Category: Speeches

  • Queen Victoria – 1880 Queen’s Speech

    queenvictoria

    Below is the text of the Queen’s Speech given in the House of Lords on 20 May 1880. It was spoken by the Lord Chancellor on behalf of HM Queen Victoria.

    My Lords, and Gentlemen,

    I AVAIL myself of the earliest opportunity of meeting you after the recent General Election and the arrangements required upon a change of Administration.

    The cordial relations which I hold with all the other Powers of Europe will, I trust, enable me to promote, in concert with them, the early and complete fulfilment of the Treaty of Berlin with respect to effectual reforms and equal laws in Turkey, as well as to such territorial questions as have not yet been settled in conformity with the provisions of that Treaty. I regard such a fulfilment as essential for the avoidance of further complications in the East.

    In accordance with this view, I have deemed it expedient to dispatch an Ambassador Extraordinary to the Court of the Sultan.

    On the last occasion of my addressing you, I expressed my hope that the measures adopted in Afghanistan would lead to a speedy settlement of that country. Since that period the gallantry of my troops has continued to be conspicuous, and the labours of my Government in India have been unremitting. But I have to lament that the end in view has not yet been attained. My efforts will, however, be unceasingly directed towards the pacification of Afghanistan, and towards the establishment of such institutions as may be found best fitted to secure the independence of its people, and to restore their friendly relations with my Indian Empire.

    The condition of Indian Finance, as it has recently been made known to me, has required my special attention. I have directed that you shall be supplied with the fullest information upon this weighty subject.

    I invite your careful notice to the important questions of policy connected with the future of South Africa. I have continued to commend to the favourable consideration of the authorities and of the people in the various settlements the project of Confederation. In maintaining my supremacy over the Transvaal, with its diversified population, I desire both to make provision for the security of the indigenous races, and to extend to the European settlers institutions based on large and liberal principles of self-government.

    Gentlemen of the House of Commons,

    I notice with satisfaction that the imports and exports of the country, as well as other signs, indicate some revival in trade. But the depression, which has lately been perceived in the Revenue, continues without abatement. The Estimates of Income which were laid before the last Parliament were framed with moderation, but the time which has since elapsed exhibits no promise that they will be exceeded.

    The annual Estimates of Charge, so far as they have not been already voted, will be promptly laid before you.

    My Lords, and Gentlemen,

    The late season of the year at which you commence your labours will, I fear, seriously abridge the time available for useful legislation, but I make no doubt that you will studiously turn it to the best account.

    The Peace Preservation Act for Ireland expires on the 1st June. You will not be asked to renew it. My desire to avoid the evils of exceptional legislation in abridgment of liberty would not induce me to forego in any degree the performance of the first duty of every Government in providing for the security of life and property. But, while determined to fulfil this sacred obligation, I am persuaded that the loyalty and good sense of my Irish subjects will justify me in relying on the provisions of the ordinary law, firmly administered, for the maintenance of peace and order.

    The provisions enacted before the dissolution of the late Parliament for the mitigation of distress in Ireland have been serviceable for that important end. The question of the sufficiency of the advances already authorised by Parliament is under my consideration.

    A measure will at an early day be submitted to you for putting an end to the controversies which have arisen with respect to burials in churchyards and cemeteries.

    It will be necessary to ask you to renew the Act for secret voting.

    Among the chief subjects which will be brought under your notice, as time may permit, will be Bills for giving more effectual protection to the occupiers of land against injury from ground game, for determining on a just principle the liabilities of employers for accidents sustained by workmen, and for the extension of the borough franchise in Ireland.

    These and all your labours I heartily commend to the blessing of God.

  • Boris Johnson – 2019 Speech Launching General Election

    Boris Johnson – 2019 Speech Launching General Election

    Below is the text of the speech made by Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, at Downing Street, London on 6 November 2019.

    Good afternoon, I’ve just been to see Her Majesty the Queen earlier on and she agreed to dissolve Parliament for an election.

    I want you to know of course that I don’t want an early election.

    No one much wants to have an election in December.

    But we have got to the stage where we have no choice.

    Because our parliament is paralyzed.

    It has been stuck in a rut for three and a half years.

    I am afraid our MPs are just refusing – time and again – to deliver Brexit and honour the mandate of the people.

    And I can tell you I’ve got to the stage where I have been wanting to chew my own tie in frustration because in a sense we are so nearly there.

    We have got a deal, oven-ready, by which we can leave the EU in just a few weeks.

    It is a great deal for this country.

    It delivers everything that I wanted when I campaigned for Brexit.

    We can not only take back control of our money – and yes, we will be able to spend hundreds of millions every week on our priorities such as the NHS.

    We take back control of our borders – with an Australian style points-based system so that we can attract the workers – from scientists to agricultural workers – that our economy actually needs.

    And we can take back control of our laws so that we can do things differently and better if we choose.

    From freeports to free trade deals.

    From banning the cruel live shipment of animals to cutting VAT on sanitary products.

    And we can leave the EU as one UK, whole and entire and perfect as we promised.

    And so it has been frankly mind-boggling in the last few weeks to see how parliament first voted to approve this deal.

    And then voted for delay.

    And I am afraid that it is clear that if parliament had its way.

    Then this country would not be leaving even on Jan 31.

    And that is of course bad for democracy.

    It’s disastrous for trust in politics.

    Why should MPs decide that they can cancel the result of the referendum?

    I am afraid I also think that this delay is now bad for the country and for the economy.

    And with every week that goes by uncertainty is deterring people from hiring new staff, from buying new homes, from making new investments.

    And if we can get this deal over the line.

    With a sensible majority government, we certainly can.

    Then we can release that pent-up flood of investment.

    Hundreds of billions are waiting to pour into the UK.

    And we can inject a surge of confidence into our system and we in this government can get on with delivering on the priorities of the people.

    I am very proud of what we have done in the last 108 days or whatever it is, 108 days or so. The biggest programme of NHS investment for a generation.

    Lifting up the funding of schools across the country – 40 new hospitals by the way….lifting up funding of schools across the country.

    Putting 20,000 more police on the streets.

    An infrastructure revolution we’re planning in rail and road – from electric buses to new green cycle schemes.

    Gigabit broadband in every home.

    And we have the confidence as one nation conservatives to make those investments not despite our belief in a strong private sector.

    But precisely because we champion this enterprise economy in the UK.

    And when people get up at five am to get their businesses ready.

    When they risk their own money or mortgage their own homes to develop a new product or a new venture,

    When they have the guts to find a new market at home or abroad.

    We don’t sneer at them.

    We cheer for them and do what we can to help.

    Because we understand that it is only by having a dynamic free market economy that we can deliver on our programme

    of uniting this country and levelling up with infrastructure, education and technology.

    And it is only if you have great public services that you can have a successful market economy.

    So I say come with us. That is the choice at this election.

    That’s the choice. Come with us, a government that is putting billions into education – or go with Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour Party, because that’s the only alternative, who actually want to ban OFSTED, that protects kids from bullying.

    Come with us, a government that believes in high wages and is raising the living wage to £10.50 – the biggest ever increase.

    Or go with a left-wing labour party that believes in high taxes for everyone – and that voted under this government against £7,800 of tax cuts on working people. That’s what they did.

    Come with us, and put in a points-based system for immigration.

    Or go with Labour and a totally uncontrolled and unlimited immigration system that would put huge pressure on the NHS and other services.

    Come with us, a government that believes Britain should stand tall in the world.

    Or go with Jeremy Corbyn and the Labour party who sided with Putin when Russia ordered poisonings on the streets of Salisbury.

    Come with us, get Brexit done, and take this country forward.

    This is the alternative next year: spend the whole of 2020 in a horror show of yet more dither and delay.

    Imagine waking up on Friday 13th December and finding Corbyn at the head of his technicolour yawn of a coalition.

    And they would spend the whole of 2020 having two referendums.

    One on Scotland – because he has done a deal with the Scots nationalists to assist the break up of the union if they sustain him in power.

    And another referendum on Brexit, which is meant to happen in nine months time after he has renegotiated supposedly our exit and renegotiated this deal.

    And what is his plan for that renegotiation? What question would be put to the public?

    We don’t know. What are the options? We don’t know.

    We don’t even know what side he would take, and we don’t know what would happen if the result was either for remain or for leave.

    Best of three? Call it quits?

    We don’t know.

    What we do know is that in any scenario the dither and the drift and the delay which is increasingly damaging for our country will just continue.

    And we do know that there is only one way to avoid that nightmare and that is to vote for a moderate and compassionate one nation conservative government.

    And we will make this country the greatest place to live, to raise a family, to start a business, to send your kids to school.

    A country where we lead the world in cutting CO2, in tackling climate change, in clean green technology.

    Where we stand up for our values around the world.

    A country where everybody has the opportunity to make the most of their lives and where we work as a government to give them that opportunity from the moment they are born.

    And that is our mission. If I come back here with a working majority in Parliament, then I will get Parliament working again for you.

    On Day 1 of the new Parliament in December, we will start getting our deal through so we can Get Brexit Done in January and unleash this country’s potential.

    We’ll put uncertainty behind us — families and businesses will be able to plan.

    Let’s make 2020 the year of investment and growth, not the year of two referendums.

    I want to thank everyone in the building behind me and across government for all the work, the wonderful work they have done over the last three months.

    I am going out now to campaign across the whole country for those values and for that programme.

    I hope very much that you will support us.

    Let’s get Brexit done and unleash the potential of the whole United Kingdom.

    Thank you very much.

  • Jeremy Corbyn – 2019 Speech Launching General Election Campaign

    Jeremy Corbyn – 2019 Speech Launching General Election Campaign

    Below is the text of the speech made by Jeremy Corbyn, the Leader of the Opposition, on 31 October 2019.

    Thank you for that welcome.

    Today we are launching the most ambitious and radical campaign our country has ever seen to bring real change to our country.

    If you want to live in a society that works for everybody and not just the billionaires, if you want to save our hospitals, schools and public services from Tory cuts and privatisation, if you want to stop the big polluters destroying our environment then this election is your chance to vote for it.

    The choice could not be clearer.

    We put our faith in the British people’s spirit and commitment to community. It’s your country. That’s why we stand with you.

    Labour will put wealth and power in the hands of the many Boris Johnson’s Conservatives, who think they’re born to rule, will only look after the privileged few.

    They’ve slashed taxes for the richest and slashed vital services and support for everyone else. But real change is coming.

    This election is a once in a generation chance to transform our country take on the vested interests holding people back and ensure that no community is left behind.

    Some people believe that real change isn’t possible. They say that we’re asking too much. Really?

    A health service people can be proud of, where tens of thousands of cancer patients aren’t waiting months for treatment and prescriptions are free. Is that asking too much?

    A social care system that doesn’t leave our older people isolated and afraid, but gives them dignity with free personal care. Is that asking too much?

    How about a decent pay rise? A real living wage of at least £10 an hour, right away including for young workers from the age of 16.Asking too much?

    Secure homes that families can afford rents that don’t break the bank and an end to rough sleeping. Is that too much to ask?

    Thirty hours’ free childcare for all two to four year olds. A good education, from cradle to grave, as a right not a privilege and no tuition fees. Is that too much?

    Ending the Conservatives’ great rip-off by putting rail, mail and water into public ownership so they work for everyone, not just Tory donors and shareholders in tax havens. Is that asking too much?

    What about real action on the climate crisis by creating hundreds of thousands of new, green energy jobs in communities where they’re most desperately needed?

    No, that’s not asking too much. Because we have to radically change course now to avoid living on a hostile and dying planet.

    This election is our last chance to tackle the climate emergency with a Green Industrial Revolution at the heart of Labour’s plan to transform Britain.

    Friends, today is the 31st of October, the day Boris Johnson promised we would leave the EU. He said he would rather be “dead in a ditch” than delay beyond today. But he has failed. And that failure is his alone.

    You can’t trust Boris Johnson.

    After three long years of Brexit division and failure from the Tories, we have to get this issue sorted.

    We need to take it out of the hands of the politicians and trust the people to have the final say.

    Labour will get Brexit sorted within six months. We’ll let the people decide whether to leave with a sensible deal or remain. That really isn’t complicated.

    We will carry out whatever the people decide so that we can get on with delivering the real change Britain needs after years of Conservative cuts to vital services and tax handouts to the richest.

    Labour is determined to bring a divided country together, while the Tories and the Lib Dems only seek to divide us further.

    The Lib Dems want to cancel a democratic vote with a parliamentary stitch-up and Boris Johnson’s planned trade deal with Trump will mean yet more NHS money taken away from patients and handed to shareholders.

    Despite his denials, the NHS is up for grabs by US corporations in a one-sided Trump trade sell-out.

    Channel 4 Dispatches revealed this week that the cost of drugs and medicines has repeatedly been discussed between US and UK trade officials. Remember Johnson’s famous promise of £350 million a week for the NHS? Well his toxic Brexit trade deal with Trump could hand over £500 million a week of NHS money to big drugs corporations.

    We will stop them. Labour won’t let Donald Trump get his hands on our National Health Service. It’s not for sale, to him or anyone.

    Johnson’s sell-out deal would lead to years of continuing negotiations and uncertainty. Labour will get Brexit sorted by giving the people the final say in six months.

    Britain needs to get beyond Brexit and deal with the damage done to our communities by a decade of Tory cuts and economic failure.

    I travel all around our country and listen to people. This is what I learn from them: they don’t see politics like the media and political class do.

    After a decade when real wages have fallen, for too many people, what they see is the community they love being run down through years of deliberate neglect. The evidence of a decade of economic vandalism is all around them.

    It’s there in the boarded up shops. In the closed library and swimming pool. In youth centres that have closed their doors. The high street like a ghost town. The elderly couple who are scared to walk down their road because violent crime has doubled. The army veteran sleeping under blankets in a doorway. People struggling to make ends meet. The mother and her children eating from a food bank because they’ve been forced onto Universal Credit.

    That’s the evidence of Conservative cuts. Well I say, no more.

    Labour will end damaging Tory austerity and scrap Universal Credit. We’ll tear down the barriers to success that the Conservatives have put in people’s way.

    We will invest in every nation and region, rebuild our public services and give our NHS, schools and police the money they need by taxing those at the top to properly fund services for everyone.

    We will give people back their pride in their communities and give everybody the quality of life they deserve.

    And by everybody we mean everybody.

    The Prime Minister wants you to believe that we’re having this election because Brexit is being blocked by an establishment elite.

    People aren’t fooled so easily. They know the Conservatives are the establishment elite.

    And you know what really scares the elite? All of us, the British people.

    What the elite are actually afraid of is paying their taxes.

    So in this election, they’ll fight harder and dirtier than ever before. They’ll throw everything at us because they know we’re not afraid to take them on.

    So we’re going after the tax dodgers. We’re going after the dodgy landlords. We’re going after the bad bosses. We’re going after the big polluters. Because we know whose side we’re on.

    And the big question of this election is: whose side are you on? Are you on the side of the tax dodgers, who are taking us all for a ride? People who think it’s OK to rip people off and hide their money in tax havens so they can have a new super yacht.

    Or are you on the side of the children with special educational needs who aren’t getting the support they deserve because of Tory and Lib Dem government cuts?

    Whose side are you on? The dodgy landlords like the Duke of Westminster, Britain’s youngest billionaire, who tried to evict whole blocks of families to make way for luxury apartments? Or the millions of tenants in Britain who struggle to pay their rent each month?

    Whose side are you on? The bad bosses like Mike Ashley, the billionaire who won’t pay his staff properly and is running Newcastle United into the ground? Or his exploited workforce like the woman who was reportedly forced to give birth in a warehouse toilet because she was terrified of missing her shift?

    Whose side are you on? The big polluters like Jim Ratcliffe, Britain’s richest man, who makes his money by polluting the environment? Or the children growing up in our cities with reduced lung capacity because of choking pollution?

    Whose side are you on? The greedy bankers like Crispin Odey, who makes millions betting against our country and has donated huge sums to Johnson and the Conservative Party? Or are you on the side of working people who create the wealth that’s then squirreled away in tax havens?

    And whose side are you on? The billionaire media barons like Rupert Murdoch, whose empire pumps out propaganda to support a rigged system. Or the overwhelming majority who want to live in a decent, fair, diverse and prosperous society?

    You know whose side Labour’s on – a Labour government will be on your side.

    Together, we can pull down a corrupt system and build a fairer country that cares for all.

    And we have something that the Rupert Murdochs, the Mike Ashleys, and the Boris Johnsons don’t have.

    We have people. Hundreds of thousands of people in every part of our country who will make this the biggest people-powered campaign in history.

    We’re young, we’re old, we’re black, we’re white, we’re straight, we’re gay, we’re women, we’re men, we’re people of all faiths and none, from the North and from the South.

    And when Labour wins, the nurse wins, the pensioner wins, the student wins, the office worker wins, the engineer wins. We all win.

    Boris Johnson thought he was being smart holding this election in a dark and cold December. He thinks you won’t go out to vote. He thinks you won’t go out to campaign.

    Well I say this: Labour will be out there in every city, town and village with the biggest and most confident campaign that our country has ever seen, bringing a message of hope and change to every community.

    Even if the rivers freeze over, we’re going out to bring about real change for the many, not the few.

    All we need to keep us warm is the thought of removing Boris Johnson’s Conservatives from government – and the chance to rebuild and transform our country.

    This is the most radical and exciting plan for real change ever put before the British electorate.

    Friends, the future is ours to make, together.

    It’s time for real change.

  • Keir Starmer – 2019 Speech in Harlow

    Keir Starmer – 2019 Speech in Harlow

    Below is the text of the speech made by Keir Starmer, the Shadow Brexit Secretary, in Harlow on 5 November 2019.

    Thank you Laura, and thanks to all of you for being here today.

    It’s so invigorating being out here on the campaign trail fighting for a truly radical Labour Government and supporting great candidates like Laura.

    And this election really matters.

    If Boris Johnson wins, our country will take a decisive lurch to the right.

    His Brexit deal is a hard-right deal. It paves the way for workplace rights, environmental protections and consumer standards to be stripped away.

    It will do huge damage to our manufacturing industries.

    It will weaken the Union.

    And it will make every region and nation poorer.

    The Tories haven’t provided any economic analysis of the deal.

    There’s a reason for that!

    Because we know what the cost is likely to be: the economy £70 billion smaller. Britain permanently poorer. On top of a decade of Tory austerity.

    That’s the last thing we need. And I don’t remember that being written on the side of a bus!

    Johnson’s deal also poses a further risk.

    A huge risk: A trap door to no deal.

    No 10 are now so obsessed with chasing the Brexit Party that they confirmed yesterday that a Tory majority government will not extend the transition period.

    I’m not sure if that was a “dead in a ditch” promise or just a regulation No 10 commitment but it was certainly revealing.

    Because it means the Tories would only have until July – just seven months – to negotiate the whole future economic and security relationship with the EU.

    That’s some task. Particularly after failing for the last three and a half years.

    And this time if they fail, there is no safety net: only a trap door to no deal.

    So, make no mistake. A vote for the Tories is a vote to put no deal back on the table.

    A vote for Labour is a vote to rule it out.

    But this election is not just about the price of Johnson’s Brexit and the risk of a trap door to no deal.

    It’s about the political direction of travel. Where his deal will take our country.

    We know what the destination is for Johnson: He wants to turn away from Europe – away from strong workplace rights and environmental standards – away from our shared values.

    For him, that’s always been the purpose of Brexit.

    And once he’s done that, where will he turn? To America and to Donald Trump.

    Our NHS up for sale.

    Workplace rights up for sale.

    Less protection for the environment, just when we need more.

    That is a hard-right race-to-the-bottom deal.

    We have to stop it.

    Which brings me to Labour’s position.

    After three and a half years of Tory failure, there’s only one way now to solve this.

    This has to go back to the people.

    So, we will first rip us Johnson’s deal.

    Next, we will secure the best possible deal – including: a customs union, single market alignment and protection for rights and the environment.

    People challenge me that such a deal is not possible.

    I absolutely reject that.

    Having had many hours of discussions with political leaders across Europe, I am confident that such a deal can be secured and secured quickly.

    That deal will then be put to a referendum with Remain as the other option.

    Under a Labour Government: Remain will be on the ballot paper.

    And the referendum will be held within 6 months.

    The public will have the final say on a very straight-forward question: Do you want to leave with the deal that has been secured? Or would you rather stay in the EU?

    And the result will be binding.

    But that is only half the story: because we are never going to get past the Brexit question unless we also tackle the gross inequalities and injustices, we see all around us.

    The Tories have been in power for nearly ten years.

    Three different Prime Ministers: each worse than the last.

    The state of our country. Our communities. Our public services is down to them and down to their political choices.

    So, this election is about so much more than Brexit.

    It’s about what type of society we are.

    What type of country we want to live in.

    It’s about what our values are.

    It’s about whether we tackle the climate emergency or ignore it.

    Whether we rebuild our NHS, or sell it off to Trump.

    Whether we tackle inequality and injustice or watch it get worse.

    The choice is that stark.

    Lose and we face more lost years. A hard right Brexit and a hard-right government.

    Win and Labour can pull this country back from the brink: end austerity, rebuild our public services and invest in our communities.

    The stakes could not be higher.

    We can, and we must, win.

  • Jeremy Corbyn – 2019 Speech in Telford

    Jeremy Corbyn – 2019 Speech in Telford

    Below is the text of the speech made by Jeremy Corbyn, the Leader of the Opposition, in Telford on 6 November 2019.

    It’s a real pleasure to be here in Telford in my home county of Shropshire where I first started campaigning for a better society and I’ve never stopped!

    And what’s inspiring is that I see that same passion in young people today who are campaigning in this General Election.

    Since we began our campaign last week thousands of people have come to events like this, have gone out door knocking, and have been spreading Labour’s message of hope on social media.

    The atmosphere is electric.

    Because we all know this election is a once-in-a-generation chance to transform our country and tear down the barriers that are holding people back.

    A chance to rebuild our NHS, schools and police by taxing those at the top to properly fund services for everyone.

    And a chance to tackle the climate emergency, with a Green Industrial Revolution at the very heart of our transformation of Britain.

    In this election, Labour is putting forward the most radical and far-reaching plan for real change in our lifetimes.

    But I know we have to work to win people’s trust.

    Because for all the excitement here, many people in our country have grown weary of politics.

    They’ve lost faith that politics can change anything that actually affects their lives. I understand that.

    Let’s be honest, Westminster hasn’t covered itself in glory recently.

    The childish insults, the rowdy MPs, the weird rules – it’s all a long way from the reality of people’s daily lives.

    If you’re working long hours for wages that barely cover your bills, food and rent and nothing ever changes, you’re right to feel frustrated with the political system.

    It isn’t working for you.

    Politics should be about your life, your community, your job – the issues you face every day of the week.

    For me, real politics isn’t about shouting matches in parliament.

    I’m not interested. I don’t do personal attacks.

    For me, real politics – the politics I stand for – is about sharing power and wealth with people who don’t have a lot of money and don’t have friends in high places – so they can take control of their own lives.

    My job as leader, and my party’s task, is to champion those people, and bring about real change.

    Like here in Telford where a fantastic local community campaign, the local Labour Party and Katrina are fighting the closure of your women and children’s centre and the downgrading of the A&E department.

    To me, that’s real politics – bringing people together to stand up for their community.

    That’s why I became an MP.

    I’ve never thought MPs are special individuals with unique wisdom. It’s not supposed to be a glamorous job.

    It’s a platform for your community, not for yourself. That’s how I see it.

    When I was elected Leader of the Labour Party, I was proud to have the chance to extend that principle into everything we do.

    To put Labour at the heart of communities standing alongside the people we seek to represent.

    And I was proud to see our party grow into not just the biggest in Britain, but the biggest in Western Europe, with half a million members determined to put wealth and power in the hands of the many and build a fairer country that cares for all.

    You know, my view of leadership is different from the one people are used to.

    Yes I believe leaders should have clear principles that people can trust, and the strength and commitment not to be driven off course.

    You have to stand for something.

    But leaders must also trust others to play their part.

    Think of it like this: a good leader doesn’t just barge through a door and let it swing back in the faces of those following behind.

    A good leader holds open the door for others to walk through.

    Because everyone has a contribution to make.

    So when I talk about real change, that isn’t something that will be done to you.

    It’s something that can only be done with you.

    So if you, the British people, elect a Labour government on 12 December, I will be proud to be your prime minister.

    Because I will be a very different kind of prime minister.

    Not the kind of prime minister who believes he was born to rule.

    Not the kind who thinks politics is a game.

    But the kind of prime minister who only seeks power in order to share power.

    Because it isn’t about me, it’s about all of us.

    And together, we can go beyond defending the gains made by previous generations.

    It’s time we started building a country fit for the next generation.

    Where young people don’t fear the future, but look forward with confidence and hope.

    That’s within our grasp in this election. That’s what we are absolutely determined to achieve.

    Because look at what’s happened to our country in the last few years: more children and pensioners in poverty, more people sleeping on the streets, British citizens who have lived here for decades deported from their own country.

    And more and more people being forced into dependence on foodbanks, by the cruel policy of Universal Credit – as a damning report from the Trussell Trust yesterday exposed.

    And it’s not just people on the sharpest end of austerity who are feeling its impact.

    It’s all those struggling to make ends meet, those who can’t afford to buy their first home, those who never quite have enough left over to save for a holiday, those who have to fork out ever more on rail fares as the service gets worse.

    Just imagine how Britain could be if we had a Labour government, committed to building a fairer and more prosperous country that works for the many, not the few.

    That future is ours to make.

    I want a Labour government to be judged by whether it changes people’s lives for the better after five years.

    Judge us on the real change we deliver the concrete improvements to the lives of millions of people.

    Here’s how you’ll be able to judge the success of the next Labour government:

    Judge us on whether in-work poverty still exists in five years’ time.

    Judge us on whether people are still sleeping rough after five years of a Labour government.

    Judge us on whether proud women and men are still having to depend on food banks in five years’ time.

    Judge us on whether 1.4 million older people are still not getting the help they need after five years of Labour.

    Judge us on whether tuition fees have been scrapped for all students so that no one is priced out of education.

    Judge us on whether we’ve built hundreds of thousands of genuinely affordable homes, so that decent and secure housing is within the reach of everybody.

    Judge us on whether patients are still waiting more than four hours in A&E, and tens of thousands are waiting months for cancer treatment.

    Judge us on whether we’ve got Brexit sorted within six months so we can get on with delivering the real change that Britain needs.

    Judge us on whether primary school children – including more than 2,500 children here in Telford – are still learning in class sizes of larger than 30 after five years of a Labour government.

    Judge us on whether we’ve unleashed a Green Industrial Revolution, created hundreds of thousands of green energy jobs in the communities that need them most and significantly reduced our greenhouse emissions

    We don’t have time to waste.

    It frustrates me every day in parliament … that we’re not taking action NOW … on all these pressing needs and demands of our time.

    Because Labour has the policies to deal with all of them.

    And isn’t it telling that Conservative candidates in this election have been told by Tory HQ that they’re not allowed to pledge to tackle the climate emergency?

    They’re not allowed to pledge not to privatise our NHS.

    They’re not allowed to pledge not to sell out our NHS in a trade deal with Donald Trump.

    Well let’s make our own pledge, all of us together.

    We pledge that we will never let them put a price tag on our NHS.

    We’ll never let them send £500 million a week of NHS money to big US drugs corporations.

    We’ll never let Donald Trump get his hands on our National Health Service.

    Because our NHS is not for sale.

    But you know there is something that Conservative candidates are allowed to pledge.

    Tory HQ says they can pledge to defend shooting animals for sport.

    Doesn’t that tell you all you need to know about the Conservatives?

    Actually there is one more thing you need to know. They shamefully seem to think the victims of the Grenfell fire died because they didn’t have the common sense to save themselves.

    I’ll tell you what’s common sense:

    Don’t put flammable cladding on people’s homes. That’s common sense.

    Don’t close fire stations and don’t cut fire fighters. That’s common sense.

    And don’t ignore residents when they tell you their home is a death trap.

    And what this all comes back to is what I was talking about earlier: leadership.

    Do you want leaders who think they’re above us all?

    Who think the rules they make for everyone else don’t apply to them?

    Or is good leadership really about listening as well as talking?

    I’ve spent much of my life travelling around the country and the world listening to people.

    That’s how you learn about the world as people actually experience it – their struggles and their hopes, their dreams and their frustrations.

    And that’s why I believe that good leadership is about compassion and understanding not ego.

    I want to lead a government that’s on your side.

    That puts power and wealth into your hands.

    I want to lead a government that works for you.

    Friends, this election is a once in a generation chance.

    Together we will transform our country so that no one is held back and no community is left behind.

    It’s time for real change.

  • Jeremy Corbyn – 2019 Speech in Harlow

    Jeremy Corbyn – 2019 Speech in Harlow

    Below is the text of the speech made by Jeremy Corbyn, the Leader of the Opposition, in Harlow on 5 November 2019.

    It’s great to be here in Harlow in Essex, one of the original New Towns created by the post-war Labour government to deal with the massive housing shortage of the time.

    I think of those New Town pioneers who came here and built this town, built this community, had children and grandchildren who made this community even stronger. And one of those grandchildren is now our fantastic Labour candidate for Harlow, Laura McAlpine.

    She’s from Harlow. She’s for Harlow. She understands Harlow. She’s got spirit, she’s got energy and she’s going to bring real change to Harlow as your Labour MP.

    And can I thank another Laura: Laura Pidcock, Shadow Secretary of State for Employment Rights, for being here today and being such a brilliant representative of our party and our movement.

    And of course, thank you to Keir, our Shadow Brexit Secretary. What a wonderful job Keir’s done over the last three years, picking apart the Tories’ shambolic handling of Brexit.

    In this election, Boris Johnson is trying to hijack Brexit to sell out our NHS and working people. He is trying to cash in the votes of millions who voted to leave the EU, to buy political power for himself and then sell them out. It’s time to call him out.

    I travel all around our country all the time. I meet a lot of people. I listen to a lot of people. People who voted to leave in 2016, and people who voted to remain.

    They all have their reasons. But I want to tell you something I find striking. Many people who voted to leave tell me they were voting for change.

    That’s what they were promised.

    Boris Johnson and the leave campaign promised to rebuild our NHS, and they promised that people would be able to take back control of their lives after years of watching their towns being run down: factories gone, jobs gone, their sense of community gone.

    Three years on and Johnson is trying to hijack that hope for change and use it for his own very different ends. He stood in front of a bus in 2016 and promised £350 million a week for the NHS. Now we find out that £500 million a week could be taken out of the NHS and handed to big drugs companies under his plans for a sell-out trade deal with Donald Trump.

    Just look at how these corporations operate in the US. They are ruthless. They will suck as much money as they can out of our NHS while cancer patients wait longer for treatment.

    We now know that US and UK officials have been discussing drug pricing in secret, and the US government is demanding what its officials call “full market access for US products.”

    Senior NHS managers have said that would mean “higher prices for medicines” which will “pass on costs to both patients and the NHS.”

    So there we have it. Johnson can deny it all he likes, but people won’t believe him. And the Tories know that – which is why, behind the scenes, the Conservatives have tried to suppress the news attacking the BBC for reporting what we and health professionals are saying.

    This is what they don’t want you to hear: a vote for Johnson’s Conservatives is a vote to betray our NHS in a sell out to Trump. Johnson’s Trump deal Brexit puts a price tag on our NHS.

    So we’ll say it again and again until the message gets through to the White House: our NHS is NOT FOR SALE.

    This threat to our NHS isn’t a mistake. It’s not happening by accident.

    The threat is there because Boris Johnson’s Conservatives want to hijack Brexit to sell out the NHS and sell out working people by stripping away their rights.

    For many in the Tory party this is what Brexit has always been about: reversing the hard-fought gains won by working class people over generations.

    Given the chance, they’ll run down our rights at work, our entitlements to holidays, breaks and leave.

    Given the chance, they’ll slash food standards to match the US, where what are called “acceptable levels” of rat hairs in paprika, and maggots in orange juice are allowed and they’ll put chlorinated chicken on our supermarket shelves.

    And given the chance they’ll water down the rules on air pollution and our environment that keep us safe.

    They want a race to the bottom in standards and protections. They want to move us towards a more deregulated American model of how to run the economy.

    In the US workers get just 10 days holiday a year, big business gets free rein to call the shots and tens of millions are denied healthcare.

    What Boris Johnson’s Conservatives want is to hijack Brexit to unleash Thatcherism on steroids.

    The Thatcher government’s attack on the working people of our country left scars that have never healed and communities that have never recovered.

    The Conservatives know they can’t win support for what they’re planning to do in the name of Thatcherism, so they’re trying to do it under the banner of Brexit instead.

    So I make no apologies. No apologies at all for Labour’s role in stopping the disaster of No Deal and resisting Johnson’s sell-out deal.

    Never let them tell you that Labour has turned its back on the people we represent.

    The Tories have failed on Brexit for three years. A Labour government will get Brexit sorted within six months by giving you, the British people, the final say. And despite what some commentators want you to believe, Labour’s plan for Brexit is clear and simple.

    It’s time to take the decision out of the hands of politicians and trust the people to decide.

    It won’t be a rerun of 2016. This time the choice will be between leaving with a sensible deal or remaining in the European Union.

    That’s the policy. It really isn’t complicated.

    So an incoming Labour government will first secure a sensible deal. That will take no longer than three months because the deal will be based on terms we’ve already discussed with the EU, including a new customs union, a close single market relationship and guarantees of rights and protections.

    It’s a deal that will protect British manufacturing and respect the precious peace in Northern Ireland.

    And then we’ll put that deal to a public vote.

    So if you want to leave the EU without trashing our economy or selling out our NHS, you’ll be able to vote for it. If you want to remain in the EU, you’ll be able to vote for that.

    Either way, only a Labour government will put the final decision in your hands.

    Because this has involved the whole country from the start, it can’t now be left to politicians. To finally get this sorted and move forward we need the people to sign on the dotted line. And we will immediately carry out your decision, so Britain can get beyond Brexit.

    Boris Johnson staked his reputation on leaving the EU on 31st October “do or die”.

    “No ifs, no buts,” he said. So the failure to do so can only be his.

    The irony is, for all his boasting, Johnson’s sell-out deal STILL won’t get Brexit done. It will lead to years of continuing negotiations and uncertainty.

    Whereas Labour’s plan will sort Brexit quickly, because whatever the final decision, we won’t be ripping up our main trading relationship.

    The EU negotiator Michel Barnier has said an EU trade deal on Johnson’s terms would take “three years, maybe more” of further negotiations.

    Johnson’s sell-out deal with Trump could take even longer.

    A vote for the Conservatives is a vote for yet more drawn-out, bogged down negotiations, more broken promises, and more distraction from the vital issues facing all of us – like making sure people have decent wages, secure homes, and a habitable planet for our children and grandchildren.

    A green light for Boris Johnson’s sell-out Trump deal would just be the start of years more Brexit chaos and division.

    People sometimes accuse me of trying to talk to both sides at once in the Brexit debate; to people who voted leave and remain.

    You know what? They’re right.

    Why would I only want to talk to half the country?

    I don’t want to live in half a country.

    Anybody seeking to become Prime Minister must talk to and listen to the whole country.

    Labour stands not just for the 52 per cent or the 48 per cent, but for the 99 per cent.

    It’s Labour that’s determined to bring a divided country together.

    You can’t do that if your whole political strategy is to turn one side of the Brexit debate against the other.

    The Tories are offering an extreme and damaging form of Brexit while the Liberal Democrats want to ignore the result of the 2016 referendum and revoke Article 50.

    The Brexit crisis needs to be resolved but it must be done democratically.

    Because walk down any street in Britain and you will find people who voted to leave and people who voted to remain.

    Whatever our differences may be on this one issue at the end of the day we have so much else in common.

    I like to put it like this:

    If you’re living in Harlow you may well have voted to leave. You’ve got bills to pay, rising debts, work’s insecure and your wages barely stretch.

    You’re up against it.

    If you’re living in York it’s more likely you voted remain. You’ve got bills to pay, rising debts, work’s insecure and your wages barely stretch.

    You’re up against it.

    But you’re not against each other.

    Labour’s plan will get Brexit sorted so a Labour government can get on with delivering the real change Britain needs.

    So we can get on with rebuilding our NHS and making prescriptions free.

    Get on with solving the housing crisis by building a million new homes and controlling rents.

    Get on with bringing mail, rail, water and the energy grid into public ownership, and ending the great corporate rip-off of consumers.

    Get on with creating hundreds of thousands of good jobs in every community through a Green Industrial Revolution.

    Get on with giving Britain a pay rise.

    Let’s get Brexit sorted within six months and build a fairer country that truly cares for all.

    Where wealth and power are shared, for the many, not the few.

    This is a once in a generation chance.

    The future is ours to make, together.

    It’s time for real change.

  • Nick Conrad – 2019 Resignation Statement on Rape Comments

    Nick Conrad – 2019 Resignation Statement on Rape Comments

    Below is the text of the resignation statement made by Nick Conrad, the Conservative candidate for the Broadland constituency in Norfolk, on 8 November 2019.

    Five years ago I made ill-judged comments during an on-air radio discussion for which I made a genuine and heartfelt apology.

    Last night I was honoured to be made the Conservative candidate for Broadland and had hoped to become the MP for a constituency which is close to my heart. However it has become clear to me that the media attention on my previous comments have become a distraction.

    For me, the most important thing is for the Conservative Party to be successful in the forthcoming election -getting Brexit done and delivering on the people’s priorities. This is why I have reluctantly concluded I must stand down to allow one of the other excellent candidates the opportunity to win this fantastic seat.

    I would like to thank Broadland Conservative Association for their support and wish the party every success in the election on December 12.

  • Justine Greening – 2019 Valediction Speech

    Justine Greening – 2019 Valediction Speech

    Below is the text of the speech made by Justine Greening, the Independent MP for Putney, in the House of Commons on 5 November 2019.

    As long as nobody heckles me, I am sure I will absolutely be able to stay to time.

    I want to start by saying a massive thank you to, first of all, my office team, who are up in the Gallery. They have done an absolutely incredible job for so many Members here over many, many years. I have to point out particularly the long-suffering Kate and Nikki. Without their assistance and support and that of the rest of the team that I have got with me today, I would never have been able to do any of the rest of the things that I have been able to achieve for my community in this place.

    Other Members have explained what it was like for them when they first entered the House. For me in 2005, winning back Putney from the Labour party was quite big news, and I found myself in the middle of a media storm from minute one of my time as an MP.

    Michael Howard came down the next day to, as I thought, congratulate the brilliant team at Putney Conservatives who had helped me with that amazing ​victory. I stayed up all night organising his visit as the great leader, and he promptly turned up and resigned right by my side. Perhaps the best legacy from the few months that he had left in his role in 2005 was that he got back together a parliamentary party that had been in opposition for quite some time. He had us talk through different policy areas, and we discovered that, other than arguing about Europe, we had much more in common than that which divided us.

    My time in this House has obviously been the greatest privilege of my life. I did not plan to be an MP, but I did it because I think people matter. I hope that I have always been a strong voice for people in Putney on the issues they care about, and I have simply sought to take their priorities and make them mine. My campaigning on Heathrow was perhaps an early indicator to the Whips and my party that I would stand my ground on local issues that matter to my community. I started my time here doing that, and I like to think that I have finished my time here doing that not only on Brexit, on which speaking up for local communities is crucial, but on a whole range of other issues, such as air pollution, quality of life, aircraft noise, and improving our transport. We were able to modernise Putney station and get improvements to Southfields station, and the lifts at both stations now mean that the whole public can access local public transport. I am particularly proud of those things, and I was on the case for getting a lift at East Putney station, and I very much hope that my successor will do the same.

    I tirelessly campaigned on serious issues such as youth crime and policing. In fact, my very first Westminster Hall debate was on youth and youth crime, but I am sorry to say that things have not moved on as much as perhaps they should have done in the intervening 14 years, and this House still debates the very issues that I was debating as an incoming MP.

    I want to reflect on the hugely important role that community groups and residents associations have played in my local community. Brilliant charities such as Regenerate, which works on the Alton estate in Roehampton, play an amazing role in inspiring young people to make more of their lives. There is the brilliant Putney Society—the ultimate residents association in Putney—and then, of course, there are incredible residents associations in Southfields, such as Southfields Grid, Southfields Triangle, and Sutherland Grove Conservation Area. All those organisations bring our community together and make it what it is, and I am so proud and delighted that I have been able to work with them for so many years.

    I have had probably more roles than most in this House. I started my time in government in the Treasury team with the then MP for Tatton, George Osborne, carrying out an emergency Budget to ensure that this country’s finances did not go the way of Greece’s, and I have reflected on that as we have debated what a no-deal Brexit might mean for us. I quickly discovered as a Minister that I had the ability to make a difference way beyond even perhaps what people might have thought my brief was, so I got stuck into looking at the tolls on the Humber bridge, and I was delighted that I was able to get them reduced. I ended up with a beer temporarily named after me in that part of the country, and that meant a lot to me because I watched the Humber bridge open as I grew up. I was delighted to be able to make a ​change that meant that it can be a successful piece of infrastructure that joins two wonderful communities, rather than dividing them.

    From there I moved on to the Department for Transport, where I had to make sure that transport enabled the 2012 Olympics and did not get in the way of them being the triumph they were. I worked with the then Mayor of London, who went on to do other things, including becoming Prime Minister. I am proud of that work, because hopefully we made the Olympics accessible to millions of people who did not have to worry about being suddenly stranded.

    From there my journey took me to the Department for International Development, which often operates out of the sight of our country. I could not be more proud of the truly world-class team in the Department. We worked hand in hand with the Ministry of Defence on Ebola, and we did pioneering work to bring education to children caught up by the terrible crisis in Syria. We took a decision in DFID that we would do our level best to make sure those children grew up educated and able to read and write. So much of the Department’s work happens out of sight of the British public, but the British public should be rightly proud of that work, which stretches beyond that to girls’ education and responding to humanitarian emergencies such as Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. I am truly honoured to have had so much time in that Department.

    After that, my final Cabinet role was perhaps my dream role: Secretary of State for Education and—perfect—Minister for Women and Equalities. I was the first LGBT woman in Cabinet and, of course, the first Secretary of State for Education to be educated at their local comprehensive school, and I am only too happy to have those two firsts and to have put something back into a school system that built me into being able to do anything with my life and to achieve what I have achieved.

    It was brilliant to be able to work with the most inspiring teachers I could have ever hoped to meet. It is a fantastic profession, and I would say to anyone who is thinking about what to do to make a difference with their life that they should go into teaching, because that is where they can shape the future. It was a privilege to be able to work with people in that profession, and it is one of the reasons why I focused so much on their continued professional development.

    Tim Loughton (East Worthing and Shoreham) (Con)

    I am very concerned and upset about my right hon. Friend’s departure, not least because somebody else will have to bring the jelly babies for us at Prime Minister’s Question Time. She has spoken at length about her extraordinary contribution to this House and to her community, but she has not yet mentioned one of her greatest legacies and interests, which I know she will continue outside this House, and that is her complete and utter obsession with social mobility. We all desperately want more to happen on that score in this country.

    Justine Greening

    My hon. Friend is quite right, and he brings me on to why I am here today as a Member who is departing the House. I have served my community and my country in Parliament for 14 years, but the mission that drives me more than any other is social mobility. It has characterised my life, and it is crucial to the future of our country and to making it a country in ​which there is equality of opportunity so that everybody gets the chance, and indeed the right, to use their talents. Part of the solution to delivering that is in government and in Parliament, of course, but the other part of the solution is surely outside this place. Working with businesses and organisations is part of how we will get opportunities to more young people. Through the social mobility pledge, I will be continuing to work on social mobility and, indeed, scaling it up.

    When I look to the horizon and where our country’s journey is going next, I recognise, understand and agree that this House will rightly remain obsessed with Brexit, but there will be a time after that. I want to make a constructive and positive contribution to social mobility, and I want to make sure that, when we get to that point, I am able to show that businesses are part of the solution for getting more opportunities to more young people. We must reflect on that and build on it further.

  • Ann Clwyd – 2019 Valediction Speech

    Below is the text of the speech made by Ann Clwyd, the Labour MP for Cynon Valley, in the House of Commons on 5 November 2019.

    I wanted to allow others to go first, but thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker.

    I was elected in the middle of a miners’ strike, in 1984, to the seat held at one time by Keir Hardie, the first leader of the Labour party. When he was the MP, it was called Merthyr and Aberdare, although people often leave out “Aberdare”. I am afraid it is quite likely that when the boundary commissioners get to work, my constituency will disappear altogether, but fortunately they have not got to work yet, and while there is still a Cynon Valley, I am very proud to have represented it from 1984 until today.

    I am standing down at this election with a heavy heart, especially as there is so much that I would still like to do. I have a long shopping list, and I have not completed the shopping. I do hope that other people will carry on and shop on my behalf, because these are all issues for which I think we can all campaign.

    One of the things that I am proud of is that when Tower colliery, in my constituency, was going to be shut by a previous Administration, I managed to sit down the pit for 27 hours. The Government of the day argued that the pit was uneconomic, but we kept it open for a further 10 years as a result of some of my efforts. The men who worked there, and the people in the community, were very pleased that that happened. I do not think that I have ever recovered after spending 27 hours down the pit.

    When I was a journalist, before I became a politician, one of the things for which I campaigned was compensation for miners, and for those with pneumoconiosis in particular. I am very pleased that when Tony Blair came into government I was able to advance that cause far more; in fact, I reminded him every single week that miners’ compensation should be arranged much faster than it was, because miners were dying without getting the money. So I am very pleased we did that.

    I was also concerned about coalfield regeneration, and one of the issues I am still concerned about is the reclamation of some land that was used for industrial purposes. The land in question covers 150 acres, and is a prime flatland at the bottom of a valley; there are not many valleys with so much flatland. On that site there ​was a Phurnacite plant that produced smokeless fuel, and when I was first elected it was one of the worst industrial polluters in the whole of Britain. We managed to get it shut down. Then there was a battle to get the toxic waste—tonnes and tonnes of it—taken away from the site and taken elsewhere. They wanted to bury it on site; I asked where else that was done and they said, “Nowhere,” and I said, “It’s not going to be done here.” So that toxic waste was taken away.

    I am pleased that with the help of the present Secretary of State for Wales we are working on greening the site, because the people there have lived with the dirt and dust for all these years and they cannot use that land, even though there are two lakes there and wildlife is returning: there are swans and kingfishers, and there is foliage that was never there before. The people in that area really should be able to enjoy recreation on those lakes and on that land, instead of having to push themselves under a fence in order to get on to it. I am pleased that we are in the middle of working on that, and I would like to have seen that work completed.

    I worked too on the north Wales child abuse cases, because children were abused in my constituency. One of my most harrowing memories is listening to the survivors of child abuse, some of whose lives never returned to normal. I hope all the child abuse cases are concluded fairly rapidly.

    I feel strongly about improvements in the health service, because I think I am the only person still alive who was on the royal commission on the national health service, the only one there has ever been. I remember our chairman, Sir Alec Merrison, saying at the time that unlike other royal commissions, our report would not gather dust. It did gather dust and continues to gather dust, however, but some of its recommendations are so worthwhile that I commend them to the present Administration.

    When I lost my husband seven years ago I had arguments with the health authority in Wales—it is a continuing argument—and I am grateful that David Cameron had the foresight, if I may say so, to ask me to run an inquiry into complaints in the NHS in England. I would like to have done the same thing in Wales, because I was very pleased to be able to do that, and pleased that all our recommendations were accepted. More cross-party work on such issues, which we all care about and all want to see improved, would be valuable.

    I speak Welsh—rwy’n siarad Cymraeg. I took my oath in Welsh and English, and I hope that one day it will be possible for Welsh to be a language used as a matter of daily life in this place as well. In the European Parliament, of which I was previously a Member, we managed to get substantial sums of money to assist the Welsh language there. I was very pleased that when I first got there in 1979 Barbara Castle was our first leader. You learned a few tricks from Barbara Castle. The first was that you got on with the other nationalities, if you could. Barbara never did, actually. I remember the leader of the German Socialists turning round to her one day and saying, “Barbara, you’re not in your national Parliament now.” That did not stop her. I do not think she ever got round to the idea of being in the EU, but I was pleased and proud to be there. I learned a lot of things, including how to vote electronically, which, after yesterday’s experience is perhaps something that will be sold to other Members. It certainly speeds things up.​

    There are other reasons why I was pleased that I went there first, before I came here. I have to say that it was a cultural shock for me to come here, because I had not realised how delusional people here were. I will tell you why. It was because we gave the impression that we did everything better than everybody else, when in fact there were many examples of other countries doing things better than we did, and I was pleased to have had the opportunity of experiencing that.

    I was sacked by two party leaders—[Interruption.] Not for incompetence! First, I was sacked by Neil Kinnock for voting against the defence estimates. Then I was sacked by Tony Blair for going to Iraq at a particular time, which is particularly ironic. I then became the special envoy on human rights to Iraq. I have to say that I do not have quite the same fond memories of the Whips Office as some colleagues on the other side.

    Sir William Cash (Stone) (Con)

    As the right hon. Lady knows, she and I came into Parliament on the same day—I think it was 3 May 1984—both in by-elections. I simply want to say what a pleasure it has been to be in the House with her all that time.

    Ann Clwyd

    Thank you very much. Yes, I remember our first few days here. If you come in in a by-election, it is always more difficult to assimilate. I am glad that my hon. Friend is still here. I have not always agreed it with him, as he well knows, but I respect him for his diligence and persistence, because those are two things that a Member of Parliament needs to do: to be diligent and persistent, and not to give up.

    One of the things I have been keen on doing is the promotion and protection of international human rights, and I have given my long-standing support to people in other countries, in the middle east, Turkey, Cambodia and East Timor. We always have arguments in this place about the arms trade, and I do hope that we are ultra-careful in future about who we sell arms to. One sadness for me is that we did not manage to get a report out in the last Session of Parliament on arms sales to Saudi Arabia. A sustained and strategic use of the parliamentary mandate and platform is therefore crucial to furthering causes and ensuring that the Government of the day are being properly scrutinised. Parliamentary questions and debates are important, and I found out that I have spoken in debates in the House 2,200 times. That is a useless fact, but somebody produced it today.

    A friend of mine in the House of Lords, Baroness Quin, phoned me a short time ago. She was in the European Parliament with me, and she reminded me of various things. She and I were in Senegal for a women’s rights conference—I do not know how many years ago—and suddenly there was a phone call for Joyce Quin to say that Captain Kent Kirk had landed on the coastline of her constituency to protest about fishing rights. Joyce was getting phone calls all the time from her constituents, who had no idea she was in Senegal. Of course, very often our constituents did not realise that part of our work was travelling to other countries and contributing to debates there.

    I have been committed to cross-party scrutiny through my long-term engagement with the International Development Committee, the Foreign Affairs Committee ​and the Committee on Arms Export Controls. I have also chaired the all-party parliamentary human rights group for many years, which has allowed me to work with colleagues from all over the world from across the political spectrum to raise awareness of serious human rights violations and breaches of international humanitarian law, as well as giving victims a voice and supporting them in getting reform and redress. Human rights is thereby depoliticised, as it should be. Some colleagues have also worked on the executive of the Joint Committee on Human Rights.

    I have supported the work of the Inter Parliamentary Union. We do not talk enough in this place about the IPU, particularly the British group, which enables me and fellow BGIPU members to communicate concerns, including human rights, when countries sometimes have to be called out. We build greater consensus on big issues and crises facing the world, such as climate change, international development, poverty alleviation and the refugee crisis. I pay tribute to the staff and secretariat of the IPU and highlight the work of its committee on the human rights of parliamentarians, which I have chaired several times and of which I was a long-time member. My vision for the Cynon Valley, the UK and the international community is unfinished business, a lot of it, as far as I am concerned.

    Most of all, I thank people in the House for their friendship, comradeship and support. I mean all sections of the House, particularly the doorkeepers, because when I was hobbling around on my new knee, I had great assistance from them. In fact, I got quite to rely on them. They gave me every help and they still do, even when I say “No, I’m all right now, thank you. I can get to the back row now, so you do not need to help me any more.” Particularly to all my colleagues and friends, I want to say that this has been a great place for building friendships. I thank you all and I am very sorry to be leaving you all.

  • Michael Fallon – 2019 Valediction Speech

    Michael Fallon – 2019 Valediction Speech

    Below is the text of the speech made by Michael Fallon, the Conservative MP for Sevenoaks, in the House of Commons on 5 November 2019.

    I was first elected to this place as the first Conservative for 25 years to sit for the constituency of Darlington in the north-east of England. I have never forgotten that particular weekend. I set off on a train on the Sunday afternoon down to London and the buffet bar was closed. Somebody must have told the steward that the new MP for Darlington was on the train—I had been on television a bit—and he suddenly appeared with a tray of tea and toast and said, “We can’t have the new MP for Darlington going off hungry to take on his responsibilities.” He then stood there, shook his head and said, “Mind you, what hope have you got with all those Tories?”

    Along with my right hon. Friend the Member for Derbyshire Dales (Sir Patrick McLoughlin), who made the most splendid speech today, I had the privilege of serving—perhaps unusually—four Prime Ministers. I first served Margaret Thatcher as her Schools Minister and then John Major in the same capacity. With my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Rushcliffe (Mr Clarke), we set up the first proper independent inspection service of our schools, Ofsted, and we ensured that school exam results were published and available to parents. It is extraordinary to think now that the exam results of individual schools were locked away in the director of education’s safe and that parents were not trusted with that information.

    I later had the equally unusual experience of working as deputy to two Liberal Secretaries of State, in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Department for Energy and Climate Change. Not only was that interesting, but it turned out to be quite a constructive experience. When the history of the coalition Government is written, perhaps we will see some of the benefits of that working together.​

    That period had a rather unusual ending. The day after the 2015 election, around lunchtime, I was called by David Cameron and reappointed as Secretary of State for Defence. As I was leaving the Cabinet table, he said the Secretary of State for Industry had handed in his resignation and the permanent secretary wanted somebody to be in charge for a couple of days while the rest of the Cabinet was assembled, so for a few hours I was Secretary of State for Industry. As I was picking up my papers, he added, “The Secretary of State for Energy has also handed in his resignation”, so I said, “Fine, I’ll have a look at that as well”. Then, as I was leaving, he said, “And the Secretary of State for Scotland has resigned”. So for a day or two I held those four portfolios together.

    I then had the most enormous privilege of all: working with our servicemen and women at the Ministry of Defence for three and a half years, leading them in the campaign against Daesh, resisting the challenge of a resurgent Russia and playing an important role in NATO. There can be no greater privilege than serving in that Department with the many willing and brave servicemen and women who have committed themselves to the service of our country. I want to put on the record my thanks to them all.

    Jeremy Lefroy (Stafford) (Con)

    I would just like to thank my right hon. Friend for all he did in that role, particularly the way he kept Members of Parliament on both sides of the House so well briefed. When the history books are written, they will show how seriously he—together with his colleagues in the armed forces and his ministerial colleagues—took that incredibly important role. I thank him for that.

    Sir Michael Fallon

    I am most grateful to my hon. Friend. It seemed to me incredibly important to keep the confidence of the House, having won its support back in 2015 for airstrikes in Iraq and then for their extension to Syria. Of course, that we were able to keep that confidence was down in no small part to the precision of our pilots and their skill in difficult conditions in minimising civilian casualties.

    My successor will inherit a thriving and prosperous constituency. My constituents enjoy a good quality of life, remarkably low unemployment, a wide choice of schooling, frequent rail connections to the capital and the protection of the green belt—over 90% of my constituency is green belt—but there is still work to be done, including on the regeneration of Swanley, one of the other towns in my constituency, especially through new investment and the promise of a fast link service from Maidstone and Otford through Swanley to the city of London.

    We also need to ensure that boys in my constituency have access to grammar school places. Whether you like it or not, Kent offers an 11-plus system, but Sevenoaks was the only district in Kent that did not have any grammar school places. I was delighted that after a 15-year campaign we managed to establish a girls’ school annexe, which has been open now for a couple of years, but we still need to ensure provision for boys’ grammar school places alongside it. We also need to continue to protect our green-belt protections in Sevenoaks. The Government’s unrealistic housing targets will put ​pressure on that green belt, though I know that my hon. Friends on the Front Bench are conscious of the need to balance the demand for new housing with our commitments to protect the green belt.

    I hope that this election campaign will not ignore some of the longer-term challenges our country faces. We have spent an awful lot of time—perhaps rightly, perhaps wrongly—debating the withdrawal agreement. In the end, that agreement only dealt with Ireland, our payments into the EU budget and the rights of EU citizens; we have not started yet on the major negotiation that really matters for business and jobs in my constituency, which is our future trading relationship, and I fear we have not yet started to explain to our electors some of the trade-offs that will inevitably be involved as we come to deal with the challenge to agriculture, financial services, the aerospace and automotive industries and our fisheries, and accommodating their legitimate right and desire to trade freely with the European continent with the views of our partners.

    We will have to quickly put in place the security partnership that has long been promised in various documents the Government have issued—I fear we have spoken far too little about this—and make sure there is no cliff edge at the end of January or February in the policing and judicial arrangements that our constituents expect and in the way our agencies work with other agencies across the European continent to deal with terrorism and organised crime. We will also need to work with our former partners in the EU to continue to uphold the rules-based international order. We do not debate foreign affairs nearly enough in this House. When I first entered Parliament, in the ’80s, we had much more regular debates on international affairs.

    We are dealing with a resurgent Russia that is in breach of many international conventions, whether on nuclear arms, chemical weapons or the protection of sovereignty under the Helsinki accords. We are dealing with a very ambitious China that is flouting the law of the sea convention, which it has signed, and continues to steal—there is no other word for it—the world’s intellectual property. And we are dealing with a mercantilist United States that is degrading the World Trade Organisation and slapping sanctions even on its friends in pursuit of a policy of “America first”. When it comes to holding the rules-based international system together, there really is a role for the leadership among the western nations, and particularly for our own nation here in the United Kingdom.

    Let me end by thanking all those who have helped me so much over the last 31 years, particularly the staff in my office.