Tag: 2023

PRESS RELEASE : Tougher rules to stamp out debanking [October 2023]
The press release issued by HM Treasury on 2 October 2023.

Changes to the rules which determine whether a bank can operate – known as Threshold Conditions – will ensure banks are upholding their current legal duties to protect freedom of speech.
- Chancellor spells out new rules for banks to protect free speech
- banks forced to show exactly how they are protecting customers’ freedom of speech under a shakeup of the rules
- banks must take existing obligations not to discriminate seriously
This action will give regulators the green light to take firm action if any bank is found to undermine or fails to protect the rights of their customers.

A public consultation will be launched shortly to consider how these changes are best delivered, before legislating next year, as part of the government’s aim to put an end to de-banking for freedom of speech reasons.

This follows concerning reports that highlighted situations where banks may have been closing the bank accounts of customers based on their political views.

The Chancellor was quick to act – confirming new rules will force banks to delay and explain account closures and asking the FCA to conduct a deep dive into this issue.

The notice period for payment service framework contract terminations is to increase from two months to 90 days, and banks will be required to give customers clear and tailored explanations for why they had closed an account – unless in limited cases such as where this would be unlawful.
October 2, 2023

PRESS RELEASE : Chancellor announces major increase to National Living Wage [October 2023]

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

The National Living Wage will rise to two-thirds of average earnings, the Chancellor announced today (Monday 2 October).

National Living Wage will rise to two-thirds of average earnings
Chancellor commits to Low Pay Commission recommendations, with latest forecasts showing a pay boost next year worth over £1,000 for 2 million low-paid workers
successive rises mean a full-time worker on the National Living Wage will be over £9,000 better off than they would have been in 2010

In a significant boost for the UK’s lowest paid, the Chancellor committed to accept the Low Pay Commission’s recommendations – which will be announced in November. Based on the Low Pay Commission’s latest forecasts, this would see the National Living Wage increase to over £11 an hour from April 2024 and would mean the annual earnings of a full-time worker on the National Living Wage will increase by over £1,000 next year.

People currently aged 23 and over are eligible for the National Living Wage, with over 2 million workers on low pay set to benefit from the increase. The announcement, after successive rises since its introduction in July 2015, means a full-time worker on the National Living Wage will be over £9,000 better off than they would have been in 2010.

Each year, the independent Low Pay Commission produces recommendations to the Government on National Living Wage and National Minimum Wage rates. This year it is due to make recommendations for the rates that will take effect from April 2024, based on their remit which sets a target for the National Living Wage to reach two-thirds of median earnings by 2024 for workers aged 21 and over, taking economic conditions into account.

Further information

Projected coverage of National Living Wage/National Minimum Wage workers in April 2023 across the UK’s countries and regions

Region	National Living Wage
North East	130,000
North West	300,000
Yorkshire & Humber	310,000
East Midlands	200,000
West Midlands	270,000
South West	200,000
East	220,000
London	200,000
South East	280,000
Wales	120,000
Scotland	180,000
Northern Ireland	130,000
Total	2,540,000

History of the NLW

Since 1999, the UK has had a National Minimum Wage, which is uprated annually based on the advice of the independent Low Pay Commission (LPC).
The LPC is made up of representatives from business, employee and academic communities and reaches a consensus agreement on this uprating.
Prior to the first target announced in 2015, the LPCs remit was to set rates as high as possible without significant employment impacts.
The first minimum wage target was announced in 2015, when he announced the introduction of the National Living Wage (NLW) from April 2016. The NLW had a target to reach 60% median earnings by 2020. This target was met in October 2020.
In 2019 a new target was announced for the NLW to reach two thirds of median earnings by 2024.
The target for the NLW to reach two thirds of median earnings was set to ‘end’ low pay according to the ONS definition.

October 2, 2023

PRESS RELEASE : Boost to UK-Indonesia low-carbon cooperation as Minister visits Jakarta [October 2023]
The press release issued by the Foreign Office on 2 October 2023.

Minister for the Indo-Pacific, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, is visiting Indonesia to launch the second phase of UK support to the Low Carbon Development Initiative.
- Minister for the Indo-Pacific, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, is visiting Indonesia to launch the second phase of UK support to the Low Carbon Development Initiative (LCDI).
- £27.2 million of new UK funding will foster sustainable economic growth and development while mitigating the impacts of climate change.
The UK and Indonesia are set to extend collaboration on low carbon development until 2027, as Minister Trevelyan announces the second phase of UK support to the Low Carbon Development Initiative (LCDI) on a visit to Indonesia today (2 October). The Minister will announce new funding alongside Indonesian Minister for National Development Planning Suharso Monoarfa. The commitment affirms the UK’s record of support for climate action and sustainable growth in the Indo-Pacific.

Ahead of the visit, Anne-Marie Trevelyan said:

Indonesia’s thriving economy and capacity for innovation bring ever greater opportunities for our two countries to work together, from trade and investment to science and tech cooperation.

The LCDI will ensure Indonesia’s economic growth is sustainable and resilient against the impacts of climate change, delivering benefits for people in the UK, Indonesia and across the Indo-Pacific.

The Low Carbon Development Initiative (LCDI) is a flagship Indonesian government policy aiming to reduce emissions and promote sustainable growth and development. The first phase of UK support, launched in 2017, saw the inclusion of climate targets within the country’s development planning for the first time. Now, new funding will enable further training and capability building to develop science-based policy and provide grants to pilot innovative low-carbon technologies.

The visit by Minister Trevelyan follows sustained UK engagement with Indonesia during its ASEAN Presidency year, including visits by Minister for Energy Security and Net Zero Graham Stuart in August and Foreign Secretary James Cleverly in July.

During the visit, the Minister will meet Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Pahala Mansury for discussions on global and regional security, and Minister of Maritime and Investment Affairs Luhut to discuss economic cooperation and progress under the JETP. She will also meet ASEAN Secretary General Dr Kao Kim Hourn, to reaffirm the UK’s respect for ASEAN centrality and commitment to its role as a Dialogue Partner.

Finally, the Minister will visit sports charity Inspire Indonesia to learn about their work educating teenagers on the importance of gender equality and the harms of sexual and gender-based violence.

Notes to editors
- The extension of UK support to the LCDI follows the launch of the Indonesia Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP), agreed by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at the 2022 G20 leaders’ summit in Bali. The JETP secured public and private sector infrastructure funding to accelerate Indonesia’s transition to clean energy.
October 2, 2023
PRESS RELEASE : Social housing tenants helped to cut energy bills with £80 million for home upgrades [October 2023]
The press release issued by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero on 2 October 2023.

More social housing tenants to receive energy efficiency upgrades in their home, with an additional £80 million under Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund.
- An extra 9,500 social housing tenants will benefit from grants to make homes warmer and more energy efficient
- Additional funding for the government’s Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund will help lower bills by £240 a year on average and support 2,000 jobs
- Scheme is already benefiting more than 100,000 households
Thousands more social housing tenants will be helped to cut bills with additional government grants available for home energy efficiency upgrades.

Energy Security and Net Zero Secretary Claire Coutinho today (Monday 2 October) announced up to £80 million in additional funding will be made available through the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund – which will generate energy bill savings of around £240 a year for some of the lowest-income households.

More than 100,000 households in England are already benefiting from the scheme and today’s funding is enough to upgrade an additional 9,500 homes.

Measures range from installing new wall, loft or underfloor insulation to supporting families to switch to low carbon heating – helping to cut energy bills and supporting around 2,000 jobs.

As part of the government’s new pragmatic and proportionate approach to reaching net zero, eligible tenants will receive the energy efficiency upgrades free of charge through their social housing provider, whether local councils or housing associations.

Secretary of State for Energy Security Claire Coutinho said:

We are delivering net zero in a way that supports the British public and does not burden hardworking families with additional costs.

Our Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund is delivering warmer homes and energy bill savings of around £240 for some of the lowest income families, as well as supporting thousands of jobs.

We’re already making over 100,000 homes more energy efficient with this scheme, and I’m delighted an extra 9,500 social housing tenants will now benefit too.

Minister for Energy Efficiency and Green Finance Lord Callanan said:

The UK is a trailblazer when it comes to reducing carbon emissions, cutting them faster than any other G7 country.

By supporting families to improve their household energy efficiency, this additional funding will deliver measures such as new insulation and low-carbon heating for even more households – helping them save money and cut emissions.

The government has a strong record on energy efficiency, with the proportion of homes in England with an EPC rating of C or above up from 14% in 2010 to nearly half of all homes now. Today’s funding will help drive up the energy performance of social homes with an EPC rating of D or below.

The scheme forms part of the government’s commitment to reduce overall UK energy demand by 15% by 2030, as well as supporting the ambition for the UK to move towards ever-greater energy security and independence. The government also plans to run a consultation on energy efficiency standards in the social rented sector.

Local and combined authorities, registered providers of social housing and charities that own social housing will be able to bid for the additional funding to install energy efficiency upgrades in November.
October 2, 2023
PRESS RELEASE : New measures targeting bomb-making materials come into force [October 2023]
The press release issued by the Home Office on 2 October 2023.

Stronger restrictions on poisons and explosive substances came into effect on 1 October 2023.

New restrictions on poisons and explosive substances have come into effect from Sunday 1 October, strengthening existing controls for poisons and chemicals which could be used to make explosives.

Under these changes, there will be stricter requirements on reporting suspicious activity, including new obligations for online marketplaces. Customer information, such as photo identification, will be recorded when selling regulated materials to business users.

Additional substances have also been added to the list of regulated poisons, including 2,4 Dinitrophenol, also known as DNP, which has taken the lives of many young people in the UK. Other substances to be added include zinc phosphide and hexamine, often used in fireworks.

This will mean it will be a criminal offence to sell these substances to members of the public without a valid licence.

Security Minister Tom Tugendhat said:

The deaths of dozens of young people at the hands of criminals selling chemicals like DNP is a tragedy.

These new measures will help prevent dangerous controlled substances from falling into the wrong hands.

These measures come on the back of the devastating Manchester Arena attack in 2017, and the government’s commitment to look at whether current laws went far enough to protect the public.

The changes will come into force through the updates to the Poisons Act 1972.

Food Standards Agency (FSA) Head of National Food Crime Unit Andrew Quinn said:

DNP can, and does, kill. This is why we strongly support the Home Office on the reclassification of DNP as a poison as well as the police on tackling criminals who supply this killer chemical.

British Retail Consortium (BRC) Retail Products Advisor Adrian Simpson said:

Retailers play an important part in spotting any suspicious activity from customers when buying particular chemical products, and will take additional steps to verify legitimacy of a purchase through more thorough ID checks.

We welcome these new strengthened measures – retailers are vital in protecting the public by ensuring that all changes are clearly communicated to their customers. They will provide additional information online to explain the risks associated with certain products.

The government continues to regularly work with online marketplaces to ensure that they are aware of the harms of chemicals and poisons and can identify and take down potentially unlawful listings as quickly as possible.

The Poisons Act 1972 already sets out controls of chemicals which can be used to make explosives and poisons, restricting the general public’s access to the most dangerous materials. It permits a licensing regime for the purchase and use of regulated substances where there is a legitimate need and no safer alternative.

Newly reportable explosives precursors:
- Sulfur
Newly reportable poisons:
- Metal sulfides and polysulfides
- Metal phosphides
- Sodium hypochlorite solutions (above 6% available Cl).
Newly regulated precursors:
- Hexamine
- Hydrochloric acid (over 10% w/w)
- Phosphoric acid (over 30% w/w)
- Ammonium nitrate (over 16% N)
Newly regulated poisons:
- Aluminium sulfide
- Sodium sulfide
- Calcium sulfide
- Magnesium sulfide
- Calcium phosphide
- Zinc phosphide
- Arsenic compounds
- Mercury compounds
- 2,4- dinitrophenol (DNP) and compounds including sodium dinitrophenolate
October 2, 2023
Gillian Keegan – 2023 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

The speech made by Gillian Keegan, the Secretary of State for Education, in Manchester on 2 October 2023.

Conference – it’s a real honour to address you today.

40 years ago, less than 40 miles away from here, sat in a failing comprehensive school in Knowsley,

I could never have imagined myself standing here today.

Growing up in Huyton, the constituency of Harold Wilson – the influence of the Labour Party was everywhere around me, including my own family.

My great grandma, a proud lifelong member of the Labour Party. My grandad a miner and member of the NUM.

In my office on my desk sits my grandad’s miners’ lamp – a daily reminder of where I’m from, and why I became an MP.

So being a working class girl from Liverpool, I often get asked:

“Why on earth are you a Conservative?”

Well, here’s why.

The Conservative Party is the party that helped my grandparents buy their council houses.

It is the party that stood up to the destructive force of the Unions in the 70s and the 80s.

This party aspired, for me and my family to have a better future,

and was willing to take the hard decisions to get us there.

That’s because we are a party that believes in giving people a hand-up, not a hand-out.

And as the Prime Minister says – education is our silver bullet.

Now, it is often said that talent is everywhere, but opportunity isn’t.

I know that’s true because I have lived it.

92% of my classmates left my Knowsley Comprehensive school with less than the five O-Levels – many without a single qualification.

Those kids that I sat next to every day for five years were as bright as anyone I’ve met ever since.

It’s not that they couldn’t do it – they were let down.

Education is the way we make sure that doesn’t happen.

And every day my brilliant Ministerial team – Nick Gibb, Rob Halfon, David Johnston and Diana Barran – who are fantastic – are focused on making the choices that will lead to a brighter future for our children.

There are so many places where this Conservative government is making the difference, so let’s start with childcare.

In my business life, I’ve seen woman after woman have to choose between their career and having a family – and usually their career lost.

These were women who were top of their class, got the highest grades, the best starting jobs – and then had to watch the opportunities that used to be there disappear, watch their careers end prematurely.

And the impact on our economy, it’s massive.

And Labour admired this problem for years. 13 years of Labour delivered only 12 and a half hours of free childcare for three and four-year-olds.

Less than one hour per year of office.

This Government has already massively expanded the offer but will go further by introducing 30 hours free of childcare for working parents from the end of maternity leave until their child goes to school.

It is giving mums, and dads, back their choice.

And to be clear this is the most comprehensive and generous childcare package in our country’s history.

It’s the Conservative Party taking long-term decisions to support families.

We have completely transformed our school standards, making sure all kids go to a good school.

We’re determined to crush the soft bigotry that says people like me shouldn’t succeed.

A single teacher can change your life. For me that teacher was Mr. Ashcroft who stayed behind after school to teach me engineering, when girls couldn’t study it.

Every day, every teacher, every one of them is changing a life.

And to them I say thank-you from the bottom of my heart.

And I am particularly grateful to those who have worked night and day with us, to ensure that children are able to learn face-to-face, despite the challenges of RAAC.

Even though the pandemic set us back, our education standards are recovering and they are rising.

Our plan is working.

We’ve reformed the school system, we’ve reformed teacher training, we’re reformed the curriculum.

Our phonics checks are ensuring children leave school able to read properly.

Our free schools are driving up choice and standards.

Our academies are unleashing heads to run education in a way that works for children, not for bureaucrats.

And the results speak for themselves – our children are now the best in the West for reading. It’s a phenomenal achievement and I’m determined that it’s Maths next.

I’m so proud of our children for what they’ve achieved.

And our reforms are working despite the opposition.

Labour and the Lib Dems called our plans “dangerous and ideological.”

They said our literacy drive was “dull.”

Time and time again they chose short-term policies over long-term decision-making.

And the results? Whilst we’re rising in the international league tables, Labour-run Wales and SNP-run Scotland are slipping behind.

They play the same old politics.

We make the decisions that improve things for our children.

Today, one of the biggest issues facing children and teacher is grappling with is the impact of smartphones in our schools.

The distraction, the disruption, the bullying.

We know that teachers are struggling with their impact and need support.

So today we’re recognising the amazing work that many schools have already done in banning mobile phones, and we’re announcing that we will change guidance so that all schools follow their lead.

Because the focus should be on children learning. In. The. Classroom.

Children need to be in school. Now, that shouldn’t be controversial, but during the strikes Labour could never bring themselves to say so.

In fact, many of their MPs joined the picket lines.

Perhaps because the unions fund their campaigns, fund their party.

But it’s outrageous and I’ve seen first hand what happens when Labour puts politics ahead of people.

Growing up in Liverpool under Derek Hatton, it has certainly left a scar.

When Kinnock said that “you can’t play politics with people’s lives” he was talking about my family’s jobs, my friends’ houses, and everybody’s services around me.

Not that Hatton cared.

I actually met him once. It was at the opening of a wine bar when I was a teenager.

There he was, larger than life, his Jag and driver outside, handing out glasses of champagne as we walked in.

Yep, you heard it right Conference – I was given my first glass of champagne by a socialist.

I was taking recently to a Labour MP about Delco, the car factory I had started worked in aged 16.

She told me with pride she had visited it – as part of a flying picket.

I looked at her and told her “you and your mates’ cost everybody their jobs.”

Because that’s the problem– they thought you could strike your way to a better job, and I thought it’s common sense that we’d have better jobs if the factory remained open.

And when the factory closed, they were off to their next demo whilst ordinary people were left to pick up the pieces.

Now, common sense is what guides me.

It’s common sense to say that parents should be able to see what their children are being taught in schools.

It’s common sense that girls should have separate toilets from boys.

And it’s common sense that earning and learning is a brilliant route into a career.

It makes no sense to set an arbitrary target of 50% of kids going to university, when we need 100% of kids getting great opportunities.

And University is not the only option.

My apprenticeship changed my life and thanks to this Government, have changed five and a half million lives since 2010.

Some people view them as second rate.

But my mission is to change that – to make apprenticeships the way you become a teacher, a doctor, a lawyer, even a space engineer.

Many will still want go to university, and that will be the right choice for them.

And if they do, they should get the education that they have paid for. That’s common sense, right?

Apparently not – because over recent years we’ve seen constant strikes, we’ve seen students not getting the education they’ve paid for and some not even having their degrees marked.

This is outrageous behaviour.

So today, I am announcing that we will consult to introduce minimum service levels in universities, so that they have the tools to make sure that students get the teaching they deserve.

So when I go home to Liverpool and they ask “why are you a Conservative” – well, here’s the answer.

With the Conservatives, you get the childcare that allows you to have a family and a career.

With the Conservatives, you get the schools where standards are relentlessly rising rather than going backwards under Labour.

With the Conservatives, you get an apprenticeship that is a route to a great career, not a dead end with an enormous student debt.

With the Conservatives you get the opportunity to go as far as you can.

And we are the only party that will make the long-term decisions to give our children the bright future that they deserve.

Conference, thank you very much.

October 2, 2023
Therese Coffey – 2023 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

The speech made by Therese Coffey, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, in Manchester on 2 October 2023.

Conference, thank you.

It’s great to be here in Manchester, as Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Defra covers so much on land and sea. Conference, we could do A to Z multiple times over.

Agriculture, animals, bins, chemicals, right through to zoos and pretty much everything in between.

In that, I am fortunate to be helped by my great ministerial team, Mark Spencer, Rebecca Pow, Trudy Harrison and Richard Benyon. Ably supported by our whips Jo Churchill and Jassett Harlech and our great PPSs Jerome Mayhew and Chris Loder.

As Defra ministers, we live and breathe the countryside.

Three of my ministers farm and the other two, we represent very rural constituencies.

I can assure you here are no greater champions in government of farming and the countryside, apart from our Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, who has put British food and farming firmly at the heart of government whether hosting the UK’s first Farm to Fork Summit at Downing Street, and flying the flag for farmers in our trade deals.

While we may disagree on who has the best county show (it’s definitely Suffolk), we are united in our mission to back British farmers in supporting nature and supporting rural communities.

And to achieve that we are making necessary long-term decisions for a brighter future and delivering on our plans so that the environment will be in a better state than we inherited it.

Our updated twenty-five year Environment Plan,

Our Plan for Water,

Our Plan on Unleashing Rural Opportunity,

Our Agricultural Transition Plan,

To name just a few.

But conference, of course it is not enough to have plans, it is about delivery.

And delivery at DEFRA needs dogged determination helped by being rooted in reality and by being respectful to the people who will help us achieve the outcomes we all want.

And also by being agile, turning ambition into action.

Conference, we are Conservatives by name,

Conservatives by nature,

And Conservatives for nature.

Throughout the last century, it is Conservative governments who have shown leadership.

It was Margaret Thatcher who was the first leader to speak about climate change on the world stage.

She spoke about Britain’s world leading scientists.

About healthy soils for our farmers, and the importance of international cooperation.

Meanwhile we can see both Labour and Liberal Democrats lassoing themselves to the latest bandwagon,

Trying to be the new best friends of the environment and of our rural communities.

Well, Conference, I know people are savvy,

They will be wary of the wolves in sheep’s clothing.

They have heard Labour’s plans to have a right to roam.

When we already have well over a hundred thousand miles of public footpaths.

That is really worrying for farmers, who are our key custodians of the countryside.

Frankly, the only right to roam on those fields should be their cattle, sheep and pigs.

Labour is also not supportive of the sensible changes that the Prime Minister has made on rural homes and heating.

We recognise that rural communities may need more time and more financial support to make an appropriate transition for net zero.

That is the sort of sensible policy that rural communities expect and shows that we are on their side.

They know they can trust us. They can trust Conservatives to deliver for them, for the countryside and for the planet.

The primary purpose of our farmers and food growers is to make sure we have food on our plates.

Food security is a key element of our own national security.

So I reaffirm the Prime Minister’s commitment to ensure that we produce at least sixty per cent of the food that we consume right here in the UK.

But the aftershocks of Covid and the inflation stemming from the illegal invasion of Ukraine have hit our farmers and of course, consumers too,

We want farmers to have a fair deal – which is why we are regulating so that they get fair contracts.

Our farmers produce the best food to the world, to the highest animal welfare standards.

But there are some green zealots who think our farmers should stop rearing livestock and instead we should eat fake meat.

Conference, regardless of what the zealots say – and I am being taken to court in relation to this right now – I am absolutely not going to tell anyone that they should not eat meat.

Fake meat may be ok for astronauts but when people think of a meat feast,

I want them to be thinking about our great Welsh lamb, our Aberdeen Angus beef, our Saddleback pork.

Not some pizza topping.

But there is one other group of farmers whose efforts I want to recognise,

And that’s of Ukraine…

Who, despite the illegal invasion by Russia are still managing to bring the harvest in.

We have continued to support them this year through President Zelenskyy’s Grain for Ukraine initiative and have also sent pumps and flood barriers to protect their homes and fields.

The United Kingdom will remain Ukraine’s steadfast ally for as long as it takes.

Conference, the countryside is at the heart of what makes our country such a great special place to live.

But as well as the joys of rural life, we know there are challenges, particularly when it comes to digital connectivity.

I share in the frustrations of a crackling call or a faltering video Teams meeting.

Earlier this year Simon Fell, MP for Barrow in Furness, was appointed to be our rural connectivity champion and I know Simon has got to work straight away.

Today, I am delighted to announce that the Technology Secretary is reviewing the Universal Service Obligation which I expect will help rural households and businesses, and looking to get faster broadband to some of the most remote places in the country.

Connectivity isn’t just digital – in the countryside, it is mainly cars, buses and of course tractors!

I was delighted when we extended the two-pound bus fare.

We are going further today, the Transport Secretary is publishing a new rural transport strategy,

Setting out how we are going to support rural communities, revitalise rural roads, and planning for the future of transport technology too.

It’s another example of how we understand the needs of rural areas, and when we say that we are on the side of motorists we mean it.

And of course, everywhere Labour is in power, we see they are not.

Whether it’s London and ULEZ,

The twenty miles per hour blanket thrown across Wales while the Labour Government has cancelled major roads…

And even here in Manchester,

Where Andy Burnham, frankly, is the only Labour politician to beat Keir Starmer for flip flops,

He wanted a region-wide ULEZ as well.

Conference, we also need more homes in the countryside so that rural communities can continue to flourish,

That is why we have consulted to make it easier to turn disused farm buildings into homes,

And we are funding a new team of rural housing enablers right across England,

To support new small schemes,

And boost the supply of new affordable housing to rent.

Today, as a next step, with the Levelling Up Secretary, I can announce that Homes England is publishing a Rural Housing Statement,

Setting out how it will play its part in delivering the Government’s housing and levelling up priorities in rural areas.

So when it comes to the countryside, Conference,

Yes we have lots more to do,

But we have made so much progress and will continue to do so to have a thriving, vibrant countryside.

As the Secretary of State for Rural Affairs, I am the countryside champion across government,

But it’s clear from what work we are doing and new strategies that we are delivering that the countryside matters in all corners of this government.

And Conference, we are going further to help farmers and rural businesses by making the most of our Brexit freedoms.

Freedom from European rules,

Freedom to choose what works best for Britain.

We have already legislated to allow gene editing,

So that we can design crops that are fit for the future.

My officials are cutting red tape and introducing smarter regulation.

Frankly, bent or straight, it is not for government to decide the shape of bananas you want to eat – I just want to assure you they are safe to eat.

So we will be dropping absurd regulations, including the one on bendy bananas.

Contrast all this to Labour,

They are sneakily signing up to keeping in step with whatever Europe decides.

And while we are on the topic of Labour not being honest with people, Conference,

Frankly when they were in Government, there was minimal monitoring of sewage overflows, practically hardly any at all.

They looked the other way – and they were even taken to court by Europe.

And now what they propose in their incredible plan would see your households’ bills rise by one thousand pounds per year.

And as for the Liberals, their plan is nothing but a gimmick,

Switching off storm overflows, great, that would lead sewage to back up into your homes.

With our Plan for Water, we are fixing Labour’s mess – yet again – and taking long-term decisions.

For the security of supply for homes, for businesses and our farmers too.

So Conference,

Be proud of what we Conservatives have achieved,

Be proud of what we have delivered for the countryside, even in just the last year.

Much progress made,

Still much more to be done

Now and for the long term.

We’re going to get down to business and we’re going to deliver it.

Thank you.

October 2, 2023
Mel Stride – 2023 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

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

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

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

Since 2010, we now have:

• payroll employment at a record high.

• 4 million more people in work.

• 2 million more disabled people in work.

• Unemployment about halved.

• Well over a million fewer people in poverty.

• 400,000 fewer children in poverty.

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

• 200,000 fewer pensioners in poverty.

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

Now that is a record to be proud of.

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

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

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

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

But interventions of this kind can only ever be temporary.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This is a moral imperative.

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

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

We made sure that work always pays.

But now, Conference, we face new challenges.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It’s bad for businesses struggling to recruit staff.

It’s bad for the public finances.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Youth unemployment had increased by 45%.

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

They opposed the household benefit cap.

They opposed the two-child benefit limit.

They opposed benefit sanctions.

They even said they would scrap Universal Credit.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

So, our message is simple.

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

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

Low unemployment. Improving economic activity. Rising employment.

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

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

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

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

A society made alive and whole.

That is truly something to inspire.

Conference, we are getting Britain working.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

There is no other party that will defend common sense.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Good afternoon.

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

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

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

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

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

But we weren’t the worst.

We were one of the best.

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

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

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

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

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

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

And it’s already happening.

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

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

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

We do more offshore wind than anywhere in Europe.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

We need a more productive state not a bigger state.

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

Half a percent.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

New policies should not always mean new people.

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

This will save £1 billion next year.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

That’s a pay rise for 2 million workers.

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

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

Harder to make it happen.

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

Our party.

And our Prime Minister.

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

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

His story… and our story.

More growth.

More jobs.

More doctors.

More nurses.

Better schools.

Less poverty.

Less crime.

Conference it’s time to roll up our sleeves…

…take on the declinists;

…and watch the British economy prove the doubters wrong.

Thank you.

October 2, 2023

Tag: 2023

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