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Tag: 2021

  • Ed Miliband – 2021 Comments on Gas Prices

    Ed Miliband – 2021 Comments on Gas Prices

    The comments made by Ed Miliband, the Shadow Business Secretary, on 6 October 2021.

    Britain’s businesses and consumers are paying the price for the failures of this government.

    The UK is particularly vulnerable to increases in gas prices because the government allowed our gas storage facilities to close, blocked onshore wind, cut solar subsidies, stalled our nuclear programme and because of their total failure to deliver a long-term plan for energy efficiency.

    And now the Government remains in total denial about the scale of the energy price crisis facing consumers and firms. The Prime Minister needs to stop with the bluster, and get a grip of the cost of living crisis facing our country.

  • Liz Truss – 2021 Joint Statement on Iraq’s Early Elections

    Liz Truss – 2021 Joint Statement on Iraq’s Early Elections

    The statement released by the Governments of Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States on 6 October 2021.

    The Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, the Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom, and the U.S. Secretary of State welcome the Iraqi Independent High Electoral Commission’s (IHEC) preparations for the October 10 election. This early election is an opportunity for Iraqi voters to democratically determine their future.

    We recognize the importance of this moment in Iraqi history. In response to requests from the Iraqi people, substantial resources have been mobilized in support of free and fair elections.

    In May 2020, the UN Security Council enhanced the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq’s (UNAMI) electoral assistance mandate. The resulting UNAMI electoral assistance mission, tasked with supporting IHEC, is the largest of its kind in the world, with five times more UN officials than were present during the 2018 election.

    In late 2020, Iraqis coalesced around the idea that international monitoring was a prerequisite for electoral legitimacy. Accordingly, the Government of Iraq submitted a request to the UN Security Council. On May 27, 2021, the Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 2576, authorizing a UNAMI election monitoring team. On June 21, 2021, the EU announced a separate election observation mission, which now comprises a significant number of experts from EU member states. Both missions have already deployed monitors and observers, respectively. These missions represent a good-faith international effort to fulfil Iraqis’ request and bolster the integrity of the election.

    The Iraqi people now have an opportunity to exercise their fundamental right to vote. We support the Iraqi government’s efforts to ensure a safe, free, fair, and inclusive electoral environment for all Iraqis, including women and youth, who have long faced violence and intimidation in the pursuit of reform. Likewise, we support the Iraqi government’s efforts to ensure that internally displaced persons can safely participate in the election. We call on all parties to respect the rule of law and the integrity of the electoral process.

  • Boris Johnson – 2021 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

    Boris Johnson – 2021 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

    The speech made by Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister, on 6 October 2021.

    Isn’t it amazing to be here in person

    the first time we have met since you defied the sceptics by winning councils and communities that Conservatives have never won in before – such as Hartlepool

    in fact it’s the first time since the general election of 2019 when we finally sent the corduroyed communist cosmonaut into orbit where he belongs

    and why are we back today

    for a traditional Tory cheek by jowler?

    It is because for months we have had one of the most open economies and societies

    and on July 19 we decided to open every single

    theatre and every concert hall and night club in England

    and

    we knew that some people would still be anxious

    so we sent top government representatives to our sweatiest boites de nuit to show that anyone could dance

    perfectly safely

    and wasn’t he brilliant my friends?

    let’s hear it for Jon Bon Govi

    living proof that we, you all

    represent the most jiving hip happening and generally funkapolitan party in the world

    and how have we managed to open up

    ahead of so many of our friends?

    You know the answer, its

    because of the roll-out of that

    vaccine

    a UK phenomenon

    the magic potion invented in oxford university

    and bottled in wales

    distributed at incredible speed to vaccination centres everywhere

    I saw the army in action in Glasgow

    firing staple guns like carbines as they set up a huge vaccination centre

    and in Fermanagh I saw the needles go in like a collective sewing machine

    and they vaccinated so rapidly that we were able to

    do those crucial groups one to four

    the oldest and most vulnerable faster than any other major economy in the world

    and though the disease has sadly not gone away the impact on death rates has been astonishing

    and I urge you all to get your jabs because every day our vaccine defences are getting stronger and stronger

    and you, all of you, and everybody watching made this roll-out possible

    you each made each other safe

    so perhaps we should all thank each other

    go on – try a cautious fist bump

    because it’s ok now

    and we in turn thank the

    volunteers, the public health workers, the council workers

    the pharmacists

    but above all our untiring unbeatable unbelievable NHS

    and as a responsible conservative government we must recognise the sheer scale of their achievement

    but recognise also the scale of the challenge ahead
    ‍

    The NHS
    When I was lying in St Thomas’s hospital last year l looked blearily out of my window at a hole in the ground

    between my ICU and another much older Victorian section

    and amid the rubble of brick they seemed to be digging a hole for something or indeed someone – possibly me

    but the NHS saved me

    and our wonderful nurses pulled my chestnuts out of Tartarean pit

    and the other day I went back on a visit

    and I saw that the hole had been filled in

    with three or four gleaming storeys

    of a new paediatrics unit

    and there you have the metaphor my friends for how to build back better now

    we have a huge hole

    in the public finances

    We spent £407 bn on covid support

    and our debt now stands at over two trillion pounds

    and waiting lists will almost certainly go up before they come down

    covid pushed out a great bow wave of cases

    people did not or could not seek help

    and that wave is now coming back

    a tide of anxiety washing into every A and E and every GP

    your hip replacement

    your mother’s surgery

    and this is the priority of the British people

    does anyone seriously imagine that we should not now be raising the funding to sort this out

    is that really the view of responsible conservatives?

    I can tell you something

    Margaret Thatcher would not have ignored this meteorite that has just crashed through the public finances

    she would have wagged her finger and said more borrowing now is just higher interest rates and even higher taxes later

    when this country was sick our NHS was the nurse

    frontline health care workers

    battled against a new disease

    selflessly

    risking their lives sacrificing their lives

    and it is right that this Party that has looked after the NHS for most of its history

    should be the one to rise to the challenge

    48 new hospitals

    50,000 more nurses

    50m more GP appointments

    40 new diagnostic centres

    and fixing those backlogs with real change

    because the pandemic not only put colossal pressure on the NHS

    it was a lightning flash illumination of a problem we have failed to address for decades
    ‍

    Fixing Social Care
    In 1948 this country created the National Health Service but kept social care local

    and though that made sense in many ways generations of older people have found themselves

    lost in the gap

    when covid broke there were 100,000 beds in the NHS

    – and 30,000 occupied by people who could have been cared for elsewhere

    whether at home or in residential care

    and we all know that this problem of delayed discharge is one of the major reasons why

    it takes too long to get the hospital treatment that your family desperately need

    and people worry that they will be the one in ten

    to suffer from the potentially catastrophic cost of dementia

    wiping out everything they have

    and preventing them from passing on anything to their families

    and we Conservatives stand by those who have shared our values

    thrift and hard work

    and who face total destitution in this brutal lottery

    of old age

    in which treatment for cancer is funded by the state

    and care for alzheimers is not – or only partly

    and to fix these twin problems of the NHS and social care

    we aren’t just going to siphon billions of new taxes into crucial services

    without improving performance

    we will

    use new technology so that there is a single set of electronic records as patients pass between health and social care

    improving care

    and ensuring that cash goes to the frontline

    and not on needless bureaucracy

    When I stood on the steps of Downing Street I promised to fix this crisis

    and after decades of drift and dither

    this reforming government

    this can do government

    this government that got brexit done

    that is getting the vaccine rollout done

    is going to get social care done

    and we are dealing with the biggest underlying issues of our economy and society

    the problems that no government has had the guts to tackle before

    and I mean the long term structural weaknesses

    in the UK economy

    It is thanks to that vaccine roll-out that we now have the most open economy and the fastest growth in the G7

    we have unemployment two million lower than forecast

    We have demand surging

    and I am pleased to say that after years of stagnation – more than a decade – wages are going up

    faster than before the pandemic began

    and that matters deeply

    because we are embarking now on a change of direction that has been long overdue

    in the UK economy

    we are not going back to the same old broken model

    with low wages

    low growth

    low skills

    and low productivity

    all of it enabled and assisted by uncontrolled immigration

    and the answer to the present stresses and strains

    which are mainly a function of growth and economic revival

    is not to reach for that same old lever of uncontrolled immigration

    to keep wages low

    the answer is to control immigration

    to allow people of talent to come to this country

    but not to use immigration as an excuse for failure to invest

    in people, in skills

    and in the equipment the facilities the machinery they need to do their jobs

    the truckstops – to pick an example entirely at random – with basic facilities where you don’t have to urinate in the bushes

    and that is the direction in which this country is going now

    towards a high wage

    high skill

    high productivity

    and yes, thereby low tax economy

    that is what the people of this country need and deserve

    in which everyone can take pride in their work and in the quality of their work

    and yes it will take time

    and yes it will sometimes be difficult

    but that was the change that people voted for in 2016

    and that was the change they voted for again powerfully in 2019

    and to deliver that change we will get on with our job

    of uniting and levelling up across the UK

    the greatest project that any government can embark on

    We have one of the most imbalanced societies and lop-sided economies

    of all the richer countries

    it is not just that there is a gap between London and the South east and the rest of the country

    there are aching gaps within the regions themselves

    what monkey glands are they applying in Ribble Valley

    what royal jelly are they eating

    that they live seven years longer than the people of Blackpool

    only 33 miles away

    Why does half of York’s population boast a degree and only a quarter of Doncaster’s

    This is not just a question of social justice

    it is an appalling waste of potential

    and it is holding this country back

    because there is no reason why the inhabitants of one part of the country should be geographically fated to be poorer than others

    or why people should feel they have to move away from their loved ones, or communities to reach their potential

    When Thomas Gray stood in that country churchyard in 1750 and wrote his famous elegy

    as the curfew tolled the knell of parting day

    he lamented

    the wasted talents of those buried around him

    the flowers born to blush unseen

    the mute inglorious miltons who never wrote a poem

    because they never got to read

    the simple folk who died illiterate and innumerate

    and he knew that it was an injustice

    let me ask you, maybe you know

    where was he standing when he chewed his pensive quill ? Anybody know

    Correct, thank you, he was standing in Stoke poges

    my friends there may be underprivileged parts of this country but stoke poges is not now among them

    in fact it was only recently determined by the Daily Telegraph

    and if you can’t believe that, what can you believe my friends

    to be the 8th richest village in England

    since gray elegised, Buckinghamshire has levelled up to be among the most productive regions in the whole of Europe

    Stoke Poges may still of course have its problems

    but they are the overwhelmingly caused the sheer lust of other people to live in or near Stoke Poges

    overcrowded trains

    endless commutes

    too little time with the kids

    the constant anxiety that your immemorial view of chalk downland is going to be desecrated by ugly new homes

    and that is why levelling up works for the whole country

    and is the right and responsible policy, because it

    helps to take the pressure off parts of the overheating South East

    while simultaneously

    offering hope and opportunity to those areas that have felt left behind

    and let us be clear that there is a huge philosophical difference between us and labour

    because in their souls they don’t like levelling up

    they like levelling down they do

    they like decapitating the tall poppies and taxing the rich till the pips squeak

    they dislike academic competition latin I hear

    and in Islington – I kid you not I have seen it with my own eyes – they like kids to run races where nobody actually wins

    and I have to tell you I don’t believe that is a good preparation for life

    let alone for the Olympic games

    and if you insist on the economic theory behind levelling up

    it is contained in the insight of Wilfredo Pareto

    a 19th century Italian figre who floated from the cobwebbed attic of my memories

    that there are all kinds of improvements

    you can make to people’s lives he said

    without diminishing anyone else

    Rishi will I am sure confirm this

    and we call these pareto improvements

    and they are the means of levelling up

    and the idea in a nutshell it is that you will find talent genius flair imagination enthusiasm everywhere in this country all of them evenly distributed

    but opportunity is not

    and it is our mission as conservatives to promote opportunity

    with every tool we have

    and it is still a grim fact that in this country

    that some kids will grow up in neighbourhoods that are safer than others

    and some will be, as Priti was saying, some will be sucked into gangs

    and some will be at risk of stabbing and shooting

    and some will get themselves caught in the one way ratchet of the criminal justice system

    and many others will not

    that’s why levelling up means fighting crime

    putting more police out on the beat as we are

    and toughening sentences

    and rolling up the county lines drugs networks as we are

    1100 gone already

    and giving the police the powers they need

    to fight these dealers in death and misery that’s what we want to do

    – and what is Labour’s answer, by the way –

    to decriminalise hard drugs apparently

    to let the gangsters off with a caution

    an answer that is straight from the powder rooms of the North London dinner parties

    and nothing to do with the real needs of this country

    crime has been falling

    and not just by the way because we took the precaution of locking up the public for much of the last 18 months

    but because you have a conservative government that understands the broken windows theory of crime

    I read a learned article by some lawyer saying we should not bother about pet theft

    Well I say to Cruella de Vil QC – if you can steal a dog or a cat

    then there is frankly no limit to your depravity

    and you know those people gluing themselves to roads

    I don’t call them legitimate protestors

    like some Labour councillors do I, some Labour councillors actually glue themselves to roads

    I say they are a confounded nuisance who are blocking ambulances, stopping people go about their daily lives

    and I am glad Priti is taking new powers to insulate them snugly in prison where they belong

    what I found most incredible of all was the decision by Labour

    now led by lefty Islington lawyers

    to vote against tougher sentences for serious sexual and violent offenders

    and on behalf of the entire government I tell you

    we will not rest until we have increased the successful prosecutions for rape

    because too many lying bullying cowardly men are using the law’s delay

    to get away with violence against women

    and we cannot and we will not stand for it

    and I know that there are some who now tell us that we are ungenerous and unfeeling in our attempts to control our borders

    and I say – don’t give me that

    This is the government that stood up to China and announced that we would provide a haven for British overseas nationals in Hong Kong

    30,000 have already applied

    and I am really proud to be part of a Conservative government that will welcome 20,000 Afghans

    people who risked their lives to guide us and translate for us

    we are doing the right and responsible thing

    and speaking as the great grandson of a Turk who fled in fear of his life I know that this country is a beacon of light and hope for people around the world

    provided they come here legally

    provided we understand who they are and what they want to contribute

    and that is why we took back control of our borders

    and will pass the borders bill

    because we believe there must be a distinction between someone who comes here legally and someone who doesn’t

    and though I have every sympathy with people genuinely in fear of their lives

    I have no sympathy whatever

    with the people traffickers who take thousands of pounds

    to send children to sea in frail and dangerous craft

    and we must end this lethal trade

    we must break the gangsters’ business model

    and is it not a sublime irony that even in French politics there is now a leading centre right politician calling for a referendum on the EU

    Who is now calling for France to reprendre le controle??

    it’s good old Michel Barnier

    that’s what happens if you spend a year trying to argue with Lord Frost

    the greatest frost since the great frost of 1709

    and we will fight these gangs at home and abroad

    because their victims are invariably the poorest and the neediest

    and I will tell you what levelling up is

    a few years ago they started a school not far from the Olympic park

    a new school that anyone could send their kids to

    in an area that has for decades been one of the most disadvantaged in London

    that school is Brampton Manor academy and it now sends more kids to Oxbridge than Eton

    and if you want proof of what I mean by unleashing potential

    and by levelling up

    look at Brampton Manor

    and we can do it

    There is absolutely no reason why the kids of this country should lag behind

    or why so many should be unable to read and write or do basic mathematics at the age of 11

    and to level up

    – on top of the extra 14 bn we’re putting into education

    and on top of the increase that means every teacher starts with a salary of £30k

    we are announcing a levelling up premium of up to £3000 to send the best maths and science teachers to the places that need them most

    and above all we are investing in our skills, skills folks

    our universities are world beating, I owe everything to my tutors and they are one of the great glories of our economy

    but we all know that some of the most brilliant and imaginative and creative people in Britain

    and some of the best paid people in Britain

    did not go to university

    and to level up you need to give people the options

    the skills

    that are right for them

    and to make the most of those skills and knowledge

    and to level up you need urgently to

    plug all the other the gaps in our infrastructure that are still holding people and communities back

    As I’ve been saying over this wonderful conference to you

    when I became leader of this party, there were only, can you remember, what percentage of households had gigabit broadband when you were so kind as to make me leader? 7 percent, only 7 percent

    and by the new year that will be up to 68 per cent

    thanks to Rishi’s superdeduction the pace is now accelerating massively

    as companies thrust the fibre-optic vermicelli in the most hard to reach places

    it’s wonderful, for years SNP leader Ian Blackford has been telling the Commons that he is nothing but a humble crofter on the isle of Skye

    well now we have fibre optic broadband of very high quality that we can inspect the library or is it perhaps the billiard room of Ian Blackford’s croft

    and that is levelling up in action

    and my friends it is not good enough just to rely on zoom

    after decades of ducked decisions

    our national infrastructure is way behind some of our key competitors

    It is a disgrace that you still can’t swiftly cross the pennines by rail

    a disgrace that leeds is the largest city in Europe with no proper metro system

    a waste of human potential that so many places are not served by decent bus routes

    transport is one of the supreme leveller-uppers

    and we are making the big generational changes shirked by previous governments

    we will do Northern Powerhouse rail

    we will link up the cities of the midlands and the north

    we will restore those sinews of the union that have been allowed to atrophy

    the A1 north of Berwick and on into Scotland

    the A 75 in Scotland that is so vital for the links with northern Ireland and the rest of the country

    the north wales corridor

    and we will invest in our roads

    unblocking those coagulated roundabouts and steering-wheel-bending traffic lights

    putting on 4000 more clean green buses

    made in this country

    some of them running on hydrogen

    and as we come out of covid

    our towns and cities are again going to be buzzing with life

    because

    we know

    that a productive workforce

    needs that spur

    that only comes with face to face meetings

    and water cooler gossip

    if young people are to learn on the job in the way that they always have and must

    we will and must see people back in the office

    and that is why we are building back better with a once in an a century £640bn pound programme

    of investment

    and by making neighbourhoods safer

    by putting in the gigabit broadband

    by putting in the roads and the schools and the healthcare

    we will enable more and more young people everywhere

    to share the dream of home ownership

    the great ambition of the human race

    that the left always privately share but publicly disparage

    and we can do it
    ‍

    Look at this country from the air
    Go on google maps

    you see how our landscape has been plotted and pieced and jigsawed together by centuries of bequests and litigation

    a vast testament to security of title

    trust in the law

    a confidence that is responsible for so much international investment

    you see how rich this country is growing

    the billions of loving and incremental improvements to homes and gardens

    you can see how beautiful it is

    vast untouched moorland

    and hills

    broadleaf forests

    we are going to re-wild parts of the country and consecrate a total of 30 per cent to nature

    we are planting tens of millions of trees

    otters are returning to rivers from which they have been absent for decades

    beavers that have not been seen on some rivers since tudor times

    massacred for their pelts

    are now back

    and if that isn’t conservatism, my friends I don’t know what is

    build back beaver

    ‍and though the beavers may sometimes build without local authority permission

    you can also see how much room there is

    to build the homes that young families need in this country

    not on green fields

    not just jammed in the south east

    but beautiful homes on brownfield sites

    in places where homes make sense
    Home ownership
    And this government is helping young people to afford a home

    It has been a scandal – a rebuke to all we stand for

    that over the last 20 years the dream of home ownership

    has receded

    and yet under this government we are turning the tide

    we have not only built more homes than at any time in the last 30 years

    we are helping young people on to the property ladder

    with our 95 per cent mortgages

    and there is no happiness like taking a set of keys

    and knowing that the place is yours

    and you can paint the front door any colour you like

    as it happens I am not allowed to paint my own front door, it has to be black

    but I certainly don’t have far to go to work

    and if you don’t have too far to go to work

    and the commute is not too dreadful

    and if

    the job suits your skills

    and your wifi is fast and reliable

    then I tell you something else

    that housing

    in the right place

    at an affordable price

    will add massively not just to your general joie de vivre

    but to your productivity

    and that is how we solve the national productivity puzzle

    by fixing the broken housing market

    by plugging in the gigabit

    by putting in decent safe bus routes and all other transport infrastructure

    and by investing in skills skills skills

    and that by the way is how we help to cut the cost of living for everyone

    because housing, energy, transport

    are now huge parts of our monthly bills

    and it is by fixing our broken housing market

    by sorting out our energy supply – more wind, more nuclear, becoming less dependent on hydrocarbons from abroad

    by putting in those transport links

    we will hold costs down and save you money

    and we will make this country an even more attractive destination for foreign direct investment

    We are already the number one

    – look at the Nissan investment in Sunderland

    or the Pfizer vaccine manufacturing centre that’s coming to Swindon

    and with these productivity gains we will turbo charge that advantage

    and help businesses to start and grow everywhere

    so let me come now to the punchline of my sermon on the vaccine

    It was not the government that made the wonder drug

    it wasn’t brewed in the alembicks of the department of health

    It was, of course it was Oxford University, but it was the private sector that made it possible

    behind those vaccines are

    companies and shareholders and, yes,

    bankers

    you need deep pools of liquidity that are to be found in the City of London

    it was capitalism that ensured that we had a vaccine in less than a year

    and the answer therefore is not to attack the wealth creators

    it is to encourage them because they are responsible for the aggregate increase in the country’s wealth

    that enables us to make those pareto improvements

    and to level up everywhere

    and to rub home my point

    it is not just that vaccination has saved more than 120,000 lives

    Vaccination has allowed us to meet like this

    and blessed us with such rapid growth

    with wages rising fastest for those on lowest incomes

    and that levelling up in action

    The vaccines have ensured that by a simple vowel mutation jabs jabs jabs

    become jobs jobs jobs

    the world’s most effective vaccines have saved our open society and free market economy

    and it is our open society and free market economy that have produced the world’s most effective vaccines

    and that is the symmetry in the lesson of the covid vaccines

    – science, innovation, capitalism –

    is vital now for the challenge we face

    the challenge the whole humanity faces

    is even more existential for our way of life

    in just a few weeks time this country will host the summit of our generation in Glasgow

    when the resolve of the world is put to the test

    can we keep alive the ambition of Paris – to stop the planet heating by more than 1.5 degrees

    government can’t do it alone

    and taxpayers certainly can’t do it alone

    the other day I took a boat out into the moray firth

    to see an aquatic forest of white turbines towering over the water like the redwoods of california

    and you have no idea of their size until you see them up close

    the deceptive speed of their wings

    twice the diameter of the London eye

    their tips slicing the air at more than 100 miles per hour

    and I met the young men and women

    apprentices

    who had moved straight across from the world of oil and gas

    and they had the same excitement at working amid winds and wave

    and being able to see whales and dolphins from the office window

    but they had the extra satisfaction that goes with knowing you are doing something to save the planet

    and get Britain to Net Zero by 2050

    and that is the symmetry represented by these giant windmills

    massive and innovative private sector investment

    and a government taking the tough decisions to make it possible

    that’s the difference between this radical and optimistic Conservatism

    and a tired old Labour

    did you see them last week, did you watch them last week in Brighton

    hopelessly divided I thought they looked

    their leader like a seriously rattled bus conductor

    pushed this way and that by, not that they have bus conductors any more unfortunately, like a seriously rattled bus conductor pushed this way and that by a corbynista mob of sellotape-spectacled sans-culottes

    or the skipper of a cruise liner that has been captured by Somali pirates

    desperately trying to negotiate a change of course

    and then changing his mind

    and remember Labour’s performance during the pandemic

    flapping with all the conviction of a damp tea towel

    They refused to say that schools were safe

    they would have kept us in the European medicines agency

    and slammed the brakes on the vaccine roll out

    the Labour leader attacked the vaccine task force for spending money on outreach to vaccine hesitant minority groups

    when it is hard to think of any better use of public money

    and let us try to forgive him on the basis that he probably didn’t know what he was talking about

    in previous national crises labour leaders have opted to minimise public anxiety and confusion by not trying to score cheap party political points

    one thinks of Attlee or even Michael foot in the falklands crisis

    sadly that was not the approach taken by captain hindsight

    attacking one week

    then rowing in behind when it seemed to be working

    the human weathervane

    the starmer chameleon

    and in his final act of absurd opportunism he decided to oppose step four of the roadmap in July

    that’s right folks

    if we had listened to captain hindsight we would still be in lockdown we wouldn’t have the fastest growth in the G7

    if Columbus had listened to captain hindsight he’d be famous for having discovered Tenerife

    and how utterly astonishing that in the last few weeks labour should actually have voted against new funding we’re putting frward for the NHS

    and we need to remember why and how we have been able to back people through this pandemic at all

    it was because we Conservatives fixed the economy

    we repaired the damage Labour left behind

    every labour government has left office with unemployment higher than when it came in

    every single one – ever since the party was invented

    and today we are going to fix this economy and build back better than ever before

    and just as we used our new freedoms to accelerate the vaccine rollout

    we are going to use our brexit freedoms to

    to do things differently

    we are doing the borders bill

    we have seen off the European superleague and protected grassroots football

    we are doing at least eight freeports

    superfertilised loam in which

    business will plant new jobs across the UK

    and now we are going further

    not only jettisoning the EU rules we don’t need any more

    but using new freedoms to

    improve the way we regulate in the great growth areas of the 21st century

    as we fulfil our ambition of becoming a science superpower

    gene editing

    data management

    AI

    Cyber quantum
    we are going to be ever more global in our outlook

    we have done 68 free trade deals including that great free trade deal with our friends in the EU that they all said was impossible

    and after decades of bewildering refusal we have persuaded the Americans to import prime British beef

    a market already worth £66 m

    build back burger I say

    ‍and you ask yourself how have the americans been able to survive without British beef for so long?

    and if you want a supreme example of global Britain in action

    of something daring and brilliant that would simply not have happened if we had remained in the EU

    I give you AUKUS – an idea so transparently right that Labour conference voted overwhelmingly against it

    and I know that there has been a certain raucus squaukus from the anti-aukus caucus

    But Aukus is simply a recognition of the reality that

    the world is tilting on its economic axis

    and our trade and relations with the Indo pacfific region are becoming ever more vital than ever before

    and that is why we have

    sent the amazing carrier strike group

    to the far east

    been performing manoeuvres with 40 friendly countries

    HMS Queen Elizabeth

    as long as the entire palace of Westminster

    and rather more compelling as an argument

    than many speeches made in the house of commons

    it has dozens of F35s on board

    and 66 thousand sausages aboard

    not because want to threaten or be adversarial to anyone

    either with the F35s or indeed the sausages

    but because we want to stick up for the rule of law that is so vital for freedom of navigation and free trade

    and that is what brings AUKUS together

    Australia, UK, US

    shared values

    a shared belief in democracy and human rights

    ‍and a shared belief in the equal dignity and worth of every human being

    very few countries could have pulled off the Kabul airlift – an astonishing feat by our brave armed forces

    even fewer have the same moral priorities

    No other government brokered a deal such as this government did with Astra Zeneca

    so that the Oxford vaccine has been distributed at cost around the world

    more than a billion low cost vaccines

    invented in Britain

    saving millions of lives

    we are led by our values

    by the things we stand for

    and we should never forget that people around the world admire this country for its history and its traditions

    they love the groovy new architecture and the fashion and the music and the chance of meeting Michael in the disco

    but they like the way it emerges organically from a vast inherited conglomerate of culture and tradition

    and we conservatives understand the need for both and

    how each nourishes the other

    and we attack and deny our history at our peril

    and when they began to attack Churchill as a racist I was minded to ignore them

    it is only 20 years ago since BBC audiences overwhelmingly voted him the greatest Briton of all time

    because he helped defeat a regime after all that was defined by one of the most vicious racisms

    the world has ever seen

    but as time has gone by it has become clear to me that

    this isn’t just a joke

    they really do want to re-write our national story

    starting with hereward the woke

    we really are at risk of a kind of know nothing cancel culture know nothing iconoclasm

    and so we Conservatives will defend our history and cultural inheritance

    not because we are proud of everything

    but because trying to edit it now is as dishonest as a celebrity trying furtively to change his entry in Wikipedia

    and its a betrayal of our children’s education

    churchill’s last words to his cabinet, actually his whole ministers but his cabinet were there

    were

    Never be separated from the americans

    pretty good advice I’m sure you’ll agree –

    ‍–

    and ended with the observation

    man is spirit

    He was right there.

    I believe that through history and accident this country has a unique spirit

    the spirit of the NHS nurses AND the entrepreneurs

    whose innovative flair means that there are three countries in the world that have produced more than 100 unicorns not a mythical beast

    tech companies worth more than a billion dollars each

    They are the US and China and the UK and those unicorns they are now dispersed around the United Kingdom in a way that is new to our country, that is the spirit of levelling up

    and we need the spirit of the NHS nurses and the entrepreneurs because each enables the other

    I mean

    the spirit of the footballers who took England into the final of a major knock out tournament for the first time in the lives of the vast majority of the people of this country

    probably, looking around at all you young thrusters, the majority of you in this room

    the indomitable spirit of Emma Raducanu

    her grace and her mental resilience when the game was going against her

    because that is what counts

    the spirit of our Olympians

    it is an incredible thing to come yet again in the top four

    a formidable effort for a country that has only 0.8 per cent of the world’s population

    in spite of the best efforts of some us jacob

    but when we come second in the Paralympics as well –

    that shows our values

    not only the achievement of those elite athletes

    but a country that is proud to be a trailblazer

    to judge people not by where they come from

    but by their spirit

    and by what is inside them

    That is the spirit that is the same across this country

    in every town and village and city that can be found

    that can be found in the hearts and minds of kids growing up everywhere

    and that is the spirit we are going to unleash

  • Sajid Javid – 2021 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

    Sajid Javid – 2021 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

    The speech made by Sajid Javid, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, on 5 October 2021.

    Thank you for that welcome – it’s great to be back together in Manchester.

    When we were last here I talked about how proud my mother was.

    To see me go from living in a small flat above the shop, to living above Downing Street. But I can tell you that she’s even prouder now.

    Like many Asian mothers, she always wanted me to be a doctor… When I told her about this job, she said: “well you didn’t quite make it to GP, but at least you’re working in healthcare!”

    It really is an honour to serve my country again, and to be entrusted with such a critical task at this essential moment. I’ve been in this job for 100 days and I can tell you it’s my toughest job yet. But I’ve been inspired each and every day, by the commitment and dedication, of all those on the frontlines of health and social care.

    The porters, the paramedics, the drivers, the doctors, the nurses, the care workers, the cleaners, the scientists, the vaccinators.

    It’s because of their efforts, and so many others like them… thousands of lives, and millions of livelihoods, have been saved.

    They’ve brought new meaning to the words “public service”. So to all those across the nation who stood up and served their country in this time of peril, we stand, and salute you.

    My priorities are simple:

    Covid.

    Recovery.

    Reform.

    Covid – getting us, and keeping us, out of the pandemic.

    Recovery – tackling the huge backlog of appointments it has caused.

    And reform of our health and social care systems for the long-term.

    Today, I’m going to look forward.

    We can all be here at this conference, and talk about the future, because of the success of the vaccine programme – an amazing example of what public-private collaboration can do.

    Of course, we cannot afford a single dose of complacency.

    This virus has shown itself to be unpredictable.

    But so far our vaccine wall of defence has held firm – and we will keep strengthening it… brick by brick, jab by jab…

    With one of the only national booster programmes in the world.

    We took the difficult decision before the summer, to put our faith in that vaccine wall. Before that was possible, as a country we sacrificed our freedoms and way of life to protect the elderly and vulnerable. But as Conservatives we will never see state control as the default.
    We know the impact that lockdowns have… on jobs, life chances, education, mental health, and everything else.

    And just as we know “government money” is taxpayers’ money… …we know that freedoms ultimately belong to citizens. Because we will always be the party of freeing things up, not locking things down.

    The challenge for us now is this: getting past the peak of the pandemic… won’t mean that we’re suddenly immune from all its effects on our society and our economy.

    When I came in, I said that I was not just the Covid Secretary, but the Health & Social Care Secretary.

    There was no doubt about the biggest item spilling out of my in-tray: an NHS waiting list that will get worse before it gets better… projected to grow as high as 13 million.

    No government, no health secretary, no society can accept that. That’s why we have prioritised elective recovery – check-ups, scans, surgeries… with the biggest catch-up fund in the history of the NHS.

    And we are already delivering… including rolling out surgical hubs, and 40 new Community Diagnostic Centres right across the country.

    As we recover, we must recognise that not everyone, or everywhere, has been affected in the same way.

    The pandemic has been described as a “great leveller”.

    That’s just not true.

    Health disparities in our society – whether regional, racial or socioeconomic – have only deepened under Covid.

    That’s why one of my first visits as Health Secretary was to Blackpool.

    One of the nurses told me that you can trace back entrenched health problems there for over a century.

    Do you know what the gap in healthy life expectancy is, between Blackpool and Richmond upon Thames?

    Almost 20 years.

    It’s time to level up on health.

    The state was needed in this pandemic more than anytime in peacetime.

    But government shouldn’t own all risks and responsibilities in life.

    We as citizens have to take some responsibility for our health too.

    We shouldn’t always go first to the state.

    What kind of society would that be?

    Health – and social care – begins at home.

    Family first, then community, then the state.

    If you do need support… we live in a compassionate, developed country that can afford to help with that.

    There are few higher callings than to care for another person.

    Some of you know that I got up to some antics as a student I got thrown out of party conference, for campaigning against the ERM.

    I was a cool kid.

    What you might not know about my time as a student, back in Exeter, is that every Saturday I would visit a care home as a volunteer
    to keep the residents company. Especially a great lady called Margaret, who I became very fond of. That experience left a real impression on me – of the importance of dignity in our later years, and of the dedication of care workers.

    Now as we all approach our later years… we can plan with confidence that we and our families will be protected from catastrophic costs. This has been a long-term challenge that has been ducked for far too long. And I’m proud to work for a Prime Minister willing to finally take it on.

    So our values as a party, a government, and a country – are clear. Time and again, we choose to prioritise the health of our citizens.
    We have absolutely nothing to prove on that. But it’s also true that if you value something, or someone… you want them to be the best they can be. The NHS may have the best principle behind it, staffed by some of the best people our country has to offer. But that of course doesn’t mean that as an organisation, it is the best at everything.

    It wouldn’t help anyone to pretend otherwise.

    Our undeniable commitment to the NHS is what should drive us to make it as effective as it can be.

    Because ultimately it is our national health service, and is only as good as the service it provides our citizens.

    The public rightly and proudly expect a service that is free at the point of use.

    But they also expect that service to deliver for them – wherever they live in the country.

    They expect to be able to see their GP, in the way that they choose.

    And to have a relationship with their service that goes beyond picking up the pieces when things go wrong.

    In the past, some governments chose cash, others chose reform.

    That’s a false choice.

    You can’t have one without the other. So yes, we will continue to prioritise funding for the NHS in the wake of this global pandemic.

    But I also promise you this:

    2022 will be a year of renewal and reform.

    At a time like this, business as usual cannot be good enough. I’ve worked with some of the largest organisations in the world… and two factors stand out on whether they succeed:

    Leadership, and innovation.

    I want the NHS to embrace innovation and to build a truly modern, digitised system.

    That’s the only way we can drive down that backlog, and build a sustainable service for the future.

    Of course there are some bright spots… but there is a lot of levelling-up to do within the NHS.

    That’s not just about tech – it’s about management, and a focus on outcomes not just inputs.

    And so to help with that mission, I have asked retired General, Sir Gordon Messenger, to lead a review of leadership and management in health and social care. This will be the most far-reaching review since Roy Griffith’s report to Margaret Thatcher in 1983.

    It will shine a light on the outstanding leaders who drive efficiency and innovation, and see how we can replicate that leadership throughout the country. No reform is easy, otherwise it would’ve been done already.

    But if we get it right, no – when we get it right… we won’t build back the way things were.

    We’ll build a future where our health and social care systems are integrated more seamlessly together.

    Where British life sciences lead the world on new treatments.

    Where we have not only the best surgeons, but robots performing live-saving surgeries.

    And where we don’t just treat diseases and ill health, but prevent far more of them from happening.

    This last year will be remembered for decades to come, perhaps even for centuries. People locked in their homes. Closed schools and empty streets. Intensive care units struggling to cope.

    We are emerging now, taking the first steps in a new era. As we go from Covid, to recovery, to reform. This is a time for head and heart. Of compassion but also firmness of purpose.

    Let’s be sure that in generations to come people say they fought the virus, won the peace, and owned the future.

    Let’s make this the era of recovery.

    Let’s make this the era of reform.

    Let’s make this the era in which we truly build back better.

  • Priti Patel – 2021 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

    Priti Patel – 2021 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

    The speech made by Priti Patel, the Home Secretary, on 5 October 2021.

    Conference, it is good to be back.

    Meeting old friends and coming together as a Conservative family to reinforce our common values.

    These have been tough times for our country.

    But despite the unprecedented challenges we have faced, this Government has remained grounded and guided by Conservative values and the good sense of the British People.

    It has brought out the very best of our nation.

    From the carers to the volunteers, the scientists to the doctors and nurses

    to the brave men and women of our police and fire service who have risen to the challenges presented by Covid with great professionalism and commitment.

    Let our thanks to them go out from this hall today.

    Two years ago in Manchester, I said the British people would always be my compass.

    That I would deliver on their priorities.

    And I make that commitment to you again today.

    The British people want a government on their side, keeping them safe.

    All our thoughts remain with Sarah Everard’s family and friends.

    Her murderer, whose name I will not repeat, was a monster.

    His explicit intention was to instil fear and terror in women and girls.

    I say this as Home Secretary, but also as a woman.

    Such unconscionable crimes and acts of violence against women and girls have no place in our society.

    And that is why I have redoubled my efforts to ensure women and girls feel safer.

    Since I became Home Secretary, cross-government funding to tackle these abhorrent crimes has trebled in relation to any other two-year period.

    The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill extends Whole Life Orders to child murderers and ends automatic halfway release for serious sexual and violent offenders.

    And nearly a year ago, I launched the first ever survey of women and girls on tackling the crimes disproportionately affecting them.

    In the wake of Sarah’s tragic murder, I re-opened that survey.

    One hundred and eighty thousand women and girls were brave enough to share their stories with me, some for the first time.

    Their experiences informed my Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy, which I launched earlier this year.

    I have wasted no time in putting that plan into action.

    I want to thank Nimco Ali – here with us today – for her pioneering work in tackling these abhorrent crimes.

    This month, our country’s first ever dedicated national police officer

    for reducing and preventing crimes against women and girls will get to work, providing national direction to the police.

    Deputy Chief Constable Maggie Blyth.

    Accountable to you, through me.

    This Government will always back the brave men and women of our police.

    And it is because of our strong relationship with the police, that I can ask the difficult questions and support them to do better.

    Recent tragic events have exposed unimaginable failures in policing.

    It is abhorrent that a serving police officer was able to abuse his position of power, authority and trust to commit such a horrific crime.

    The public have a right to know what systematic failures enabled his continued employment as a police officer.

    We need answers as to why this was allowed to happen.

    I can confirm today, there will be an inquiry, to give the independent oversight needed, to ensure something like this can never happen again.

    Later this year I will launch the first ever standalone Domestic Abuse Strategy

    I am undertaking a review of the police management of registered sex offenders to stop paedophiles and rapists, including members of grooming gangs, from returning to the very communities they tore apart.

    I am outlawing the sickening practice of virginity testing.

    A barbaric, medieval, and invasive practice exclusively performed on women.

    Often to control them. Often without their consent.

    Well not under this Home Secretary.

    Women and girls have said enough is enough.

    And the Conservative Party agrees.

    Crime and policing

    The safety and security of our citizens is paramount.

    Without safety and security, there can be no freedom.

    Our approach to crime will always be based on seeking justice for victims and survivors, ensuring perpetrators feel the full force of the law.

    We have delivered more powers to the police so that they can do so, including stop and search.

    We are toughening sentences for the worst and most serious offenders, including terrorists, rapists and child abusers.

    We are nearly halfway to recruiting twenty thousand additional police officers.

    This summer we launched a new Beating Crime Plan to cut murder, serious violence and neighbourhood crime – including anti-social behaviour.

    Under my watch we have seen some of the biggest law enforcement raids in our country’s history, with our crackdown on county lines drugs gangs resulting in…

    Over 1,000 county lines – shut down.

    Millions of pounds in cash – seized.

    And over 6,000 criminals – arrested.

    We are cutting the head off the snake and taking down the kingpins behind these deadly supply lines.

    Thanks to my brilliant Ministerial team we are delivering for the British people.

    Drug abuse and addiction ruins communities, devastates lives and tears families apart.

    Drugs are also responsible for the crimes I am committed to cutting.

    Today I am announcing the expansion of drug testing on arrest across all 43 police forces in England and Wales.

    Those who test positive as confirmed drug users will be supported to tackle their drug abuse and regain their independence…

    but for those unwilling to address their drug misuse, there will be the harshest possible legal sanctions and consequences.

    While Sir Keir Starmer backs calls to decriminalise drugs, we will take the tough decisions needed to build back safer…

    And continue to put the best interests of our country first.

    Our values embody service before self.

    ‍This can be neatly defined by the Hindu word Seva which can mean service, commitment and dedication to others.

    Ensuring the best interests of our country come first is what drives me each and every day.

    That is my responsibility.

    That is my service.

    That is our Party.

    And it is because of our commitment to putting the needs of the hardworking, often silent, majority first, that I will not tolerate so called eco-warriors, trampling over our way of life and draining police resources.

    Their actions over recent weeks have amounted to some of the most self-defeating ‘environmental’ protests this country has ever seen.

    Freedom to protest is a fundamental right our Party will forever fight to uphold.

    But it must be within the law.

    Measures already going through Parliament will ensure these criminals can be brought to justice for the disruption they are causing.

    But we are going further to close down the legal loopholes exploited by these offenders.

    So today I can announce I will also

    – increase the maximum penalties for disrupting a motorway

    – criminalise interference with key infrastructure such as roads, railways and our free press

    – and give the police and courts new powers to deal with the small minority of offenders intent on travelling around the country, causing disruption and misery across our communities.

    This Conservative Government is taking the tough decisions needed to cut crime and make our streets safer.

    And that is not all.

    We have finally ended free movement.

    Delivered our new points-based immigration system, welcoming people to our country based on the skills they have to offer, not the colour of their passport.

    Our new routes are attracting the best and brightest talent from around the world…

    Welcoming brilliant scientists, the finest academics, and leading people in their fields…

    All helping to drive our economy forwards as we Build Back Better from the pandemic.

    And at long last:

    The British immigration system is under the control of the British Government.

    But despite what we have already delivered, we must be honest with ourselves about the long-standing problems we still face.

    We owe it to our country to continue confronting difficult issues, no matter how controversial, or complex.

    Taking action on the difficult decisions that have stumped politicians for too long.

    All states have a responsibility to control their borders.

    For where there is a door, there must be a door keeper.

    What is happening in the Channel with small boats is unsafe, unfair, and unacceptable.

    From the vast camps outside Calais of mainly male, economic migrants

    To the shocking images of people crammed onto flimsy boats crossing the Channel, exploited by people smugglers.

    Vile criminals characterised by ruthlessness and greed, who even threaten to drown small children to line their pockets.

    This cannot continue. Which is why we are going after the criminals behind this perilous trade in people smuggling.

    And then there is the legal process.

    If an asylum claim is rejected, there is nearly always an automatic right to appeal.

    No surprise that nearly everybody appeals.

    Even if the decision to refuse asylum is upheld, there can be yet another appeal.

    Right up until the possibility of further appeals at the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court.

    If that fails, the claimant and their lawyers can start a fresh claim.

    And then, even when seated on the plane, their lawyers can still block their removal.

    Britain’s asylum system might have worked twenty years ago, but not now.

    The system is collapsing under the pressures created by these parallel illegal routes to asylum, facilitated by criminal smuggling gangs.

    Labour would have you believe the capacity of our asylum system is unlimited.

    But the presence of economic migrants – through these illegal routes – is undermining our ability to support those in genuine need of protection.

    To that I say, no. Our system must uphold our reputation as a country where criminality is not rewarded, but where playing by our rules is.

    My New Plan for Immigration is already making its way through Parliament.

    At the heart of this Plan is a simple principle.

    Control.

    That is not unreasonable.

    Through our New Plan for Immigration, Britain will be fair but firm.

    We will continue to be outward facing and provide sanctuary to those in need through safe and legal resettlement routes.

    From Uganda to Syria, Hong Kong to Afghanistan, under Conservative leadership, the United Kingdom will always hold out the hand of friendship to those most in need…

    Which is why I established a new resettlement route for Afghans fleeing persecution, prioritising women and girls.

    And we will always support the brave men and women of our armed forces who served in Afghanistan and continue to keep us safe around the world.

    We are smashing the economic model of the people-smugglers so that they can no longer profit from human misery.The current maximum penalty for entering the country illegally is six months. We are increasing that to four years.

    The current maximum sentence for people smugglers is fourteen years.

    We are changing that to life.

    In standing by the world’s most vulnerable, we will prioritise those who play by our rules, over those who seek to take our country for a ride.

    For the first time, how somebody arrives in the United Kingdom will impact on how their asylum claim is processed.

    Our new “one stop” shop will tackle the multiple claims and appeals which frequently frustrate removal.

    And our new laws will speed up the removal of those with no legal right to be in our country.

    I know from the briefings I receive from the intelligence and security agencies that there are people who attempt to come to our country to do us harm. Plotting to strike at our way of life.

    And, I shall continue to fight with every ounce of my being to protect and uphold the safety and security of our nation.

    With all of this, we will continue to pursue joint solutions to joint problems.

    France is a safe country, one not riven by war or conflict.

    There is no reason why any asylum seeker should come to the United Kingdom directly from France.

    We make no apology for securing our borders and exploring all possible options to save lives by ending these horrific journeys.

    Which is why, right from the start, Boris and I have worked intensively with every institution with a responsibility to protect our borders…

    Border Force, The police, The National Crime Agency…

    Maritime experts, And yes, the military…

    To deliver operational solutions

    Including new sea tactics, which we are working to implement, to turn back the boats.

    Whilst this represents progress, this single measure alone cannot solve this problem.

    We must stay the course and see this whole New Plan for Immigration through.

    It will take time.

    But I will continue to take the difficult action needed to address this long-standing issue.

    And what do our opponents say about our plans?

    Of course, they attack them, because they want open borders…

    They do not care about intolerable pressures on public services and local authorities.

    They do not care about damage to our labour market and driving down the wages of the hardworking majority.

    They do not care about the British people who will have to foot this bill.

    And what is worse…

    …They do not care about ensuring victims of crimes, committed by foreign national offenders, can rebuild their lives safe in the knowledge their attackers are no longer here.

    Labour MPs, some of whom even sit with the Leader of the Opposition at his Shadow Cabinet table, shamefully campaign to halt the removal of these murderers, rapists and child abusers.

    Criminals who have caused untold harm and devastation on our soil, including to women and girls.

    Whilst they busy themselves writing letters defending these convicts, this Home Secretary will always put the rights of victims first…

    We have removed nearly eight and a half thousand foreign national offenders from our country.

    Conference, I will never flinch from taking the difficult decisions needed to keep our country safe and secure.

    Where criminals attempt to incite fear, harm and terror in our communities, I will act.

    Where lights are being switched off on other people’s liberties, I will act.

    Where our borders and our laws need strengthening, I will act.

    Our party owes it to our country to continue confronting difficult issues, no matter how controversial, or complex.

    There will be new challenges and new tests.

    And we will meet them, strengthened by our belief in this country.

    That is my promise to you, that is my service to the people of Britain.

    Thank you.

  • Ed Miliband – 2021 Comments on Fossil Fuel Free Electricity

    Ed Miliband – 2021 Comments on Fossil Fuel Free Electricity

    The comments made by Ed Miliband, the Shadow Business Secretary, on 5 October 2021.

    Another day, another distant target from government not backed by a plan.

    There is a yawning chasm between this government’s promises on climate and their failure to deliver them. Pledges not supported by policy or investment is greenwashing, plain and simple.

    Unlike the Conservatives, Labour is committed to scaling up our zero carbon energy supply and has pledged to invest at scale to tackle the climate crisis. Meanwhile, climate action barely featured in Rishi Sunak’s conference speech and he appears deeply uncommitted to this agenda.

    It is the Government’s failure on zero carbon energy that has left our country so reliant on the international gas market and vulnerable to soaring gas prices. The Conservatives just cannot be trusted on climate or tackling the cost of living crisis.

  • Jonathan Ashworth – 2021 Comments on Sajid Javid’s Conference Speech

    Jonathan Ashworth – 2021 Comments on Sajid Javid’s Conference Speech

    The comments made by Jonathan Ashworth, the Shadow Health and Social Care Secretary, on 5 October 2021.

    This was an empty speech that will hugely disappoint the many thousands of patients who are anxious and scared, those waiting longer for cancer treatment or surgery, those waiting for a doctor’s appointment and those increasingly forced to pay for surgery.

    Tory MPs have imposed a punishing, unfair tax rise on working people yet Ministers have no plan to rebuild and reform health care to bring waiting times down and deliver the quality care people deserve.

  • Holly Lynch – 2021 Comments on Online Disability Hate Crime

    Holly Lynch – 2021 Comments on Online Disability Hate Crime

    The comments made by Holly Lynch, the Shadow Minister for Crime Reduction and Courts, on 6 October 2021.

    This rise in online disability hate crime is deeply worrying. The Government needs to act to ensure that the perpetrators face justice and that online platforms take responsibility for removing such vile content.

    The Conservatives promised legislation to tackle online hate more than four years ago. Their Online Safety Bill has been watered down, giving social media platforms the power to mark their own homework.

    Labour will work to toughen up the legislation in Parliament. In the meantime urgent action is needed to protect victims because this abuse ruins lives.

  • Kate Green – 2021 Comments on Ventilation in Schools

    Kate Green – 2021 Comments on Ventilation in Schools

    The comments made by Kate Green, the Shadow Education Secretary, on 5 October 2021.

    The Government must not allow another year of children’s learning to descend into chaos with pupils constantly in and out of school.

    Ministers should have acted months ago to put ventilation systems in place in our schools and should be doing everything possible to vaccinate teenagers. Yet once again the Government has been too slow to act and children are left feeling the consequences.

    Labour has called for comprehensive Covid mitigations in schools, alongside setting out an ambitious recovery plan – extending the school day for new activities, tutoring for all who need it, mental health support in every school – to deliver the new opportunities to learn, play and develop every child needs. It’s time the Conservatives match Labours’ ambition for children’s recovery and their futures.

  • Ellie Reeves – 2021 Comments on the Rape Review

    Ellie Reeves – 2021 Comments on the Rape Review

    The comments made by Ellie Reeves, the Shadow Solicitor General, on 5 October 2021.

    The Government is failing women and girls on every front.

    Under this Prime Minister, rape victims are being abandoned by the justice system.

    Rape prosecutions are at a record low, victims are being left deserted, and it is clear this is a government that has absolutely no desire to fix the mess it has created and no plan to keep women and girls safe.