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  • Penny Mordaunt – 2023 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

    Penny Mordaunt – 2023 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

    The speech made by Penny Mordaunt, the Leader of the House of Commons, in Manchester on 4 October 2023.

    Conference, I want you to know the feeling is entirely mutual.

    What a great conference.

    I love conference.

    It is a chance to see you all. To be able to thank you for all that you do. For all that you believe in. And for being here today. And it’s important that you are. Because this is the turning point.

    It is the point from which we are going to be measured.

    Now, physically getting here has not been straightforward.

    Mick Whelan will be very disappointed to see so many of you here.

    But we’re quite used to people trying to disrupt our conference.

    Whether you’re a new member and this is your first conference, or you have been a stalwart of the party for decades. You have all had to stand up to bullies.

    You’ve had your offices graffitied, you’ve been trolled online, you’ve been called scum, you’ve had physical threats. Some of you have had death threats. I know that some of you in this hall today have faced sanctions and threats from hostile states. No matter what the attack, we don’t back down.

    39 years ago, this conference met, in the aftermath of the Brighton bomb. Standing up to bullies is what we do.

    So I know that you are a tough bunch.

    Our strength comes from a deep motivation to serve, and respect for the rights of the individual. And I am glad of that courage. Because what I have to say to you today is not for the faint hearted.

    Conference, we face the fight of our lives.

    And our country needs us again, to stand up and fight.

    Stand up and fight.

    Against the odds, against the polling, against the sneering commentary, against the “inevitability-of-decliner”s and the “despite-Brexit”ers. Stand up and fight against the sanctimonious clap trap of a Labour Party who have forgotten their MRSA infected hospitals, their soaring council tax and fuel duty, mass youth unemployment and the economic mess they left us to sort out.

    Stand up and fight.

    Stand up and fight, because when we do, all is possible.

    Now, later on, you will hear from our brilliant Prime Minister.

    He is going to be talking about the future. About the long-term. And how politics needs to change for a brighter future.

    But for the time I have with you I want you to cast your minds back.

    Now, as you know, I’m a Portsmouth girl.

    Over the years, we have been in one scrap after another, and my city still bears the scars to this day.

    Many of you in this hall will remember the 1980s.

    I know what you’re thinking: Mordaunt couldn’t remember the 1980s! She’s far too young.

    Conference, I have to tell you, I was there!

    One of my first memories was standing on the Hot Walls in Portsmouth, and I was watching HMS Hermes take the Falklands taskforce out of the harbour. And I stood proud that day.

    I knew watching those men and those ships that my country stood up to bullies.

    Those men and those families knew that some would not be coming back.

    It was deeply moving. And it moves me still to think of it.

    You see, it was the moment I realised that courage is infectious.

    You see, that is what the Conservative Party is for.

    That is what our nation is for.

    We stand up and fight.

    We are the party and the country that stood up and fought against Nazis and fascists.

    We are the party and the country whose resolve enabled superpowers to end a cold war.

    We are the party and country that sent my classmates’ father and ships from my dockyard to stand up and fight for the rights of the Falkland Islanders to self-determination. All against the prevailing wisdom that it could not and should not be done.

    We are the party and country that has stood from the start with Ukraine. We are the country and party that stood up for democracy. Who gave our countrymen the choice to join a European trading bloc and 40 years later the choice to leave what it had become.

    We are the party and country that transformed the sick man of Europe into a titan on the global stage; who stood up and fought against militant trade unions and broke their chokehold on Britain. A few brave people with courage and conviction and love of country who thought about the long term, not short-term popularity.

    Who knew what needed to be done and took on the bullies to achieve it.

    Margaret Thatcher.

    And every single person who stood with her and fought for a better future.

    I happen to know that Lord Tebbit is tuning in from home. We remember you today. Thank you.

    All of you still inspire.

    Never forget those who went before us. And remember that without a Churchill, you can’t have a Zelenskyy.

    Conference, I’m telling you all of this because I want you to remember that our greatest moments as a party and as a country come from when we feel at our lowest ebb.

    And we face such a moment now.

    Unprecedented threats yield unprecedented opportunity.

    Unprecedented fears provide unprecedented challenge.

    So, why have I taken you all back to the 1980s?

    Very simply conference, because that is where the Labour Party now wishes us to return. Make no mistake, they want to fight the battles of the past.

    All that we have worked so hard to achieve is in peril.

    The freedom to use our roads without protesters or politicians stopping you.

    The freedom to access public services and public transport.

    The freedom to build a business and create wealth.

    The freedom to invest in your children.

    The freedom to make of ourselves everything our talents and determination allow.

    The freedom to speak one’s mind.

    The freedom of political association.

    The freedom to take personal responsibility.

    All at risk.

    Make no mistake what will happen if we fail to win at the general election.

    And the biggest threat of all is that the sons and daughters of Scargill are ready for a rematch of battles of the 1980s.

    No less than the repeal of all of the reforms and freedoms we have brought in.

    Aided and abetted by Labour.

    Fuelled by the politics of envy, identity and class hatred.

    Outdated, dogmatic, irrelevant to the needs of the people.

    We have seen this before. We have seen this before.

    The Labour controlled city of Birmingham Council following the Labour controlled Liverpool City council into scuttling around, handing out redundancy notices to its own workers in the wake of bankruptcy.

    We have seen this movie before.

    They want to return us to the 1980s.

    Conference, we are not for returning.

    We must never again let this country be subject to the bully boy barons of militant trade unions – the Matt Wracks, the Mick Lynch’s.

    People who say they are going to defend your community while destroying it.

    People who say to hard-working families the best way they to make ends meet is to drive those ends further apart by going on strike.

    People who tell you your cancelled operation on your national health service, that you fund, is a price worth paying to meet their agenda.

    People who want to turn the BMA into the NUM.

    Conference, we’ve seen all this before.

    We must never again let this country be tortured by the Wrack and the Lynch mob.

    They are the iron fist, the iron fist.

    So now let me tell you about the velvet glove. The smooth, silky red velvet glove that would give them cover.

    You see conference, I don’t know about you, but I do not trust the leadership of Keir Starmer to be able to stand up to the iron fist.

    Why?

    Because he is not even capable to standing up to Mark Drakeford and his plans for an independent Wales. A 20mph independent Wales.

    Or Sadiq Khan and his taxes on the working poor.

    Or Angela Rayner and her Trade Union Charter.

    He is incapable of standing up and fighting.

    He doesn’t believe in anything.

    He doesn’t stand for anything.

    Who is he?

    A few years ago, he wanted you all to think he was Jeremy Corbyn.

    He sat in his shadow cabinet, knowing full well what that would mean if that man ever got into Downing Street, what it would mean for our defences.

    He watched while colleagues of Jewish heritage were driven from his party.

    And at the turn of this year, he wanted you all to think he was Neil Kinnock.

    He used the exact language that Kinnock used in that fantastic conference speech he made when he took on the hard left of Hatton and Heffer. And at that moment, we conservatives, we cheered. We cheered Kinnock. Because we recognised his courage. We recognised his motivation because it was ours too. It didn’t matter that he was our opponent. He was fighting for our country.

    When has Sir Keir ever done that?

    No, Starmer has emboldened militant trade unionism and voted against protecting the public access to the services that they pay for.

    And now, in Act III, he wants you all to believe he’s Tony Blair.

    Starmer will do anything and say anything to win an election. And that is where his ambition ends.

    Along with the power he will cede to his union paymasters and an NEC which needs a focus group to tell them to sing the national anthem.

    He will not stand up for anything or anyone.

    He will not stand up for you.

    More likely, he’s gonna lie down.

    Lie down in the street with Just Stop Oil.

    Lie down with the Lib Dems and the SNP.

    Lie down with Ed Davey – the man that makes Tim Farron look like a giant.

    Lie down with Humza Yousaf – the man that made Nicola Sturgeon look competent.

    But, just think for a moment what they would mean for our relationship with the EU, and for the union of our precious United Kingdom.

    Right at the point when our brilliant nation should be focussed on the new opportunities ahead.

    When it should be thinking about the future.

    Taking the long-term decisions to guarantee its success.

    Be in no doubt what is at stake. These people will erase everything we have achieved. They will deny Britain all it can be.

    So, if you remember nothing else from what I have said today remember this – stand up and fight.

    Stand up and fight for our families.

    For workers, for the protectors, for the wealth creators.

    Stand up and fight for those that take responsibility.

    Stand up and fight for those that voted to leave the EU and those who voted remain and accepted the result and wish our country well.

    Stand up and fight for your communities, for Scotland, for Wales, for Northern Ireland, for England.

    Stand up and fight for the freedoms we have won against socialism, whether it is made of velvet or iron.

    Have courage and conviction, because when you do you move our countrymen, our communities and capital of all kinds to our cause.

    Stand up and fight.

    Because when you stand up and fight, the person beside you stands up and fights.

    And when our party stands up and fights, the nation stands up and fights.

    And when our nation stands up and fights, other nations stand up and fight.

    They stand up and fight for the things upon which the progress of humanity depends. Freedom.

    That is what Conservatives do. That is what this nation does.

    Have Courage.

    Bring Hope.

    Stand up and fight.

    Stand up and fight.

    Thank you, conference.

  • PRESS RELEASE : Judge orders director of gift company, Grisha Valchev, to repay falsely-obtained Covid loan [October 2023]

    PRESS RELEASE : Judge orders director of gift company, Grisha Valchev, to repay falsely-obtained Covid loan [October 2023]

    The press release issued by HM Treasury on 2 October 2023.

    Grisha Valchev, 43, of Enfield, has been ordered to repay £43,570 after abusing the Bounce Back Loan scheme. In addition to the compensation order, the judge also disqualified Valchev as a director for nine years.

    Valchev was a director of Healthy & Tasty Ltd, a north London-based gift company selling fruit baskets, chocolates, hampers and flowers.

    Healthy & Tasty Ltd went into liquidation in July 2021, triggering an investigation by the Insolvency Service which uncovered the abuse of the loan scheme.

    On 6 September 2023, District Judge Geddes at the High Court of Justice Business and Property Courts in Leeds imposed the order and disqualified Valchev, after hearing that the director had given false information to claim the maximum Bounce Back Loan amount of £50,000 in May 2020.

    The company’s actual turnover on which the loan should have been based was around £35,400, which meant Healthy & Tasty Ltd had been entitled to less than £9,000, and had ultimately received more than five times that amount.

    Valchev argued in court that he was unable to repay the money, but the Judge rejected this, and ordered him to repay £43,570, which included the excess amount that he had falsely claimed, plus interest.

    Rob Clarke, Chief Investigator of Insolvent Investigations North at the Insolvency Service, said:

    Grisha Valchev abused taxpayers’ money to give his company an unfair advantage over other businesses impacted by Covid-19.

    This is the first Compensation Order handed out to a director who challenged our case in court. It is a significant result for the Insolvency Service and shows that abuse of the public purse will not be tolerated.

    Where there have been similar cases of abuse by a company director, we will be seeking further Compensation Orders and disqualifications.

    Valchev’s ban began on 27 September 2023 and lasts for 9 years. His disqualification prevents him from becoming involved in the promotion, formation or management of a company, without the permission of the court.

  • Suella Braverman – 2023 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

    Suella Braverman – 2023 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

    The speech made by Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary, in Manchester on 3 October 2023.

    Let me start ladies and gentlemen by thanking a few people. First of all my brilliant ministerial team. They’re here. Chris Philp, Robert Jenrick, Tom Tugendhat, Sarah Dines, Simon Murray, Andrew Sharpe, and also my Parliamentary team, James Sunderland, Shaun Bailey, Kieran Mullan, Scott Mann and Byron Davies. Thank you for your fantastic work.

    I’d also like to thank all the Home Office civil servants who work flat out to keep this country safe.

    And of course, the Greater Manchester Police and all the officers from around the country who are doing their duty here.

    I don’t know if you’ve noticed but as Home Secretary, I do occasionally receive a modicum of criticism.

    Sometimes I’m asked if I ever read what my critics say about me.

    Well, the answer is: yes, I do.

    I’m made of strong stuff, so I’m prepared to wade through the personal abuse, the wild invective, and the wilful misrepresentation.

    Because I believe that all of us should strive for improvement.

    And if we close our ears to anyone who disagrees with us…we are less likely to identify our mistakes.

    One of the reasons why the Conservative Party has survived and thrived for so long…it is because we are not afraid to admit when we get it wrong…and adapt accordingly.

    We listen, we learn, and we renew ourselves.

    And that’s what we are doing this week in Manchester.

    We are raising our game.

    Because next year, this country will face a clear choice at the general election.

    Who do people trust to deliver the change that Britain needs?

    There are huge challenges ahead.

    The world is being transformed by powerful forces.

    I think the British people see that.

    Perhaps more clearly than some of those in Westminster who live in a bubble of complacency.

    I also think most British people have a pretty good sense of how they expect their government to respond to those challenges.

    And I’m confident that when push comes to shove the voters will realise that they are much more likely to get the change they really want from Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives…..Than from any of the left-wing parties.

    And the reason is simple…And I’ll explain it with an example from my responsibilities as Home Secretary.

    Now one of the most powerful forces reshaping our world is unprecedented mass migration.

    The wind of change that carried my own parents across the globe in the 20th century was a mere gust compared to the hurricane that is coming.

    Because today, the option of moving from a poorer country to a richer one is not just a dream for billions of people.

    It’s an entirely realistic prospect.

    Every human, every single person, has the right to aspire to a better life.

    As Conservatives, that is one of the cornerstones of our philosophy.

    And, indeed, without that dream, I wouldn’t be standing before you today.

    But Conservatives are also practical and realistic.

    Nobody can deny that there are far, far more people in poorer countries who would love to move to Britain than could ever be accommodated…

    Even if we concreted over the countryside….

    Turned our cities into one vast building site…

    And erected skyscrapers from Eastbourne to Elgin and from Hull to Holyhead…

    …It still wouldn’t be enough.

    Demand will always outstrip supply.

    I know it.

    You know it.

    And the voters know it.

    This country has been generous in taking in refugees from Afghanistan, Ukraine, Syria, and Hong Kong.

    The decency of the British people cannot be questioned.

    But they also care deeply about overall numbers.

    In poll after poll, the British public have been clear: immigration is already too high.

    And they know another thing. That the future could bring millions more migrants to these shores…

    …uncontrolled and unmanageable, unless the government they elect next year acts decisively to stop that happening.

    We are the only Party that will take effective action.

    I can’t pretend that politicians have done a great job of managing immigration for the last thirty years.

    We were too slow to recognise the scale of the problem.

    Too unwilling to accept that our legal framework needed to be updated.

    And, let’s be honest, far too squeamish about being smeared as racist to properly bring order to the chaos.

    But under Rishi Sunak’s leadership things are changing.

    We are raising our game.

    For years, too many overseas students were bringing their dependents here to the UK.

    So we’ve changed the rules to ensure that a student visa is not a route for whole families to come and live and work in the UK.

    When I stood before you at Conference last year, we were dealing with a surge of Albanian illegal migrants coming on small boats. Over 12,000 in 2022 alone.

    Fast forward a year, and thanks to the returns deal with Albania that we put in place, and changes that we made to our rules, those numbers are now down by 90%.

    Indeed, against a backdrop of increasing illegal migration into Europe, small boat crossings to the UK are down by 20% compared to last year.

    And Conference we will soon begin closing down asylum hotels.

    That is not nearly enough. I accept that. But it is a start.

    And it’s a hell of a lot more than Labour would do.

    I said at Conference last year that we had to change our laws. And we did.

    Our Illegal Migration Act which will come into force in the coming months, now means that the only route to asylum in the UK is a legal route.

    The Act means that those arriving illegally, will be detained and removed, back to their home country if possible, or to a safe third country like Rwanda.

    All of this is ultimately a question of political will.

    And be under no illusion, we will do whatever it takes to stop the boats and deter bogus asylum seekers.

    We will also ensure that legal migration comes down to reasonable levels… and that it occurs only when there is a clear benefit to the British people.

    That’s our pledge. That’s our plan.

    And I believe the public will back it.

    Because everybody knows what Labour will do on migration.

    Labour will do what Labour always does: Open our borders.

    At heart, Labour doesn’t believe that we have the right to keep people out.

    Sure, they may mouth a bit of occasional rhetoric about controlling our borders… but that’s not what the Labour Party has ever done in government.

    And it’s not just negligence or incompetence… although you can be guaranteed of plenty of that if Labour wins.

    It’s actually deliberate.

    The biggest reason why Conservative governments have struggled to get illegal migration under control is because Labour governments passed laws that inhibit effective action.

    Because the truth is we struggle to remove foreign criminals;

    We struggle to get accurate data on the ages of the asylum seekers;

    We struggle even to confiscate their phones when they arrive on our beaches.

    Our country has become enmeshed in a dense net of international rules that were designed for another era.

    And it is Labour that turbocharged their impact by passing the misnamed Human Rights Act.

    I am surprised they didn’t call it the Criminal Rights Act.

    Each time I have gone to Parliament to improve the law on immigration, Labour has tried to block us.

    Always aided by their allies in the third sector.

    Some of whom openly declare that they oppose national borders merely on principle.

    And all of them bleating the same incessant accusation:

    Racist. Racist. Racist.

    They’ve always used that smear.

    They tried it against Margaret Thatcher… It didn’t work.

    They tried it against David Cameron… It didn’t work.

    A couple of years ago they even tried it against Winston Churchill… Our greatest ever leader… And it didn’t even work then.

    And I can promise you this… it won’t work against Rishi Sunak… and it won’t work against me.

    The truth is every one of us in this room should be proud of their roots, and proud of our Conservative values.

    We believe that Britain has the right to secure borders…

    To decide who gets in to our country… and who does not.

    We are the Party to confront the challenge of global migration in the years ahead.

    Not a Labour Party that will open the borders and then cry racism to anyone who objects.

    Let’s be clear… The choice between Conservatives and Labour is the choice between strong borders and no borders.

    The next election will also be fought on law and order.

    Between a Conservative government that wants the police to focus on criminal justice…

    … And a Labour Party that thinks the police should focus on social justice.

    Between a Conservative government that stands up for the police…

    … And a Labour Party that wants to see them take the knee.

    Between a Conservative government that wants to help ordinary people go about their lives unimpeded…

    …And a Labour Party that sympathises with the eco idiots that block roads and stop mums from taking their kids to school…

    …Stop workers from getting to their jobs…

    …And stops ambulances from getting to hospitals.

    Because when it comes to Just Stop Oil, Labour’s lawyers advise them – and Labour’s donors fund them.

    That’s exactly why Labour resisted the legislation that we passed to crack down on this madness.

    Thanks to our new laws, the police can now get these clowns off our streets and get traffic moving in a matter of minutes.

    The Prime Minister and I are firmly on the side of the law-abiding majority.

    That’s why we have backed our police officers with one of the largest ever rises in police pay…

    It’s why we ensured we hit our target of 20,000 additional police officers – so that we now have more officers in England and Wales than ever before.

    It’s why we’ve backed the police’s use of stop and search as an effective way to get knives off our streets.

    It’s why we’ve secured agreement from the police to investigate all burglaries and follow all reasonable lines of inquiry when someone reports a crime.

    It’s why we’ve reformed hate crime guidance so that officers aren’t wasting hours of valuable police time investigating squabbles on Twitter.

    It’s why we’re making sure that police are not inadvertently helping mobs to enforce non-existent blasphemy laws.

    It’s why we’ve prioritised tracking down grooming gang perpetrators and getting justice for their victims after authorities turned a blind eye.

    And it’s why we’ve made sure that Prevent – the government programme that stops people from sliding towards terrorism – is focused on the main security threat to the British public, Islamist extremism.

    In all of this we have been assisted by some truly excellent Police and Crime Commissioners who share our commitment to common sense and law and order.

    There is so much more to do…and the public knows that but Labour certainly won’t do it.

    There’s more to do to reform our vagrancy laws, because we cannot let British cities go the way of San Francisco or Seattle.

    There’s more to do to ensure that Foreign National Offenders aren’t clogging up our prisons for less serious crimes. But are booted out of Britain as soon as soon as possible.

    There’s much more to do to end the scandal of rapists and paedophiles changing their names to evade sanctions and criminal record checks.

    And so, we will bring forward legislation to prevent registered sex offenders from changing their identities, and we will work to strengthen background checks so that they can catch undisclosed changes of identity.

    Let me tell you something. I don’t care if anyone thinks this is interfering with their human rights. It’s time to worry less about the rights of sexual predators and more about the rights of victims.

    I want to thank the Safeguarding Alliance for their tireless campaigning on this issue.

    And let me go on and say this. I have a particular message to those brave police officers who risk their lives to protect the rest of us by carrying firearms into situations where they could be harmed or even killed.

    You are the thin blue line. You have our support. We are grateful for the vital work that you do, day in, day out.

    That is why I announced a review, to report to me by the end of the year, to ensure that the legal and operational framework in which they operate is robust and commands the confidence of both officers and the public.

    And to those who ask whether Labour can be trusted to fight crime. I have a two-word answer: Sadiq Khan.

    If there’s any justice in this world, Susan Hall is going to wipe the floor with him in May.

    They’ve already started the character assassination against Sue.

    The distortions. The insults. The lies.

    That’s what the Labour Party always does:

    It prefers smears to debate.

    Personally, I take their abuse as a compliment.

    I know they have tried to make me into a hate figure because I tell the truth.

    The blunt, unvarnished truth about what is happening in our country.

    And I know there are some who think that emphasising the importance of law and order or secure borders, is unedifying.

    They look down on those of us who care about such things.

    Of course, they are entitled to their beliefs.

    But let’s be honest.

    These are luxury beliefs.

    What do I mean by that?

    Our politically correct critics have money. They have status. They have loud voices.

    They have the luxury of promoting seductive but irresponsible ideas safe in the knowledge that their privilege will insulate them from any collateral damage.

    The luxury beliefs brigade sit in their ivory towers telling ordinary people that they are morally deficient because they dare to get upset about the impact of illegal migration, net zero, or habitual criminals.

    And you can be sure of one thing.

    People with luxury beliefs will flock to Labour at the next election because that’s the way to get the kind of society they want.

    They like open borders. The migrants coming in won’t be taking their jobs. In fact, they are more likely to have them mowing their lawns or cleaning their homes.

    They love soft sentences. The criminals who benefit from such ostentatious compassion won’t be terrorising their streets or grooming their children.

    They are desperate to reverse Brexit. They think patriotism is embarrassing and have no use for a British passport unless it is taking them to their second homes in Tuscany or the Dordogne.

    For these people, I have a simple message: You are entitled to your luxury beliefs, but the British people will no longer pay for them.

    There’s another reason I think that we will win the next election.

    We have a secret weapon.

    Well, not that secret.

    Everyone in this hall knows it.

    I think everyone who will be at Labour conference knows it too.

    And our friends in the media definitely know it.

    Our secret weapon is…Sir Keir Starmer.

    The British people have no enthusiasm for Sir Keir Starmer.

    They know that he believes in nothing…

    They know that he will say anything to anyone… And then change his mind at the first sign of trouble.

    Keir Starmer lacks the personality to lead this country effectively.

    Imagine what would happen if he became Prime Minister.

    Luxury beliefs would reign supreme.

    Britain would go properly woke.

    Things are bad enough already.

    We see it in parts of Whitehall, in museums and galleries, in the police, and even in leading companies in the City.

    Under the banner of diversity, equity, and inclusion, official policies have been embedded that distort the whole purpose of these institutions.

    Highly controversial ideas are presented to workforces and the public as if they are motherhood and apple pie.

    Gender ideology.

    White privilege.

    Anti-British history.

    The evidence demonstrates that if you don’t challenge this poison, things just get worse.

    Whole institutions become captured.

    And of course, as always happens when the left gets the upper hand, those who fail to conform are persecuted.

    Chased out of their jobs for saying that a man can’t be a woman.

    Scolded for rejecting that they are beneficiaries of institutional racism.

    Disciplined for using the wrong words.

    This Conservative government has begun the task of clearing out this pernicious nonsense.

    The British people will get to decide if they want to curb woke with Rishi Sunak…

    …Or let it run riot with Keir ‘take the knee’ Starmer.

    Labour is the party of pressure groups, rich zealots, and trade union activists.

    But, you know, the Conservative Party is also a kind of trade union.

    Because we are the trade union of the British people.

    And I think we should adopt as our motto these lines from the poet Shelley…

    …Which I’m shamelessly taking back from Labour:

    Rise like lions after slumber
    in unvanquishable number.
    Shake your chains to earth like dew:
    Which in sleep had fallen on you.
    You are many, they are few!

    We stand with the many…

    The law-abiding…

    Hard working…

    Common sense majority.

    Against the few…

    the privileged woke minority…

    … with their luxury beliefs…

    … who wield influence out of proportion to their numbers.

    Our message to the people is clear.

    We are raising our game.

    We are fighting for a Britain that puts you first.

    We are on your side.

  • Alex Chalk – 2023 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

    Alex Chalk – 2023 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

    The speech made by Alex Chalk, the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, in Manchester on 3 October 2023.

    Goodness, conference.

    Thank you and thank you Victoria for that kind introduction. I’m pleased that she gave my name, Alex Chalk.

    I’m a little sensitive about it because it wasn’t so long ago that I knocked on a door in Cheltenham, the door opened, this lady said “Oh yeah, I know who you are. You might be better than your brother, but we don’t want David Miliband either,” she said.

    Total disaster; I told CCHQ, they said “Don’t worry, we’ll ask the Mayor of London to come down”.

    Now ladies and gentlemen, initially, everything went so well. He got out of the car and was 100% on-message. “Chalk for Cheltenham!” “Chalk for Cheltenham!” he was saying.

    But as he paused to meet everyone, there was an enterprising journalist from the local BBC who spotted his opportunity. Recognising, conference, that I might not have been the only person he had come to support that day, he sidled up and put the microphone in Boris’ face.

    “So, Mayor, just for the listeners of BBC Radio Gloucestershire; can you remind us please, what is the name of the person you have come to support?”

    Well conference, I have to tell you now, the name that came back was not mine. The name that came back was a very prominent estate agent who had been advertising heavily on the London Road coming into Cheltenham.

    These are the pitfalls of being a politician.

    It is a privilege to be addressing you today as Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice.

    First, because I am, as Victoria just indicated, above all a barrister (albeit one on a career break) but most of all because when it comes to justice, we the British, have a history of which we can be immensely proud.

    From Magna Carta in 1215 to the Bill of Rights in 1688, this country has made a special contribution to the rule of law.

    Businesses across the globe choose our law to govern their contracts. They choose our courts to settle their disputes. Why? Because of the skill of our lawyers and the excellence of our judges.

    It means we have the largest legal sector in Europe, and the second largest in the world. More than 200 overseas law firms have set up offices here, from over 40 jurisdictions. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if the energetic minister Mike Freer has visited every one of them.

    This success matters, conference, for all sorts of reasons, but chief among them is that it drives opportunity.

    Many of us in this room came into politics and chose the Conservative Party because we believe to our core in creating life chances for young people who may not have had the easiest start in life but are prepared to work hard and do the right thing.

    Unlocking potential and enabling people to go as far as their talents will take them is the British dream – and legal careers make them a reality.

    Now, I’m proud too, because our strong justice sector says something about our instincts as a nation for fairness.

    This is the country that in the face of Putin’s illegal full-scale invasion did not hesitate. We appreciated instinctively that borders matter, that the international rules-based order counts for something, and that might is not always right.

    And it’s why, on top of being such a major donor of military equipment, this Government is supporting the International Criminal Court with funding, with legal expertise to bring war criminals to justice – something spearheaded by my predecessor, Dominic Raab.

    And our instinct for fairness means we’ve opened our hearts and our homes to Ukrainians, to Honk Kongers, Afghan interpreters who served alongside our armed forces, people who’ve arrived legally. But, conference, when it comes to illegal migration, although we in Britain have warm hearts, we seek a secure front door.

    It is not fair on the British people, and nor, by the way, is it fair on those very migrants who have played by the rules, that illegal entrants should seek to jump the queue.

    Because just as the rule of law means that no one is above the law, so it also requires that there are consequences for those who break it. And so, whilst Labour flail around with absolutely no solution, we have a clear, long-term plan that is robust, yes – but fair too.

    And we can deliver it within our overarching legal obligations.

    Now conference, I want to talk about our courts – civil, family and criminal.

    Covid might be receding into history, but as I know from speaking to my counterparts from France to the United States to Japan, justice systems across the world are still dealing with the consequences.

    Now, our magistrates’ courts, which remember, deals with around 90% of all crime, have rebounded strongly.

    As for the Crown Court, the jury system is particularly vulnerable to a pandemic. A gang trial with five defendants in the dock could easily mean 35 people in a single courtroom. So, the flow of those trials inevitably slowed.

    Now, in the white heat of the pandemic, there were those who said “scrap jury trials altogether.” They said replace them with a single judge deciding guilt or innocence in those most serious of cases.

    They said hundreds of years of history, and the bedrock of our fundamental freedoms should be swept away.

    Conference, what a travesty that would have been. As someone who has prosecuted murders, rapes, terrorist bomb plots and gun crime, I knew that would mean destroying something of inestimable value to our country.

    So, we made the tough call. We stuck with jury trials, a decision in the national interest, and in the interests of justice.

    But it does mean that caseloads in the Crown Court are higher than they were. And as a result, there are now 6,000 more people on remand in custody than there were pre-Covid. That presents a real challenge.

    So, to drive forward the recovery we have kept open Nightingale Courts, we have recruited over 1,000 judges and tribunal members, and we’re recruiting 1,000 more. We have massively expanded the budget to upgrade and modernise our courts and tribunals.

    And we are investing up to an additional £141 million a year for the barristers and solicitors whose important work ensures the guilty are convicted, the innocent walk free and the public are protected.

    And conference, we are committed as a party, and as a government, to making the long-term decisions that put the national interest first.

    That’s why we are rolling out the largest prison expansion programme since the Victorian era.

    Thanks to this Prime Minister, when he was Chancellor, and led by the exceptional Prisons Minister Damian Hinds, we have brought online over 5,000 more places – in brand new prisons like HMP Fosse Way, with more on the way. Modern, secure, decent prisons with rehabilitation at their core.

    And we’re expanding and refurbishing existing prisons and hiring thousands more prison officers. And I can tell you today conference that we also intend to look at the Norwegian example and explore renting overseas capacity.

    But we must be candid too – prison costs money. A lot of money. Not only does society suffer the crime in the first place, but it also suffers the punishment to the tune of around £46,000 a year per adult male prisoner.

    Now we make no apologies for locking up the most dangerous offenders for longer where that is necessary to protect the public. And that is why we have extended the use of whole life orders, so that in more cases life really does mean life.

    But it’s also why our plan to break the cycle of reoffending is absolutely critical, because all but the most dangerous offenders will be released one day. Frankly, there are people wasting their lives going in and out of prison, at enormous cost to the taxpayer.

    So, we are rolling out accommodation provision for prison leavers, to keep them off the streets and out of trouble in those critical early weeks. We have brought business expertise into over 90 prisons across the country to provide job opportunities and help prisoners gain the skills they need to hold down a job, pay taxes, and become a contributing member of society.

    And just look, conference, at the progress we’ve made: Since 2010, reoffending has dropped from 32% to 24%; In the last two years the percentage of offenders in employment six months post-release has more than doubled; Since 2010, violent crime and burglary is down by over 40%.

    That is how we secure justice.

    And conference, we are absolutely committed to protecting women and girls. We are the Party that: Outlawed stalking – a crime disproportionately suffered by women; That created the offence of ‘coercive or controlling behaviour’ – it wasn’t even a crime before; We passed the first ever Domestic Abuse Act; We outlawed revenge porn and cyberflashing; We created a new offence of non-fatal strangulation; We clamped down on the cowardly ‘rough sex gone wrong’ defence; We unlocked and funded hundreds of Independent Sexual Violence Advisors to support victims and we set up a 24/7 Rape Support Helpline; as well as doubling grants for Rape Support Centres.

    All this we do and more.

    In fact, we have quadrupled funding for victim support services since 2010. Four times more money for victims’ services under the Conservatives.

    And when it comes to rape prosecution, there is of course more to do, but there are important facts that shouldn’t be forgotten:

    First, more adult rape cases are being prosecuted now than when Labour were in power.

    Second, the conviction rate for all rape is higher.

    Third, the average sentence is longer – 43% longer.

    Fourth, the amount of the sentence that must be served behind bars is greater.

    Because Labour say they want to protect the public – but literally do the opposite, even launching campaigns to block the deportation of dangerous foreign criminals.

    Take one offender: he thrust a broken bottle into a man’s face leaving him scarred for life – a ‘horrifying attack’ in the words of the police. His Labour MP, a serving member of the Shadow Cabinet no less, tried to stop the flight.

    He was in good company. Because Keir Starmer demanded that ‘…all future charter flights must be suspended’. No principles, no judgement, no clue.

    I have to say conference, when you look at the leader of the opposition, he just reminds me of a kind of living cushion, he just bears the impression of the last person who sat on him. But anyway, that’s another issue.

    We will go further to support victims, conference.

    Our Victims and Prisoners Bill, being piloted through the Commons by the skilful Victims Minister Ed Argar and through the Lords by the highly respected Lord Bellamy, and, indeed, aided and abetted by our brilliant PPSs, Laura Farris and Aaron Bell, remember those names conference, they will bolster victims’ rights further, giving new roles to our Police and Crime Commissioners to oversee how agencies deliver for victims.

    And we are giving judges the power to compel offenders to attend their sentencing hearing. Those who’ve robbed innocence, betrayed trust and shattered lives should be in court to face up to the damage they have done. They should be there to hear society’s condemnation ringing in their ears.

    And today I want to right another injustice.

    I am clear that if a father murders the mother of his children, he should expect to lose his parental rights. That’s why today I can announce that we will legislate to suspend those rights from those who murder their partners.

    So, we will enact Jade’s Law, named after Jade Ward who was tragically murdered by her husband and whose children and their grandparents are now subject to attempts to exert control by the perpetrator from behind bars.

    No family should have to go through this, and thanks to their efforts we will protect children and families by making their law a reality.

    So, conference, I started speaking to you this afternoon about pride.

    Let us take pride in what our country has contributed – probably more than any other to the international rules-based order.

    Let us take pride in what we have delivered in government to stand up for victims.

    And let us rededicate ourselves today to serve justice, to uphold our values and keep the British people safe. Thank you.

  • Michael Gove – 2023 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

    Michael Gove – 2023 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

    The speech made by Michael Gove, the Secretary for State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, in Manchester on 3 October 2023.

    I want to begin with a word of thanks. I want to thank you every single one of you in the hall, your friends, your family, the army of Conservative activists, members, and supporters. Because it’s thanks to you your unstinting effort, your energy, and your enthusiasm, that we have Conservatives in government.

    And we Conservatives have a record we can be proud of.

    Consider the facts.

    We have delivered.

    We have delivered better state schools than ever before.

    With our children the most literate in the Western world and there are more students from state schools at our best universities.

    More students securing top grades in maths, physics and chemistry.

    Our universities the best in Europe and they are growing.

    We have record numbers in employment.

    We have created one million more new jobs while in government.

    Welfare is simpler, fairer and better targeted.

    We have taken hundreds of thousands completely out of income tax.

    Families have many more hours of free childcare,

    Since Covid, our economy has grown faster than France’s or Germany’s.

    We have also delivered:

    The first national living wage…

    … same-sex marriage and the most diverse Government ever.

    Stronger defence with two new aircraft carriers…

    … new nuclear submarines and a strengthened NATO.

    We have delivered the fastest decarbonisation of any major economy.

    And we are world leaders in offshore wind.

    World leaders in reforming farming.

    And we have shown world leadership in protecting our oceans,

    Brexit has been delivered…

    … and membership of the world’s fastest growing trade bloc secured.

    There’s more than £350 million extra a week now for our NHS. Promise made. Promise delivered.

    We’re showing world leadership in life sciences, in AI and in gene technology.

    We have delivered a points-based migration system.

    Crime is down.

    The Union has been strengthened.

    … devolution delivered in England…

    … nationalism is in retreat in Scotland.

    We delivered the fastest vaccine rollout in the world.

    We have been Ukraine’s strongest supporter against the evil of Putin’s regime.

    And we are every nation’s indispensable partner…

    … in fighting for freedom, democracy and a better world.

    We have a record to be proud of…

    … a Conservative record…

    …a record of delivery against the odds…

    … a record every one of us should be proclaiming every single day from now until the next general election!

    This is a record which will give us victory.

    And we will take the fight to the Labour Party.

    The party of Jeremy Corbyn and his self-proclaimed friend Sir Keir Starmer.

    Sir Keir…

    …who was against Brexit…then wanted to accept Brexit… then wanted a second referendum on Brexit… then said he wanted to make Brexit work…

    …then said he wanted a Brexit which was identical to EU membership…

    …saying…as he always does…whatever he thought people in the audience wanted to hear.

    He is the jellyfish of British politics…

    …he’s transparent, spineless and swept along by the tide.

    Under Sir Keir, Labour is the party of equivocation, procrastination, prevarication…

    …but never prepared to stand up for our nation.

    It is the party of high unemployment…higher taxes… …and always…

    … the highest debt and deficits.

    The party of low ambition…

    … lower standards in our schools…

    … and – always – the line of least resistance…

    … in the face of left-wing pressure groups at home and threats abroad.

    Well we have a message from this hall for Labour and Sir Keir.

    We will fight, fight and fight again…

    … for the country we love.

    And there is so much to love about our country.

    Though you might not always think that…

    … if you relied on Twitter for your news and the Guardian for your views.

    There is a fashionable tendency to denigrate our country…

    … to denounce our past…

    … and to see only decline in the future.

    But the country that the left depict is not the United Kingdom we know.

    This is a country which welcomes refugees from Hong Kong, Afghanistan and Ukraine.

    A country which invests billions fighting climate change in the poorest countries in Asia…

    … we fight poverty in Africa… and tyranny everywhere.

    We are a country with the most diverse and inclusive – Conservative – government in the west.

    A Foreign Secretary whose mum came from Sierra Leone.

    A Home Secretary whose family are from Kenya and Mauritius.

    A Business Secretary brought up in Nigeria.

    And a friend of mine…

    … whose grandparents came here from Kenya’s Indian diaspora …

    …our Prime Minister.

    Rishi Sunak.

    Rishi is an inspiration to so many and an example of what our open, generous, great nation stands for…

    … opportunity for all…hard work rewarded… prejudice vanquished…service to others…and courage in the fight.

    We are so lucky to have Rishi as our Prime Minister…

    … and he will lead us to victory at the next election.

    For while we have achieved so much together…

    … there is still much more to do.

    And I am blessed that in that endeavour I have a superb team of ministers and officials alongside me.

    Rachel Maclean – reforming the planning system, fighting for more homes, standing up for small businesses,

    Lee Rowley – delivering more funding for local government and stopping the Lib Dem nonsense of a four day week delivering poorer public services.

    Jacob Young – the engineer of levelling up supporting our towns to flourish.

    Felicity Buchan – tackling anti-semitism with our Bill to end the stigmatisation of the world’s only Jewish state by the far left.

    And our heroine in the Lords – the wonderful Jane Scott – a champion for the council tenants who have been let down by Labour local authorities.

    Can we thank them all?

    And can I also thank everyone in this hall who serves in local Government – our councillors and former councillors are the stars who guide our path forward, the local heroes who are responsible for thousands of acts of kindness and leadership every day.

    Can we all salute our councillors and everyone in local Government who do such a great job?

    Our councillors remind us – we win as a team – and as a team we have so much more to do.

    We need to ensure that every family has a safe, decent warm home…

    We need to ensure that many more young people can have a home of their own.

    We’re on track to deliver a million new homes in this parliament…

    … but we need many more.

    And our long-term plan for housing will deliver the attractive, affordable new homes that we need.

    We will build in the hearts of towns and cities and on brownfield land…

    … because that cuts commuting times… ..revitalises high streets.. and protects the green belt.

    We will ensure that our new homes are energy efficient… zero carbon ready…and built to the highest aesthetic standards.

    Because we are not just the party of opportunity and ownership…

    … we are the party of beauty and nature.

    And that is why we will resist the proposals of the Labour Party… and now the Lib Dems too…

    … to build all over the green belt and destroy precious natural habitats.

    Labour must not be allowed to take our fields, meadows, and forests away from our children…

    … and we will stop them.

    Under the Conservatives…we will …have a beautiful built environment and an enhanced natural environment.

    And by investing and building in our cities and towns…

    … we will power the regeneration of communities let down by Labour in the past.

    Across the North of England, across the Midlands, across the whole of our United Kingdom…

    … it is Conservatives who are levelling up…bringing high quality jobs and high tech companies… to communities which were neglected by the Left.

    In Redcar it is a Conservative mayor.. Ben Houchen… bringing 4,000 new jobs to Teesworks.

    In Walsall it is a Conservative mayor… Andy Street… bringing new homes and new green jobs.

    In Blackpool, it is Conservatives…who have secured millions of pounds for a new town centre, new college places and new hope.

    And we are also working in Mansfield. In Worksop. In Wednesbury.. in Leigh. in Grimsby. In Accrington…in Dudley. In Ashfield…

    … in towns across our country which are the backbone of Britain…

    … to bring new jobs. New opportunities. A new hope.

    In our towns…

    … the values of hard work and solidarity… common sense and common purpose… endeavour and quiet patriotism… have endured across generations.

    But our towns have been overlooked and undervalued by Labour…denied the support they need… denied the action against anti-social behaviour they have demanded…denied the investment they deserve.

    That is why we are investing in our long-term plan for 55 towns across the United Kingdom…

    … to ensure that in the country we all love no community is left behind..

    We can make that investment because we have made tough choices.

    That is what Government requires.

    That is what Conservatives deliver.

    And Conservatives in Government have never been more necessary than now.

    Because only we can deliver the changes this country needs.

    Only the Conservatives have the determination to stay the course and bring inflation down..

    Only the Conservatives have the resolution to resist easy answers…

    … avoid empty pledges…

    … and make the right decisions for the long term.

    Whether its resisting inflation-busting pay demands in the public sector…

    … tackling the eco loonies who stop hard working families getting to work… or facing down the faint hearts who say we shouldn’t try to control our borders… or taking on the enemies of promise in education…

    Only the Conservatives are up for the fight.

    We are the party that fought in the past to bring positive change.

    That fought to clear slums over a century ago.

    That fought to lay the foundations of the welfare state ninety years ago.

    That fought fascism, communism and tyranny throughout the Twentieth Century.

    That fought the culture of managed decline…low expectations… and bureaucratic sloth… that held us back in the Seventies.

    The party that fought for home ownership…lower tax and personal freedom in the Eighties.

    That fought to alert the world to the dangers of climate change.

    And fought to uphold democracy in Ukraine.

    That fought to make opportunity more equal in the last decade…

    … for gay people… for poorer children… for those living with disability,

    … and for those from every background… who believe in hard work and home truths.

    And we will fight… at the next election. For a Kingdom more united…

    … more confident… and more ambitious.

    We will fight together…

    …for the country we love.

  • Michelle Donelan – 2023 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

    Michelle Donelan – 2023 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

    The speech made by Michelle Donelan, the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, in Manchester on 3 October 2023.

    Thank you, Conference.

    It is an honour to be here, speaking as the UK’s first ever Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology.

    The department that is working with industry and research to create the opportunities of tomorrow.

    I want to start by thanking my amazing ministerial team.

    Our ever-zestful science superpower, George Freeman.

    The tireless tech titan, Paul Scully.

    The Baron of Broadband, John Whittingdale.

    And our in-house entrepreneur, Viscount Camrose.

    And of course, my brilliant PPS Paul Bristow.

    When the Prime Minister created DSIT, some questioned why this department was a priority.

    But they weren’t saying that when our tech sector worth over one trillion dollars was under threat in February,

    When the UK arm of Silicon Valley Bank stood on the brink of collapse, putting thousands of British tech businesses and jobs in danger.

    But in the space of just three days, my department helped secure the sale of the bank, saving those businesses, protecting those jobs.

    And Conference, we have continued to prove them wrong.

    We’re utilising science, technology and innovation to help us all live longer, healthier, easier, happier lives with the people we love.

    In the last eight months, over two million homes have been connected to gigabit broadband. By the time I have finished this speech, 71 more will have.

    Around 53,000 people have got new jobs in 31,000 new British tech businesses.

    And we’ve agreed a bespoke new deal to join Horizon.

    And, we will protect 14 million British children thanks to the Online Safety Bill.

    But these aren’t the only changes that have happened – We’ve crowned our new King, Labour have appointed another Shadow Cabinet and I welcomed my baby boy in May.

    And yes, there have been plenty of late night tantrums, incoherent screaming and dummies being thrown out of the pram.

    But, I am told this is perfectly normal behaviour from a Labour shadow cabinet.

    Now, they’ve flip-flopped on everything from the EU, to schools, to housing, to ULEZ.

    In contrast, with your Conservative government making long term decisions for a brighter future.

    And we have an opportunity to make this Britain’s great tech century.

    As Conservatives, our job is to make sure that this transformation remains a positive one for the British people, improving all our lives.

    Let’s not forget it was British inventors who gave us the telephone, the television, the jet engine, antibiotics, the world wide web, and the first vaccine, the list goes on.

    But for too long, Britain has been a challenger nation to the US and China…

    We’ve seen too many great British ideas sold off to help foreign companies, rather than creating jobs here in the UK.

    But Conference, we have a plan.

    By the end of this decade, Britain will become a science and technology superpower.

    I want this to be a country that becomes energy independent, that flies the first electric commercial plane and even discovers cures for cancer.

    Because, when we double down on the things that put the Great into Britain in the first place,

    Our talented people, our entrepreneurial spirit, our ability to problem solve,

    We will lead the world with new inventions and keep the jobs they create on our shores.

    Because to me, that is what being a Conservative is all about – aspirations and ambition for our nation and putting the British people and British values first.

    Conference, just look how our game changing Online Safety Bill. How it put you back in the driving seat for what you see and do online – allowing adults to take control over their own social media accounts.

    When I took over this Bill a year ago, many of us were concerned about the implications for free speech.

    It was stuck in deadlock over the issue of ‘legal but harmful’,

    And I didn’t think it went far enough to protect our children.

    So, I injected some common sense.

    I said, that we should not create a quasi-legal categories, where something is legal offline to say to someone’s face, but where the state clamps down on it online.

    Because if we think something should be illegal, we should have the courage of our convictions to make it illegal.

    So that’s what we did, with cyber-flashing, with intimate image abuse, with the promotion of self-harm.

    Whilst standing up for free speech and choice and removing legal but harmful

    Illegal content should go yes, companies should stick to their own terms and conditions yes, and not treat different parts of society differently.

    But fundamentally, I believe adults should have more choice over what they see – not the state and not tech executives million miles away.

    Because we are the party of free speech and we should stay that way.

    When I took over this bill, people also said it was impossible to strengthen it to protect children.

    Do you know that the average 9-year-old has a social media account, and the average 13-year-old has seen porn online ?

    I said, enough is enough.

    Now the bill will protect children from online porn.

    It ensures that children under 13 cannot access social media platforms.

    And tech executives will face jail time if they turn a blind eye.

    But as we protect our children from harms online today, we are, of course, also preparing for a future enhanced by Artificial Intelligence.

    Britain is leading the way on AI safety.

    AI does have enormous opportunities to cut down our NHS waiting lists, to support teachers so they’ve got more time to teach and less time to do admin, and to revolutionise our public transport and much more.

    But to seize these opportunities we have got to grip the risks.

    Next month, Britain is organising the world’s first Global AI Safety Summit – bringing together world leaders so we can better understand the risks of AI and put in place the guardrails to protect the public – whilst also reaping the benefits and fostering innovation.

    With the Prime Minister, I set up the world-renowned Frontier AI Taskforce – modelled on the fantastic Vaccine Taskforce – with some of the leading minds on AI to ensure Britain leads the world on AI safety.

    Because the stakes are simply too high, and the technology is developing too fast not to act on a global scale.

    Conference, I believe we should be proactive not reactive.

    I believe, we are at a crossroads in human history, and to turn the other way would be a monumental, missed opportunity for mankind.

    Already, AI is being used to detect breast cancer earlier, the capability exists to prevent over 90% of road collisions and it’s being used to detect heart disease 39 times faster – and that’s just name a few examples.

    The opportunities in the future really are limitless.

    But we won’t make them a reality unless we have the skills and then we can truly seize these opportunities.

    To ensure that the next generation of the world’s AI entrepreneurs are Britain’s best and brightest,

    I am today announcing an £8million increase to the number of AI scholarships we are funding.

    Giving 800 more people the opportunity to excel in AI and cementing our place as leading the global conversation on AI safety.

    But as Conservatives we also must ensure the opportunities of technology are spread right across the country – from Folkestone and Falmouth to Hartlepool to Holyhead.

    Why shouldn’t an entrepreneur in a rural village be able to start a new business from home?

    Why shouldn’t British farmers be able to use state of the art agri-tech and have fast, stable internet connections to sell their produce to more customers online?

    Well, we believe they should have those opportunities, and what’s more, I am today taking action to ensure they do.

    I am announcing that in the coming months, we will be giving access to very hard-to-reach rural homes and businesses to get state-of-the-art satellite broadband to unlock the potential in these rural areas.

    I am also announcing a new £60million pound Regional Innovation Fund, a cash injection that will be felt almost immediately.

    We will back our world class universities to support local businesses, to grow local economies and support opportunities across our country.

    Right here in the North West, almost £9million will deliver new jobs, faster growth and real benefits for local communities.

    And we will be increasing our overall investment in great British research and development to £20 billion by next year.

    This is record breaking funding.

    We are backing British scientists, backing British businesses and driving investment into all corners of our United Kingdom.

    This investment will open the door to the opportunities of tomorrow.

    And British scientists are consistently advancing the frontiers of knowledge, with groundbreaking discoveries that are reshaping our world.

    Did you know, we are first in the world for producing the top medical science publications?

    We’re second in the world for R&D into healthcare,

    And unlike countries like the USA, China and Germany, we are a net exporter of pharmaceuticals .

    British scientists are the bedrock of our great economic power.

    When I was first appointed to this role, I was reminded of Margaret Thatcher’s scientific legacy.

    Now, I am not talking just about her legendary role in the invention of soft scoop ice cream…

    I am talking about her wise words as Prime Minister – when she described science as humanity’s attempt to “cast a light ahead… so that we may move forward, step by step, in the right direction”.

    She was right.

    Conference, we are the party of facts, we are the party of evidence, we are the party of scientific rigour – and I will stand up for these core values.

    But increasingly, thanks to the slow creep of wokeism, this guiding light that Thatcher referred to is under attack.

    Now, Keir Starmer has said these issues don’t matter to the public.

    He thinks that the legitimate concerns of the scientific community and of millions of Britons don’t matter.

    Well Conference, I think it does matter.

    I think it matters when scientists are told by university bureaucrats that they cannot ask legitimate research questions about biological sex.

    And I think it matters when Scotland’s chief of stats issues guidance stating that data on sex can only be collected in exceptional circumstances.

    And I think it matters when the ONS has to be taken to the High Court because its census guidance said it was possible to change your biological sex.

    I think it matters that in 2021 Police Scotland announced that a male rapist who self-identifies as a women will then be recorded statistically as a female rapist by the police.

    Now, any credible scientist will tell you that gender and sex are two different things…

    To suggest otherwise is not only scientifically illiterate, it actually damages scientific research and statistics in everything from population studies to medicine to sport.

    And unlike Comrade Keir, we will not sit idly by and watch an intolerant few stifle the light of science that leads us in the right direction.

    So today, Conference, I am launching a review into the use of sex and gender questions in scientific research and statistics – including in public bodies – which will produce robust guidance within six months.

    Conducted by Professor Alice Sullivan of UCL, who will produce a report for my department and also to Cabinet Office.

    The review will leave no stone unturned in the effort to protect scientific integrity and let our world class scientific community accurately get on with their jobs.

    So, to those who think they have the right to impose this utter nonsense on science,

    Let this message go out from this conference hall.

    We are safeguarding scientific research from the denial of biology and the steady creep of political correctness.

    We are making a stand before it suffocates British very identity and our values entirely.

    That is why we are depoliticising science, because science is the most extraordinary force for good – from curing disease to growing our food – we’ve got to keep it that way.

    Science must be based on facts.

    Now, finally Conference, delivery and outcomes are my focus.

    Last month I announced a bold new deal to join Horizon – the world’s biggest scientific collaboration.

    During the negotiations, Labour called on us to take the first deal we were offered.

    They told us ‘Bite the EU’s hand off because 0 Little Britain couldn’t get a better deal’.

    They talked our country down, trying to score a quick political win.

    And what did we do? We got an even better deal.

    And that says it all really.

    While Labour act in self-interest, when they sneer from the sidelines and say it can’t be done,

    We are busy taking the long term decisions and delivering.

    They said we couldn’t leave the EU and secure a better deal on Horizon – we did it.

    They said we couldn’t create a bespoke, common sense, British version of GDPR that cracked down on endless cookie pop-ups – we did it.

    They said the Online Safety Bill couldn’t protect free speech for adults and do more to protect children online – we did it.

    And we achieved these because we never lost sight of what it means to solve difficult problems in an unapologetically, common-sense Conservative way.

    I believe in the individual, in opportunities and hard work, in the family.

    While others want to smash the foundations of Britain down, I believe that we as Conservatives have a duty to build Britain up.

    Now, that’s what my department is all about, and that is what this government is all about.

    Consistency in our values.

    Long term commitment to opportunity.

    Driving us forward, to deliver a better today, and for our children’s future tomorrow.

    Thank you.

  • Steve Barclay – 2023 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

    Steve Barclay – 2023 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

    The speech made by Steve Barclay, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, in Manchester on 3 October 2023.

    Thank you, Luke.

    As Health and Social Care Secretary, what drives me is getting people the care they need, more quickly.

    Boosting capacity, expanding our workforce and embracing technology that will help tackle waiting lists.

    But today, I also want to tell you about the long-term decisions that we are taking to support the NHS; to give patients more control and choice and to take on those – like militant union leaders and Labour MPs supporting them on the picket line – who want to block these changes.

    We’re taking immediate action to tackle challenges in the NHS and in Social Care.

    Putting 800 new ambulances on the road.

    Delivering 5,000 permanent hospital beds.

    And creating 10,000 hospital-at-home places for patients to receive care in their own home.

    And we’re making the biggest ever increase in social care funding with a record uplift in the autumn statement last year.

    But Conference, as a Conservative what matters to me most is not inputs – it is the outcomes for patients.

    We are making significant progress with the help of new technology.

    Take strokes.

    We are using AI to speed up brain scans – meaning thousands of patients have fully recovered who may not have.

    And by the end of the year, this technology will be available in all stroke units in England.

    We are also upgrading the NHS to offer patients a choice of up to five different healthcare providers – including independent providers – following a GP referral which the Patients Association say can reduce waits by up to three months.

    Bu I also know that it can sometimes take too long to roll out new innovations nationally, even when they have been proven to work in local pilots.

    So today, conference, I am announcing the creation of a new £30-million fund to speed up the adoption of tech in the NHS.

    This will enable clinicians to adopt proven technology that can improve patient care.

    These could include new tools to detect cancer sooner, to help people receive treatment in their own home or increase productivity to tackle waiting lists.

    Projects will be delivered in this financial year – getting benefits to patients as quickly as possible.

    We’re focused on getting the very latest technology into the hands of doctors and nurses so they can benefit you when you need it.

    And that’s the mission I share with my fantastic Ministerial team – with Will Quince, Helen Whately, Maria Caulfield, Neil O’Brien and Lord Markham.

    All supported by our brilliant PPSs Gareth Bacon and Duncan Baker, and our fabulous whips Faye Jones and Lord Evans.

    But, Conference, I want to be clear: We want to give patients more choice and control over their care and we can only do that with long-term thinking.

    Take our Long-Term Workforce Plan. The largest expansion in training in the history of the NHS.

    The first time in the history of the NHS that a government has been willing to set out a plan for the next 15 years for recruiting and training doctors, nurses, paramedics and other vital staff.

    And to show we are already delivering on that plan, I’m delighted to announce today that we are making additional medical school places available at universities for next September.

    Most of these places will be targeted towards three new medical schools at the Universities of Worcester, Chester and Brunel.

    With further places for two universities here in the Northwest – the University of Central Lancashire and Edge Hill.

    This is alongside our new pilot for medical degree apprenticeships.

    A new route into medicine for young people yearning to train to become a doctor but who want to take a vocational route, because our party is the party of real opportunity for anyone, no matter where you come from.

    And conference – our plan is not just about more staff.

    It is about using this powerful moment for reform using our Brexit freedoms.

    Shorter degrees.

    New roles.

    And more ways onto the NHS career ladder.

    Better for patients and the taxpayer.

    Now conference, my own background in the private sector taught me that organisations run more efficiently when you look to outcomes, not the inputs.

    Being focused on the end point means you cut down on waste.

    That’s why I brought in Steve Rowe, the former Chief Executive of Marks and Spencer – to scrutinise our Departmental spending.

    With a budget of £190 billion, there are always opportunities to get more resources from the backroom to the front line.

    When I was appointed, I put in an immediate recruitment freeze in place, which has reduced the department’s headcount by a sixth and we are closing half of the department’s offices.

    That’s less money on the back-office and more money on frontline.

    To deliver the long-term change the NHS needs, we need a relentless focus on patient outcomes and that means prioritising frontline resources.

    It does not mean spending huge sums of taxpayer’s money on diversity consultants or hiring bloated internal diversity and inclusion teams.

    And it does not mean ignoring patient’s voices – especially women’s voices when it comes to the importance of biological sex in healthcare.

    If we do not get this right now, the long-term consequences could be very serious for the protection of women and future generations.

    And Conference, I know as Conservatives, we know what a woman is and I know the vast majority of hardworking NHS staff and patients do too.

    That is why I ordered a reversal of unacceptable changes to the NHS website that erased references to women for conditions such as cervical cancer and stopped the NHS from ordering staff to declare pronouns to each new patient.

    And that is why today, I am going further; by announcing that we will change the NHS constitution following a consultation later this year to make sure we respect the privacy, dignity and safety of all patients recognise the importance of different biological needs and protect the rights of women.

    Now, Conference, if all of that seems like simple common sense, that’s because it is.

    And yet every step of the way we have faced opposition from the usual suspects when we are trying to do the best for patients.

    You probably saw some of them on your way in this morning.

    The militant BMA leadership – whose strikes have resulted in countless cancelled appointments and pose a serious threat to the NHS’s recovery from the pandemic.

    Their Consultants and Junior Doctors Committee are relentlessly demanding massive pay rises.

    Even if that means diverting resources from patients. And despite junior doctors having already received a pay rise of up to 10.3%.

    But it doesn’t end there.

    They are even threatening to take the Government to court over our plans to let patients see their own test results on their own phones, rather than taking up a GP appointment.

    This clearly shows that the BMA leadership is not on the side of change, and they are not on the side of patients.

    And then there’s Labour.

    Keir Starmer’s MPs continue to join the BMA on the picket line.

    You only have to look at Starmer’s own plans for the NHS to see that Labour will always bottle it and take the easy way out.

    When his own proposals on workforce were published, there was nothing on reform whatsoever. No shorter courses. No new roles. Just more of the same.

    His Shadow Health team won’t back our rollout of new obesity drugs on the NHS via primary care.

    Game changing new treatments that can give people struggling to lose weight a real helping hand.

    Labour don’t want to embrace innovation.

    Instead, the left like to lecture people on what they eat and drink.

    Look at Labour run London.

    Sadiq Khan has banned Wimbledon adverts on the underground.

    Why?

    Because photos of strawberries and cream breach health advertising rules set by City Hall.

    And in Wales, Labour has banned meal deals that include a sandwich with a bag of crisps at a time when families are concerned about the cost of living.

    Now, Keir Starmer says that Wales is the ‘blueprint for what Labour can do in England’.

    But their record on health makes for grim reading.

    As a result of Labour’s short-term thinking, patients in Wales are twice as likely to be waiting for treatment than in England.

    No wonder that the number of patients in Wales escaping to seek treatment in England has increased by 40% in two years.

    So, the next time you hear Labour telling people that they have easy answers to the challenges our health system faces remind them that Labour is letting people down in Wales.

    Now Conference, it is only by taking on those who resist change that we can make sure the NHS is there for us and our loves ones in the future.

    So, let’s stand up to a militant BMA leadership that does not accept the need for reform.

    Let’s challenges the ideologues who silence the voice of women.

    And let’s be very clear that we won’t take lectures from a Labour Party that has utterly failed patients in Wales.

    Conference, we will achieve it by coming together as Conservatives.

    Showing our values, our vision, our drive will deliver an NHS that gives people more choice, more control and, above all, puts patients first.

  • PRESS RELEASE : Government launches plan to put drivers back in the driving seat [October 2023]

    PRESS RELEASE : Government launches plan to put drivers back in the driving seat [October 2023]

    The press release issued by the Department for Transport on 2 October 2023.

    New 30-point plan to support people’s freedom to use their cars and curb over-zealous enforcement measures.

    • Transport Secretary announces plan for drivers to fix common issues on the road and back people who use cars in their daily lives
    • action will be taken to support drivers with easier parking, smoother journeys and fairer traffic enforcement
    • measures will also speed up the rollout of electric vehicle chargepoints across the country and crack down on inconsiderate driving

    Today (2 October 2023), the Transport Secretary announced a new 30-point plan to support people’s freedom to use their cars and curb over-zealous enforcement measures.

    Drivers will benefit from smoother, easier journeys thanks to the government’s new plan for drivers, including £70 million to keep traffic flowing and measures to speed up the rollout of electric vehicle charging.

    The plan includes measures that could help councils increase spending on fixing potholes and road repairs by more than £100 million over 10 years, fining roadworks which overrun, new technology to simplify parking payment and updating 20mph zone guidance for England to prevent inappropriate blanket use

    The government has also today committed to exploring measures to speed up the installation of chargepoints for electric vehicles and extending grants to schools to install chargepoints.

    Transport Secretary Mark Harper said:

    We’re backing drivers and our new long-term plan will improve journeys for millions across the country, whether they’re commuting to work or college, parking up for a day trip, or charging their electric car.

    Our plan for drivers will support thousands of skilled jobs and help grow the economy, sitting alongside our continued record investment in public transport and active travel – ensuring people have the freedom to travel how they want.

    To help ease congestion, £70 million will be provided to councils this financial year in 3 different schemes to invest in improving traffic lights and signals, including AI tech to optimise traffic flow in city centres.

    Journeys will also be smoother and quicker with the digitisation of traffic regulation orders, which will pave the way for autonomous vehicles and make life easier for today’s motorists by ensuring satnavs have the most up-to-date information on the location of parking spaces, road closures and speed limits.

    These measures fulfil the government’s commitment to support families and grow the economy by making driving easier for the 50 million car licence holders in the UK. It will also help people make the switch to electric vehicles as the country continues its proportionate, balanced journey to net zero.

    The measures come on top of extending the temporary fuel duty cut for another year in March 2023 to save drivers a total of around £5 billion over the past 2 years.

    The full plan for drivers will make journeys smoother by:

    • strengthening guidance to make sure bus lanes operate only when buses are running
    • guiding local authorities on allowing motorcycles to use bus lanes and holding a consultation about whether motorcycle access should be standard
    • permitting red flashing lights for breakdown vehicles, helping to protect recovery drivers by making them more visible at the roadside
    • supporting councils to introduce more lane rental schemes, which reduce roadworks by incentivising utilities to avoid the busiest roads at the busiest times
    • consulting on requiring local authorities with lane rental schemes to use at least 50% of any surplus on pothole repairs or resurfacing
    • consulting on extending fines for overrunning street works at weekends and increasing fixed penalty notices
    • rolling out the Live Labs 2 programme to explore new, low-carbon and high-tech ways of managing local highway networks, supporting the transition to net zero carbon local roads and infrastructure
    • developing a New Road Condition Data Standard to provide local authorities with access to new technologies enabling them more easily to identify and deal with road defects like potholes
    • £30 million fund to upgrade traffic signal systems, replacing unreliable and obsolete equipment to improve reliability
    • £20 million ‘Green Light Fund’ to tune up traffic signals to better reflect current traffic conditions and get traffic flowing
    • £20 million to deploy advanced technology for traffic signals, making use of machine learning and AI to optimise traffic flow and balance traffic across city centres

    We’re also stopping unfair enforcement by:

    • issuing 20mph zone guidance for England to help prevent inappropriate blanket use.
    • consulting on measures including the removal of local authorities’ access to DVLA data to enforce such schemes by camera
    • focusing on the importance of local support and consider as part of the LTN review how to address existing LTNs that have not secured local consent
    • strengthening government and sector-led guidance on enforcement of moving traffic offences such as entering yellow box junctions, to ensure consistency and stop drivers from being penalised unfairly
    • launching a call for evidence on options to restrict local authorities’ ability to generate surpluses from traffic offences and over-zealous use of traffic enforcement powers

    We’re making parking easier by:

    • delivering the new National Parking Platform by autumn 2024, ending the need to use multiple parking apps
    • consulting on revising guidance about the public’s right to challenge local authority parking policies
    • introducing digitised traffic regulation orders to help easily identify where it is legal to park anywhere in the country

    We’re tackling inconsiderate driving by:

    • consulting on removing the right of uninsured drivers to claim compensation for property damage
    • launching a communications campaign and enforcement to tackle lane hogs and other inconsiderate driving on the motorway
    • allowing local councils to roll out noise cameras to target unacceptable vehicle modifications
    • clamping down on roadside littering, extending the trial on camera enforcement across the strategic road network

    We’re supporting the transition to zero emission driving by:

    • reviewing grid connections process for EV chargepoints, with the aim to accelerate it
    • consulting on measures to speed up the approvals process for installation of chargepoints
    • providing dedicated, targeted support for schools to install chargepoints, using existing grants
    • widening eligibility of EV chargepoint grants to include cross-pavement solutions to make EV ownership a more practical option for those without off-street parking
    • providing guidance on the use of safe cross-pavement solutions
    • consulting on the expansion of permitted development rights, making private chargepoint installation cheaper and easier
    • working with industry to myth-bust concerns about EVs
  • PRESS RELEASE : Sentencing of Vietnamese climate advocate – FCDO statement [October 2023]

    PRESS RELEASE : Sentencing of Vietnamese climate advocate – FCDO statement [October 2023]

    The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 2 October 2023.

    The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) has released a statement on the sentencing of Vietnamese climate advocate Hoang Thi Minh Hong.

    An FCDO spokesperson said:

    The United Kingdom is deeply concerned by the conviction and sentencing of Hoang Thi Minh Hong, former leader of environmental campaign group CHANGE. There is a pattern of environmental experts being arrested and imprisoned in Vietnam.

    The Government of Vietnam committed to consult NGOs, media and other stakeholders as part of the Just Energy Transition Partnership. The UK urges the Vietnamese authorities to ensure civil society organisations can operate and participate without fear of unfair treatment, targeting or prosecution.

    Civil society plays a crucial role in supporting sustainable and inclusive development. We reiterate our call on Vietnam to respect all human rights, including freedom of expression and association.

  • PRESS RELEASE : End to Civil Service expansion and review of equality and diversity spending announced in productivity drive [October 2023]

    PRESS RELEASE : End to Civil Service expansion and review of equality and diversity spending announced in productivity drive [October 2023]

    The press release issued by HM Treasury on 2 October 2023.

    The Chancellor has today, 2 October 2023, announced an immediate cap on civil servant headcount across Whitehall to stop any further expansion, increase efficiencies and boost productivity.

    • Chancellor announces Civil Service Numbers Cap, capping headcount at current level, which could save up to £1 billion, with focus on a leaner and more effective workforce
    • government departments to submit long-term productivity plans that modernise the Civil Service and reduce the size of the state – delivering high-quality public services at a lower cost
    • equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) spending in the Civil Service to be reviewed to ensure it represents value for money for the taxpayer

    The Civil Service workforce has grown year on year since 2016, with headcount as of June 2023 around 488,000. While this has enabled an effective response to the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic, further unabated growth would not be fair to taxpayers or promote the efficiency they expect.

    A cap on headcount at its current level will be introduced with immediate effect – a decision that will help cut the cost of government and could save up to £1 billion by March 2025 compared to the current trajectory.

    The cap – which will be in place for the duration of the current Spending Review period – does not equate to a recruitment freeze, and current recruitment campaigns will remain ongoing.

    To go further after the current Spending Review period, government departments will be asked to produce plans on driving down headcount over the long-term to pre-pandemic levels, as part of the Public Sector Productivity Programme being carried out by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury.

    A first-time value for money audit of EDI spending in the Civil Service will also separately inform the productivity review, with the findings and actions to be announced by the Chancellor in the Autumn.

    Through tackling unnecessary bureaucracy and improved use of technology, it is expected that the Civil Service will become more productive and act as a lean, agile, and cost-effective organisation, in line with the people’s priorities.

    Departmental plans are expected to include detail on how departments will utilise modern technology to drive efficiencies and deliver better services for the public at lower costs – across both the Civil Service and the wider public sector. This process will also prioritise the protection of critical frontline services.

    Further information

    • Estimated savings are based on the latest available headcount for full-time employee numbers (457,000 as of June 2023) from the ONS (excluding devolved administrations), as well as a projection of 490,000 in March 2025 based on the current trend in headcount growth since 2016.
    • The figure is based on a median wage of £32k reported in the latest Civil Service Statistics and additional non-wage costs of £13k per FTE. The figure is subject to change based on departmental negotiations and a later retrospective update to headcount data.
    • The cap will apply to all government departments and their arm’s length bodies. Public servants and crown servants will also be included where they are normally in scope of the Civil Service Pay Remit.
    • The Civil Service Fast Stream will continue as planned in recognition of the importance of the talent pipeline.
    • The Cabinet Office has written to over 100 organisations in the Civil Service, including government departments and executive agencies, to confirm how many staff work on EDI and how that work supports government priorities.
    • The Chancellor, Minister for the Cabinet Office and Minister for Women and Equalities will jointly scrutinise whether EDI spending offers taxpayers value for money.