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  • Caoimhe Archibald – 2022 Comments on State of the Economy

    Caoimhe Archibald – 2022 Comments on State of the Economy

    The comments made by Caoimhe Archibald, Sinn Fein’s economic spokesperson, on 28 September 2022.

    The Tory government’s outrageous and scandalous Budget has prioritised the super-rich at the expense of ordinary workers, families and businesses.

    Now the Bank of England has issued a stark warning of more interest hikes that will make mortgages unaffordable and leave people struggling to keep a roof over their head.

    Ordinary people and businesses are struggling to pay their bills and keep the shutters up, while the British government is driving more misery.

    The International Monetary Fund (IMF), who previously called for austerity, are now exposing the scale of the mess the Tories are creating with this Budget and calling on them to reverse this bad decision making.

    I am reiterating the call on the Tories to abandon their ideologically driven financial catastrophe stop lining the pockets of the rich and support working people who are struggling.

    What we need now is a tax break for small businesses, more funding for public services, support for workers and a Windfall Tax to cut energy companies’ eye-watering profits. Workers and families need money in their pockets now.

  • PRESS RELEASE : Bank of England announces gilt market operation [September 2022]

    PRESS RELEASE : Bank of England announces gilt market operation [September 2022]

    The press release issued by the Bank of England on 28 September 2022.

    As the Governor said in his statement on Monday, the Bank is monitoring developments in financial markets very closely in light of the significant repricing of UK and global financial assets.

    This repricing has become more significant in the past day – and it is particularly affecting long-dated UK government debt. Were dysfunction in this market to continue or worsen, there would be a material risk to UK financial stability. This would lead to an unwarranted tightening of financing conditions and a reduction of the flow of credit to the real economy.

    In line with its financial stability objective, the Bank of England stands ready to restore market functioning and reduce any risks from contagion to credit conditions for UK households and businesses.

    To achieve this, the Bank will carry out temporary purchases of long-dated UK government bonds from 28 September. The purpose of these purchases will be to restore orderly market conditions. The purchases will be carried out on whatever scale is necessary to effect this outcome. The operation will be fully indemnified by HM Treasury.

    On 28 September, the Bank of England’s Financial Policy Committee noted the risks to UK financial stability from dysfunction in the gilt market. It recommended that action be taken, and welcomed the Bank’s plans for temporary and targeted purchases in the gilt market on financial stability grounds at an urgent pace.

    These purchases will be strictly time limited. They are intended to tackle a specific problem in the long-dated government bond market. Auctions will take place from today until 14 October. The purchases will be unwound in a smooth and orderly fashion once risks to market functioning are judged to have subsided.

    The Monetary Policy Committee has been informed of these temporary and targeted financial stability operations. This is in line with the Concordat governing the MPC’s engagement with the Bank’s Executive regarding balance sheet operations. As set out in the Governor’s statement on Monday, the MPC will make a full assessment of recent macroeconomic developments at its next scheduled meeting and act accordingly. The MPC will not hesitate to change interest rates by as much as needed to return inflation to the 2% target sustainably in the medium term, in line with its remit.

    The MPC’s annual target of an £80bn stock reduction is unaffected and unchanged. In light of current market conditions, the Bank’s Executive has postponed the beginning of gilt sale operations that were due to commence next week. The first gilt sale operations will take place on 31 October and proceed thereafter.

    The Bank will shortly publish a market notice outlining operational details.

  • Keir Starmer – 2022 Comments on Recalling Parliament

    Keir Starmer – 2022 Comments on Recalling Parliament

    The comments made by Keir Starmer, the Leader of the Opposition, on Twitter on 28 September 2022.

    Across the country, people are worried about their energy bills, their mortgages, their pensions.

    This is entirely self inflicted by the government.

    Abandon this act of economic self-harm and recall parliament now.

  • Angela Rayner – 2022 Closing Speech at Labour Party Conference

    Angela Rayner – 2022 Closing Speech at Labour Party Conference

    The closing speech made by Angela Rayner, the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, on 28 September 2022.

    Thank you, Conference, and thank you Svetlana.

    The sacrifice you have made for your country sets an example to us all.

    A woman, a mother who has led a movement, not for personal ambition but to free her country and her people.

    The Labour Party stands with you, and a Labour government will too.

    Conference, it’s a great honour to make the closing speech before our traditional anthems.

    To close the week just as John Prescott did back in the day.

    Although I look better in a dress.

    I hope to do him proud.

    I love the traditions of our movement.

    From Durham Miners’ Gala to the Tolpuddle Martyrs’ Festival.

    But there is one part of our history that I will never celebrate – losing elections.

    Think how it will feel meeting here in this hall in a few years’ time after a term of a Labour government.

    Back in power.

    Now, this is the Labour Party.

    I’ve no doubt we’ll also be discussing how much further we’d like to go.

    Once we’ve debated the CAC report for twenty minutes, of course.

    But when the Tories deliver 1% of what they promised, they talk endlessly about that 1% and we never hear about the list of broken promises.

    When we deliver 99% of what we promised, we talk endlessly about the 1% we didn’t instead.

    Just think about the historic Labour Governments and their legacy.

    They didn’t please all of our movement all of the time, including me.

    But those Labour Governments made history.

    The NHS.

    Social security.

    The welfare state.

    Council housing.

    Modern higher education.

    The Open University.

    Decriminalising homosexuality.

    Outlawing racial discrimination.

    Introducing equal pay.

    The National Minimum Wage.

    Sure Start.

    The Good Friday Agreement.

    Civil Partnerships.

    The Equality Act.

    The Human Rights Act.

    The world’s first Climate Change Act.

    Conference, if we’re not proud of ourselves, don’t expect anyone else to do it for us.

    And just think what that future Party Conference could have to celebrate.

    We’ve shown this week how different we’ll be.

    Not just in our vision but with our plan for Britain.

    Starting with the biggest challenge facing not just our country but the world.

    We will tackle the climate crisis head on.

    We will protect our people and our planet.

    And we will pull out all the stops to build a fairer and greener Britain.

    As Keir set out yesterday through our Green Prosperity Plan.

    We will unleash a green industrial revolution.

    By reaching 100 per cent clean power by 2030, we will save £93 billion off energy bills.

    And through Great British Energy we will give British power right back to British people.

    I said on Sunday that a moment of choice is upon us.

    A moment to show the country that we are ready to govern.

    Well, Conference, I know I’m a bit biased, but, boy, do I think that we’ve shown that.

    It isn’t just that we have better policies, although we do.

    It isn’t just that we will be a more competent government, although we will.

    No, it is that our values differ fundamentally.

    And our policies are not better despite our values but because of them.

    Labour values.

    The country’s values too.

    Yet too often when it comes to elections, people feel they have a choice of heart versus head.

    Values or competence.

    I say to those watching at home – this week we have shown it’s a choice you will never have to make again.

    And this past week, the Tories have shown it too.

    The Conservative Party are no longer pretending to be competent and stable.

    Today’s Tories will plunge us into chaos in pursuit of their dogma.

    Divide the country to rule it and regards rules as for you, and not for them.

    Tough on crime?

    They brought crime to Number 10

    Defenders of the free market?

    The market’s in free fall.

    England’s green and pleasant land?

    Frack it.

    From the party of stability to causing earthquakes.

    From the party of business, to a slap down from the IMF.

    From the party of serious government to the party of parties.

    Liz Truss has even crashed the pork market.

    Now…that. Is. A. Disgrace.

    You’d think that snouts in the trough was the one thing they could manage.

    When interest rates were low and borrowing was cheap, they sacrificed public services for austerity.

    Now they’re borrowing just as interest rates are soaring.

    To think this was the party that claimed they were for sound money.

    That’s WHAT one high-flying new Tory MP certainly thought in 2012.

    He wrote a pamphlet demanding a balanced budget every year.

    He said “Fiscal prudence is the very least we should expect from a Chancellor.”

    And if they failed, they should face a 20% pay cut.

    That Tory MP must be absolutely furious with the new Tory Chancellor, except he is the new Tory Chancellor.

    I’ve got a funny feeling he won’t be taking that pay cut either.

    Pay cuts are for other people.

    He won’t even let the budget watchdog tell him just how much of our money he’s handing over to the super rich.

    They used to say the Tories knew the value of nothing but the cost of everything.

    Now they don’t even know that.

    The next election won’t be a choice between a strong economy or a fair society.

    We don’t have to choose one or the other.

    Because you can’t have one without the other.

    An unequal economy is an inefficient one.

    It’s perhaps the starkest difference between us and the Tories.

    Never again can we let them pretend they are the patriotic party.

    I love my country.

    That’s why I want so much better for it.

    But the Tories now think our biggest economic problem, is you.

    The working people of Britain.

    And while they think you are our country’s greatest weakness, we know that you are our greatest strength.

    It’s why Rachel and I will make the minimum wage, a real living wage.

    Because we are not just the party of higher growth but of higher wages.

    We know what the Tories think.

    The new Prime Minister and her Chancellor have said it out loud.

    The problem is that British workers are idlers not grafters.

    The irony.

    From this lot!!

    Liz Truss said she doesn’t like hand-outs.

    Then handed £150 billion to the energy giants.

    They believe in hand-outs alright.

    It’s the same with her other top priority – unlimited bankers’ bonuses.

    It’s the same old ideology.

    You incentivise the richest by giving them more money.

    You incentivise the rest of us by taking it away.

    Conference, it hasn’t worked before and it won’t wash now.

    I know they’d rather forget it, but we’re now twelve years into Tory government.

    Even if we are on our fourth Prime Minister.

    Where are they now?

    David Cameron.

    The privatised Prime Minister, sold to Green-sill.

    What was his greatest achievement?

    Fooling the Lib Dems?

    Not exactly a high bar.

    If you just care about power for powers’ sake and have no principles, no policies and no plan, you end up with a pointless premiership.

    Remembered only as a pub quiz answer.

    Then we had Theresa May.

    I remember her telling us that if you were a citizen of the world, you were a citizen of nowhere.

    If only we’d known about their green cards and tax loopholes.

    Their politicians are becoming like their donors – residents of everywhere, taxpayers of nowhere.

    Then there’s Boris Johnson.

    I do owe him one apology.

    I said he couldn’t organise a booze up in a brewery.

    Turns out he could organise a booze up pretty much anywhere.

    Just a shame he couldn’t organise anything else.

    We’re a party with a serious plan.

    He had a plan for a serious party.

    I’ll miss one thing though.

    As inflation ran out of control, at least his jokes were one thing that got cheaper every week.

    But the real problem wasn’t that his jokes were so cheap.

    It was that his mistakes were so expensive.

    He ended his time claiming he was forced from office by the ‘deep state’.

    The only deep state that forced him from office was the one he left our country in.

    Sorry Conference, I had to use all my Boris lines now, while we still remember who he is.

    Before he becomes a footnote of failure in the history books.

    Or at least that’s what the new Prime Minister must be hoping for.

    Because I think he’ll be sat on the backbenches plotting his come back, with a glint in his eye, thinking I wasn’t so bad after all…was I!

    And what a sorry state of affairs that is.

    What does Liz Truss have to say after a decade in government?

    Apparently they were wrong all along.

    She’s now asking for seven years to fix it.

    Yet offering us even more of the ideology that caused the problems in the first place.

    She doesn’t just think that we’re lazy.

    She must think we’re stupid as well.

    And that brings me to this new government.

    Openly chosen for loyalty not ability.

    A ministry of all the talent-LESS.

    Frankly when I looked at the benches opposite last week, I thought the clowns had escaped the circus.

    Not so much a flying circus as a lying circus.

    My new opposite number.

    Her first act was to get to grips with the real crisis in our NHS.

    The spread of a new and dangerous contagion.

    Not the Omicron variant.

    The Oxford comma.

    That’s a comma before the word ‘and’, in case you were wondering.

    Something like this sentence.

    GPs are overwhelmed, ambulances not turning up, beds are full, waiting times are rocketing, the NHS is starved of investment and, it’s all the fault of Tory decisions.

    It will take a Labour government to put that right.

    So, here’s another sentence that Therese Coffey won’t like.

    A Labour government will double the number of district nurses, train 5,000 new health visitors, create 10,000 nursing placements, double the number of medical students, and we will pay for it by reversing your handout to the wealthiest few.

    I like every dot and comma of that policy, Conference.

    And what a contrast to the government you’ve seen this week, Conference.

    Yesterday the country saw the Keir that I know and see every day.

    Announcing 100 per cent clean power by 2030, driven by a British energy company owned by the British people for the British people.

    He showed the real leadership this country needs.

    And on Monday Rachel showed how Labour would govern with competence, class and care.

    With her as the UK’s first-ever female Chancellor, setting out our National Wealth Fund to give the British public a share of the wealth they create.

    And a genuine living wage that matches the cost of living.

    And I thank my own front bench team – Fleur, Rachel, Justin, Imran and Flo – for all that they do.

    We have set out our five-point National Procurement Plan to tackle waste, sleaze, and lies.

    And unleash the power of public spending.

    Our Fair Work Standard to raise working conditions across the economy.

    Alongside our New Deal for Working People.

    And we haven’t stopped there.

    Our whole Shadow Cabinet has shown we are a team with a plan.

    70% home ownership, our renters’ charter and a clamp down on buy-to-let.

    Council housing, council housing, council housing.

    The Hillsborough Law, a domestic abuse register and a new football regulator.

    Sewage sanctions, Job Centre reform and a transformational industrial strategy.

    Insulation, innovation, inspiration,

    All in one.

    13,000 more police officers to keep our communities safe.

    New Navy ships built by unionised workers in British shipyards.

    Closing the tax break for private schools, to fund education for all.

    Free school breakfasts for children.

    New bus services in public hands.

    And as contracts expire, restoring public ownership of the railways.

    Conference, our Shadow Cabinet has shown what a Labour Government will be radical, responsible, realistic.

    But delivering this message would be impossible without all of you.

    Our brilliant activists who campaign through rain and wind.

    And that’s just outside this building.

    If you ever needed proof that on shore wind can deliver!

    I have too many people to thank but I want to mention our brilliant chair, Alice Perry standing down from the NEC.

    And Diana Holland who is stepping down as Party Treasurer after 12 years.

    We all have a debt of gratitude to you.

    Finally, thank you Liverpool for hosting our Conference.

    While the Tories dare not show their face here – you’ve shown us the warmth and pride that defines this city.

    Conference, this week we have shown how together we will transform this country.

    And the depth of talent across our party.

    And we have come together to honour our history as only Labour can.

    Be in no doubt, the times ahead are going to be tough,

    Now, let’s rise to the moment and deliver for the working people of Britain.

    Let’s build a Fairer, Greener Future,

    With a Labour Government in power once again.

  • Bridget Phillipson – 2022 Speech to Labour Party Conference

    Bridget Phillipson – 2022 Speech to Labour Party Conference

    The speech made by Bridget Phillipson, the Shadow Education Secretary, on 28 September 2022.

    Conference, it is the greatest privilege of all, to be here today as Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary.

    Heading a fantastic team of Shadow Education Ministers.

    Because nothing is more important to our futures than education.

    As Keir said yesterday, Labour will run towards the challenges of tomorrow.

    And if we are to solve the biggest challenges we face, spreading prosperity, tackling climate change, revitalizing our communities and building a fairer, greener future, in a world where children born today will live into the next century, where workplaces are changing as never before, where reskilling throughout life is essential, then education must be at the heart of every part of that.

    And we must build a future where children come first.

    Conference, this is personal for me.

    My mam brought me up on her own.

    I remember my time at school under the Tories.

    Classes too big, books too few.

    Money short and opportunities rare.

    Families like mine judged, not helped.

    But I was lucky.

    I had a loving family, who valued education.

    I went to great state schools.

    With teachers who saw the value and worth, in each and every one of us.

    But life should not come down to luck.

    That is why I am determined that every child, in every school, in every corner of our country should have the best possible start.

    So, we need a fresh vision of that education.

    One that looks to the future, not the past.

    A curriculum that prizes skills, as well as knowledge.

    That values and nurtures creativity, alongside academic success.

    We need an education system that enables every child to achieve and thrive.

    Our priorities will define that vision.

    Conference, that is why we will end the tax breaks private schools enjoy.

    We will use that money to deliver the most ambitious school improvement programme for a generation.

    Recruiting thousands more teachers to help children excel in science and maths and thrive with access to sport, art, music, and drama.

    Working with brilliant teachers, leaders, support staff and unions.

    We will drive up standards everywhere.

    We will build a modern careers advice and work experience system.

    So young people across our schools and colleges leave education, ready for work and ready for life.

    Conference, it is the simple language of priorities.

    The Tories put the richest first.

    We put children first.

    And we know these Tories will go on making the wrong choices.

    Because education, under this government is like a school maths problem.

    If you have five education secretaries in one year.

    Three of them, who haven’t got a clue what they are doing.

    Two of them, who want a return to the Fifties.

    What have you got left?

    I’ll tell you.

    A government that is failing our children.

    Childcare in crisis.

    A recovery programme in chaos.

    School buildings collapsing.

    A skills system unfit for today, never mind tomorrow.

    Universities treated as a political battleground, not a public good.

    Conference, we will make different choices.

    For children and families across this country.

    For the world our children will inherit.

    Today parents spend more on childcare than on their rent or mortgages.

    Yet what do we see?

    Nurseries closing.

    Spiralling costs.

    Mams giving up the jobs they love, because they can’t drop their kids at school and get to work on time.

    The Tories denying parents choices, denying children the best start they deserve.

    And yet the evidence couldn’t be clearer:

    Gaps in learning and development,

    Gaps in opportunities open up early.

    So, our plan must start early too.

    Today, Conference, I can tell you that the next Labour government will build a modern childcare system.

    One that supports families from the end of parental leave,

    right through to the end of primary school.

    One that gives our children the start to their day,

    and the start to their life,

    they deserve.

    One that gives parents time to succeed,

    And our economy the chance to grow.

    Conference, as the first step on that road, today I can announce that we will introduce breakfast clubs for every child in every primary school in England.

    Breakfast clubs drive up standards and achievement.

    They improve behaviour, and attendance.

    Because it’s about the club, as well as the breakfast.

    They enable parents to work.

    They give mams and dads choices.

    And they will help us build the economy we all need and the society we all want.

    We will fund this landmark first step on that road by restoring the higher income tax rate for the very richest.

    Because Conference, our children are our priority.

    And while education starts in childhood, it doesn’t end there.

    The skills system should support people, to reskill and upskill.

    It should support companies to invest in their future and in ours.

    Conference, it doesn’t. It needs to change and change it we will.

    That’s why our announcement yesterday, building on the work of David Blunkett and the Council of Skills Advisors is crucial.

    By reforming the Apprenticeships Levy we will give people opportunities to retrain, to upskill and to learn throughout life.

    And we’ll drive a focus on growth across government.

    By creating Skills England to bring together businesses, unions, and training providers to work in partnership, leading a national mission to upskill our country.

    Conference, education is about opportunity.

    For each of us, for all of us, all our life long.

    But it’s about opportunity for our whole country too.

    The opportunities we all gain from a growing economy, where working parents are supported to succeed, where all our children can achieve and thrive.

    That is the society Labour wants to build.

    We will only build that fairer society of which we all dream by closing the gap among our children and young people.

    Conference, Education transformed my life.

    I know it can transform every life.

    It will be my mission as your Education Secretary to make sure it does.

  • Rosena Allin-Khan – 2022 Speech to Labour Party Conference

    Rosena Allin-Khan – 2022 Speech to Labour Party Conference

    The speech made by Rosena Allin-Khan on 28 September 2022.

    Good morning Conference, hasn’t it been a fantastic week?

    I am so proud to be part of the Labour team.

    A team with one goal – getting Labour back into office.

    There are so many reasons why we must end this long, dark night of Tory rule.

    And the nation’s mental health is top of my list.

    Under the Tories’ 12 years of mismanagement, there are 1.6 million people waiting for mental health treatment.

    That’s more than the entire populations of Birmingham and Liverpool put together.

    Waiting times are soaring.

    And far too often help depends on your postcode, not your need.

    And children are being let down.

    Referrals for children and young people with eating disorders have doubled and referrals for children who are self-harming have tripled.

    Children are waiting days in A&E in crisis.

    In the A&E where I work, I see it.

    My colleagues across the country see it.

    The Tories have cut a quarter of mental health beds and it is our communities

    who are suffering.

    An entire generation is being failed by this Conservative Government.

    This mental health crisis is wrecking the British economy.

    Last year 18 million work days were lost to mental illness – more than industrial disputes, more than injuries.

    It costs the UK economy at least one hundred and seventeen billion pounds a year.

    And who does the cost-of-living crisis hit the hardest?

    Those already living with mental illnesses.

    Do you remember Thatcher’s Britain?

    One of being cold in your own home with the perpetual fear of debt and disconnection.

    That should have been consigned to the history books.

    I remember all too well my brother, mum and me gathered around the only heater for moments of relief from that gnawing, biting cold that saps your energy and robs you of your concentration.

    I listened to my mum, awake at night, worrying how to keep us safe and warm.

    This was the 1980s – how are we here again now?

    I’m proud to be an NHS doctor and I’m also proud to be a socialist.

    Working in A&E, I approach a patient from the point of view of their health needs.

    But I know that we cannot divorce the person from their social class, gender, race and background.

    The gig economy, soaring bills, rising crime, a brittle and divided society, a broken social media, brimming with hate.

    For millions, modern life means poor mental health.

    If ever there was an argument that prevention is better than cure, it is with mental health.

    We know that the longer mental illnesses are left untreated, the harder and more costly they are to treat.

    I met the fantastic team at Paul’s Place here in Liverpool on Monday.

    They show how communities support one another after suicide.

    Their stories are raw.

    Moving.

    But their work is filled with hope and love.

    Conference, if there’s one word to sum up Labour’s mental health policy it is this:

    Prevention.

    The next Labour Government will:

    • Guarantee NHS mental health support within a month and when I say ‘support’ I mean treatment, not just an assessment of need.

    • Improve service quality for patients.

    • Recruit more mental health staff – starting with eight and a half thousand new staff by the end of our first term in office.

    • Place specialist mental health support in every school.

    • Establish mental health hubs for young people in every community – open to under-25s, with no need for referral.

    And finally, we will guarantee a fair share of funding for mental health.

    We will not abandon those in crisis.

    Whenever I meet patients and staff, all over the country, people ask me the same thing, “What practical difference will Labour’s pledges make to me?”

    It’s a good question.

    Conference, here’s the answer:

    Our resolute commitment to prevention, early intervention and timely treatment

    will make the difference.

    I’ll never forget the sight of a father with an ashen face being brought into the A&E in a wheelchair with his teenage daughter on his lap.

    She was, covered in cuts and her body emaciated.

    How is it fair that in Tory Britain parents have to give up work to be on suicide watch because they cannot access timely CAMHS support?

    Sadly, I’ve met many such parents and their faces will never leave me.

    This is why it is vital that children can see someone without bureaucracy, judgement, or red tape, our new mental health hubs will make a difference.

    Labour will make the difference and what a contrast to Tory indifference.

    Conference, in her ten years as a government Minister, do you know how many major policy speeches Liz Truss has made on mental health?

    Not one.

    Her reckless mini-budget has left people terrified.

    Terrified of what’s to come this winter.

    Terrified of how to support their families.

    Terrified for their futures.

    Liz, you can’t skip the blame for Britain’s mental health crisis.

    For those of us who work shifts on the NHS frontline, the length of waiting lists is no surprise.

    It’s what happens after over a decade of Tory decision making.

    Conference, Labour will transform our mental health services.

    New staff.

    New services.

    Faster treatment.

    Prevention as our watchword.

    Better mental health for all.

    Conference, thank you.

  • Wes Streeting – 2022 Speech to Labour Party Conference

    Wes Streeting – 2022 Speech to Labour Party Conference

    The speech made by Wes Streeting, the Shadow Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on 28 September 2022.

    If you want to see a monument to the Conservative Party’s mismanagement of the NHS is it this.

    David Wakeley, an 87-year-old pensioner with cancer.

    The makeshift tent was made by his son, to provide cover for David as he lay shivering on the rainswept concrete floor where he’d fallen.

    He had fractured ribs and a fractured pelvis.

    And he was forced to wait 15 hours for an ambulance.

    This is the state of the NHS in Tory Britain and it is an absolute disgrace.

    We have the highest NHS waiting lists in history.

    People unable to see their GP.

    Heart attack and stroke victims left waiting longer than an hour for an ambulance when every second counts.

    The Tories will try to blame the pandemic.

    But we had 100,000 NHS staff vacancies before the pandemic.

    NHS waiting lists were already at a record 4.5 million BEFORE the pandemic.

    The number of cancer patients not getting care on time rose in every single year since the Tories came to power BEFORE the pandemic.

    The longer the Conservatives are in power, the longer patients will wait.

    The Tories run from their record, but we’re proud of ours.

    Proud of 89,000 more nurses.

    44,000 more doctors.

    Faster cancer treatment.

    The lowest waiting times on record.

    And the highest patient satisfaction in history.

    That’s the difference a Labour government makes.

    But the challenge today is even greater than it was in 1997.

    The very principle of an NHS publicly funded, free at the point of use, is now under attack.

    Conservatives who spent the last 12 years running down the NHS are now using their failures to claim that the NHS is beyond repair.

    Lots of you know that I went through kidney cancer last year.

    When I received that cancer diagnosis there were so many things I worried about.

    But the one thing I didn’t have to worry about was the bill.

    So, to those who argue we should abandon a publicly funded NHS free at the point of use I say: over my dead body.

    I’m a Labour moderniser.

    I make no apology for it.

    Because if we don’t modernise and change the NHS, it will become unsustainable.

    So, here’s what we’ll do to make the NHS fit for the future.

    Without a workforce plan, the Conservatives have no plan for the NHS.

    Everything else they announce is a sticking plaster that fails to address the root cause of the NHS crisis.

    Politics is about choices. Labour believes the country needs doctors and nurses more than the richest need a tax cut.

    So, we will double the number of medical training places

    And create an extra 10,000 nursing and midwifery clinical placements every year.

    More doctors, more nurses, lower waiting times, higher standards for patients

    That’s the Labour pledge at the next general election.

    Alongside investment will come the change and modernisation that the public are crying out for.

    Voters won’t accept pouring money into 20th century healthcare that isn’t fit for the future.

    We don’t focus nearly enough on prevention, early intervention and care in the community.

    Because people can’t see a GP they end up in A&E, which is worse for them and more expensive for the taxpayer.

    Because people can’t get the mental health support they need, they reach a crisis point, which is worse for them and more expensive for the taxpayer.

    Because people can’t get the social care they need, they’re left stuck in hospital, which is worse for them and more expensive for the taxpayer.

    So, the next Labour Government will agree a 10-year plan with the NHS to shift the focus of healthcare out of the hospital and into the community.

    Our plan to recruit more doctors will deliver better access to GPs and ease pressure on A&Es.

    Our plan to recruit 8,500 mental health workers will provide faster treatment, support in schools, and ease pressure on hospitals.

    And our commitment to deliver better pay, terms and conditions for care workers, will reduce the 400,000 delayed discharges every month and provide better quality care for older and disabled people.

    The first steps on the road to a National Care Service.

    There are so many people in hospital who wouldn’t need to be there if we could provide quality care at home.

    District nursing will be at the heart of Labour’s plan.

    The Conservatives have cut four in ten District Nurse posts.

    Labour will double the number of District Nurses qualifying every year.

    For kids from working class backgrounds like mine, life chances and even life expectancy can be determined from the moment we’re born.

    Health visitors have such an important role to play in helping Mums and Dads but they are managing dangerously high caseloads.

    So, we will train 5,000 health visitors to tackle the shortage and give every child the best, healthy start in life.

    Our 10 year plan for the NHS will be the antidote to the Tory miserablism about the NHS and its future.

    I want Britain leading the revolution in medical science and technology.

    It offers a world of possibility for the NHS to transform patient care.

    Technology can diagnose patients more accurately than the human eye.

    Virtual wards allow people to receive hospital care at home.

    But the biggest prize of all is the advance in genomics and the data revolution that will allow us to transform our model care from one that diagnoses and treats illness to one that can predict and prevent it.

    This will be at the heart of Labour’s 10 year plan for change and modernisation.

    And so will higher standards for patients.

    As Labour’s Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, I’ll be the shop steward for patients.

    Giving patients a voice as well as choice.

    Patients deserve better than a two week wait to see a GP.

    I have higher standards for patients.

    When we were in government, Labour guaranteed appointments within two days.

    Labour will give all patients the ability to book online, the opportunity to self-refer to specialist services where appropriate and a wider range of choice so that we can choose whether we want to see someone face-to-face, on the phone or via a video link.

    The days of waiting on the phone at 8am to book an appointment with your GP will be over and we will bring back the family doctor.

    Patients need a Labour government.

    The NHS isn’t just Labour’s greatest achievement.

    It’s Britain’s greatest achievement.

    And the values that underpin the NHS – a publicly funded public service, free at the point of use – aren’t just Labour’s values, they are Britain’s values, too.

    And our Party has always understood that the NHS needs to change to adapt to modern challenges.

    So now it falls to our generation.

    No more over-flowing A&Es and waiting weeks to see a doctor.

    No more patients dying before they can get the treatment they need.

    No more staff in tears, leaving the NHS, broken and exhausted.

    No more cancer patients left under make-shift shelters in their gardens, waiting 15 hours for an ambulance.

    Instead – a Labour Government:

    Empowering patients.

    Cherishing staff.

    Shifting to prevention.

    Caring in the community

    Giving real choices.

    Tackling inequalities.

    Building a National Care Service.

    And an NHS fit for the future.

    The cavalry is coming with Labour.

    So, let’s go out there and win for Labour, win for the NHS and win for Britain.

    Thank you.

  • PRESS RELEASE : Welcoming support for a peaceful two-state solution by Israeli and Palestinian leaders [September 2022]

    PRESS RELEASE : Welcoming support for a peaceful two-state solution by Israeli and Palestinian leaders [September 2022]

    The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 28 September 2022.

    Statement by Ambassador Barbara Woodward at the UN Security Council meeting on the Middle East peace process.

    Thank you President, and I thank Special Coordinator Wennesland for his helpful but sobering briefing.

    Let me start by welcoming both Prime Minister Lapid and President Abbas’ support for a two-state solution, during their speeches to the General Assembly last week. The UK firmly believes that a two-state solution, based on 1967 lines, with Jerusalem as a shared capital and a just solution for refugees is the best way to deliver long-term peace.

    The challenges facing a two-state solution however remain significant. We share deep concerns about the deteriorating security situation in the West Bank. And we urge all parties to reduce tensions and avoid de-stabilising unilateral actions.

    We urge Israel not to proceed with demolitions at Masafer Yatta, which would cause unnecessary suffering, and are against international law in all but the most exceptional circumstances.

    We unequivocally condemn the execution of five Gazans by Hamas this month. The UK opposes the death penalty in all circumstances.

    In the West Bank, in 2022 more Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since the UN started recording fatalities in 2005. The UK remains fully supportive of Israel’s right to self-defence, but where there are accusations of excessive use of force, we advocate swift, transparent investigations.

    We are appalled too by terrorist attacks against Israeli citizens. Such attacks cannot be justified.

    We appreciate Norway’s leadership in convening the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee this month. We welcome progress on economic measures, including the electronic payment of Palestinian workers in Israel, and work ensuring the continued success of E-Vat. However, bolder and faster action is needed to deliver real economic change in the OPTs. TThe UK is committed to supporting another meeting of the Joint Economic Committee as soon as possible.

    We also thank Jordan and Sweden for hosting a Ministerial meeting in support of UNRWA. The UK is a long-standing financial and political supporter of UNRWA, and we welcome UNRWA’s continued support to Palestinian refugees across the region. We encourage further dialogue among partners to ensure delivery on UNRWA’s mandate.

    In conclusion President,

    Peace will only be achieved only through meaningful dialogue between the parties, which tackles the drivers of instability and violence in the immediate term. We encourage further and deeper engagement towards this goal.

    Thank you.

  • PRESS RELEASE : New £50 million cyber academy to benefit influential UK-US relationship [September 2022]

    PRESS RELEASE : New £50 million cyber academy to benefit influential UK-US relationship [September 2022]

    The press release issued by the Ministry of Defence on 28 September 2022.

    • World-class cyber training in the UK to be expanded thanks to £50m investment.
    • New academy will benefit international partners, including the US, through exchanging knowledge and ideas in cyberspace operations.
    • Announcement made during defence summit onboard HMS Queen Elizabeth, anchored in New York City.

    The announcement comes as UK and US defence chiefs attend the Atlantic Future Forum 2022 in New York City this week.

    The two-day forum seeks to advance vital defence, security, trading and economic partnerships between the UK and US, and explore how to boost innovation, economic growth and resilience.

    Building on the success of the UK’s Defence Cyber School, the new Defence Cyber Academy will develop sovereign and international courses and support wider UK endeavours in developing the national cyber profession – launching in 2022.

    It will bolster the ranks of the UK and international allies, including the United States, training high-quality defence personnel to be at the forefront of cyber technology, strategy and operational preparedness. Closer alliances between our nations, delivered through shared experiences and training, will allow our personnel to better prepare for NATO, joint and multi-domain operations of the future.

    Backed by £50 million, the academy will support the wider development of the national cyber profession, as part of the National Cyber Strategy. It will:

    • Increase the volume and scope of training and education, supporting the growth of Defence’s cyber workforce
    • Collaborate with global allies, to identify and adopt best-practice, and provide international products and services
    • Engage with industry and academia to enhance its Higher Education and research programme

    Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said:

    Defence co-operation between the United Kingdom and the United States is the broadest and deepest of any two countries in the world, and will continue to expand in the coming decades.

    The Defence Cyber Academy builds on that collaboration, defining closer integration and shared capability, helping us and our allies counter global cyber security threats, staying one step ahead and at the forefront of this cutting-edge military domain.

    Based in Shrivenham, Oxfordshire, the launch of the academy comes after the DCMS revealed cyber-attacks, including espionage activity and ransomware infiltration, across Government has cost an estimated £100 million in the last year.

    Commander of Strategic Command, General Sir Jim Hockenhull said:

    As Defence’s leader for the cyber domain, Strategic Command is committed to ensuring our personnel have the cyber skills needed to maintain a competitive edge against our adversaries.  The Defence Cyber Academy will allow us to expand the training opportunities we offer, and share these with our international allies. This new development will help us share our expertise and better conduct the integrated operations needed in a modern battlespace.

    The Atlantic Future Forum is taking place on board HMS Queen Elizabeth, anchored in the Hudson River just off New York City’s financial district. In the coming months, the aircraft carrier will be at the heart of a powerful task group made up of thousands of sailors, up to ten ships, F-35B Lightning jets, helicopter squadrons and Royal Marines Commandos which will operate across Europe this autumn.

    The conference is an opportunity to discuss the success of the UK and US working collaboratively at unprecedented speed to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine with crucial military capabilities since Russia’s illegal and unprovoked invasion.

    The continued and very close relationships between US and UK suppliers and governments has seen typical procurement timelines shortened from months to days, allowing the supply of military aid in record speed.

    As well as the large capabilities, such as multi-launch rocket systems, ground-to-air missiles and anti-tank weapons, non-lethal military aid has been procured at pace. For example, around 200 armoured vehicles have been fitted with sophisticated military communications capabilities and delivered to Ukraine, involving the designing of dozens of components from scratch.

  • PRESS RELEASE : UK condemns Iranian attacks on the Kurdistan Region of Iraq [September 2022]

    PRESS RELEASE : UK condemns Iranian attacks on the Kurdistan Region of Iraq [September 2022]

    The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 28 September 2022.

    Commenting on Iranian attacks on the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Minister of State for the Middle East, South Asia, UN and the Prime Minister’s Special Representative on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict, Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, said:

    Iran must cease its indiscriminate bombardment of Kurdish towns which has led to the loss of innocent lives and damaged civilian infrastructure. These attacks are a violation of Iraq’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and are wholly unacceptable. They demonstrate a repeated pattern of Iranian destabilising activity in the region.

    We stand with the Kurdistan Regional Government in condemning these attacks and will continue to support the sovereignty and security of Iraq, including the Kurdistan Region.