad did.

    I BUILT something. Created businesses.

    Working from scratch from the kitchen table, bringing together teams of people with a common purpose.

    And I had Nigel Lawson cutting my taxes and removing the red tape. And the whole spirit of that time was one of enterprise and opportunity.

    And I have in my mind now that image of Margaret Thatcher and Richard Branson on that boat travelling down the Thames with the light playing on the water like an endless stream of opportunity.

    And later I had in my hand a key to the first home that I owned. The foundation for the rest of my life. For the wife that I had yet to meet. For the family that I was yet to create.

    That is a Conservative vision of opportunity, aspiration and achievement. And that is what we are going to bring back! We can and we will!

    But to do that we have to fully understand and address the failings of this Labour government. To show our country that there is another way.

    That the vicious cycle of more spending, more taxes, more borrowing, more debt can be broken.

    And to demonstrate that it is our values, Conservative values of sound money, low taxes, entrepreneurship and hard work that can make that happen.

    And millions are crying out for this.

    Just look at what this government is doing.

    Constantly pumping up the size of the state.

    Increasing spending by £100 billion a year that’s ten times what they said in their manifesto.

    And they said their plans involved hardly any tax increases.

    But what have they done?

    A £40 billion tax raid, most of it on jobs.

    And now that Rachel Reeves has blown a vast hole in the public finances, yet more tax rises await.

    In fact under Labour, nothing is safe from the taxman.

    Not your job, not your home, not your pension, not your farm, not your business, not even that which you simply wish to pass on to your own children. You name it, they’ll tax it. And we say enough is enough!

    And the real-world consequences of all of this?

    Unemployment is at its highest since the pandemic.

    In the hospitality sector alone, 89,000 jobs have been destroyed. Hitting our young people the hardest. Futures crushed.

    And the cost of living is soaring.

    WE left inflation bang on target. Under Labour its doubled.

    And growth has tanked.

    You remember how Labour claimed they were pro-business?  Well just last week, the Institute of Directors said that business confidence was at its lowest level EVER.

    The result?  Thousands of wealth creators have left the country.

    Labour have no clue about how to build the economy of the future.

    Although on driverless cars, to be fair, we do have at least one in operation. Yes, it’s called the Labour Government. Led by a Prime Minister who can only do U-turns; a Chancellor who only knows how to work the brakes; and a mob of backbenchers desperate to grab hold of the wheel.

    Now of course, thanks to Labour our national debt is getting bigger, and bigger, and bigger.

    Debt is set to rise every single year until it is the size of our entire economy.

    The interest bill this year alone amounts to £6,000 for every working household in the country.

    And Labour’s profligacy means our borrowing costs are now higher than Greece.

    Lower growth and higher debt sees us weaker and increasingly vulnerable.

    That is not just irresponsible, it is dangerous.

    And look at Reform they are just as bad.

    Reform’s manifesto promised tens of billions in unfunded commitments.

    They want to scrap the two-child benefit cap, spending billions more on welfare and they want you to pay for it. We say that if you want to fund a large family then that’s great but you should look to yourself to pay, not the state.

    And Reform want to get back to the days of nationalisation and state control.

    They are marching to the left.

    Be in no doubt, they are the party of more spending and more debt. And when it comes to Reform be assured of this, that when the glitter, the shimmy of the sequined dress, the razzamatazz, the spinning plates, the fireworks have faded you will be left with emptiness. The dull bell alone. The hollowed out promises that never were.

    But Reform are being found out and it is this Conservative Party that is holding them to account!

    Let’s face it, we’re the only party that gets it.

    The only party that will stand up for fiscal responsibility.

    And that means we have to face some hard truths to which other parties turn a blind eye.

    We must get on top of government spending.

    So where Labour have failed, we will bring down our spiralling welfare bill.

    Completely overhaul our benefits system and put an end once and for all to the human tragedy of millions being consigned to a life on benefits.

    This is not just a financial imperative, it is a moral duty.

    For we believe in the dignity and decency of work. That it is essential to the health of the individual and the stability of our country.

    But equally it is the purest belief of our party, that looking after the most vulnerable is the hallmark of a civilised society.

    But to do that, we need a system that is fair and commands the widespread support of those who pay for it.

    The current system does not.

    So we will ensure that benefits are properly targeted at those most in need, with people thriving in jobs where they can and should be working.

    That includes stopping claims for people with less severe mental health problems where what is needed is treatment and support, not simply cash.

    Because we know that the stability, pride and social interaction of work actually improves these conditions.

    So we say: ‘Labour want to park you on benefits, we want to help you to a better life’.

    And a fairer system also means ensuring that only British citizens can access welfare because citizenship should mean something.

    Our approach will get the welfare bill down by £23 billion.

    The culture of ‘something for nothing’ must end, now!

    Now the civil service is too large.

    In 2016 there were 384,000 civil servants, today there are 517,000.

    We will bring the numbers back down, saving one pound in every four.

    And we simply cannot justify higher taxes at home to pay for more spending abroad.

    So we will significantly reduce the overseas aid budget.

    Now we will also take the decisive steps to deter people from coming here illegally and stop pouring billions into asylum hotels.

    That is an utter scandal. And we will put a stop to it! We can and we will.

    We will also stop spending billions on Ed Miliband’s vanity projects which are simply driving up bills.

    We will put an end to them once and for all!

    In total, the savings I am setting out today would reduce the size of government by almost £50 billion.

    Now I am a realist and we must recognise that this Labour government will be leaving huge debts behind.

    So I cannot simply say we will use all of those savings to spend more elsewhere, or to cut taxes.

    We will bring taxes down, we must, but we will only do so when that is affordable. Just as Nigel Lawson did.

    Because we know where the alternative path leads, we saw that with the mini budget in 2022.

    So let me be clear, the Conservative Party will never, ever make fiscal commitments without spelling out exactly how they will be paid for.

    We are and will always be the party of fiscal responsibility.

    Labour have trashed the finances and it is only the Conservative Party, our Conservative Party, that can be trusted to fix them! We can and we will.

    So I want to make a very clear statement to you today.

    Those savings will mean we can urgently bring down government borrowing.

    Because we cannot deliver stability unless we live within our means.

    No more pretending we can keep spending money we simply do not have.

    It falls to us, as today’s Conservatives, to do the responsible thing.

    That’s the right thing for our country. And it’s also the right thing for the next generation.

    So to younger people I say: ‘We will get debt off your back!’ We can and we will.

    And I want to go further.

    To send an unequivocal message to those young people starting out in life.

    If you work hard and do the right thing the Conservative Party is on your side.

    So as we reduce the benefits bill so we will fund tax cuts which are laser focused on aspiring young people.

    So we will introduce something called The First Job Bonus.

    When someone takes their first job, the first £5,000 they pay in National Insurance won’t go to the taxman, it will go towards  a deposit on their first home, or it will go towards their savings for later life.

    For a working couple that means £10,000.

    Helping them buy a home, build a family, save for the future.

    That is the Conservative dream!

    A dream that built my life. It is why I stand before you today.

    And I’ll fight every single day to make sure that that dream is burning bright for younger people and for the generations to come!

    But responsibility also means building a stronger society through a stronger economy.

    That is a Conservative value.

    It means understanding that it is small businesses, the collective efforts of millions, those who get up early and work all hours, who strive and serve, the little platoons that together form a mighty army. They are the force that binds communities together.

    At the heart of those communities stand our high streets. Where they thrive, we thrive. Where they fall into decay, the crime and fear seeps in. And so, I say, small businesses and our high streets are the unsung heroes, they employ, they create, they protect. They make us alive and whole.

    Yet for many businesses the burden of Labour’s tax rises is simply too much to bear.

    Pubs closing, shops sitting empty, high streets hollowed out.

    Under Labour, many have seen their business rates double. We need to get business rates down. In fact we need to go further. Much, much, further. So today I can announce that as a direct result of getting public spending under control, a future Conservative government will completely abolish business rates for shops and pubs on our high streets. End of.

    End of, finished, gone.

    For controlling spending is not an end in itself, it wills the means, it gets the taxman off your back – it sets some of the hardest working people in our country free! We can and we will!

    So let there be no doubts.

    We are the only party of fiscal responsibility.

    We are the only party that understands the deep challenges that our great country faces.

    And we are the only party that will meet those challenges head on.

    Where Labour choose debt, we choose discipline.

    Where they choose welfare, we choose work.

    Where they choose stagnation, we choose aspiration.

    All they have to offer is pessimism. Higher taxes, fewer jobs, lower growth, and a mountain of debt for the next generation.

    What we stand for is something far bigger and far greater than that.

    Conservative values.

    Opportunity, aspiration, optimism.

    We are the Party of hope.

    We are the party of the future.

    We can and we will.

  • Claire Coutinho – 2025 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

    Claire Coutinho – 2025 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

    The speech made by Claire Coutinho, the Shadow Energy Secretary, in Manchester on 6 October 2025.

    In the last few decades, we’ve lost sight of a simple truth. Energy is a good thing

    Conservatives know that great eras of British growth and prosperity happen when we have an abundance of cheap, reliable energy.

    Pitt and Peel who helped to unleash the coal-powered Industrial Revolution.

    Stanley Baldwin spread electricity across the nation, after the First World War.

    Mrs Thatcher’s North Sea oil boom got the nation back on its feet after those terrible years of Labour decline.

    Today, there is not a single country on earth which has high growth, and low energy.

    That’s because energy is not just part of the economy. It is the economy. It feeds into the costs of every business, every journey, every loaf of bread.

    That’s why right now, the cost of energy is one of the biggest problems we have.

    It’s a stealth tax that is making us all poorer.

    And it’s killing our industry.

    Britain has the highest industrial electricity prices in the world.

    And that has consequences.

    British industries that use the most energy – like chemicals, glass, and metals – are shutting down week by week.

    The fibreglass factory in Wigan. The refinery at Grangemouth. Vauxhall in Luton. The North Sea. We’re losing thousands of jobs by the month.

    And we won’t need any less fibreglass, less gas, or fewer cars – we’ll just import more from abroad, often from countries still powered by coal.

    Fewer jobs in Britain. Unilateral economic disarmament. For more carbon in the atmosphere.

    And this isn’t just about the industries that we already have, the industries of the future need energy too – whether it’s advanced manufacturing or AI.

    Whether it’s a factory, or a data centre, or a super-lab they will need cheap, reliable energy.

    And they will go where they find it.

    It would be the first time in generations that we would no longer be at the forefront of a technological revolution, and we will be poorer because of it.

    Those businesses will be created, just not here in Britain.

    We won’t have saved the planet, we will have failed the next generation.

    And under Labour this is about to get worse.

    At the last election Ed Miliband promised to cut bills by £300. Keir Starmer promised it. Rachel Reeves promised it.

    Now last week Ed Miliband had some pretty choice words for Elon Musk about disinformation.

    So, conference, we’ve got a return message for Ed Miliband.

    If you want to talk about disinformation, where’s our flipping £300?

    Far from cutting bills, bills keep going up – and every choice Ed has made is making it worse.  

    Ed says that building more wind farms will cut bills. But he’s signing up to prices that are the highest in a decade, well above the market price of electricity.

    Look at this.

    When he made his promise to cut bills, the price of electricity was £72. That’s that second bar in black you see.

    Last year he bought offshore wind at £82, and this year he’s said he’s willing to pay up to £117.

    Now, that’s before you add in the extra costs for connections, the backup, and the £8 billion we’ll soon be paying wind farms, not to generate any energy, but to turn off when there’s too much wind.

    And what’s worse, is that he’s extended the wind developer’s contracts to twenty years, locking us into these higher prices for longer.

    You can think about it like this. He’s moving our energy onto a fixed-rate mortgage at 10%, because he doesn’t want to be on a 4% variable.

    Anyone with half a brain can see that won’t cut bills.

    Now , he says prices are going up because gas is expensive.

    But that blue bar on the left, £55, that’s gas without taxes. You tell me what’s higher or lower.

    It’s not hard is it?

    He also said that Great British Energy would lead to, and I quote, a “mind-blowing” reduction in bills.

    But it won’t generate any energy.

    Only Ed Miliband could launch an £8 billion energy company that won’t produce any energy.

    Let’s call it what it is. A vanity project that won’t cut bills. So we will scrap it.

    I will give Ed credit for one thing though.

    He’s managed to do something which is quite difficult, he’s managed to unite the Trade Unions, the Conservative Party, the voters, and Keir Starmer. How?

    Because they all want the same thing.

    Turns out they all want him sacked.

    And here’s the problem with the Left – they’re infected with a poverty mindset.

    They believe that Britain has a duty to make itself poorer on the altar of Net Zero.

    And they think that ordinary people should be the servants of their climate targets.

    So, take air conditioning. In America, nearly every single home has air con. Here in Britain? Just 5%.

    But Sadiq Khan’s London Plan effectively bans air con in all new homes – why?

    Because it uses too much energy.

    Rather than people fitting into the Government’s policy on energy, I believe a Conservative energy policy should serve the needs of the people.

    Take the North Sea, Ed Miliband’s plans to ban new drilling would make us the only country in the world shutting down our own energy supplies.

    Up to 200,000 jobs and twelve billion pounds in tax revenue lost.

    Why? So that we can import more gas from Norway from the same fields we could drill ourselves.

    Our imports of liquified gas have soared by over 40 per cent in a single year.

    Conference, as long as we need gas, as much of it as possible should come from Britain.

    That’s why we will scrap Ed’s mad ban on new oil and gas licenses, we will reverse the energy profits levy, and we will back the North Sea.

    We will remember what has been forgotten for too long.

    Energy is prosperity.

    Now, we have to be honest. The poverty mindset has become inseparable from our climate legislation.

    We shouldn’t have let it sit on the statute book for so long.

    I wasn’t in Parliament in 2019 when the 2050 Net Zero target was set.

    But I’ll tell you who was – Kemi Badenoch.

    She was one of only two people in that entire debate who had the courage to speak up and ask about the costs.

    When I came in as Energy Secretary, I started a reset to unpick some of what we got wrong in the face of huge opposition.

    I started that reset because whilst we have halved our emissions, China has been doing this.

    Global emissions are rising much, much faster than we can cut them here.  

    When something clearly isn’t working, we Conservatives should have the courage to tell the truth and say so.

    Net Zero isn’t working for Britain, and it’s not working for the climate.

    The British people are no stranger to sacrifice for a just cause.

    But watching good jobs move abroad is not just.

    Piling more pain onto people’s bills is not just.

    And passing down a country that is less secure and less prosperous is not just.

    For too many people, Net Zero has become a religion, and for too long we were an unthinking part of the congregation.

    Here’s the problem with the legislation. We know it’s not working for climate change.

    But it’s also forcing Ministers to make decisions that make people poorer.

    Ed Miliband’s 2008 Climate Change Act sets legally-binding targets.

    Every five years, targets are drawn up that dictate what products people must buy, and when, and in what quantities, a decade into the future.

    Conference, we had a name for that back in the 70s, it’s central planning.

    If all of our industry shut tomorrow, and we replaced those goods with imports that would be a win for climate targets but a disaster for Britain.

    If people don’t want a heat pump, the Act requires you to tax or ban them into it.

    We are burning wood shipped here from America to produce electricity at three times the cost of gas, and four times the pollution levels of our last coal plant.

    Why? Because it doesn’t count towards our climate targets.

    Those ridiculous prices I just showed you for offshore wind, why would we have to buy any at those prices?

    You guessed it. Our climate targets.

    And here’s the truth, whether it was EU directives, or the Climate Change Committee, or the courts who rule on the activists’ cases, none of them are accountable to the people who will lose their jobs, or people who pay their energy bills, or who need to keep the lights on.

    We handed too much control to people who pay no price for being wrong.

    That was a profound mistake.

    So, we will set out a new way of doing things.

    Conference, I know many of you are proud lovers of the environment. I am too.

    We will not cede that ground.

    But we will set out new plans under Conservative principles.

    Our first principle will be to back British innovation.  

    For too long when we talked about innovation, what we meant is that we would force Britain to be the early adopters of technology made in other parts of the world.

    But look at these charts. Refrigerators, dishwashers, central heating. Here’s the thing, when new tech makes people’s lives better, people will buy it.

    What we are doing is insisting everyone buys these products before they want to, just to meet a government target.

    Rather than force our people to be the early adopters, I want us to be the early creators.

    The early creators of technology we can export around the world.

    We’re only 1% of emissions. 99% are happening elsewhere and they’re rising.

    We clearly have not got this right yet. We have not created all of products we need.

    But if we can create technologies that others can’t, that will be by far Britain’s biggest contribution to tackling climate change.

    Our second principle will be to protect nature.

    For centuries, environmentalism was the domain of ordinary people – people who were rooted in a sense of place and a love of home.

    They wanted to protect and cherish the world they loved around them. Roger Scruton called this the “small-scale wisdom of the human heart”.

    But nature is not Net Zero, in fact some of the time it pulls in the opposite direction.

    I can think of no better image than this – the Amazon Rainforest being carved up to build a motorway to the latest Climate conference in Brazil.

    But what’s worrying is that’s not so dissimilar to what we’re pursuing here.

    On the left, that tiny dot is the land needed for a nuclear power plant, underneath is what’s needed to get the same amount of energy from wind and solar. Because wind and solar use up to 3,000 times more land.

    To generate the same amount of power as a nuclear power station, you would need a wind farm the size of the New Forest, or a solar farm the size of the Isle of Wight.

    On a small island like ours where every inch of countryside is precious, that matters.

    So instead of carpeting the countryside in wind and solar farms, we will make it easier and cheaper to build dense, reliable, secure, clean nuclear energy.

    Our third and most important principle. Will be to prioritise cheap, abundant energy. And we will do that unashamedly.

    That’s why the next Conservative Government will repeal the Climate Change Act.

    If a law is not working in the national interest, it is not just possible for us to change it – it’s our duty to do so.

    All it takes is courage.

    Increasing the cost of electricity is the worst possible climate policy too.

    If you want people to use electric cars, here’s a revolutionary idea. Make electricity cheap.

    If you want people to use electric heating. Make electricity cheap.

    If you want to build data centres, to cut bills, to reduce poverty and drive growth.

    Make electricity cheap.

    At the moment Labour’s giving handouts to people to buy electric cars and electric heating at the very same time they’re making electricity unbearably expensive. That’s back to front and we will reverse it.

    Our priorities will be the priorities of the British people, a strong economy, protecting nature, and cutting bills.

    So, conference, today I can announce the first policies from our Cheap Power Plan.

    First up, the next Conservative Government will axe the Carbon Tax on electricity generation.

    When Ed Miliband blames gas for high energy bills, what he doesn’t tell you is that over 30% of what we pay for gas power is not to pay for fuel, but to pay for a Carbon Tax that the government chooses to impose.

    Now, we know we will need gas to keep the lights on for decades – so it just adds extra costs to our bills for no reason.

    But here’s the rub – the Carbon Tax inflates the cost of almost all other types of electricity too.

    So, all the wind and solar farm owners pocket those higher prices as higher profits.

    And since the start of the year, guess what Ed has done to Carbon Taxes?

    That.

    We warned Ed about doing this. He didn’t listen.

    Labour’s EU deal increased the Carbon Tax by 70 per cent in the space of 9 months.

    They did not have to do this. It was a political choice. A political choice that we Conservatives fought against.

    Axing the Carbon Tax would cut bills instantly by almost £8 billion a year.

    Next. We’ll scrap Ed Miliband’s old rip-off wind farm subsidies.

    Back in 2008, Ed Miliband, in his infinite wisdom, chose to double the subsidies on offer for wind farms.

    That means when the wind blows, there are wind farms getting up to three times the market price of electricity – and you’re paying for that through your bills.

    It’s the biggest racket going.

    We closed the scheme when we were in office, but we’ll go further and say we must scrap those subsidies for good.

    Our energy system is not here to prop up the profits of multi-million-pound wind developers at billpayers’ expense. It’s here to deliver cheap, reliable energy for the country.

    Together, our policies to Axe the Carbon Tax and scrap Ed’s rip-off wind subsidies would cut people’s electricity bills by 20 per cent.

    The average family will save £165 a year off their electricity bill.

    And I realise this sounds less than the promises other parties have made.

    Ed promised to cut your bills by £300, but we all know that’s a fantasy.

    But Reform are just as bad.

    They’ve promised to cut your electricity bill by £1,000.

    Do you know how I know that’s garbage? The average bill is only £850. What’s he gonna do, go round writing people cheques?

    If you think any politician can promise you electricity for free, then I’ve got a bridge to sell you.

    They are just as ideological as Labour, it’s just the mirror image.

    The difference with our policy is that this is real. It’s in the gift of Ministers. This could be done tomorrow. And it would cut your electricity bill by 20%.

    So, I can promise you this. When it comes to energy policy, our priority won’t be ideology, it won’t be vested interests, it won’t be fake promises we can’t deliver. It will be cheap, reliable, abundant energy.

    Now Conference, being in opposition can be tough.

    Although I’d like to thank the wider Energy team – Andrew, Malcolm, Nick, Greg, and Bradley for all their excellent work.

    We know this half-baked tax-and-spend socialism of Labour is a disaster for Britain.

    When we said in the election, that if you name it, Labour will tax it, we meant it.

    There’s a farmer’s tax, a groceries tax, a jobs tax, a jets tax, a lets tax and a bets tax, an oil tax, the soil tax, and a boiler tax. There’s even rumours of a taxi tax!

    The truth is they would rather tax the pants off this country than get their spending under control.

    And it reveals a fundamental belief.

    If you try to do well for yourself, get a good job, pay for your child’s education, buy a house, start a successful business – they don’t celebrate you.

    They sneer at you.

    They want to redistribute away your success.

    They talk about poverty like they care.

    But their policies are making energy, food, childcare and housing more expensive.

    And their answer is always more redistribution rather than confronting the truth that this Government is choosing, choosing to raise the cost of almost every basic good.

    Now, Reform I’m afraid to say have the economic policies of Jeremy Corbyn. They’re promising nationalisations we can’t afford, more tax for more welfare, more spending, which means more borrowing, which means more debt for our children.

    If Government is here to serve the liberties of the people, that means allowing them to keep more of the money that they earn.

    Now Conference, we know growth is the biggest challenge we face.

    But growth is not created by Government subsidies. It is created by millions of people.

    And I worry, our system as it stands is teaching people to be less capable than they are.

    We cannot survive if our culture becomes a competition of victimhood.

    The risk is people start to ask themselves, not what can I do, but why bother at all?

    Every person who takes on more hours, comes up with bright ideas, take risks, saves and invests in their future and their family’s future.

    Personal agency.

    The sense that you can take control of your life and reap the rewards of your efforts.

    That’s the real engine of growth.

    Everything we do as a Party will be in their interests.

    And we will start by giving them cheaper energy.

    Thank you.

  • Dan Jarvis – 2025 Speech at the International Security Expo

    Dan Jarvis – 2025 Speech at the International Security Expo

    The speech made by Dan Jarvis, the Home Office Minister, on 1 October 2025.

    Good morning. It’s good to see everyone. This is slightly more people than I was expecting but I hope that’s a good thing.

    I can’t quite believe it’s been a year since I was last at this event.

    If a week is a long time in politics, then a year is… well, a very, very long time in politics!

    Last year, I was relatively new in post.

    And this year, I’m relatively new in another post, but back with more experience, more insight, and – unfortunately – much more grey hair!

    One thing is the same though – I’ve had to dash back from my Party Conference to be here with you this morning!

    But rightly so.

    There are many reasons why I wanted to ensure I was here with you this morning.

    This event showcases the very best that our security sector has to offer, and I learn a lot from the collective wisdom in this room and in the hall out there.

    And there’s also the added bonus that I feel like I’m less likely to be heckled here than at the Labour Party Conference!

    So far, this has proved to be the case. We’ll see where we get to.

    And as with last year, I’ve not yet been lobbied by anyone dressed as a badger, but let’s see what the rest of the morning brings!

    Seriously, though, it’s a great pleasure to join you all at ISE 2025.

    Looking back at my speech a year ago, I was struck by how much has changed.

    Twelve months ago, I was talking about building my policy knowledge based on watching Spooks, Narcos and Line of Duty.

    You’ll be pleased to hear that I’ve come a very long way since then.

    For one thing, I’ve now watched Slow Horses!

    So that’s helped – not to mention all the briefings, meetings and visits.

    And in that vein, can I take the opportunity to thank Peter and Rachel from the NineteenGroup, for inviting me to speak here this morning.

    Now I told last year’s expo that the threats and challenges we face are more complex and interchangeable than ever before.

    And it is an assessment that bears repeating.  

    We are living through a period of deep global instability and volatility.

    And the sources of danger are broader and more connected. 

    Fraud. Border security risks. Hostile state activity. Terrorism. Cyber crime.

    All pose acute risks to our democracy, our economy and our society.

    Just recently, criminal cyber gangs targeted our critical national infrastructure at Heathrow and other European airports.

    This has followed similar attacks on Marks & Spencer and Jaguar Land Rover.

    These incidents serve as a stark reminder why so many of the companies that we see here today are vital to defending our thriving industrial base.

    And of course, the government is taking concerted action to repel the many different threats we face.

    For example, we are ramping up enforcement activity and returns agreements to tackle border security challenges at source, introducing tougher offences for espionage, sabotage and foreign interference and improving our domestic sanctions regime to target terrorist-linked groups.

    On cyber, earlier this year, I announced a new package of measures to tackle ransomware, and we are boosting police powers through the Crime and Policing Bill.

    And during the recent government reshuffle, which is quite a nerve-wracking experience I can tell you, my role has expanded to be shared across the Home Office and the Cabinet Office.

    This is a recognition from the Prime Minister that we did not need separate spheres of activity when it comes to national security, and a single minister working with all the key agencies and individuals, driving forward a single vital agenda across government and beyond.

    More broadly, our recently published National Security Strategy sets out a historic commitment to invest 5% of GDP on national security by 2035.

    This transformative uplift in funding underscores the government’s unshakeable commitment to protecting our country and all those who live here.

    And it is also about backing ourselves…

    …developing our sovereign capabilities…

    …rebuilding our industrial base and supporting UK plc.

    It is about recognising that industry is not just another supplier, but is absolutely fundamental to our national security.

    That is why the National Security Strategy sits alongside the Strategic Defence Review.

    Taken together, they map out for a vision for a ‘whole-of-UK’ approach to national security, delivered through partnerships across government, industry and society.

    And we strive to make this vision a reality, the security sector will undoubtedly have a vital role to play.

    The numbers bear that out: the security sector alone directly employs 148,250 people in the UK over the last 10 years, turnover has grown by 176%, and exports by 244%.

    In 2024, the UK Security Industry achieved £24 billion in turnover and contributed £11.7 billion in value added to the UK economy and the most recent statistics show £11 billion in security export sales.

    These are big numbers and this success funds innovation in increasingly crucial strategic capability areas, including AI, cyber, communications, digital forensics, border screening, counter drone capabilities and many others.

    They span across many of the IS-8 sectors highlighted in the Industrial Strategy – specifically Defence and National Security, Advanced Manufacturing, Professional and Business Services, and Digital and Technologies.

    These strategies mark a clear shift towards embedding SMEs into national security innovation, with funding, procurement reform and eco-system building all designed to support their growth.

    Understanding threats and developing strategies to mitigate them is only one part of the mission.

    As we move into the second year of this government, my focus is on implementation and delivery.   

    When I visited Intersec Riyadh last year – one of the Middle East’s leading exhibitions for safety, security and emergency response – I saw first-hand just how highly UK expertise is regarded on the global stage.

    For my part, I want to amplify your success every opportunity I get.

    To that end, I will shortly be chairing a briefing with all of the government’s trade envoys.

    These roles are held by senior parliamentarians who support the government’s growth mission by engaging with key markets right around the world. I am determined to raise their awareness of the innovation and world leading capabilities the UK security sector has to offer.

    I am also writing to every UK ambassador and high commissioner across our diplomatic network – asking for their direct support in driving UK security exports at source, including identifying market opportunities for UK companies to access.

    I have engaged with international counterparts to promote what UK security industry has to offer, including countries as diverse as Poland, Columbia, Morocco and Saudi Arabia. 

    But I also repeat the ask I made of you a year ago.

    You are the experts grappling with the challenges of maintaining competitive advantage and driving the industry forward.

    I therefore need you to tell me what more we can do to secure our sovereign capabilities and access market opportunities, both here and abroad.

    Because we are here to back you.

    UK SMEs, particularly those operating in the security sector, now have access to a diverse range of government-backed funding opportunities designed to support innovation, growth and export potential.

    These include Innovate UK, which offers grants and innovation loans for Research and Development and commercialisation and the British Business Bank, which provides loan guarantees, equity investment, including the Cyber Seed Fund, and startup support.

    UK Export Finance can help SMEs secure international contracts through guarantees and insurance.

    And Sector-specific programmes such as the Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) and the UK Defence Innovation Fund offer targeted funding for emerging technologies like AI, autonomous systems and cybersecurity.

    Strategic initiatives like the Defence Industrial Strategy, Defence SME Action Plan, and the National Security Strategic Investment Fund further embed SME support into national security and industrial policy, promoting access to procurement, partnerships and regional growth.

    Alongside all the work we are doing to support industry, strengthen resilience and supply chains and build up our security ecosystem, we must also make sure our laws are fit for purpose.

    And that brings me on to the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Act, which became law earlier this year.   

    The Act is more commonly known as ‘Martyn’s Law’ after Martyn Hett, who alongside 21 other victims, was killed in the horrific Manchester Arena attack of 2017.

    Martyn’s mother Figen Murray, who is here today, has campaigned heroically for the changes we are now implementing.

    The Act will ensure the public are better protected from terrorism by requiring certain public premises and events to be prepared and ready to keep people safe in the event of an attack.  

    We intend for there to be an implementation period of 24 months before the act comes into force. 

    This is to give those responsible for premises and events time to understand their new obligations, and to plan and prepare accordingly.

    Over the summer, officials from the Home Office and the SIA have briefed over 1,000 people on the implications of the act through their webinars. 

    And we will continue to engage far and wide with those in scope of the legislation to adopt good protective security practices support stakeholders in different ways.

    For example, we heard yesterday from Jon Savell from CT Policing about the launch of ACT for local authorities. This Home Office sponsored project is designed to provide local authorities and partners with specialist support to embed good CT practice into their everyday activity.

    Since taking over the oversight for the SIA, I am overseeing a substantial programme of work to enhance it and deliver the government’s ambitious agenda.

    This includes strengthening the SIA’s approach to past criminality, tackling training malpractice and delivering on the Manchester Arena Inquiry Monitored Recommendations 7 and 8.

    The SIA’s public consultation on its stricter approach to past criminality by applicants received strong support and I have asked the SIA to begin implementation.

    This will improve the SIA’s approach to public safety, as it will mean there is a presumption to refuse anyone with sexual, child abuse or serious offending, and a broader range of offences will be considered when assessing applicants.  

    To improve this further, my officials are considering options to introduce higher level criminal record checks for certain security roles across the UK.

    On tackling training malpractice, the SIA is developing a joint strategic approach whilst scaling up enforcement activity.

    The government also remains committed to delivering the intended outcomes of the Manchester Arena Inquiry. 

    My officials have carefully reviewed Monitored Recommendations 7 and 8, and have worked with the SIA to develop practical proposals for implementation.

    I am keen to ensure a wide range of views are included on the significant changes proposed, and that the cost and regulatory burden from the changes is proportionate.

    I am also keen that, if necessary, this government will deliver primary legislation in support of these ambitious changes to the SIA. This will be one of the few times any government has delivered primary legislation for the SIA to increase better public safety.

    I am very pleased to announce the formation of the S12, a new industry led initiative to bring together various parts of the private security industry and speak to the government with one voice.

    Earlier this morning we had a good and constructive meeting with the elected leaders who make up the S12 and listened to how they will organise to improve standards in the security industry. I am keen for the government and the SIA to work closely with them.

    And before I finish, I want to take the opportunity to encourage everyone here to visit the government zone, speak to officials and explore ways how we can deepen our collaboration.

    We have a team within the Home Office called the Joint Security and Resilience Centre who are here to support, listen and feed back.

    JSaRC is a bridge between government and industry. Tell them about your company, the sectors you operate in and the challenges and opportunities where we can deepen collaboration.

    The Accelerated Capability Environment or ACE, a name you might recognise, are also showcasing their innovation expertise in the government zone. Engage with them to explore collaboration opportunities and how we can come together to unlock the potential of data, technology and AI for government.

    Finally, the Home Office will also be hosting, alongside our ADS partners the Security and Policing event in Farnborough next March to showcase UK industry solutions across the world.

    This year’s event was the biggest and best ever with just under 10,000 visitors across the 3 days and over 400 exhibitors in attendance. I would encourage you all to sign up for what is a truly flagship event for the UK security sector and for the UK government.

    I will wrap up with a word of thanks and a challenge.

    First, the thanks.

    Whatever sector, field or discipline you work in, you are part of the most important mission for any society – namely keeping people, organisations and institutions safe from harm.

    So, please know that your efforts matter, they are making a difference, and they are appreciated by me, by the Home Secretary and by the whole government.

    Finally, the challenge – and this applies to the public and private sectors alike:

    Let’s set our sights even higher, let’s break new ground in our quest for new and better solutions to the challenges we face and let’s make the partnerships we already depend on stronger than ever.

    That is I think the way forward, and it is the way we will build a stronger, more secure country for us all.

    Thank you.

  • Chris Philp – 2025 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

    Chris Philp – 2025 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

    The speech made by Chris Philp, the Shadow Home Secretary, in Manchester on 5 October 2025.

    Like Kemi, let me start by condemning the appalling terrorist attack in this city last Thursday.

    Our thoughts and prayers are with the families whose lives, on that holy Yom Kippur morning, were so wickedly torn apart. But we will also stay strong in the face of terror. We will never change our way of life, because we are stronger than them. And I know everyone in this hall and beyond will renew their resolve to fight the ancient evil of antisemitism wherever it is found.

    It has no place in any civilised country. Not in our United Kingdom. Not ever.

    And if a foreign citizen expresses racial hatred, including antisemitism or supports extremism or terrorism, I’ll tell you this as Home Secretary I’ll deport them.

    And I would like to thank the police and security services who responded so fast last week. They take risks up and down the country every single day to protect us, and we owe them a debt of gratitude. Thank you.

    Conference, this is a historic moment. As the Leader just announced, we have concluded it is right for our country to leave the ECHR.

    This is not a decision taken lightly. We have thought long and hard. And unlike others, we did not leap without first carefully considering all the implications. I thank Lord Wolfson for his detailed and masterful legal analysis. There he is, thank you David.

    We are, of course, deeply aware of why the Convention was originally written, in the aftermath of the horrors that ravaged Europe in the 1930s and 1940s. And we remain as committed as ever to protecting rights and to the rule of law.

    But the way the courts now interpret the ECHR makes it unrecognisable from the system which Winston Churchill first helped shape.

    And we are clear about this: the ability to control our country’s borders is non-negotiable.

    We will not, and we cannot, compromise on the ability of our democratically elected parliament to set the laws that govern who comes here, and who stays

    Because if we can’t control our borders then we are no country at all. With no border control we would lose our identify and we would lose our security. And this party will always protect our identify and will always protect our security.

    Now, the small boat crisis has brought this issue into sharp focus. The government said they would smash the gangs. Well, that is now laughable. Because so far all they have smashed are records for illegal arrivals. This year has been the worst in history. This Labour government has lost control of our borders. They are weak and they have let Britain down.

    The Prime Minister’s latest gimmick is his one-in-one-out deal with France. Since that deal was announced, 11,000 illegal immigrants have come in, and about seven have gone out.  Even Rachel Reeves with her dubious CV can tell that doesn’t add up.

    And every single channel migrant is coming here illegally and is a paying customer of people smugglers. They are departing from France, a safe country. These journeys are unnecessary.

    And we have seen some terrible crimes committed by migrants who came on small boats and were accommodated in hotels at our expense.

    Let me tell you about Abdelrahmen Abouelela. He is a 42-year-old Egyptian illegal immigrant who came here by small boat. He was accommodated in a Hilton Hotel in Ealing – at our expense. He then proceeded to brutally rape a young woman, who was walking home at night in Hyde Park. She was alone and she was vulnerable. It now turns out that Abdelrahmen is also has convictions in Egypt as an Islamist terrorist. In another case, a fourteen-year-old girl was sexually assaulted by a channel immigrant – who later said in his culture that was acceptable behaviour.

    This is sick. We must do whatever it takes to end this madness.

    It is now clear to this new leadership that our international obligations have been stopping us from acting effectively. We experienced this in government and the decision to leave the ECHR was reached partly as a result of that.

    And now Lord Wolfson has clearly advised, and I quote, that “ECHR membership places significant practical limits on the UK’s ability to maintain control of its borders.” And that is why must come out.  Because this party is determined to control our borders.

    And to those who say this will make us an international pariah where rights are casually disregarded, look at Australia or Canada.  They aren’t in the ECHR. And the UK is the land of the original Bill of Rights, the body common law, the writ Habeus Corpus and protections in law that Parliament has passed. Our rights in this country long predate the ECHR.

    And to those who say we must stay in the ECHR to set an example to others, I ask this: does our membership of the ECHR really make the slightest difference to way that Russia or China behaves? No, of course, not

    The ECHR started as a noble endeavour. But it has become twisted by Judges expanding the meaning of well-intentioned but vaguely worded clauses. Shocking examples of this abound.

    Like a paedophile not returned to Zimbabwe in case he faces hostility there – without a single thought for the rights of children here to be protected.

    Or a drug dealer not returned to Iraq because he’s too westernised.

    Or a violent murderer not returned to Uganda because mental health services there are apparently not as good as here. All ECHR cases.

    These criminals are all still in the UK. They’re still all posing a risk to our citizens. All thanks to the ECHR.

    So, this madness must end.

    But as Lord Wolfson very wisely said, leaving the ECHR alone is not enough. We need a full plan, a complete plan to fix Labours’ borders crisis – which leaving the ECHR enables.

    And let me be clear about this. The Reform Party has not bothered to develop such a plan. They trumpet slogans dreamt up in a pub and written on the back of a fag packet. But they have not done the detailed work needed to make real change happen.

    Well, this party has done the work. It’s called the BORDERS Plan, and we published today.

    Enabled by ECHR exit, we will ban all asylum and other claims by illegal immigrants. And this will mean all those arriving illegally – including by small boat – will be immediately deported back to their country of origin if possible or to a third country like Rwanda if not within a week of arrival.

    And the deterrent effect of that will mean people will rapidly stop bothering to attempt the crossing in the first place. Why would you attempt the crossing in the first place? Why would you attempt the crossing if you are going to be immediately removed?

    It worked in Australia 12 years ago.  It is working in the United States of America this year. And it will work here too.

    And we will also deport all foreign criminals. Not some, all. There are currently about 20,000 serious foreign criminals roaming our streets who should have been deported already.  They have gone on to commit between them a further 10,000 offences, including murder and rape.

    It still shocks me that Keir Starmer and Shabana Mahmood signed a letter opposing deporting dangerous foreign criminals to Jamaica – one of whom later went on to commit murder here after he should have been deported.

    Well, we won’t be signing letters like that. Instead, we will deport all those who pose a danger to the public. And that means every single foreign criminal.

    And we will also end the legal quagmire. With endless appeals and judicial reviews. Made up and contradictory claims being heard.

    Lawyers running up huge legal aid bills. I hope there are none of them here.

    One man claimed asylum, you won’t believe this, one man claimed asylum saying he was Iraqi. When that claim was rejected, he said, he suddenly remembered that in fact he was Iranian, and the whole process started again.

    And there was the notorious case of Yacub Ahmed, a Somali man who gang raped a 16-year-old girl.

    After his sentence in prison had finished, it took eight years, eight years to deport Ahmed, because he made repeated asylum, human rights, and modern slavery claims.

    Many migrants make claims on the eve of deportation to stay here, usually very shortly after they meet a taxpayer-funded lawyer who tells them what they need to say.  

    Judges accept all kinds of nonsensical arguments. Just last week, eight Afghans who can’t speak a word of English were allowed into the UK from Turkey – a safe country – on tenuous human rights grounds. Some Immigration Tribunal Judges even used to be open borders campaigners.

    You literally couldn’t make this up.

    So, we will abolish the Immigration Tribunal entirely, with decisions will be taken inside the Home Office.

    There won’t be any immigration judicial review, except on the narrow grounds of statutory power.

    And we will completely end the immigration legal aid gravy train by abolishing it.

    People don’t need lawyers to make their claims, they just need to tell the truth, and their claim will be fairly decided.

    We will compel countries to take back their own nationals. If a country won’t take back their own citizens where they commit a crime or have no right to be here, we will simply stop issuing entry visas to nationals of those countries to come here. We will use visa sanctions and withdraw overseas aid to countries who don’t take back their own nationals. We always take back ours and they should do the same.

    We will also create a new Removals Force in the Home Office – doubling the current budget of the current enforcement team to £1.6 billion.

    And by stripping away the legal obstacles, that I have described, and doubling that budget means we can remove 150,000 people a year that no legal right to be here. That is three-quarters of a million over the course of the next Parliament. This illegal immigration scandal will end.

    So, Conference, we have a plan. Leave the ECHR. Deport all illegal immigrants immediately upon arrival and all foreign criminals.  A new Force to remove 150,000 people year with no right to be here. Abolish the Immigration Tribunal. End Judicial Review and legal aid in immigration cases. And make sure countries take back their own citizens just as we do.

    Now, we have thought deeply about this. Our plan is radical, yes, not because we are ideologues but because this plan has to be radical in order to work. The old ways have been tried, and they have failed. That’s why a new approach is needed.

    Now, we have taken our time over this, and some people have criticised us for that.  But we are now the only party, the only party to have a plan which is not only radical but will actually work in practice.

    So, now, the Conservative party is back.

    Back with the resolve to do what is needed to protect our country’s borders.

    Back with determination to ensure the laws passed by our parliament are actually implemented

    And back with a plan to end illegal immigration.