Tag: 2023 Conservative Party Conference

Mel Stride – 2023 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

The speech made by Mel Stride, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in Manchester on 2 October 2023.

Conference, when times are tough, it’s easy to forget the great things we achieve.

And I am immensely proud of what we have helped to achieve at the DWP.

Since 2010, we now have:

• payroll employment at a record high.

• 4 million more people in work.

• 2 million more disabled people in work.

• Unemployment about halved.

• Well over a million fewer people in poverty.

• 400,000 fewer children in poverty.

• 700,000 fewer children living in a workless household.

• 200,000 fewer pensioners in poverty.

• And the basic State Pension £3,000 higher. And yes with a continued commitment to the triple lock.

Now that is a record to be proud of.

And can I right upfront thank my outstanding Ministers – Guy Opperman, Tom Pursglove, Mims Davies, Laura Trott, James Younger, our PPSs James Wild and Mark Logan, and our whip Ruth Edwards.

Now Conference, as a department we’ve been busy protecting the most vulnerable, delivering unprecedented financial support for households in the face of the pandemic and global inflation.

And the fact we’ve been able to do that at such scale and pace is down to the modern, dynamic benefits system that we Conservatives have created; and is of course a tribute to the reforms championed by my friend and predecessor Iain Duncan Smith.

When families are struggling through no fault of their own, as Conservatives we have stepped in to support them through difficult times.

But interventions of this kind can only ever be temporary.

The only sustainable solutions for tackling poverty and disadvantage must contain at their core a simple contract between the state and the individual.

A contract that says that for those who are vulnerable, who perhaps cannot work due to ill health or disability, we are here to support you.

That is the foundation of the compassionate conservatism in which I believe.

But there is another part of that contract, that says very clearly that where you can work, perhaps with a little help, then benefits should never be a substitute for hard work and personal responsibility.

Because society has to be about much more than just rights and entitlements.

We cannot live only expecting things of others, we must also have expectations of ourselves.

So I see these as the guiding principles that should run through every part of our welfare system.

Fairness for those most in need, supporting the most vulnerable, but fairness for taxpayers and society more generally too.

This is a moral imperative.

Work contributes to society in the broadest and most powerful way – for the individual it means greater self-worth, health, and well-being, and for society it drives the economic growth we need to pay for the public services which we all rely upon.

And that is why as Conservatives – against howls of protest from the Labour Party who would rather park people on benefits for decades – we brought in Universal Credit.

We made sure that work always pays.

But now, Conference, we face new challenges.

A tight labour market, with businesses struggling to fill vacancies.

And rising numbers of people falling out of the labour market due to ill health and disability.

We shouldn’t hide from these challenges – we should be honest about them.

And under Rishi Sunak’s leadership, we are getting on with the job of driving forward the next generation of Conservative welfare reforms to tackle the underlying problems which have been holding our country back.

And that starts with what we’re doing in our Job Centres.

Just as the world of work is rapidly changing, so the ways in which we help people into work must change too.

So we are trialling a far more demanding approach with claimants at particular risk of becoming long-term unemployed.

This includes far more frequent work-focused requirements, with firm sanctions for those who fail to fulfil their commitments, and more support for those who need it.

And we’ve been testing new incentive schemes for our best performing Job Centre teams. Recognising and rewarding those heroes who go above and beyond to improve the lives of others.

The sort of approach that is common practice in successful parts of the private sector. And if its good enough for the private sector then it should be good enough for the public sector too.

But beyond our Job Centres are many who are even further from the labour market – the economically inactive. Those who are not in work or looking for work.

Now overall, our level of inactivity is lower than the average for the G7, the EU and the OECD.

And thanks to our Labour Market interventions, inactivity has come down by almost a quarter of a million since its pandemic peak.

But there is a key area where further progress needs to be made – the number of people who are inactive due to ill health or disability.

This really matters, because when someone falls out of the labour market it’s bad for our economy.

It’s bad for businesses struggling to recruit staff.

It’s bad for the public finances.

But perhaps most importantly of all it’s also bad for the person concerned.

Having a job isn’t just good for your finances – it’s good for your mental and physical wellbeing too.

And it pains me to think there are so many people being left on benefits who want to work and who could be thriving in work. It’s a waste of human potential.

But for too long, Conference, politicians have taken the easy way out – in one form or another, they’ve let things drift.

And we simply cannot afford to do that any longer. We have to deliver fundamental change for the long-term if we are to address this challenge.

So we are reforming our sickness and disability benefit assessments for the first time in over a decade, to take account of the modern workplace.

That is going hand-in-hand with a revolution in the employment support we’re providing for people with health problems and disabilities.

That’s why at the last Budget we unveiled £2 billion of investment, including a game-changing new programme, Universal Support, which will place people into work, with a personal adviser providing wraparound support for up to a year while they find their feet.

We know it’s an approach that works because we have already been delivering it, including a trailblazing scheme in the West Midlands, Thrive Into Work, led by their excellent Conservative Mayor, Andy Street.

I have seen first-hand how they are integrating healthcare and employment support.

And as we roll out Universal Support, we will be changing lives right across the country, so whatever your situation, if you can work you will be supported to do so.

And if you are on benefits and able to work, you will be expected to do so.

Contrast this with the Labour Party, who are content to leave people languishing on benefits. They have no plan.

They left almost one and a half million people on out of work benefits for a decade.

By the time they left office, unemployment was almost twice as high as it is today.

Youth unemployment had increased by 45%.

And just consider all the reforms they’ve opposed over the years.

They opposed the household benefit cap.

They opposed the two-child benefit limit.

They opposed benefit sanctions.

They even said they would scrap Universal Credit.

They have shown time and time again that when it’s a choice between short-term political expediency or responsible long-term thinking, they will always – always – take the easy way out.

The reality is, you and I know exactly why Captain Hindsight can’t make up his mind when it comes to welfare.

It’s because his own instincts are totally out of touch with the majority of the British people.

Rather like Jeremy Corbyn, Keir Starmer truly is a Marxist. Because as Groucho Marx put it, ‘I have principles, but if you don’t like them… well, I have others.’

When Labour last left office the number of children living in a household where no one worked had risen to two million.

That’s two million children who weren’t seeing a parent go out to work in the morning, with all the knock-on effects for their future.

Since we came into office, that number is down by a third.

We simply cannot afford to let them into government ever again.

Another area of unfairness that I’m determined to address is parents who refuse to do the right thing by financially supporting their own children.

When deadbeat dads are shirking their responsibilities to pay child maintenance, it’s the children who lose out.

We already enforce compliance wherever we can, but it is taking far too long to get children the support they’re due and that simply is not fair.

So I can announce that today we’re firing the starting gun to fast-track the enforcement process without the need to go through the courts.

A process that is taking six months – we will slash to just six weeks.

It’s also too easy for fathers to avoid paying up if their income isn’t coming through normal PAYE, so we will change the rules so that child maintenance calculations include a much broader range of earnings, such as property income.

We will make it easier for mothers who aren’t receiving the money they’re due to have the Child Maintenance Service collect payment directly, and we will get rid of the application fee for using that service.

And while we can already remove passports and driving licences from parents who fail to support their children, we want to go further – removing the barriers which slow this progress down.

Let me be crystal clear: if you are refusing to pay for your children – We will make you pay.

So, our message is simple.

We are here to help. We are here to be fair. To stand up for our pensioners. To support the vulnerable. To support the sick and the disabled. We see that as the hallmark of a civilised society.

But we are also the Department for Work. And we must never lose sight of that.

Low unemployment. Improving economic activity. Rising employment.

These achievements don’t happen by accident. They result from the endeavours of millions of people right up and down our country and from the tireless work of those at DWP day in day out, who make the gift of work a reality for thousands of men and women.

And that, Conference, is what we will continue to do.

For every person supported back into work, there’s a human being who is better off.

A human being freed to be the best that they can be.

A society made alive and whole.

That is truly something to inspire.

Conference, we are getting Britain working.

October 2, 2023
Kemi Badenoch – 2023 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

The speech made by Kemi Badenoch, the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, in Manchester on 2 October 2023.

The last time I gave a speech at conference was 6 years ago. It was absolutely terrifying. Not because I was a new MP. But because standing on this stage, means something…

It means standing on the shoulders of some of the greatest Conservatives this country has ever produced.

On the conference stage in 1988, a Cabinet Minister said, “you can build far greater and far more lasting prosperity, by letting people cooperate in the freedom of the market place, than by making them submit to the coercion of Government regulations and state bureaucracy.”

That minister was the late Nigel Lawson, our greatest chancellor and a man who helped turn this country’s fortunes around …

We here today are custodians of that tradition. At every significant moment of British history, Conservatives have applied our values for the good of the country.

As Business Secretary, I have the privilege of travelling all around our United Kingdom listening and learning from the people who make this country great: the entrepreneurs, the risk-takers, the problem-solvers who are inventing new products, creating new jobs, and generating prosperity.

And as Trade Secretary, I am filled with pride at the huge honour of representing the UK on the world stage.

And you know what? Everywhere I go other countries speak with nothing but admiration and respect for Britain.

Then I feel a twinge of sadness, because I remember that our political opponents back home and their friends in the media continue to speak about our country like it’s an irrelevant nation. We reject this narrative.

But that is why Conservatives must always be vigilant. We look at the world as it is, not as we wish it to be. Nigel Lawson said, “To govern is to choose”. Conference, we know if you can’t choose, you can’t govern.

We are honest about costs and trade-offs. We are prepared to make difficult decisions.

Our opponents are not honest and they are not prepared. Liberal Democrats want more immigration but no housing. Labour’s big idea…after 13 years in opposition is to slap 20% on school fees…a policy not seen since Jeremy Corbyn’s manifesto! And as for the SNP…well let’s wait until the outcome of the police investigation.

My 6-year-old asked me, “Mummy, What’s a Business Secretary. What does that mean?”. I told him it means “everything is my business”.

From supermarkets to labour markets, supply chains to strikes, small business to big business we are working to keep Britain on top.

And it has been a difficult time to be in government anywhere in the world.

Ministers in other countries tell me about supply chain issues affecting everything from getting car components to stocking supermarket shelves. They tell me about how they are coping with unfilled vacancies as societies from Germany to Japan get older.

But it is only when I am back in the UK that l am told that all these issues are down to Brexit.

Our political opponents are obsessed with viewing every problem as Brexit. Relentlessly talking down our country.

So as your Business and Trade Secretary, I’m here to set the record straight.

They told us Brexit would hold back our recovery from the pandemic and we have the worst economic performance in Europe. Wrong.

The UK’s recovery from COVID has outpaced France and Germany. This year we overtook France to become the third 3rd largest manufacturer in Europe.

They tell you ‘Our exports have dropped to an all-time low’. Wrong. This year we rose from the world’s 6th to 5th largest exporter of goods and services.

They told you that Brexit would be the end of the City. Wrong. London remains the top financial investment destination in Europe. Far from losing jobs in the City, they are at a record high. 8% more today than in 2019.

But I’m not here to tell you that leaving the EU was without challenges. That would not be true. People knew it would take time and there would be challenges along the way. What is true, is that we are working to fix them.

Whether it is the Prime Minister’s landmark Windsor Framework or the great work of my Lords ministers, Malcolm Offord and Timothy Minto lowering export barriers and removing unnecessary regulations, I want you to know we are solving those problems one by one.

But this government’s vision for business and trade is about more than Brexit. My ministers and I have been securing investment, delivering jobs, and levelling up the UK.

An hour from here is Ellesmere Port, where car manufacturer Stellantis have invested £100 million in the new production plant, the first of its kind for them in the world.

Ellesmere Port may have a Labour MP, but it’s a Conservative government that is delivering for them.

In Oxfordshire, BMW is investing £600 million to build electric Minis…

In Somerset, thanks to the hard work of my investment minister, Lord Johnson, we secured a £4 billion investment in a new gigafactory. Creating up to 4,000 highly skilled jobs.

Minister Nus Ghani helped deliver a fantastic deal with Airbus, Rolls Royce and Air India. Worth more than £100 million of investment to Wales.

Last month, I announced our plans to regenerate Port Talbot steelworks. Creating a plant that is more profitable, less polluting and ensures we are not dependent on countries like China to produce steel. It will level up a part of South Wales which many had written off. Saving 5,000 jobs.

Port Talbot may have a Labour MP, but it’s a Conservative government that is delivering for them.

But we are not just securing increased investment today…we’re delivering long term economic security for tomorrow through trade.

My proudest achievement, with the help of minister, Nigel Huddleston, has been securing the membership of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, CPTPP.

We are joining a club of fast-growing countries committed to free trade. A club with no membership fees, no political union, and no free movement of people. A club that will give us access to a region that will account for 54% of global growth and home to half of the world’s middle-class consumers. A club in which we will never again be asked to sacrifice our sovereignty.

Conference, I’m not listing these achievements to make us feel good. Actually, we must acknowledge what we might lose if we assume the arguments are won forever.

The people who tell you that Brexit is the cause of every problem, do so because they think the answer to everything is the EU.

Listen to what Keir Starmer says… His answer to the global challenges we face is to tax more, regulate more and ask the EU what to do next.

This is not someone who believes in the UK’s ability to think for itself.

Our Prime Minister is different. He set out his five priorities in black and white. He refused to cave to the public sector union barons, or dance to the tune of the metropolitan bubble on energy policy.

What he did two weeks ago was brave. Shattering a lazy consensus about the costs of Net Zero.

We can’t deliver our net zero targets with magical thinking, expecting those who can least afford it, to not have cars or heat their homes.

We are on your side. The side of hard-working people, and entrepreneurs who take risks with their money and livelihoods to provide jobs and services for others.

We are on the side of those who toil. Not those who tweet.

We are on the side of those whose voices have been ignored for too long. Sometimes it feels like the system is against you. Sometimes the system gets it wrong.

That happened with the Post Office Horizon scandal. Scores of postmasters across Britain were wrongly convicted due to faulty software. Hardworking men and women endured unimaginable hardship, financial ruin, jail time. I was determined to right this wrong.

No amount of money can fully compensate for liberty unjustly taken away. But with the help of my business minister Kevin Hollinrake, last month we announced that every wrongfully convicted postmaster will receive £600,000 in compensation.

Telling the truth is the most important thing in politics. It’s the only way to really show who’s side we’re on.

One of my heroes is the economist, Thomas Sowell. He says “When you want to help people, you tell them the truth. When you want to help yourself, you tell them what they want to hear.”

Nowhere is this more important than in my role as Women and Equalities minister. I’m not a difficult woman but I do like doing difficult things. Conservatives aren’t afraid of doing difficult things.

Last year I published a report that told the truth about race in the UK. Labour didn’t like it. They want young people to believe a narrative of hopelessness.

A narrative that says there is no point in trying, because British society is against you and you’re better off asking for reparations.

A narrative that tells children like mine that the odds are stacked against them. I tell my children that is the best country in the world to be black – because it’s a country that sees people, not labels.

Conservatives want young people to be proud of their country when others want them to be ashamed. It wasn’t a tough decision for us to reject the divisive agenda of critical race theory. We believe as Martin Luther King once said, people should be judged by the content of their character – not the colour of their skin. And if that puts us in conflict with those who would re-racialise society, who would put up the divisions that have been torn down – well, Conference, all I can say is: bring it on.

Let Labour bend the knee before this altar of intolerance. We’ll keep building a country that is, in every way, stronger and fairer for all.

The left accuses us of fighting a culture war. But we will not apologise for fighting for common sense.

I will not apologise for fighting for a society that knows what a woman is.

It was this Conservative government that stopped shameful SNP and Labour politicians in Scotland pursuing a self-ID policy that let convicted rapists pretend that they were actually women so they could be housed in a women’s prison with potential new victims.

I pay tribute to the many women’s and LGBT groups such as Conservatives for Women, Sex Matters and the LGB Alliance who despite unbelievable opposition kept fighting this policy, refusing to be cancelled and speaking the truth.

There is no other party that will defend common sense.

Next week, Labour will tell the country that it is ready for government. But ladies and gentlemen, let me ask you this if Labour MPs can’t tell us what a woman is, what else aren’t they telling us?

Conference, I think it is obvious that I love my country, I love my party and I love my job. I’m proud of what my ministers and I have achieved in the last year.

No, the job is not yet finished… it never is. But we have done great things and we cannot let our good work be undone by letting Labour in.

The biggest threat to Britain’s future would be the calamity of a Labour government and when we get closer to the election the starkness of that choice will become clearer.

We have in Rishi Sunak, a Prime Minister who is making decisions for the long term interest of our country, even when he gets flak for it. He protects businesses and employees when in crisis as he did during Covid. But he says no to lazy subsidies and anti-competitive regulations.

He has the intellect and work ethic to steer us through whatever comes next, to tell the country what it needs to hear, not just what it wants to hear.

Brexit was perhaps the greatest ever vote of confidence in the project of the United Kingdom – and we will soon be asking the country to trust that this project is safe in our hands.

We’ll do this by reminding them that Conservative ideas are just as powerful, just as relevant today as they have been in the past. That Government is not the answer to every problem and neither is more spending.

We’ll remind them that just as Margaret Thatcher and Nigel Lawson did in the 1980s we are taking tough decisions for the long-term future of the country today.

A new British success story is getting started: we must not let Labour ruin it.

October 2, 2023
Jeremy Hunt – 2023 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

The speech made by Jeremy Hunt, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in Manchester on 2 October 2023.

Good afternoon.

The last time I spoke at Conference was as Foreign Secretary five years ago. After that I thought my time in government was over. So, it’s great to see the PM getting the over 50s back into meaningful work.

I do, however, have some very youthful under 50s in my ministerial team so thank you John Glen, Andrew Griffith, Vicky Atkins, Gareth Davies, JoJo Penn, Mark Fletcher, Paul Howell, Anthony Mangall and Andrew Stephenson for their brilliant work.

And it’s great to be in Manchester. Since 2010 this great region has seen unemployment halve, nearly 200,000 more jobs and six new tech unicorns. Labour mayors talk up the problems but it’s Conservatives who chalk up the jobs.

Now, our friends at the Office for National Statistics have recently changed their mind about the size of the British economy.

They had been saying we were the worst performing large European economy since the pandemic.

But we weren’t the worst.

We were one of the best.

Since the pandemic we’ve recovered better than France or Germany.

We’ve grown faster than both of them since we left the single market.

And since 2010 we’ve grown faster than France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Austria, Finland, the Netherlands, and Japan…

…so to all the pessimists and declinists who’ve been talking us down, we say this: don’t bet against Britain – it’s been tried before and it never works.

Conference it’s nice to set the record straight. But Rishi Sunak and I care more about the future than the past. And our plan’s very simple.

We’re going to make Britain a global leader in the industries of the future – the world’s next Silicon Valley.

And it’s already happening.

Last year we became only the third trillion dollar tech economy in the world.

Our tech sector is now double the size of Germany’s and three times France.

British-discovered vaccines and treatments saved seven million lives across the world in the pandemic – more than from any other country.

We do more offshore wind than anywhere in Europe.

We’ve got three huge electric car factories being built.

We’re Europe’s biggest film and TV production centre – and next time I want to see Barbie wearing a Union Jack because that too was filmed in Britain.

My Mansion House reforms are part of that because they’ll help fast growing companies source billions of pounds of extra capital. We don’t just want them to start here, we want them stay here because as we become a science superpower there’s nowhere better to be.

All this happens not from quick fixes but long term decisions. Which is what you get with Rishi Sunak.

We Conservatives know if you get the economy right, everything else comes right too.

So right now we’re focused on bringing down inflation.

Nothing hurts families more when it comes to the weekly shop, heating bills or pump prices – which is why the Prime Minister has pledged to halve it.

And we’re getting there. It was over 11%. It’s now down by 40%.

The plan is working – and now we must see it through just as Margaret Thatcher did many years ago.

Conference, when we halve inflation, that’s not a one percent income tax cut, it’s a 5% boost to incomes compared to if it stayed the same.

But just as we’re succeeding, what’s Labour planning? Some £28bn a year of new borrowing.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies say borrowing on that scale risks fuelling inflation and keeping interest rates higher.

Labour can change the fiscal rules, they can dress it up as ‘responsible,’ but if they increase borrowing, they increase debt and that means higher taxes, higher mortgages and higher inflation for families…

…that’s not an economic policy, it’s an economic illusion.

And it underlines the elemental choice in British politics, the choice behind all other choices.

Sound money under the Conservatives or run out of money under Labour. Never again Conference, never again.

Conservatives will always protect public services, but we’re also honest about the taxes that pay for them.

After a once in a century pandemic and the biggest energy crisis in a generation, the level of tax is too high.

We were right to protect jobs and families – and thanks to Rishi’s furlough scheme we recovered faster from the pandemic than others. But with an ageing population and a war in Europe, public spending is still growing faster than the economy.

Some say that is inevitable. The Institute for Fiscal Studies said last week it’s likely to be a ‘decisive and permanent shift to a higher tax economy’. Conference they are wrong.

We need a more productive state not a bigger state.

If we increase public sector productivity growth by just half a percent, we can stabilise public spending as a proportion of GDP. Increase it by more and we can bring the tax burden down.

Half a percent.

For those of us with private sector backgrounds that doesn’t seem too much, does it? In the public sector, I’m telling you, it’s harder – but we are up for the challenge.

So I’ve commissioned my deputy, John Glen, to restart the process of public service reform.

He wants to know why teachers say more than half of their time is not actually teaching.

…why police officers complain they spend longer filling out forms than catching criminals.

…and why doctors and nurses say they spend up to half their time not with patients but on admin.

Of course we need modern working practices and better IT. But the Treasury too needs to change its focus from short term cost control to long term cost reduction.

And we’re going to start with the Civil Service.

We have the best civil servants in the world – and they saved many lives in the pandemic by working night and day.

But even after that pandemic is over, we still have 66,000 more civil servants than before.

New policies should not always mean new people.

So today I’m freezing the expansion of the civil service and putting in place a plan to reduce its numbers to pre-pandemic levels.

This will save £1 billion next year.

And I won’t lift the freeze until we have a proper plan not just for the civil service but for all public sector productivity improvements.

That means, amongst other things, changing our approach to equality and diversity initiatives. Smashing glass ceilings is everyone’s job – not a box to be ticked by hiring a diversity manager.

But I’m going to surprise you with one equality and diversity initiative of my own, trust me you’ll like this one: nobody should have their bank account closed because someone else decides they’re not politically correct. We’ll tighten the law to stop people being debanked for the wrong political views.

The Lib Dems are wrong to want to overturn a democratic Brexit vote. But they still need a cashpoint to withdraw their euros.

The SNP are wrong to ignore a democratic vote for the Union. But they still need a bank account to pay for their motorhomes.

And even Keir Starmer, who’s wrong on just about everything, needs his trade union cash so he can too have a bank account… just never the keys to Downing Street.

There’s somewhere else where we need to rethink the way the state works: our welfare system.

I’m proud to live in a country where, as Churchill said, there’s a ladder everyone can climb but also a safety net below which no one falls.

That safety net is paid from tax. And that social contract depends on fairness to those in work alongside compassion to those who are not.

That means work must pay… and we’re making sure it does. From last year, for the first time ever, you can earn £1,000 a month without paying a penny of tax or national insurance.

But despite that even when companies are struggling to find of workers, around 100,000 people are leaving the labour market every year for a life on benefits.

Mel Stride gets this 100% which is why he’s replacing the Work Capability Assessment.

And we’re going to look at the way the sanctions regime works. It isn’t fair that someone who refuses to look seriously for a job gets the same as someone trying their best.

Now Labour have pledged to end sanctions. Have they learned nothing? When they left office we had more children in workless households than nearly anywhere in Europe. Since then, those households are down by a million – and Conference we are never ever going back.

So to make sure work continues to pay, today I take a step forwards towards completing another great Conservative reform, the National Living Wage.

Since we introduced it, nearly two million people have been lifted from absolute poverty after housing costs.

Not by tax credits or benefits but by removing the barriers to work. Boosting salaries, cutting tax… making work pay.

We promised in our manifesto to raise the National Living Wage to two thirds of median income – ending low pay in this country.

At the moment it is £10.42 an hour and we’re waiting for the Low Pay Commission to tell us next year’s recommendation.

But I confirm today, whatever that recommendation, we will increase the National Living Wage to at least £11 an hour next year.

That’s a pay rise for 2 million workers.

And the wages of the lowest paid over £9,000 higher than they were in 2010 – because if you work hard a Conservative government will always have your back.

It’s easy to support higher growth, better public services and lower taxes.

Harder to make it happen.

In Britain today there’s only one party prepared to make those difficult decisions.

Our party.

And our Prime Minister.

Whose diligence and tenacity have given us the Windsor Framework, the Atlantic Declaration, the Trans-Pacific Trade Deal and the NHS Workforce Plan.

Whose own life story shows just what’s possible with education, aspiration and hard work.

His story… and our story.

More growth.

More jobs.

More doctors.

More nurses.

Better schools.

Less poverty.

Less crime.

Conference it’s time to roll up our sleeves…

…take on the declinists;

…and watch the British economy prove the doubters wrong.

Thank you.

October 2, 2023
Lucy Frazer – 2023 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

The speech made by Lucy Frazer, the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, in Manchester on 2 October 2023.

Conference, it is fantastic to be with you here today in Manchester.

The home of Media City, Oasis, the Stone Roses, Take That, United and City.

Manchester is one of our capitals of culture.

I say that as a proud Northerner.

Albeit from Leeds.

Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle, Liverpool.

These cities have so much culture, creativity and potential.

Today I want to talk to you about the huge potential of our cultural and creative industries and how this potential has been harnessed by Conservative government after Conservative government.

And I want to talk about how we can, and will, continue to maximise this potential in the years to come.

And for me believing in the power of potential, believing in our country, in our people, in our industries, that’s why I am a Conservative.

And just to illustrate that I wanted to begin with a story of a brilliant woman called Yetta who understood the importance of potential.

And maximising it.

Her parents were Russian, and they came to this country as refugees, fleeing persecution.

And despite many drawbacks of that age, being Jewish, the daughter of immigrants and a woman.

She succeeded.

Yetta ignored obstacles and focussed instead on the opportunity she had been given to be brought up here in the UK and in her very own extensive potential.

She became the first female barrister in Leicester and practised at the bar until she was 80.

Yetta, was my grandmother, and on every visit she reminded me of the line from a Robert Browning poem.

‘A man’s reach should exceed his grasp or what’s a heaven for’.

It’s a line about believing in our ability to succeed.

Not just settling for the status quo.

About maximising opportunity and potential.

Which summed up her life.

And like her, I want to maximise the potential of all those sectors that I represent.

Right now, we are in a Golden Age for British Culture.

We unambiguously dominate in all forms of our creative industries, globally.

In Television, UK Programmes are being exported across the world.

We’ve had 74 British Oscar winners since 2010.

Musically Adele, Ed Sheeran and Harry Styles continue to dominate the global charts.

Last month an executive at Warner Bros told me that when he meets others from the music industry aboard they say ‘how do we be more like the UK’.

Football is a major global export. I challenge any of you in this room to tell me that on their holidays abroad you haven’t met a waiter, a taxi driver or a tourist on a beach who hasn’t shared their support for an English team – and it’s not always United.

Last holiday I met someone who supported Grimsby Town.

Conference, this success is no accident.

It’s the result of the hard work and ingenuity of our creative industries and the talent of many impressive individuals…

It’s also a result of consecutive Conservative Governments, who have recognised this potential.

Since 2012 we have supported the success of these industries with tax reliefs across the board

…from film to animation to video games to theatre…

…these tax reliefs have helped to attract significant global investment into the UK.

And when times were really hard – we stepped up.

During Covid a Cultural Recovery Fund – £1.57 billion which supported nearly 220,000 jobs and 5,000 organisations and protected our cultural heritage and creative industries

… our Film and tv restart scheme supported over 1,000 productions, over 100,000 roles for cast and crew and over £3 billion of production expenditure…

We know that this cumulative support has driven success.

High End Television saw a total production spend in the UK of £4.3 billion in 2022…

Up from just under £390 million pounds in 2013 the year the tax relief was introduced.

That’s a tenfold increase.

Jobs that would not have been filled. Stories not told. Creativity taken elsewhere.

Without that Conservative support.

But Conference we cannot rest on our laurels.

Our mission as a government is to grow the economy, creating better jobs and opportunity right across the country.

We are making the necessary long term decisions to get the country on the right path for the future.
The Creative Industries are one of the five high-growth tax sectors we’re targeting.

And we have set lofty ambitions:

● Growing the creative industries by an extra £50 billion

● Creating one million extra jobs – all over the country –

● And delivering a creative careers promise that builds a pipeline of talent

● All by 2030

And we have a plan to deliver this – The Creative Industries Sector Vision…

…published in June and backed by an initial £77 million of funding which we expect to bring in £250 million of private investment.

With further support coming down the track.

…and we will ensure that young people who want a career in the creative or cultural industries can develop the necessary skills.

And Conference this just simply wouldn’t have happened under Labour.

They are always focused on the short term.

They talk the talk, but they never deliver.

They talk about supporting creativity but let’s look at their actions when they have actually had an opportunity to deliver.

They talk about growth but Labour voted against the introduction of every single one of our creative industries tax reliefs

They talk about creativity in education but it was a Labour Education Secretary, David Blunkett, who slimmed down the statutory curriculum for creative education and told teachers to teach fewer arts subjects.

Today we only need to look to Wales to see what would happen if Keir Starmer got into power.

Cutting spending to the arts despite receiving the largest settlement from the UK Government in the history of devolution.

Conference, for me ensuring we maximise the potential of our industries is critical.

Because this is maximising our opportunities for the future

Creativity in our schools, jobs for everyone, culture in our towns and cities.

But whilst our potential is important

So is our past,

…our history, our culture and our heritage.

In recent years the very essence of our history and the values that attach to this

Have come under threat.

There are some that want to cancel – those who seek to erase our history

…Shutdown a view they disagree with, rather than argue against it.

Those who would apply a two dimensional filter of moralist outrage on actions or statements, rather than understanding the nuance of language, or the context of history.

These people cast Churchill as villain, not as the man who kept Britain free.

Unlike some of those in the Labour Party, I am not ashamed of our great country’s culture, its people or its past. I do not want to bring down our statues or our monuments,

I believe in the British people.

What some call culture wars, I say, is standing up for our principles.

pride, tolerance, understanding, learning

Respect, fairness and common sense…

That’s why the Sports Strategy we published in July sets out a common sense approach to trans inclusion in women’s sports – protecting women and the integrity of women’s sport, with fairness at its core.

That’s why this week I wrote about my opposition to publishers sanitising books

For not erasing our history…

And it’s why I will be shortly publishing new guidance on retain and explain for statues – so that rather than tearing down our history we can understand it.

Conference, I believe that we are lucky to live in the greatest country in the world.

A country rich in history

Where those within it have an innate and unlimited potential

It is our job in Government to harness that.

And we have, and we will continue to do so.

Because it is only through belief in our country, pride in our people, optimism for what lies ahead, that we can deliver a better future for our children.

Conference, I believe that the best is yet to come.

Because as Yetta would have said ‘what’s a heaven for’.

October 2, 2023
Mark Harper – 2023 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

The speech made by Mark Harper, the Secretary of State for Transport, in Manchester on 2 October 2023.

Conference, thank you. It’s great to be with you in Manchester and as Transport Secretary, I’m supported by a great ministerial team who join us today: Jesse Norman, Huw Merriman, Richard Holden and Charlotte Vere. I’m proud to lead a team working every day to keep Britain moving forward.

I’d also like to welcome two special guests.

Our newest Member of Parliament, Uxbridge’s Steve Tuckwell. Steve’s campaign to stop Labour inspired us all.

And also joining us, Susan Hall, the Conservative candidate for Mayor of London, the only person who can defeat Sadiq Khan, cancel his ULEZ expansion, and turn London blue again.

When we arrived in the Department last October, we faced industrial action across our railways.

By March, we’d resolved the dispute at Network Rail, meaning that rail infrastructure is always available, crucial for moving freight.

But the union barons at the RMT and ASLEF have since refused to let their members on train operators have a say on the fair offers on the table.

They don’t care how many thousands of pounds their members lose in pay, as long as Mick Whelan still sits on Labour’s National Executive Committee, pulling Sir Keir’s strings.

That’s why Labour refuse to criticise the continued industrial action which achieves nothing but disrupting hardworking businesses and people who just want to get on. They take money from the pockets of ordinary people who could never dream of a train drivers’ wage. The union barons seek to inconvenience people, but all they do is risk resentment towards rail workers, and they put their own industry at risk.

Now make no mistake conference, I’m proud of what we Conservatives have done to support our railways.

We’ve invested over £100 billion to transform services, with millions of passengers across the country travelling on new trains on upgraded tracks. In 13 years, Labour electrified just 63 miles of railway track. We’ve delivered over 1,200 miles.

The choice is clear: Labour-backed strikes, or Conservative investment.

Either we make the hard but necessary long-term decisions to get a financially sustainable modern railway, or we follow Labour’s lazy ideological approach, forking out yet more money from the public purse for no benefit to passengers.

Now conference, for people in my rural constituency, and, indeed, across our country, buses are the backbone of public transport, and this Conservative Government is backing our buses.

We have invested over £3.5 billion in our bus network since March 2020, including over £1 billion to help local areas make bus services more frequent, more reliable, better coordinated, and cheaper.

The evidence is clear. In Labour-run Wales and London, bus fares increased last year. In Scotland, the SNP put them up. In England outside London, thanks to the Conservative fare cap, bus fares actually went down, helping with the cost of living.

In the maritime sector, which carries 95% of UK goods, we are investing to guarantee its sustainable future.

In aviation, with our Jet Zero, we’re ensuring we can cut pollution, whilst still growing our economy and helping people go on well-deserved holidays – with the Prime Minister’s clear commitment last month to no new punitive taxes that discourage people from flying.

But Conference, for most people, the most important mode of transport remains the car, the van, the lorry, or the motorbike.

From listening to certain corners of the metropolitan bubble, you would think owning a car was immoral, a dirty habit, an optional extra in peoples’ lives.

Politicians like Sir Keir Starmer, Sadiq Khan and Mark Drakeford are only interested in the short term, taking the easy way out and making decisions that hammer motorist to seek praise from social media and London newspapers.

It’s the Conservative Party which is proudly pro-car. We are on track to a future where zero emission vehicles, powered by batteries, hydrogen or other clean technologies mean we keep driving, but powered in a way that’s fit for the future.

And this Conservative Government will make the hard, but necessary long-term decisions to get the country on the right path for the future – even if some people don’t like it.

What a contrast with Labour.

In London, Sadiq Khan’s ULEZ expansion is a Labour tax on the poorest drivers.

And Conference, he wants to go further. His plans for road pricing would see every driver pay per mile driven, no matter how clean their car is.

And in Labour-run Wales, Sir Keir Starmer’s “blueprint for…Labour”, there are blanket 20 mile an hour speed limits, an ideological ban on road building and plans to charge people to drive on the M4. And just last week, they let slip their plans for road charging across Wales.

And it isn’t just in Wales or in London. Right across our country, there is a Labour-backed movement to make cars harder to use, to make driving more expensive, and to remove your freedom to get from A to B how you want.

Conference, it is time for Conservatives to act.

And today, I am proud to announce a comprehensive plan to back drivers.

First, I am calling time on the misuse of so-called 15-minute cities. There’s nothing wrong with making sure people can walk or cycle to the shops or school. That’s traditional town planning.

But what is different, what is sinister, and what we shouldn’t tolerate, is the idea that local councils can decide how often you go to the shops, and that they can ration who uses the roads and when, and that they police it all with CCTV.

So today, I am announcing that the Government will investigate what options we have in our toolbox to restrict over-zealous use of traffic management measures including cutting off councils from the DVLA database if they don’t follow the rules.

The Prime Minister has already tasked me to conduct a review into Low Traffic Neighbourhoods, and that’s ongoing – building on my decision to ensure no Government money funds them.

It can’t be right that these schemes are imposed without proper local consent, so we will change the guidance to ensure that councils properly listen to what local people say.

But, Conference, we’ll go further.

20 mph zones are a good way to protect schools, for quiet residential streets, or areas that are becoming rat runs. But for some councils, and indeed for some countries, they are yet another way to punish drivers, as blanket measures. The evidence is clear – this makes little difference, may actually increase pollution, and risks motorists ignoring 20mph zones where they are needed.

So, we will change the DfT’s guidance, requiring councils to only use 20mph zones where there’s a good reason, and underlining that 30mph is the default speed limit on urban roads.

It’s also time to put a stop to some councils using unfair fines as a money-spinner.

We will put a stop to councils profiting from traffic offences, clawing back revenue, and removing any temptation to exploit you for profit.

At the same time, we will make it easier for people to switch to cleaner driving in a sensible way, as the Prime Minister set out recently.

There’s much more. We will make it easier and cheaper to drive and ride, to park and to use transport sensibly.

To cut down on jams, we’ll tune up traffic lights to help junctions flow and restrict 24-hour bus lanes where they aren’t appropriate.

And our plan includes a new national parking platform, ending the need to install numerous apps just to park your car as well as a comprehensive package of measures to help councils tackle the menace of potholes.

Now, conference, 36 years ago, Margaret Thatcher inspired a working-class boy from Swindon to join the Conservative Party. And a year later, she told us how we have a “full repairing lease” on our country and on our environment.

Since 2010, Conservatives in Government have worked to deliver her vision.

That working-class boy from Swindon was me, and I make no apology for working to make our transport fit for the future, playing my part in delivering her legacy.

Conference, as a Conservative, I want to give people choice, to make their lives easier, not to force them to travel in a certain way, or at a certain time.

We can make it easier and more convenient for people to use cleaner cars but forcing no one to give up the cars they have today.

We can make it safer for people to choose to walk or cycle, but without forcing drivers off the roads.

And we can cut our carbon emissions without taxing poorer motorists off the roads, or without CCTV-enforced council rationing.

Conference, we are at a fork in the road.

Labour will continue with their same failed approach.

Taxing the poorest motorists.

Political speed limits.

Banning road building.

Labour would put Just Stop Oil in the driving seat, they’d fix a camera on every lamppost, put a hand in every pocket.

Instead, we stand for freedom, to travel how you want. The sensible approach to protecting our environment.

We stand for making the hard, but necessary, long-term decisions to get the country on the right path for the future.

The choice is clear.

We have a long-term plan to back drivers. Labour has a long-term plan to tax drivers. We are on the side of hard-working people; Labour wants to drive them off the roads altogether.

We will take the difficult decisions to put our country on the road to the future, Labour will condemn us to the slow lane.

That is why I back Susan Hall in London, Andy Street in the West Midlands, Ben Houchen in the Tees Valley and our fantastic Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, to lead us into the next election and to win.

Conference, thank you very much indeed.

October 2, 2023
Claire Coutinho – 2023 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

The speech made by Claire Coutinho, the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, in Manchester on 2 October 2023.

Thank you,

Our nation – its people and its businesses – are going to succeed in the decades ahead if – and only if – we source enough energy.

Energy that is home-grown, clean and cheap.

If we get this right, the British people will enjoy greater prosperity in the decades ahead.

If we don’t, we lose jobs and investment and our path to a greener future.

I first want to pay tribute to my predecessor, Grant Shapps, who was relentless in making the case for energy security.

He rightly said we cannot be at the mercy of tyrants like Vladmir Putin who seek to weaponise oil and gas against us.

Our best defence is ensuring our own energy independence.

And that energy independence is exactly what the Conservatives are delivering.

We don’t just have the world’s largest off-shore wind farm,

We have the second largest and the third.

And, yes, we have the world’s fourth and imminently the fifth largest too.

All built under our watch.

We’re investing in solar, in fusion and in hydrogen.

And rather than relying on imports, as Keir Starmer would have it, we’re backing our own North Sea.

And we are delivering the first large-scale nuclear project since Margaret Thatcher’s government.

In fact, each and every operational nuclear power plant in Britain began its life under a Conservative government.

And we have done this all whilst meeting our climate change ambitions and growing the economy.

Over the last 30 years, we’ve cut our emissions by half.

We now get close to half of our power from renewables, up from just 7% when Labour left office.

Let’s never forget – Ed Miliband described the idea of the UK getting to 40% renewables as ‘pie in the sky’.

It is this Conservative Party, delivering for our people and our environment.

Our leadership is also bringing wealth to our economy and to British workers.

Since 2010 we have secured £200 billion in low carbon investments with up to £375 billion on the way.

Carbon Capture will see 50,000 high-skilled British jobs in places like Teesside and the Humber.

Our world-leading offshore wind farms will see 100,000 jobs by 2030, from Aberdeen to Cornwall.

And our pioneering hydrogen industry is bringing jobs right here in the North West of England and over the border in North Wales.

And Conference, we’re not just creating energy, we’re saving energy too.

When Labour left power, less than 12% of homes were considered energy efficient.

Now that figure is 50%.

It is we Conservatives who are delivering the practical solutions to ensure we have secure, cheap energy – reducing bills and protecting the environment.

Yet despite our success, we need to be honest about the challenges ahead.

The transition to clean energy should be a cause of optimism for the country.

It should mean jobs and opportunities and pride that we are playing our part in a global challenge.

However, for too many people it had started to feel like an intolerable cost at a time when after the last few years, they felt they could least afford it.

Across Europe, we are seeing the consequences when the public feel that they are being forced into the wrong decisions for their homes and their families.

In Germany, the climate sceptic AfD is now polling in second position in Europe’s largest economy.

In France, over a quarter of people think that climate change is a conspiracy.

In the Netherlands, the rise of a new net zero sceptic party stormed their local elections.

Meanwhile in the UK, only 7% of people think Net Zero is going to be good for them and their family in the near term.

Uxbridge showed us what happens when you tax people for using their cars without thinking about how they would be able to get around otherwise.

Conference, I have worked with families running on a tight budget. I know the difference £12.50 – Labour’s ULEZ tax – can make to people whose finances are stretched.

If we are to succeed, Net Zero can’t be something that is done to people, by a privileged elite.

We cannot force people to make the wrong decisions for their families.

And it is immoral to put forward policies that will impoverish people here, when emissions are rising abroad.

Conference, Labour are the party of tax and condemn.

We Conservatives are the party of aspiration and the environment.

And we should be clear: In the UK we account for 1% of global emissions.

While we’ve reduced rapidly, other countries are polluting more. Their emissions are rising and rising fast.

In China emissions are up over 300%.

We will play our part and we will support other countries to do more, but we can’t do that off the backs off struggling households here at home.

However, the likes of Just Stop Oil and Extinction Rebellion, funded by the same people who fund Labour, do not get this.

For them Net Zero has become a religion.

For us it is a practical mission to be achieved.

They want to force people to behave a certain way or face punitive taxes.

And more than that, they show sheer condescension about people’s normal way of life.

Do you eat meat? How dare you.

You’re flying away for a week in the sun? How selfish.

You’re driving to work to put food on the table for your family? Well, you should’ve chosen a different job.

It is these zealots that would see the cause of climate change lost.

More concerned with signalling their own purity then with energising the cause of climate change.

They don’t seek to persuade, only to disrupt.

They don’t want to engage, only to silence.

Conference, that’s the Labour Party for you.

And what do we see?

It’s no wonder Labour seems so relaxed about taxing meat.

Sir Keir Starmer doesn’t eat it,

And Ed Miliband is clearly scarred by his encounter with a bacon sandwich.

Conference, Keir Starmer’s only green credential is his recycling of Ed Miliband.

A man already binned off once before by the great British public,

A man who’s working in lockstep with Just Stop Oil,

And a man who has clearly radicalised Keir Starmer.

Labour’s hated ULEZ expansion,

Their plans to borrow £28 billion a year which would drive up inflation,

To take us much further and faster than any other country, no matter the cost on ordinary people.

Their plans are toxic and would collapse popular support for net zero.

Simply put, it is not the climate change deniers who threaten net zero – it is Keir Starmer’s Labour Party.

They choose ideology over reason at every turn.

Alongside the SNP, the Labour Party opposed further development of the North Sea.

A plan that would export 200,000 oil and gas jobs abroad.

A plan that has been rightly condemned by the unions.

Even our Climate Change watchdog says that when we reach Net Zero in 2050, we’ll still need oil and gas as part of our energy consumption.

Yet Labour would shut down the North Sea.

They would have us more dependent on foreign regimes for longer.

Jobs lost, investment lost, and our national security jeopardised.

Well, we Conservatives are going to do things differently.

The UK can benefit – and is benefiting – from the jobs and investment that the energy transition brings.

From climate finance to generating new technology, we have a leading role that will see us beat climate change.

But conference, we will also ensure we take our own people with us.

Indeed, that is the only way we can achieve this.

That is why we have made sensible adjustments to take a new approach to climate policies.

Of all the major economies, we have set the toughest targets – and we have exceeded all of them.

We are raising our ambitions on clean energy and innovation.

But we are making it financially easier for people to change their boilers, and – crucially – this will be by choice not coercion.

Gone are bans for those in rural communities for whom there is no realistic alternative to their boiler.

For those who can convert, we’re increasing the grant for cleaner heating to one of the most generous schemes in Europe.

We are also moving to a phase out of petrol and diesel engines which is in line with France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Canada and California.

Our carbon emissions will continue to fall, but people will be able to make the transition when the price is right for them.

We’ve taken the bold decisions because they are the right ones for our people.

We will be ambitious, but we can also be practical.

And above all we must be compassionate.

It is we Conservatives who will deliver both for our people today and for generations to come.

This is a decades’ long endeavour, and we are in it for the long haul.

As part of this long-term strategy.

One that focuses on energy security, lower bills and decarbonisation.

I am today announcing the next phase of our new, practical approach.

Firstly, we are boosting our long-term resilience and will set out our nuclear road map this autumn.

A crucial element of this will be how we deploy the exciting new technology of small modular nuclear reactors.

I am therefore pleased to announce today the six companies we have shortlisted to build these reactors.

Rolls Royce, an iconic British company,

Who have been powering our nuclear submarines for 70 years.

A company founded by the genius of our Union of nations,

Formed by the Welshman Charles Rolls and the English apprentice Henry Royce.

Who formed a partnership right here in the Midland Hotel in Manchester 120 years ago.

They have been selected alongside 5 other world-leading companies, each with cutting edge technology, including GE-Hitachi, EDF, Holtec, Nuscale and Westinghouse, with the final decision to be taken early next year.

Together with Hinkley, Sizewell and our commitment to accelerate other emerging technologies and bring them to market,

It is we Conservatives who are acting now to secure our future.

Now our quest to tackle climate change means taking people with us.

We know that many are hesitant, for example, about solar farms covering our countryside.

Conserving our green and pleasant land is a personal priority for me – from the Surrey Hills to the Derbyshire Dales.

We are therefore working to reduce pressure on rural communities, by making it easier for solar panels to be installed on industrial rooftops, warehouses, car parks and factories.

We’ll cut through the planning red tape that limits the amount of solar businesses can currently install.

Protecting the countryside, boosting renewables and according to industry, saving businesses up to £3 billion pounds a year

Finally, maintaining public support for net zero also means showing compassion.

Rather than clobbering the public and forcing them to make the wrong choices for their families, this government is supporting people as we reduce emissions.

That’s why my last announcement is targeted at those least able to make the transition.

So today I can announce we’re allocating a further £80 million to insulate thousands of social homes, saving families on average £240 each year.

Supporting the most vulnerable, reducing their bills, protecting our environment.

Today’s announcements, taken together –

New nuclear, sensible solar, insulation investment.

It is the Conservatives with the practical, long-term solutions for our country.

The contrast with Labour could not be starker.

Their approach concerns me because it risks public support in the very endeavour they claim to champion.

And it also imperils our mission as Conservatives.

I am a Conservative because I believe that we are custodians of the things that we cherish.

We must deliver abundant, cheap energy so that the next generation can benefit like we did.

We must preserve and protect the environment for those yet to be born.

Since Mrs Thatcher stood up at the United Nations in 1989, it has been this country that has reduced emissions faster than any of our competitors.

I believe that if we place ourselves at the forefront of this latest energy revolution we will reap the rewards just as we did in the Industrial Revolution 200 years ago.

We will be ambitious,

We will be innovative,

And we will be pragmatic.

These are, after all, the attributes that the world associates with Britain.

So let’s take the fight to short-term Starmer.

Let’s not allow Labour to play politics with our energy security.

For it’s only the Conservatives who can save our environment, grow our economy and secure our children’s future.

Thank you.

October 2, 2023
James Cleverly – 2023 Speech at Conservative Party Conference

The speech made by James Cleverly, the Foreign Secretary, in Manchester on 1 October 2023.

It’s been a year since I’ve been appointed.

And in that time, I have been on over sixty international visits,

Have hosted over one hundred inward events,

I have had over seven hundred meetings or calls with foreign representatives,

I’ve also had the honour of accompanying His Majesty The King on two state visits.

And my ministerial team has worked just as hard.

And so, if you’re wondering where they are at the moment during this speech – they’re out in the wider world, promoting Britain on the world stage.

And all those meetings, all those visits, all those calls, has allowed me to hear first-hand what the world thinks of us. As a result, my view of Britain’s standing in the world has never been clearer.

People want to see us.

People care about what we say.

People admire what we stand for.

But perhaps most importantly, people respect what we do.

Far from being left on the sidelines, we remain right at the heart of things.

And we should all be immensely proud of our country’s standing on the world stage.

And let me explain why.

And let me explain to the people who think Brexit has hindered us.

Let me spell it out to the people who think our best years are behind us.

Let me make it clear to those on the Labour benches who want to play politics and put our country down.

This government, with Rishi Sunak at the helm, takes decisive measures and is prepared to take the tough, long-term decisions for the benefit of our country.

And so, of course we send emergency rescue teams to Morocco, and to Turkey and Syria in response to those terrible earthquakes.

And of course, we evacuate Brits caught up in the Sudan conflict.

But we also sign Free Trade Agreements with countries around the globe,

And we lead by example in our unrelenting support for Ukraine and call out Russia for its heinous crimes.

And we sanction the brutal Iranian judges who target brave women campaigning for nothing more than their freedoms.

We have consistently helped the worst-off in the world lift themselves out of poverty,

We have consistently fought injustice wherever we see it,

And we have consistently led the way in times of international crisis.

Some people ask me when they talk to me, they say ‘James, that’s all well and good, but why does foreign affairs matter to the British people?

How does it help the people of Braintree or Belfast, or Banchory or Bridgend?’.

It helps because when we engage with our allies, old or new, we are safer, and we become more prosperous.

The PM gets it. Our party gets it. You get it.

Keir Starmer and his crowd don’t get it.

And over the last few years, of course we have seen incredibly tough global circumstances.

A global pandemic, and as my friend Grant just said, a brutal war on our own continent.

But because this Prime Minister was prepared to take the tough long-term decisions that we needed.

And we have thrived despite incredibly strong economic headwinds, powered by the pandemic and intensified by the war in Ukraine.

And because of his long-term decisions our economy is back to pre-pandemic levels and Britain has recovered quicker form that pandemic than Europe’s biggest economies.

Under this Prime Minister, we have made immense progress in very little time.

Under Starmer, Labour are all talk,

Under Sunak, we are about action.

As I say, in the relatively time Rishi has been Prime Minister, let us look at what we have achieved.

We agreed the Windsor Framework in February,

We agreed the AUKUS deal in March,

The Hiroshima Accord in May,

The Atlantic Declaration in June,

We’ve come to agreements with Europe that will grow our economy, stop the boats, and make us safer.

Conference, we should all be proud of our country and incredibly proud of we achieved in this short period of time .

And the Prime Minister’s leadership has allowed us to take full advantage of the bold decision we made in 2016.

Let me give you a few facts and figures just to prove the point.

Last year, service exports reached a record high.

Exports of goods and services grew by over 20% in current prices and are likely to increase again this year.

And we remain the second largest services exporter in the world – behind only the United States of America which, I may remind you, has five times as many people as us.

And today, nearly 60% of UK exports go to non-EU countries – and that is up from 52% in 2010. And the long-term economic trend is clear.

And it’s one we expect not just to continue but to intensify.

And that’s why – because we are looking at the future, because we are facing forward – we recently concluded negotiations to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership – easier to say than you might believe.

And, actually, it took me longer to say it than it did for us to join it.

That’s because we are focused on building our friendships, our forces, and our relationships with the Indo-Pacific region.

It’s why we are pushing to conclude a trade deal with India,

an economy forecast to double in size by 2030, overtaking Japan and Germany as the world’s third largest economy.

And it’s markets like these that are the future, and we recognise their value to us will grow enormously.

And while we have a global outlook, Labour can hardly imagine a world beyond Brussels.

The world has gotten used to engaging with a new, independent Britain –

To engaging with a Britain that is free to forge its own destiny,

Free to ratify its own law,

And free to negotiate its own trade deals.

And our newfound independence has enabled us to repeatedly get ahead of events.

Whether that’s with the manufacturing of lifesaving vaccines, which then gave us the ability to lift out of lockdowns,

Or whether it’s the sanctioning Russians involved in the illegal, brutal and disgusting conduct both domestically and abroad.

And yes – I am especially proud of our record when it comes to the support of the people of Ukraine.

We foresaw the extent and intensity of the price of the fight President Zelensky and his brave people faced in February 2022.

And I consider it a personal privilege to have done what I can to maximise support for that courageous country.

But never let anyone forget that for almost a decade now, every Conservative Prime Minister has backed Ukraine.

From training Ukrainian troops after the initial invasion of Crimea in 2014, to standing up to Putin over the poisonings in Salisbury.

From arming Ukrainians with the MLRS when Russia first initiated their full-scale invasion, to sanctioning Putin and his cronies who brutalise the Ukrainian people.

And Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has continued this unwavering support.

He was the first world leader to supply Ukraine with NATO tanks.

The first leader to train fast jet fighter pilots.

The first leader to supply long range missiles to support those fighting on the frontlines.

And earlier this year, Rishi Sunak hosted the landmark Ukrainian Recovery Conference in London, where we secured billions in international funding so that Ukraine will be able to rebuild once they win this war.

Whilst I occupy this great office, I have considered the many challenges we face as a nation and have contemplated the ways of making my department more effective at tackling those obstacles.

For example, when it comes to stopping the boats, we have and will continue to coordinate and cooperate not just within government, but with our allies as well.

We have collaborated with the governments of countries where these inhumane people-smuggling gangs are based.

But I recognise that we need to keep going.

Today, I have written to all of our ambassadors and high commissioners.

I have instructed every ambassador, to do even more to work with the countries in which they represent the UK to help stop the abhorrent trafficking of human lives across the English Channel.

Be in no doubt, our diplomats will redouble their efforts to bring about an end to this terrible, terrible injustice.

Now, I’m incredibly proud of the diplomats I work alongside – I have no doubt that they are the best in the world.

But I want to ensure that our diplomatic service is truly representative of the UK.

And unsurprisingly, I believe that those who have served our nation on the battlefield can continue to contribute beyond their tours of duty.

Which is why I have tasked my officials to carve out a space in our diplomatic service for veterans.

And I look forward to working with Johnny Mercer, our Veterans Minister, to ensure that the men and women from our armed forces – who we know are among the best of us – to give them the opportunity to be the best of us representing the UK.

And you’ll forgive me, but it does make me immensely proud to offer those who served our country with unparalleled distinction:

The opportunity to serve once again.

Speaking of service and pride, you will know that I served as the Chairman of this great party during the 2019 election.

I remember the doomsters and gloomsters predicting another hung parliament, they predicted an outright Conservative loss or a modest Conservative gain.

And those were the people whose amazing predictions predated the most significant electoral victory of recent times, and an 80-seat Conservative majority.

And today, I see the same old politicians making the same old tired predictions.

And when I look across the floor of the House of Commons, I see a group of spineless ditherers.

Devoid of answers to any of the challenges the world faces or that our country faces.

And yet, they are there – baying with disapproval at the tough but necessary decisions that governments have to make.

And where, I ask myself, is leadership from their leader?

Sir Keir can’t make up his mind on whether he supports leaving the EU or whether he supports remaining in the EU or rejoining the EU.

He pledged to cut tuition fees to get elected as Labour leader, and then went back on his promise as soon as he became Labour leader.

He resigned from Corbyn’s cabinet, then he rejoined Corbyn’s cabinet and campaigned to make Jeremy Corbyn Prime Minister.

What we see is no clarity, no consistency, no policies, no plan – only the same old, tired, opportunistic politics.

Keir Starmer’s Labour Party doesn’t stand for anything.

And whilst Sir Keir and his comrades represent the tired politics of the past, the Prime Minister is prepared to do things differently.

And why?

Because the Conservative Party believes in Britain’s epic potential and the Labour Party is unwilling to take the tough decisions that will ensure the prosperity and the safety of this country for generations to come.

Conference, I can think of nothing more counterproductive than handing over the keys of government to a group of political chancers and visionless ideologues.

It is a scenario I refuse to entertain.

Because a party that does not believe in Britain cannot be trusted to lead it.

Only the Conservatives have a plan for the future.

Only Conservatives will take the tough decisions that will keep us safe and keep us prosperous.

Only the Conservatives will stand with pride on the world stage.

October 2, 2023
Grant Shapps – 2023 Speech at Conservative Party Conference

The speech made by Grant Shapps, the Secretary of State for Defence, in Manchester on 1 October 2023.

When people think of the Blitz they tend to think of London – the burning Docklands and St Paul’s shrouded in smoke.

But Manchester endured its own Blitz early on, in 1940, where some 680 people were killed.

Fortunately for our country, that kind of systematic destruction on this scale is a thing of memory.

But imagine if a trip to the market or restaurant could be your last; that you or those that you love might fall victim to a sudden attack by a cruise missile or suicide drone plunging from the sky.

This is daily life in Ukraine; on freedom’s front line.

Even as the fighting falls deep into its second year, it’s still hard to believe that a full-scale war is raging here, in Europe.

And Ukraine is not some long away distant country of which we know nothing.

It is part of the family of European democratic nations, and they are fighting for their very survival.

Fighting for freedom against an invader as ruthless as any in modern times.

A tyrant who sees civilians as collateral damage in a failed war of conquest he cannot win, but he also cannot find a way to exit either.

Putin hoped to take Ukraine by bluff.

A swift armoured invasion designed to seize Kyiv and install a puppet government.

Ukraine would be quickly, it would be overwhelmed, it would be reduced to a vassal state, its identity and freedom crushed.

But the Ukrainian people were not going to let that happen. And neither were we.

The United Kingdom stepped up.

We have provided billions in military aid – second only to the contribution of the United States.

We have consistently been first in responding to Ukraine’s needs.

The N-LAW anti-tank missiles wisely sent in advance by Britain – thank you to Ben Wallace – were crucial in those first early weeks when the fate of Ukraine hung in the balance.

And as N-LAWs struck fear into the hearts of invading Russian tank crews at the beginning, so our long-range cruise missiles do the same for Russian commanders today.

With weapons like Storm Shadow, everywhere in Russian-occupied Ukraine, is on the front line.

But we cannot – we must not – let up now.

The war is consuming weapons, ammunition and, yes, people at an appalling rate.

If Ukrainians are to prevail against the evil assault on their homeland, we must remain steadfast.

That’s why we’re helping to train their F16 pilots.

It’s why by the end of this year we’ll have trained more than 50,000 Ukrainian recruits, starting well in advance of the war.

And of course, it’s why Ukrainians have been welcomed by so many British families under the Homes for Ukraine scheme.

Including – for a year – in my own home.

Now, my wife and I were partly moved to act because our own ancestors fled to this country to escape the pogroms of Eastern Europe in an earlier age.

But what really moved us most, was the palpable sense of generosity from the British public for our new arrivals to Britain.

Complete strangers came forward with clothes, with schoolbooks for six-year-old Nikita, and most precious of all, their time to help ensure the three-generation Ukrainian family that came to live with us felt truly at home in the United Kingdom.

You know, we should never be complacent about this country, whatever our grumbles. This is a precious and incredibly generous land.

On my first visit to Ukraine this summer, I visited Nikita’s nursery in Kyiv.

I saw the apartment block across the road from his Kindergarten that had been destroyed by one of Putin’s rockets at the start of the war.

This was the attack that made Nikita, his mother, his grandmother, together with their dog – Max – flee from Ukraine.

Only, as I glanced across the street from his nursery this summer, there was no bombed out shell to view. The apartment block has already been completely rebuilt. Re-inhabited.

What I was witnessing was the iron resolve of the Ukrainian people. Ordinary people, maintaining a semblance of life even amongst air raids sirens.

Rebuilding their homes, the moment they get the chance.

And last week, as Defence Secretary, I visited Kyiv again.

And this time, I met with the steely resolve of President Zelenskyy himself.

At a time when he could have left the capital. At a time when he could have become a leader in exile. He did not, he stayed put. Providing inspiration for his people and he showed remarkable bravery.

Ukraine has taught us a lesson.

The war reminds us of the unprovoked aggression by one nation against another is still a reality in global affairs.

Left unchecked – we are all in danger.

And this is why we must invest in our defence.

That’s why, under the Conservative government, defence spending has exceeded £50 billion a year for the first time ever.

And conference, it is why we will maintain our leading position in NATO by increasing the defence budget to 2.5 per cent of GDP when conditions allow.

Because we know the world is changing. So as a result, we’re working ever closer with our allies.

Developing the latest naval technology to protect our Commonwealth kith and kin in the Pacific as they face up the challenge of the rapidly expanding Chinese navy.

Deploying two of the world’s largest and most advanced carriers in history the Royal Navy has ever seen, in the Queen Elizabeth, HMS, and HMS Prince of Wales.

We are ploughing billions into our own naval shipbuilding program, as well as civilian construction to create jobs and grow our economy.

And Britain is one of the few nations capable of operating in every ocean of the world, simultaneously.

Our ultimate national insurance policy is, of course, our at sea nuclear deterrent.

So, we’re building the new Dreadnought-class submarines that will carry Britain’s nuclear deterrent into the middle of the century.

And today I can announce that we have signed contracts worth £4 billion with leading British businesses to drive forward the development of the most powerful attack submarines ever operated by the Royal Navy.

These hunter-killer AUKUS submarines will empower the Royal Navy to maintain our strategic advantage under the sea – enabling us to compete with emerging navies anywhere in the world as our world becomes more unpredictable and dangerous.

Today’s announcement will support thousands of jobs, from Barrow-In-Furness where these submarines will be built, to Derby where our reactor-build facilities will be expanded.

And by backing British businesses to develop them, we are taking the long-term decisions we need to boost our defence industry and to grow our economy.

Under our Prime Minister’s leadership, the Conservatives are putting the UK at the heart of NATO.

Vladimir Putin shattered peace across Europe, but in doing so he made our collective will and our resolve more important than ever.

And in response, the UK is taking a leading role in ensuring NATO remains the bedrock of our security for us and our allies.

We are one of NATO’s very few members exceeding the critical 2% of GDP target for the amount of money which is spent on our defence. And, of course, we are the largest defence spender in Europe and we are delivering the capabilities our alliance needs.

Today, I can announce that the UK has stepped up again, with two new deployments.

First, in response to a request from our Polish friends, RAF Typhoons are landing in Poland as I speak, to support our NATO ally with the growing threat of Russian interference.

Deploying ahead of Poland’s elections, they will be a powerful way of undeniably showing Putin that this Conservative government will protect democracy and freedom from any despotic tyrant that threatens our allies.

Second, at the end of what I think has been a concerning week, there’s been a request from NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, and so I have authorised the full deployment of a battalion-sized UK Strategic Reserve Force to NATO’s Kosovo peacekeeping mission.

In the days ahead, hundreds of soldiers from the 1st Battalion, Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment will join the 400 British service men and women already in Kosovo.

And, as the best of the best, I know our soldiers will do the United Kingdom proud.

We have been unwavering in our support for NATO – contributing to every allied mission that they have and supporting them this weekend, so that when NATO contact us, they knew the answer from the United Kingdom would be yes.

As Conservatives, we put our nation’s security first.

Which is more than can be said for Labour.

So, what is Keir Starmer’s approach to our fundamental security?

Simple. He personally campaigned to make one Jeremy Corbyn, Prime Minister. The man who called for NATO to be disbanded.

Starmer actually backed plans for Britain to adopt a ‘non-nuclear, non-aligned defence policy’.

In plain English, that meant scrapping Trident, abandoning NATO and leaving us naked in the face of nuclear threats from the Kremlin.

And that isn’t just the Starmer of the past.

Since then, he has gone further – appointing a Shadow Foreign Secretary who has repeatedly voted against renewing our nuclear deterrent.

You know, in the military sphere, it’s sometimes good to keep your enemy guessing.

The problem with Kier Starmer is that on policy, he keeps everyone guessing.

Including himself.

What would Britain’s armed forces look like after five years of Labour?

Who knows?

The man will say anything – anything – to get himself elected.

But one thing we do know is that you just cannot trust Labour on Defence.

And if – perish the thought – Labour get back into power, the old habits will resurface. Defence – always dismissed and disparaged by the Left – will be the first casualty.

Our service people and defence industries, and our veterans all deserve much better.

Conference, we must not let that happen.

But there is one area in which we absolutely must do better.

Service life is tough enough on families – service men and women – without having to put up with sub-standard accommodation.

There are too many old and creaking buildings in our estate, and that lowers morale.

Our accommodation estate is in fact very large. Indeed, if the Ministry of Defence was a Housing Association, it would rank amongst the biggest in the land.

So, I am making it a personal priority to improve its quality.

Which is why we’re injecting £400 million to ensure that we provide the modern accommodation that our service families deserve.

And while resolving this problem will not be instantaneous, I am determined that we fix it in order to support our brave men and women at home, as well as on the front line.

And while we’re on the subject of morale, I want to end by saying something about our Party.

One of the things I most admire about the military is that they don’t gloss over the harsh realities.

Now, times are tough. We are behind in the polls. The pundits tell us that Labour is a shoo-in. And we wouldn’t be human if we didn’t sometimes feel the pressure.

But for those who think that this conference is going to be nothing more than inward looking or downcast, I say this: This country faces an important choice; Rishi Sunak, who will make the hard but necessary long-term decisions to get the country on the right path for the future…

… or Sir Keir Starmer – a man focused on the short-term and lacking the backbone to make the big changes that Britain needs.

In Rishi Sunak, we have a leader who has weathered a brutal baptism of fire and is coming through. His mettle has been tested and not found wanting.

He has stuck to his course, trusting in what he believes to be right for the country. It doesn’t always make him popular in the short term – but that is the price of doing the right thing.

We need leadership that puts the national interest over self-interest, and does what is right, not what is easy.

Now, I trust the British people, their good sense. They can spot a serious man to take the tough decisions.

And they can spot an opposition leader who has made an art out of political opportunism.

So, let’s take the fight to Say-Anything-Starmer.

He’s measuring the curtains. He thinks he’s home and dry. He thinks that he can take Downing Street by bluff.

But as the steely Sir Claude Auchinleck said before the first battle of El Alamein – when the British had their backs to the wall and Rommel seemed to be triumphant:

‟Let’s show him where he gets off.”

Thank you.

October 2, 2023
Alister Jack – 2023 Speech at Conservative Party Conference

The speech made by Alister Jack, the Secretary of State for Scotland, in Manchester on 1 October 2023.

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.

I’d like to thank a few people.

Firstly, obviously, Douglas who gave a very kind introduction, for his support at Westminster and most important of all for his strong leadership of the Scottish Conservatives in Holyrood.

Secondly, I’d like to thank my Scotland Office Ministers, Malcolm Offord and John Lamont, my ministerial team, they’re sitting here at the front of the auditorium, and they do excellent work for Scotland. I want to thank them for everything they do, thank you gentlemen.

Conference, I am here with a very clear message today.

The United Kingdom has never been stronger.

And that is not by accident.

Yes, it’s true the Nationalists are doing everything they can to strengthen the Union for us.

They have shredded whatever credibility they once had.

But I’m not going to comment on a live police investigation, however, I think we can all agree that the people of Scotland have been shocked by the investigation into the SNP’s finances; The arrests of leading SNP figures. The searches. The blue and white evidence tent in the garden. The campervan.

So, it is no surprise that people in Scotland have quite rightly become very angry at the abject failure of the Scottish Government to deliver on the things that matter most to them.

They are sick and tired of record NHS waiting times.

Of poor standards in our schools.

And then, of course, there’s the ferries, or lack of them.

The SNP and their Green coalition masters, are dragging Scotland down more and more every day and people have come to the obvious conclusion: if the Nationalists can’t even organise a Bottle Deposit Return Scheme properly, all their talk of removing Scotland from the United Kingdom is pure fantasy.

Ladies and gentlemen, the SNP are increasingly looking like a busted flush.

But that’s not the only reason why the United Kingdom is stronger than ever.

The Union is stronger than ever thanks to this Government – the most active and effective UK Government in Scotland in the devolution era.

And I am very proud of that.

And I’m very proud of that because we have a great story to tell.

We have delivered record funding for the Scottish Government, so they really have no excuses for their poor performance in areas such as health and education.

We have supported families across Scotland facing cost of living pressures.

We have pledged to halve inflation, to get the economy growing – creating better jobs – and to bring down the national debt.

We are reaching out across the world to maximise the benefits of Brexit, striking trade deals worth billions of pounds to our distillers, our salmon producers, and our defence industry.

And we’re not just seeing the benefits of Brexit for the UK with trade deals, either.

The Chancellor has introduced new financial services regulations.

We’re backing our fishing industry now it is out of the hated Common Fisheries Policy; and we’ve passed legislation allowing farmers to use cutting edge gene editing technology.

Cutting edge technology that has been pioneered in Scotland, but which is sadly banned in Scotland by the SNP-Green government of Holyrood, despite the wishes of our farmers and the NFU Scotland.

As Secretary of State, I’ve also been clear that we will use our post-Brexit internal market legislation to protect Scotland’s free flowing trade across the whole of the United Kingdom.

Because sixty per cent of our trade is with the rest of the UK and I will not allow the Nationalists to create unnecessary obstacles.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am pleased to say we are also supporting our globally successful oil and gas industry.

This government is clear: we should continue to use our own North Sea resources as we move to Net Zero, our own resources as we bring down prices and improve our energy security.

Both Labour and the SNP are threatening to shut down our oil and gas industry prematurely and I believe that is sheer madness. It cannot be in Scotland or the United Kingdom’s best interests.

We must support oil and gas industry, just as we support renewables, as we transition to a much better future.

At a time of war in Europe and wider global uncertainty we’ve also backed our amazing Armed Forces to the hilt – so much of which is based in Scotland.

So perhaps now is a very good moment to pay tribute to my friend and fellow Scot, Ben Wallace, an outstanding Defence Secretary who has served this Party, this Government, and our country with the greatest distinction.

Ladies and gentlemen, there is more.

This Government is going further than any previous Government of the devolution era in delivering for Scotland.

As Secretary of State for Scotland it has been my privilege and passion to drive forward direct UK Government investment in Scotland.

It is now worth £2.5 billion, and that is over and above the Scottish Government’s record funding settlement.

I was absolutely delighted with the announcement today that seven towns in Scotland will receive around £20 million each as part of our Long-Term Plan for Towns.

It is the latest in a long line of Levelling Up initiatives reaching every corner of the country.

It is creating jobs, transforming communities, and delivering high profile projects that people really care about.

We are backing small-scale, grassroots initiatives; high profile arts projects; cutting edge research in our universities; and more.

We’ve also led the way creating Freeports based around the Firth of Forth and the Cromarty Firth.

The Prime Minister and I visited the Cromarty Firth when the news was announced and I know that he, as a long-time champion of Freeports, is as excited as I am about the impact this will have on the Highland economy.

We’re following up that by creating Investment Zones in Aberdeen and Glasgow.

Ladies and Gentlemen, we recognised some time ago we had to change the damaging old philosophy of ‘devolve and forget’ – leaving too much in the hands of the devolved administration in Holyrood and allowing the role of the UK Government to fade into the background.

Well, today, I can announce the era of ‘devolve and forget’ is well and truly over.

It is dead. It is Finished. And I promise you, it is not coming back under my watch.

On scores of projects, we are now working directly with local councils and other responsible delivery partners, and I call that real devolution.

No longer can the failing SNP-Green administration hoard decision-making powers and resources in Holyrood, using it for their own political purposes, rather than the priorities of most people in Scotland.

My view of devolution is straightforward.

It is about Scotland’s two governments at Westminster and Holyrood respecting each other’s roles and working together where we can.

We know that is how devolution works best and we know it is what the vast majority of Scots want and what they expect.

But unfortunately, my view is not shared by the Nationalists.

Time and time again they have sought to undermine the devolution settlement in order to provoke unnecessary disagreement between the two governments.

When they took Nicola Sturgeon’s Referendum Bill to the Supreme Court, they wasted taxpayers’ money confirming what everyone already knew:
the constitution and the Union are matters reserved to Westminster.

When they tried to introduce a new system of self-ID for trans people – their Gender Recognition Reform Bill – they ignored the harmful impact on safeguards for women and girls in existing reserved legislation.

And when they tried to bring a Bottle Deposit Return Scheme, they failed to consider the impact of cross-border trade.

In each case, I felt it was my duty as Secretary of State for Scotland, to step in.

I will not stand by, and I will not allow Nationalist ministers to undermine, or abuse, the devolution settlement for their own political purposes.

Not now, not ever.

Sadly, I am not surprised by the Nationalists’ approach.

They do not support devolution so why would they respect it?

But what concerns me are the consequences.

The waste of time, money and resources that should be focused on people’s real priorities in Scotland.

Struggling businesses left out of pocket by the collapse of that shambolic Bottle Deposit Return Scheme.

The anxiety felt by so many women at the potential erosion of safeguards afforded by the Equality Act.

The Scottish Government need to understand their political game-playing causes real damage and as Douglas Ross said so forcefully earlier this afternoon, they need to drop their narrow obsession with breaking up Britain and do the job they were elected to do.

They need to respect devolution; they need to take that record budget they receive from the Treasury, and they must use it to deliver public services that Scots can rely on.

So, ladies and gentlemen, in conclusion:

We know this Union – this great, enduring partnership between Scotland, England, Wales, and Northern Ireland – creates opportunity and drives success for us all.

Quite simply, we achieve more together.

And that is why I’m so proud to play my part in a UK Government that has done more than any other to strengthen the United Kingdom.

And we are doing it daily, right across Scotland, investing directly in projects that create jobs and level up communities.

We are doing it by supporting our key industries, by protecting cross-Border trade and boosting the economy.

And we are doing it by defending devolution robustly against the Nationalists’ attempts to bend and twist it for their own, narrow political purposes.

There could not be a clearer contrast between a Nationalist, SNP Scottish Government that is in chaos, that is failing, and that is letting people down by putting their obsession with leaving the UK above everything it does. And this United Kingdom Government, under the outstanding leadership of Rishi Sunak, that is 100 per cent focused on the issues that really matter most to the people in Scotland and across the whole of the United Kingdom.

More and more, people in Scotland are seeing the benefits of having a United Kingdom that is energetically and visibly on their side because that is what people want.

It is what’s best for Scotland.

And it is what we will continue to deliver.

Thank you very much.

October 2, 2023
Douglas Ross – 2023 Speech at Conservative Party Conference

The speech made by Douglas Ross, the leader of the Scottish Conservatives, in Manchester on 1 October 2023.

Thank you, Conference.

It is fantastic to speak to this gathering of the Conservative AND Unionist Party.

We in this hall are all Unionists by definition.

It is in our party’s DNA.

To be a Conservative is to be a Unionist.

Unlike our opponents, Conservatives don’t apologise for being British, we embrace it.

We celebrate our common history and heritage and look forward to the shared future that Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland will continue to build together.

Conference, I know that Rishi Sunak and this UK Conservative and Unionist Government are taking the long-term decisions to build a brighter future for Scotland and the whole of the United Kingdom.

I was with our Prime Minister in Aberdeenshire in the summer – when he announced over 100 new oil and gas licences in the North Sea.

And gave the go-ahead to a new carbon capture cluster facility in Peterhead.

These announcements will strengthen energy security for the whole of the UK.

But they will also secure tens of thousands of skilled Scottish jobs.

Jobs that Labour and the SNP would put on the scrapheap as soon as possible to appease green extremists like Just Stop Oil.

Well, the last thing that Scotland needs is a Miliband millstone round our neck.

This Conservative and Unionist Party will never abandon North Sea workers, like Keir Starmer would.

We are now the only party you can trust to stand up for Scotland’s oil.

And these announcements are just one part of what the Conservatives are delivering for Scotland.

From freeports to spaceports, roads to ferries, supercomputers to agriculture technology.

We are investing in projects that will drive growth across our whole country, secure and create Scottish jobs and businesses and strengthen the essential contribution Scotland makes to our United Kingdom.

Well conference, it has been a pretty interesting year in Scottish politics.

I have more than a few things to update you on since we last met.

In fact, I am struggling on where to begin….

Well Nicola Sturgeon is gone.

Can I repeat that for those at the back – Nicola Sturgeon is gone.

For years we were told that she was unstoppable.

That she could, apparently, do no wrong.

How many times did the media proclaim that Scotland was on the cusp of independence under her leadership?

Or that she would wipe out the Tories.

Well, I can proudly say that her career lies in tatters, and we – conference – are still here.

It was our party – the Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party – that was the constant thorn in her side.

We stopped the SNP from winning a majority in election after election.

We fought her dangerous gender reform bill – which, let’s not forget conference, was backed at each stage by Labour.

And we stood up to Nicola Sturgeon’s plans for a second independence referendum every step of the way.

Now, since she left, the SNP have been having some difficulties.

A police investigation into party finances.

The luxury campervan seized.

And Humza Yousaf as leader.

The best the SNP now have to offer is a poor Nicola Sturgeon tribute act.

But we cannot be complacent.

His government are already spending millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money on promoting independence.

And Humza Yousaf is treating next year’s election as a proxy referendum.

Nicola Sturgeon may have quit but the SNP haven’t gone away.

They are down but far from out.

They are just as dangerous to the future of our country as they have ever been.

We still need to fight for every vote, to win as many seats as possible.

Because next year we can deal a fatal blow to the campaign for independence.

We can ensure the nationalists fall short again and put Humza Yousaf’s Government on notice.

And in so many seats only the Scottish Conservatives can beat the SNP.

Conference, this Conservative UK Government delivers for Scotland.

And on energy, financial services, food & drink, tourism and so much more Scotland delivers for the whole of the UK.

If we remove the SNP, if we can kick them out of power in every part of our nation, Scotland can finally move on from the independence neverendum

And we can build a stronger, more prosperous United Kingdom together.

Now to speak more on strengthening our country, let’s welcome to the stage the man who puts Scotland at the heart of the UK Government.

The scourge of SNP globetrotting.

The binman for the Greens’ recycling scheme.

The defender of women’s rights.

My friend, our Scottish Secretary, Alister Jack.

October 2, 2023