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  • Boris Johnson – 2019 Press Release on Knife Crime

    Boris Johnson – 2019 Press Release on Knife Crime

    Below is a press release issued by the Conservative Party on 19/11/2019.

    A Boris Johnson majority government would take a tough new approach to tackling knife crime and serious violence, the Prime Minister has announced today.

    Under the new plans:

    Anyone caught unlawfully with a knife will be immediately arrested, charged within 24 hours and in court within a week – three times faster than the current average.

    Police will be empowered to target known knife carriers with a new court order, making it easier for officers to stop and search those known in the past to have carried weapons.

    Violence reduction units – multi-agency teams made up of the police, social services and other agencies – will be boosted by £35 million next year to champion preventative work and stop violence from happening in the first place.

    The plans build on the success of increased use of stop and search in the past year, which has led to a 22 per cent increase in arrests for possession of weapons.

    Commenting on the new announcements, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said:

    “A majority Conservative government would come down hard on the scourge of knife crime.

    “We have committed to putting an extra 20,000 police officers on our streets, but they need to have the powers to act decisively and effectively to prevent crime and see that offenders face justice.

    “That’s why today we are announcing greater freedoms for the police to use stop and search on individuals who are known to have carried knives in the past. We are also speeding up prosecutions to make sure the threat of being caught is always an effective deterrent.

    “Just as with our plans to improve schools and hospitals, we can only do any of this if we end the gridlock in parliament with a Conservative majority government.

    “We had to call this election to end that deadlock and now the choice is simple. Either we can have more confusion and delay with Jeremy Corbyn, who wants to call two more chaotic referendums next year, or we have a Conservative government who will get Brexit done and focus on the people’s priorities like tackling violent crime, improving our NHS and investing in schools across the country.”

    What you need to know:

    Knife crime is blighting some of our communities – having a devastating impact on young people.

    Hospital admissions for assault by a sharp object were up by 15 per cent in 2017-18 – the latest date for which records are available – in comparison to the previous year. The year 2017-18 was the year with the lowest number of stop and searches. Fortunately, in 2018-19 the police carried out 55 per cent more stop and searches to look for weapons. This has had a positive effect with a 22 per cent increase in arrests for possession of weapons.

    Adult offenders caught with a knife following stop and search will be arrested on the spot, cautioned or charged within 24 hours, and have their first court appearance in less than a week.

    Most of them will be sentenced there and then. All those who receive a community order, suspended sentence, or immediate custodial sentence will also receive a Serious Violence Reduction Order. So, from the moment they walk out of court (or out of the prison gates on licence) they would face more of a chance of being caught. They will know that if caught with a knife again, they will be very likely to receive an immediate custodial sentence.

    90% of those dealt with by the police for possession of knives are charged, the other 10% are given cautions.
    Therefore we not are proposing to take away the police discretion to give cautions (rather than charging) in appropriate cases.

    We will introduce a new Serious Violence Reduction Order to enable the police to stop and search habitual knife carriers without suspicion – helping to get more weapons off our streets.

    As proposed by the think-tank the Centre for Social Justice, and backed by Lord Hogan-Howe, these orders will allow police to target known knife carriers, so stop and search tactics can be a more effective deterrent.

    This power would be in addition to the two main types of existing stop and search powers – Section 1 and Section 60.

    A Serious Violence Reduction Order would act like a personalised Section 60 search power for individuals who have, in a criminal court of law been proven to have been in possession of an offensive weapon. This would include pointed or bladed weapons, firearms, and corrosive substances.

    The Order would apply to both custodial and non-custodial sentences, thus ensuring that every offender – from the moment they are sentenced at court or from when they leave prison on licence – would face an increased risk of detection. This would help to focus our response on what is a relatively small proportion of dangerous offenders.
    Polling by the Centre for Social Justice found that 70 per cent of non-white people would support Serious Violence Reduction Orders.

    We will invest £35 million in eighteen Violence Reduction Units next year to enable them to implement a long term, multi-agency, preventative approach – helping to stop violence from happening in the first place.

    In parts of the country with violent crime hotspots such as London, Manchester, Hampshire and the Midlands, the police, councils, and other agencies will have the resources they need to better coordinate their response to knife crime – sharing data on violence and investing in preventive measures to intervene early in the right places. This extra funding will give the units the certainty they need to plan for the future – hiring more staff and helping more young people.

  • Jeremy Corbyn – 2019 Speech on Broadband

    Jeremy Corbyn – 2019 Speech on Broadband

    Below is the text of the speech made by Jeremy Corbyn, the Leader of the Opposition, on 15 November 2019.

    Thank you for that welcome.

    At the start of this election I promised to put forward the most radical and exciting plan for real change the British public has ever seen.

    We haven’t even launched our manifesto yet, but our campaign is already electric. On the ground it’s bigger and more exciting than 2017.

    And I’ll let you into a little secret – when our manifesto arrives next week, it’s going to knock your socks off.

    I don’t want anyone to be able to say, a few years into a Labour government, that nothing ever changes or that politicians are all the same.

    I want everyone to feel the positive difference to their own life when you have the government and the people working together, collectively, to take on the system and make life better for the many, not the few.

    And do you know what? We’re so confident that’s what our manifesto will do that today we want to give you a sneak peek.

    A taster of the kind of fresh, transformational policies that will change your life.

    So here it is: a Labour government will make broadband free for everybody.

    And not just any broadband, but the very fastest. Full-fibre broadband to every home, in every part of our country, for free – as a universal public service.

    And once it’s up and running, instead of you forking out for your monthly bill, we’ll tax the giant corporations fairly – the Facebooks and the Googles – to cover the running costs.

    That is a policy for the many.

    Making broadband free and available to all will open up opportunities for everybody.

    It will put us at the cutting edge of social and economic change.

    Because what we’re about is building a country that’s fit for the future.

    The internet has become such a central part of our lives. It opens up opportunities for work, creativity, entertainment and friendship.

    What was once a luxury is now an essential utility.

    That’s why full-fibre broadband must be a public service, bringing communities together with equal access in an inclusive and connected society.

    Fast and free broadband for all will fire up our economy, deliver a massive boost to productivity and bring half a million people back into the workforce.

    It will help our environment and tackle the climate emergency by reducing the need to commute.

    And it will make our country fairer, more equal and more democratic.

    The full-fibre broadband Labour will deliver is the gold standard. It is the fastest, most secure and most reliable form of broadband, using fibre optic cables to take data directly into people’s homes and businesses.

    And it will help to boost 5G to people’s phones too.

    Full-fibre will deliver lightning-fast download times.

    It will put an end to patchy and slow coverage once and for all.

    And it will save the average household £30 a month on bills.

    Britain’s broadband network is lagging well behind other countries.

    Just 8 to 10 per cent of the UK has access to full-fibre broadband, compared to 98 per cent in South Korea.

    Something clearly isn’t working.

    This is core infrastructure for the 21st Century. I think it’s too important to be left to the corporations.

    The most efficient and rapid way to deliver a broadband network fit for our times, and make it a genuine public service for all, is for the public to take control.

    So under our plans, we will create a new public enterprise – and we’ll call it British Broadband.

    British Broadband will oversee a publicly-owned full-fibre network and deliver free broadband to every home, with a phased roll-out over ten years.

    To do that we will bring the relevant parts of BT, including Openreach, into public ownership.

    By creating British Broadband as a public service, we will lead the world in using public investment to transform our country, reduce people’s monthly bills, boost our economy and improve people’s quality of life.

    And it will have national security benefits too.

    To me, that’s common sense. The corporations have been unable or unwilling to roll out full-fibre fast enough, and they have little incentive to invest in rural and remote parts of Britain.

    But under our plan, the priority will be those with least connectivity, mainly in rural and remote areas but also in some inner-city areas, unlocking new opportunities across huge swathes of our country.

    And we will then move on to towns, giving a boost to local economies and making it easier for people to run successful businesses outside the big cities.

    And finally, we will complete the roll-out in the well-connected urban centres.

    Ask people about their experience with private broadband companies and many will tell you about internet dropouts and hours spent on hold listening to Vivaldi, waiting to speak to an overworked and underpaid customer service worker who probably can’t fix the problem anyway.

    Full-fibre will provide the most reliable service, and British Broadband will be properly staffed, with guaranteed jobs for everyone currently working in broadband.

    Under public ownership, key universal services can be run for the British people instead of for profit.

    In July, when he was running for Conservative leader, Boris Johnson also promised to make full-fibre broadband available across the country – except he expected you to pay for it.

    But it will surprise nobody that this was just another case of Johnson’s signature move: the broken promise.

    So what is he now offering instead? A low-budget option using old copper cables that are already out of date.

    Johnson’s plans are yet another billionaire wealth grab, bunging public money to big corporations including Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin instead of putting the technology in the hands of the British people.

    We need real change.

    But I know the question that will be on everyone’s lips: ‘how are you going to pay for it?’

    Well let me tell you.

    The initial upgrade to our infrastructure will be funded through our Green Transformation Fund.

    And when it comes to the running costs, we’re not going to put that onto the British public, who have already forked out far too much for rip-off broadband.

    Instead, a Labour government will close down tax tricks used by giants like Google and Facebook, who make millions in Britain while paying next to nothing to the public purse.

    I pay my tax.

    Everybody in this room pays their tax.

    Small businesses pay their tax.

    So why can’t the giant multinationals?

    They think they can get away with not paying their share. Well I’ve got news for them: not anymore.

    Labour believes that the British people deserve the very best.

    As a country we should be proud of our history of building treasured public institutions and services.

    In the 19th Century it was the public waterworks.

    In the 20th Century it was our fantastic National Health Service, freeing people from the fear of illness.

    British Broadband will be our treasured public institution for the 21st century, delivering fast and free broadband to every home.

    Only the government has the planning ability, economies of scale and ambition to take this on.

    This is a mission for everyone to get behind.

    Together we will build a new, universal public service delivering the fastest broadband free to everyone.

    This will be at the heart of Labour’s plans to transform the future of our economy and society.

    Labour will put wealth and power in the hands of the many, while Boris Johnson’s Conservatives will only look after the privileged few.

    It’s time to make the very fastest full-fibre broadband free to all, in every home, in every corner of our country.

    It’s time for real change.

    Thank you.

  • John McDonnell – 2019 Speech on Broadband

    John McDonnell – 2019 Speech on Broadband

    Below is the text of the speech made by John McDonnell, the Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, on 15 November 2019.

    I want to thank my friend, Jeremy Corbyn, for showing us in that speech why he will be the Prime Minister that this country so desperately needs.

    He will be a connected Prime Minister who knows and understands the communities of this country that he will stand up for. He will be a principled Prime Minister, always giving expression to the best of the values that we can all live up to; like care, and solidarity, and justice. And he will be a visionary Prime Minister, bold and ambitious in his agenda for this country and the world. Being connected, principled, and visionary, they are qualities our country is crying out for.

    These are the very qualities that Boris Johnson lacks, as he has demonstrated in recent months. A Prime Minister who didn’t know what the minimum wage was a matter of months ago. A Prime Minister who tells one audience what’s in his Brexit deal, and another audience something completely different. A Prime Minister with no positive vision for change in this country beyond returning us to the Thatcher years.

    I say this to the Prime Minister: nostalgia for some bygone era is no substitute for vision.

    We’re now into the second week of this general election campaign. We will continue to be relentlessly positive in what we present, mapping out the different kind of society we will create and doing it with care, precision, and discipline. Costing every new spending announcement, describing in detail how we will deliver our plans.

    In the meantime, the Tories continue their campaign of scattershot attacks and scare-mongering, while they refuse to cost their own policies and while the Chancellor refuses to participate in a debate with me about what our respective policies mean for the future of this country. These are the same old Tory attack lines and the same old Tory tactics. They don’t seem to understand the times we’re in.

    It’s not just Brexit; which does need to be resolved through a leader that listens, and a leader that is connected to people, a leader like Jeremy Corbyn. It’s also about the climate emergency, and the human emergency caused by 9 long years of Tory austerity. Where 87 people die a day waiting for the care they need. Where 155 women and 103 children are turned away from refuges every day because of the cuts. Where 726 die in a year, last year, because they have no home to sleep in. As Chancellor I won’t allow this to go on.

    So last week I announced our ambitious investment plans. £250 billion for a Green Transformation Fund over 10 years. £150 billion for a Social Transformation Fund over 5 years. Investment at a scale that matches the scale of the emergencies we face.

    In the world we live in today, all of our infrastructure must be green and we cannot ignore the social infrastructure that is the glue that holds our community together. But what we’re saying today is we have also failed to be ambitious enough about our digital infrastructure.

    In the mid-1990s the South Korean government launched a nationwide project, the Korean Information Infrastructure project. In 1995, they had just one internet user for every hundred citizens.[1] Now, partly because of mission-oriented government investment, they have 98% of their population covered by full-fibre broadband. We have had nothing near that level of forward-thinking ambition in this country.

    That changes today, and that changes with a Labour Government.

    We are announcing our mission today to deliver free full-fibre broadband to all by 2030. To achieve that, as Jeremy has already indicated, we will roll out the remaining 90% of the full-fibre network. We’ll acquire the necessary access rights to the existing 10% of the full-fibre network that has already been rolled out. To achieve these things we’ll create a new entity, British Broadband.

    That entity will bring the broadband-relevant parts of BT into public ownership. That will include Openreach, which has installed the majority of existing full-fibre coverage, and parts of BT Technology, BT Enterprise, and BT Consumer.

    EE, Plusnet, BT Global Services, and BT TV will not be brought into public ownership and we will work the workforce and unions to finalise the details of these plans.

    British Broadband will be a new public service for the twenty-first century. It will have two arms, an infrastructure arm and a service arm. British Digital Infrastructure, the infrastructure arm, will take on the roll-out of the full-fibre network. The British Broadband Service, the service arm, will deliver free full-fibre broadband to all.

    We’ll deliver that free full-fibre broadband in tranches, beginning with those with the worst quality broadband: including rural and remote regions, and inner-city suburbs. We’ll then move into towns, ending with those parts of large urban centres currently well-served.

    British Broadband will not represent a return to the 1970s in how it operates. They didn’t have broadband in the 1970s, this is public ownership for the future. Public ownership where workers, consumers, and other stakeholders manage the service, and we will guarantee workers currently in broadband infrastructure and retail jobs employment in British Broadband.

    At the same time as all of this, we’ll pass a Charter of Digital Rights. The most cutting-edge protection of digital and data rights this country has ever seen.

    Compare this with what the Tories proposed. They’ve suggested a £5 billion pay out for part of the network but they won’t even keep the ownership of the network. So what they want is a fat subsidy to existing operators like Virgin. All the signs are that they’ll use a procurement process that wastes tens of millions on legal and consultancy fees with suggestions that building won’t get underway until November 2021. And all they’re aspiring to is ‘gigabit-capable’ broadband – broadband of a certain speed. That could keep old copper cables in the ground and keep the UK behind the technological revolution other countries have kick started. It’s not enough for the times we’re in.

    Ours is a plan that will provide a step-up for people with 5G connections and businesses developing 5G-based products. A plan that will challenge rip-off ‘out-of-contract’ pricing and that will literally eliminate bills for millions of people across the UK. Rebecca Long-Bailey, our Shadow BEIS Minister, will speak more about what this means for our environment, for our businesses, and for our society.

    What I want to underscore is that every part of this plan has been legally vetted, checked with experts, and costed.

    The full-fibre network will be paid for with £15.3 billion out of our Green Transformation Fund. That’s based on a £20.3 billion national monopoly costing by Frontier Economics, taking off £5 billion from the Government’s not-yet-spent commitment. The maintenance costs of the network, around £230 million a year, will be more than covered by a new approach to taxing multinationals that we welcomed several weeks ago.

    It’s an approach that looks at where multinationals’ sales, workforce, and operations are, as a share of their global activity. So if a multinational has 10% of its sales, workforce, and operations in the UK, they’re asked to pay tax on 10% of their global profits. Two tax experts recently estimated that the approach could raise £6-14 billion for the UK. It is easily enough to pay for the maintenance costs of the network, and any costs of servicing the debt from bringing parts of BT into public ownership. That public ownership process will happen in the usual way, with bonds swapped for shares, and Parliament setting the final price. We know, from our expert advice, that this is delivered.

    The network can be built in 10 years. We can train and provide the skilled engineers and workers needed to roll out the network, including through our exciting package on lifelong learning. We can implement this new tax on multinationals, to ask the tech giants like Google and Facebook to pay a bit more, for internet connectivity they benefit from, and so that we can all share in the benefits of living in a digital world.

    People asked last week whether there were ‘shovel-ready’ projects for our ambitious infrastructure investment plans. This is a shovel-ready project.

    What we are offering in this election is real change and what we’ve announced today is what real change looks and feels like. It looks and feels like thousands of people, getting stuck in around the country, to provide a service that will make all of our lives better. It looks and feels like taking on the multinationals, something for years people have said is too hard. It looks and feels like a service that people once paid for, which will now be free. It looks and feels like people having a future they can be excited about.

    You know, Ken Loach has a new film out. But in an older one of his that some of you might have seen, Which Side Are You On?, one of the miners recites words of a poem. The poem speaks of how the miners were “lost in the bowels of the earth / through trying to make a future. But now what is it worth?”. Young people and others are asking that question again now. With a torn social fabric and a climate emergency, what is our future worth?

    In the Labour Party, with your help, we have an answer. We have a vision of the future that we think is worth fighting for.

    We’ll fight for it in government.

    You’ll help us deliver it.

    Solidarity.

  • 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.