Tag: Angela Rayner

  • Angela Rayner – 2026 Statement on her Tax Affairs

    Angela Rayner – 2026 Statement on her Tax Affairs

    The statement made by Angela Rayner on 14 May 2026.

    I welcome HMRC’s conclusion, which has cleared me of any wrongdoing.

    I have been exonerated by HMRC of the accusation that I deliberately sought to avoid tax.

    When purchasing a home of my own with a mortgage, I did not own any other property and had no personal financial interest in the court-instructed trust set up to manage my son’s financial award. I was advised by experts that I should pay stamp duty at the standard rate.

    I set out to pay the correct amount of tax. I took reasonable care and acted in good faith, based on the expert advice I received, and HMRC has accepted this.

    I have always sought to act with integrity, and I believe politicians should be held to high standards – that is why I resigned from government and cooperated fully with HMRC.

    I wanted to ensure that I paid every penny that I owed, and have done so. I am relieved that my family can now move on – and that I can get on with my job.

  • Angela Rayner – 2026 Comments on Labour’s Performance at Local Elections

    Angela Rayner – 2026 Comments on Labour’s Performance at Local Elections

    The comments made by Angela Rayner, the former Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, on 10 May 2026.

    Our party has suffered a historic defeat.

    Many good Labour colleagues have lost their seats despite working hard for those they represented. We have lost good Labour administrations and lost the chance for more.

    What we are doing isn’t working, and it needs to change. This may be our last chance.

    The Labour Party must now live up to our name: we must be the party of working people.

    We’ve heard the same on the doorstep as we’ve seen in the polls – the cost of living is the top issue for voters of all parties. People have turned to populists and nationalists because we have not done enough to fix it.

    Living standards are barely higher than they were a decade and a half ago. People feel hopeless – that the cost of living crisis will never end, and now they see oil and gas companies use global instability to post record profits.

    Once again, ordinary people are paying the price for decisions they didn’t make. It’s no wonder that across the UK, working people feel the system is rigged against them.

    Things can be so much better than this. Countries including Spain and Canada have shown that economies can grow and people can thrive when governments stay true to labour and social democratic values and put people first. We need to learn from that.

    In London, we lost young people who fear they will never afford a home. In my patch and across the north, we lost working people whose wages are too low and costs too high. In Scotland and Wales, people do not currently see Labour as the answer.

    We are in danger of becoming a party of the well-off, not working people.

    The Peter Mandelson scandal showed a toxic culture of cronyism.

    Decisions like cutting winter fuel allowance just weren’t what people expected from a Labour government.

    For too long, successive governments have allowed wealth and power to concentrate at the top without a plan to ensure the benefits of economic growth are shared fairly. The result is an economy that does not work for the majority, with wealth concentrated in too few hands. This level of inequality, alongside squeezed living standards, is the outcome of a model built on deregulation, privatisation, and trickle-down economics.

    But we have the chance to fix this.

    We need immediate action to cut costs for households and put money back into the everyday economy. This can be done within the current fiscal rules, by ensuring those who benefit from the crisis contribute more so that everyone can thrive.

    Our Employment Rights Act was just the first step in our plan to Make Work Pay. Now is the time to take the next steps, starting with a Fair Pay Agreement in social care – but not ending there. A rising minimum wage must go alongside our programme to get young people into work.

    The investment we secured in social and affordable housing should now unleash a building boom that benefits British business and workers. We must double down on renters’ reform and show leaseholders our action on tackling ground rents and charges was just a first step to ending freehold for good.

    Our devolution revolution has begun, but is nowhere near done.

    Giving mayors powers to transform planning and licensing can boost local business and good growth, in the interests of local people. They must go alongside economic powers and public services.

    Boosting community ownership and stopping the sell-off of local assets from pubs to playgrounds will put power back in local hands, helping restore the pride they feel in the places they live.

    We must go further on planning reforms, to build the schools, hospitals, roads and infrastructure the country needs to grow.

    We should be unafraid to promote new forms of public, community and cooperative ownership across the board. Buses and trains being brought back into public hands can now operate for the public good, at prices passengers can afford.

    Thames Water is an iconic failure of privatisation, which resonates for the same reasons. People are rightly sick of bonuses for bosses who deliver nothing but higher bills. We must face down demands that the public pay the price of private failure.

    We must create good jobs that pay decent wages by ensuring defence investment includes a secure manufacturing base. Use our house building programme to boost construction, invest in the green economy, backing SMEs by reforming business rates and increasing support to revive our high streets and local economies, raise the minimum wage and get young people into work.

    And then there is politics itself, putting power back into people’s hands so that they are shaping the decisions that impact them. We must tackle the inflow of dodgy money in our politics – something that Nigel Farage, who took 5 million pounds in a secret personal gift from an offshore crypto baron, will never do. We must make politics work for ordinary people.

    We can only prove we mean it by putting the common interest ahead of factionalism.

    This is bigger than personalities, but it is time to acknowledge that blocking Andy Burnham was a mistake. We must show we understand the scale of change the moment calls for – that means bringing our best players into Parliament – and embracing the type of agenda that has been successful at a local level, rather than reaching back to an agenda and politics that has failed people.

    These are the fights we need to have, and the change in direction we need to see. Policy tweaks will not fix the fundamental challenges facing our country. This government needs, at pace, to put measures in place that make people’s lives tangibly better, while fixing the foundations of a system rigged against them.

    The Prime Minister must now meet the moment and set out the change our country needs.

    Change our economic agenda to prioritise making people better off, change how we run our party so that all voices are listened to, and change how we do politics.

    Labour exists to make working people better off. That is not happening fast enough, and it needs to change — now.

  • Angela Rayner – 2025 Statement on Stamp Duty on Second Flat

    Angela Rayner – 2025 Statement on Stamp Duty on Second Flat

    The statement made by Angela Rayner on 3 September 2025.

    Following the substantial scrutiny surrounding my living arrangements, I wanted to set out the facts as openly and transparently as I can.

    Until now, an undertaking in a court order prevented me from disclosing information about certain aspects of my personal life. In the interests of public transparency, I applied to the court and I was last night released from this undertaking.

    Family life can be complicated, and it is no secret that, like many families across the country, my domestic arrangements reflect these complexities. Throughout my career, I have always tried to be the best mum to my children, while managing the demanding realities of public service.

    There has been a lot of speculation in recent days about my domestic arrangements and in particular the home I share with my ex-husband and my family. While I do not find it easy to publicly discuss personal and sometimes distressing family matters, I have always taken my responsibility as an MP and deputy prime minister seriously and tried to be as open as possible while protecting my family. To address the allegations made against me I have now taken the difficult decision to explain why my arrangements are as they are.

    In 2023 my ex-husband and I divorced. As parents who have been through divorce will understand, the top priority for both of us during that process was the wellbeing of our children and helping them navigate this change. To provide maximum stability during this transition, we agreed to a nesting arrangement where the children remain in the family home full-time while we alternate living there. We also wanted to ensure that our child, who has special educational needs, was provided for as part of the divorce settlement.

    A court-instructed trust was established in 2020 following a deeply personal and distressing incident involving my son as a premature baby. He was left with life-long disabilities, and the trust was established to manage the award on his behalf – a standard practice in circumstances like ours.

    To ensure he continued to have stability in the family home, which had been adapted for his needs, we agreed that our interest in the family home would be transferred to this court-instructed trust of which he is the sole beneficiary.

    Some of the interest in our family home was transferred to the trust in 2023. In January 2025, I sold the remaining interest in the property to my son’s trust. This will give him the security of knowing the home is his, allowing him to continue to live in the home he feels safe in and grew up in. We transferred the property because it was in the best interests of our child. I acted as any parent would.

    The sale of the property in Ashton-under-Lyne to the trust has not altered my family life. It remains my family home, as it has been for over a decade. It contains the majority of my possessions and it is where I am registered for most official and financial purposes ranging from credit cards to the dentist to the electoral roll. But most importantly, it is where my children live and have gone to school and now college, and where I regularly live while caring for them.

    After I sold my stake to the trust, I bought a property in Hove in May 2025. Like many people, I used the lump sum from selling my stake in my Ashton home, which was the only property I owned and where my savings were, for the deposit on my new one. I obtained a mortgage to finance the rest. When purchasing the property my understanding, on advice from lawyers,
    was that my circumstances meant I was liable for the standard rate of stamp duty.

    However, given the recent allegations in the press I have subsequently sought further advice from a leading tax counsel to review that position and to ensure I am fully compliant with all tax provisions. I have now been advised that although I did not own any other property at the time of the purchase, the application of complex deeming provisions which relate to my son’s trust gives rise to additional stamp duty liabilities. I acknowledge that due to my reliance on advice from lawyers which did not properly take account of these provisions, I did not pay the appropriate stamp duty at the time of the purchase. I am working with expert lawyers and with HMRC to resolve the matter and pay what is due.

    The arrangements I have set out reflect the reality that family life is rarely straightforward, particularly when dealing with disability, divorce and the complexities of ensuring your children’s long-term security. Every decision I have made has been guided by what I believe to be in my children’s best interests.

    I deeply regret the error that has been made. I am committed to resolving this matter fully and providing the transparency that public service demands. It is for that reason I have today referred myself to the independent adviser on ministerial standards, and will provide him with my fullest cooperation and access to all the information he requires.

  • Angela Rayner – 2025 Speech at the Local Government Association Conference

    Angela Rayner – 2025 Speech at the Local Government Association Conference

    The speech made by Angela Rayner, the Deputy Prime Minister, in Liverpool on 3 July 2025.

    Can I just start by saying how proud I am to be back here in Liverpool.

    And I’m sure you’ve all heard the devasting news this morning about the tragic loss of legend Diogo Jota.

    I know everyone here, his fans and the city of Liverpool will be heartbroken by this news.

    My thoughts are with his family at this saddened time.

    It’s a pleasure to look out at a room full of people dedicated to serving the communities that you represent.

    From Barnsley to Barrow – Cornwall to Cheshire…

    Councillors and mayors are delivering day-in, day-out for local people right across our country.

    I know how hard you work

    I know the difference you make

    I’m for local government because I’m from local government.

    And yes, I wasn’t a councillor. But as a home help and a carer I was on the front line delivering local services.

    And as a union rep, I worked with the leadership of a council to transform the service I worked in, for the good of the people that we served.

    And as a young mum, facing low pay and insecure hours without much of a safety net, it was the Sure Start centre and the council home that helped me turn my life around.

    The services that you deliver every single day changes lives

    And I say that not just as the Deputy Prime Minister, but as someone whose own life was changed by local government

    It’s why, in me, you will always have a Secretary of State that sees you as a partner, and not a punchbag.

    And Conference, it may not surprise you to know – but I’m not a patient person.

    I’ve been restless for 14 years.

    I’m restless to give local people a stronger voice.

    I’m restless to put decision-making in the hands of the people who know best.

    I’m restless to restore local government and provide the change that we were elected to deliver.

    Because I know how hard it has been

    How it feels at the sharp-end at local government level

    That’s why every single day in Westminster I’m fighting to turn that around

    To put power back in your hands, and deliver for communities the length and breadth of Britain.

    So – almost 12 months ago from the General Election, what have we delivered?

    Just last month, in the Spending Review we announced five billion pounds of new funding for local services.

    New funding means an 8% increase in Government funded spending power in the next four years compared to a reduction of 24% in the first four years of the last government.

    We’ve delivered a £4 billion uplift to adult social care

    alongside a targeted recovery grant of ÂŁ600m for the areas most in need

    we doubled the direct investment in preventative children’s social care services.

    and provided a record ÂŁ1.6bn for local road maintenance, enough to fill an extra 7 million potholes over the next year. I knew that would wet your whistle.

    And an uplift for every single local highway authority.

    We have refused to repeat the mistakes of the past which took the axe to your budgets, and left our communities to pay the price

    You made the case for local government, and we listened.

    That’s why we’re rolling back the era of micromanagement too, with simpler funding, and a rapid consolidation of your Finance Settlement.

    We are handing you the freedom and flex to meet local needs without needing to get sign off from central government for the most minor change.

    And right now, the paperwork you’re asked to fill out for micro-managed funds every year would stretch from here to the West side of Wirral!

    There’s no justification for that – so we’re cutting it down

    Meaning that you can focus on your priorities, not filling out forms.

    And with more flexible funding, we’re giving you the opportunity to work more collaboratively including through new pilots so councils and mayors can pool budgets and do joined-up services, learning the lessons of projects like Total Place – the last Labour government’s pioneering reform programme.

    Because we know every ambition of this government requires an active, empowered and strong local government.

    And we were elected to bring change, and that change can only be achieved in partnership with you.

    Nowhere is that more obvious than housing.

    None of our ambitions are possible without the support and the expertise of people here today.

    And the extraordinary examples of so many leaders in this room have inspired us to go further and faster.

    Right here in Liverpool, under the leadership of Council leader Liam Robinson and the Mayor Steve Rotheram, this great city is going from strength to strength.

    You only have to look at the incredible regeneration of the Liverpool Waters district – not too far from here, with new funding unlocking around 2,350 new homes.

    Now Liam said the Central Docks could act as a “beacon for what housing developments in the 21st century can and should be”.

    It’s hard to argue with that.

    But you know – and I know – you need a government that matches your ambition.

    And that’s why I am so proud to say that just last month we announced the biggest increase in the social and affordable homes budget for a generation!

    Our historic ÂŁ39 billion of new Social and Affordable Homes Programme aims to deliver around 300,000 new homes with at least 60% for social rent.

    This is a personal priority not just for me, but for the whole of this Government.

    And I say that, in the context of 160,000 children that are growing up in temporary accommodation

    When a million are living their lives on social housing waiting lists, no government should sit back whilst people live their lives in limbo.

    So through investment and reform, this government is backing councils and the whole social housing sector to deliver council housing.

    That means a brighter future where families aren’t trapped in temporary accommodation and young people are no longer locked out of a secure home.

    And we’re giving the sector certainty in other areas too.

    A ten-year rent settlement, consulting on how to implement rent convergence,

    Giving social landlords equal access to the building safety funds – for the first time ever

    And in the Autumn, we’ll confirm our approach to help councils to borrow from the Public Works Loan Board.

    And on top of this, we’re also committed to reforming the support given for skills capacity with a new Council Housebuilding Skills & Capacity Programme

    And that will be a partnership between the LGA and Homes England – backed by ÂŁ12 million in funding – and it will also help you get the skilled staff you need to build.

    And the scale of this challenge means we all need to play our part.

    Local authorities, housing associations, investors, developers, housebuilders, and regulators are all vital to help us reset social housing – so that it’s treated, once again, as the national asset that it is.

    Now, taken together with our bold planning reforms, the new National Housing Bank and the billions we’re putting into transport and infrastructure

    there’s a real opportunity here for councils.

    Opportunity not just to build the decent, and secure homes that working people so desperately need, but to build stronger communities at scale and at pace.

    Our goal of delivering 1.5 million homes will only be met by building affordable homes, with councils in the driving seat.

    We want our new Programme to be a game-changer.

    We’re setting a target which is six times more than were built in the last decade.

    The truth is for too long, the potential of what local government can achieve has been underestimated by Whitehall.

    Our government was elected to deliver change, and I know how fundamental you all are to delivering that.

    But you’re all having to work within a broken system.

    You’ve been left unequipped to deliver what is being expected of you.

    And despite the huge sums that you’re spending on public services

    On adult Social Care

    Children’s Social Care

    SEND

    and temporary accommodation

    I’m hearing loud and clear from you all, that these services are still not working for the people who need them.

    And the truth is that Westminster just hasn’t kept its side of the bargain.

    Public services need reform, and the onus is on us to work with you to deliver it.

    And that is why I am here today to fire the starting gun on a new way of working with you to deliver the reforms we know are needed.

    First, we are today announcing a fundamental shift, to radically simplify the funding and reporting regime that underpins your work.

    Through a new Local Government Outcomes Framework, we will move together to a completely new way of measuring performance.

    And this will be focused on delivering what we know matters most.

    Outcomes like kids learning to read and write

    people living healthier lives for longer

    and communities feeling safe.

    It brings everything in line with the government’s broader Missions and the Plan for Change

    And means prioritising the long term, instead of getting caught up in the nuts and bolts.

    The aim is that it frees you up to deliver meaningful outcomes

    And facilitates a shift towards prevention.

    But I know that we don’t have all the answers

    So my promise to you, is that if you come with a new way of delivering a service and it shows results, we will work with you to pursue it.

    The micromanagement of previous governments failed

    It wasted taxpayers’ money, and got us into the mess we’re in now.

    We can all recognise there are times when governments have to step in

    And make no mistake, that I’m still prepared to intervene where there is failure to deliver

    But it has to be by the book – and we can’t have a ‘Westminster knows best’ attitude.

    That is why we’re putting together a clear menu of actions of how government will respond where services are failing.

    I want everyone to know where they stand so concerns and weaknesses can be picked up before they become a crisis.

    And I’m committed to writing this with the sector, to get this right the first time.

    There’s real urgency to this – so to the Chief Executives and the Council Leaders here today

    Keep an eye on your inbox, because straight after this speech today, you’ll be receiving details of how to get involved.

    Now everyone in the room knows that ending Whitehall micro-management also means sorting out the spaghetti soup of obligations facing local government.

    That’s why, alongside our new Outcomes Framework, we’ll be launching a comprehensive review to ensure unnecessary regulations and needless asks from government aren’t getting in the way of you serving your communities.

    We will harness the Government’s AI team to unlock efficiencies.

    And work lock step with the LGA so we get it right.

    So, that’s two fundamental shifts in the way this government is doing business with local leaders.

    And we won’t stop there.

    Money is understandably at the forefront of everyone’s minds in this room.

    You watched as your communities were unfairly short-changed for too long.

    So that’s why – my third pledge – is to make good on a promise I made countless times in Opposition.

    A promise to fund councils on the basis of need.

    The last government promised a Fair Funding Review back in 2016, they recognised how outdated and unfair the funding process was back then.

    But not under my watch.

    Anyone who knows me, knows I don’t make promises that I can’t keep!

    I listened to the people in this room calling for government funding to recognise the unique challenges of their place

    whether that be rising temporary accommodation or even the pressure caused by huge footfall in coastal communities on the weekends.

    Many of you – including our colleague, the Minister for Local Government – campaigned for this change for decades.

    And this government  will waste no time in delivering it.

    We will implement a Fair Funding Review.

    And yes, that’s the full-fat version!

    Jim and I will make no apology for this.

    Government grant will be allocated based on the drivers of need in your area in a fair and transparent way.

    We will replace the decade old data, and for the first time, properly take into account factors such as deprivation and poverty

    the cost of remoteness faced by rural communities – meaning bus drivers and refuse collectors have to travel miles to serve their communities.

    We will take into account the varying ability to raise tax locally with lower house prices impacting on councils budgets

    temporary accommodation and the impact of daytime visitors on major cities and coastal towns alike.

    Taken together, this new approach supports every part of the country to manage their unique pressures.

    And I’m impatient – as I know you are – for this change.

    So alongside Minister McMahon, we will waste no time in putting things right to support places that lost out to rebuild those valued services and match money to need.

    And true reform of local government means taking a long and serious look at the plumbing.

    We won’t shy away from that.

    That’s why my fourth on my list of Local Government is Local Government Reorganisation.

    Now I can feel the anxiety levels in the room increasing at that phrase!!

    But I think everyone in this room can agree that governments cannot keep passing the buck on this one.

    If we are serious about shifting local government into a stronger footing…

    And fit for the future

    Delivering good services for residents

    Then we must cut out this needless duplication.

    We must take the brilliant leadership shown by district and county councillors, and move it to a simpler structure

    with more resources for the frontline, and a clearer accountability for residents.

    So many of you in this room have entered this process with an open mind and I want to thank you for your continued support as we navigate towards the end of a two-tier system in England.

    You have my word, that Jim and I will work in partnership with you every step of the way.

    Reforming local government also means learning from our mistakes as well as our successes.

    And my fifth focus is on trusting local government to deliver services in-house.

    Local government has long been the champion of insourcing – and I know too well about your efforts to innovate, and bring services in-house to lower costs and improve outcomes.

    We hear you and are on your side.

    That’s why we’re also delivering new procurement flexibilities for councils so you can confidently support your local businesses, and ensure that the investment and jobs stay local too.

    We are working to undo the ideological presumption of outsourcing by default, as part of our plan to Make Work Pay.

    The truth is that we’ve become hooked on short-term solutions – creating a costly dependence on external providers which can fail to deliver particularly for vulnerable people, young and old.

    You’ve been telling us about your efforts to innovate, and bring services in-house to lower costs and improve outcomes.

    With colleagues across government, we’ll introduce a quick and proportionate public interest test, to decide whether work could be done more effectively in house.

    The consultation on insourcing launched last week and I have no doubt we will get a lot of responses from people here today!

    I know what’s possible when local leaders have the powers to really deliver.

    With local people seeing that change in their high streets, in the opportunities available to young people, and in their hopes for the future.

    That’s why we’re shifting power out of Whitehall to our regions, and making devolution the default setting through our landmark English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill.

    It’s part of building a modern state, built on the foundations of a strong local government.

    So, that all levels and in everything we’re doing – whether through devolution, fairer funding, trusting local government in-house, or giving authorities the certainty and freedom to deliver on what really matter.

    We’re handing power back to where it belongs – to people with skin in the game.

    Resetting, rebuilding, and renewing local government, through ambitious investment and reform, and, with it, our country, after the hardest of years, so  that it, once again, works for working people.

    That’s the difference a government makes.

    That’s the difference you make in your Local communities every single day.

    I’ve got your back. Let’s work together.

    Thank you.

  • Angela Rayner – 2025 Speech at the Convention of the North

    Angela Rayner – 2025 Speech at the Convention of the North

    The speech made by Angela Rayner, the Deputy Prime Minister, in Preston on 28 February 2025.

    Thank you everyone, it’s an absolute pleasure to be here at the Convention of the North again.

    I apologise if I go too Northern for you, but it’s good to be back in this region, and it is great to be here in Preston.

    A year ago, I was stood in front of this same Convention at Leeds Dock – talking about the change this country so desperately needs.  A lot has changed!

    But just like last year, we’re meeting today on the spot of real Northern success.

    For two centuries, this university has opened its doors. Not just for students across the country, but for the people of the proud city too.

    Over those last two centuries, this mill town – just like the rest of the North – has seen entire industries rise and fall.

    Today, as I look out towards our fantastic Northern leaders, businesses and innovators, I want you to know that I am determined to fight for a future that’s brighter and more ambitious.

    Just over 6 months ago, this government was elected to deliver change. I know that the North is as impatient as anyone for that change – as I am too.

    The gears of change haven’t always been well-oiled, in fact, a decade of decline has seen them rusted.  As you work to improve the places you call home, you’re being resisted by a system that hoards power and investment away from where it needs to be – making regional inequalities worse, and not better.

    The truth is that for all the promises of levelling up, central government’s first instinct is too often to hoard power and hold our economy back.  Too many decisions affecting too many people are made by too few.  I’m here to help you break that system, and build a fairer one in its place.

    Last year I promised this Convention that I would be a Deputy Prime Minister for the North. And working with many of you sat here today, I’m proud of what we’ve achieved so far.

    We’ve taken a hammer to business-as-usual in Whitehall, and within days of getting into government, Labour Secretaries of State were giving up newly won powers for the sake of our towns and cities, with the Prime Minister leading the charge.  It has not been comfortable!  But it wasn’t supposed to be.  After all, we are undergoing a generational power shift from Whitehall to the town hall.

    We’re putting support for business at the heart of this with funding rolled into integrated settlements. An Office for Investment working with mayors to develop funding opportunities and regional innovation funding.

    In just six short months we are on track to complete devolution in the North.  This means decisions for the North, will be made by the North. So that Northerners will no longer be dictated to from Whitehall.   And this change will be irreversible.  And that’s important, because I know first-hand that decisions are made best by those with skin in the game.

    That’s what our English Devolution White Paper is all about. Nothing less than a total rewiring of power in England.  For all the techy talk of devolution, the goal is simple:  We will give mayors the power to drive growth, to use new levers over planning, housing and regeneration to Get Britain Building.

    We are ending the begging bowl culture and giving local leaders flexibility over their spending. For the first time in British history, we have created a department-style integrated settlement giving Mayor Parker and Mayor Burnham over a billion pounds in flexible funding.

    And next year, I am delighted that Liverpool, the North East, and South and West Yorkshire will all follow. This will be a game-changer for families across England, giving mayors the freedom and flexibility to make the right decisions for their place.

    And you only need to look at what our Northern mayors are already achieving, to see why this is so important. Just look at Mayor Brabin’s SME Graduate Scheme, keeping homegrown talent in West Yorkshire, and her investment in bus routes getting people to work quicker and cheaper.

    Or Mayor Coppard’s Pathways to Work Commission, putting 10,000 residents in South Yorkshire back to work.  In York and North Yorkshire, Mayor Skaith is investing millions in high streets, supporting local business to thrive.  Mayor Rotherham is bringing award-winning TV and film productions to Liverpool, with investment in new studios.

    The success of our Northern mayors doesn’t stop there. In Greater Manchester, Mayor Burnham’s Bee Network is making it simpler and more affordable to get the bus and tram.  And further north, Mayor McGuinness has set up the first mayoral child support poverty reduction unit to support families across the North East.

    A future for the North, built by those that call it home. Uniting under the banner of Great North and a vision for a new era of Northern cooperation. This isn’t about pitting place against place.  This is about understanding what our towns and cities can achieve together. It’s about releasing Britain’s untapped potential.

    And don’t underestimate the effect of Cabinet Ministers having mayors at the end of the phone.  Let me tell you – not one of them will shy away from telling us how it is.

    It isn’t by accident that devolution sits in my department.  It is by design.  Because mayors aren’t just a helpful tool to unlock housing, transport and infrastructure, they are a critical levers in our mission of growth.

    Let me tell you why. All of you in this room are trying – like I am – to get Britain building again. Yes, building houses, but also building your business, building renewable energy, building data centres.

    All too often, we are met by a system that says: “don’t bother”. Well, I am determined to break that system.  And I am handing mayors the sledgehammer!

    Earlier this year we published a new national planning framework to break down the barriers to sustainable growth.  And today, I want to share more details on how we will go even further, in our Planning and Infrastructure Bill.

    Mayors are at the centre of our plans to build 1.5 million homes, by giving them the powers they need, mayors are an army to take on the blockers. We are backing them to work across huge regional geographies to get the job done.  It’s why we’re giving them the powers to call in applications on those large, strategic sites that will really turn the wheel on growth.

    And it’s why we’re putting grant funding for regeneration and housing in their hands. To enable mayors to deliver on their plans, we will forge a stronger partnership between them and Homes England. Over time, we will move Homes England to a more regionalised model so that the agency is even more responsive to the economic plan of an area.

    We’ve already committed to strategic authorities for the entire country – but we can’t waste any time in building the homes we desperately need. That’s why I can confirm that the Planning and Infrastructure Bill I will introduce to Parliament in the weeks ahead will allow councils without a mayor to come together and set spatial development strategies.

    This means bringing forward housebuilding powers as soon as we can.  I think there is huge potential here.  If we can get building, and boost productivity of just 11 city regions, we could add £20.5 billion each year to the Exchequer. Imagine the jobs, opportunities and growth that comes with it.

    But devolving powers is only half the plan, if we’re not matching it with investment, we won’t see the results. The history of our Northern towns and cities is one of great industrialists, and workers who grafted for something better. And it’s in that same image, that the North today can provide the growth this country needs.

    Here in Preston, people have decent jobs to be proud of – just look at the Eurofighter Typhoon programme. We cannot underestimate the impact that business investment like that can have on an area. This is a sector that is critical for our national security, and economic growth.

    Over in West Yorkshire, we’re backing the new Mass Transit Scheme with two hundred million pounds of funding to support its development. Anyone who expects the businesses of Leeds to meet their economic potential without a proper transport network needs to ask themselves why they expect the North to settle for less.

    And as we support the recreation of Doncaster-Sheffield Airport it’s the job of this government to ask how we can best support our nation’s regional airports. Teesside has shown that regional airports can prosper, and now it’s time to back South Yorkshire too.

    Up in Blyth, plans are also being delivered for Europe’s biggest AI data centre.  These projects are not just about driving growth for the sake of it but driving growth in the places where potential is greatest.  The places which once built Britain, and once again deserve to be the centres of economic and industrial excellence.

    I share the Chancellor’s determination to review the Green Book to properly recognise the potential of places across the country. This means a full review of what it means for a project to be value for money.

    Alongside this, our industrial strategy led by the Business Secretary, will see a complete rewiring of the state. The mayors’ local growth plans are the bedrock of our industrial strategy, underpinning how we drive growth in every town and city. And finally, harness the great potential of the North.

    These plans are already underway. Every mayor is working with government to align priorities. Time is of the essence, which is why we’re wasting no time in publishing local growth plans, setting out these blueprints to deliver the manufacturing and green jobs of the future.

    That’s only part of our efforts to rebalance the economy. My Department and the Treasury are working with all strategic mayors with expert units laser-focused on unlocking devolution opportunities in skills, transport, and business support.

    And as we kickstart growth, it is only right that the workers who fuel the economy, get back what they put in. This government’s Employment Rights Bill means the biggest upgrade to rights at work in a generation. A bill that takes the very best standards from the very best businesses – and extends it to millions more workers.

    We are clear – better living standards is our number one mission. And we will succeed in our mission when working people can contribute to growth and benefit fairly from it. In some of the most deprived parts of the country – in places across the North – this legislation could save workers up to ÂŁ600 in lost income.

    Giving people a stable income, a chance to get a mortgage, putting more money in people’s pockets which in turn can be spent on the high streets and in local businesses. Boosting town centres and local economies with regenerative effects – this is about building a new route to prosperity from the bottom up, and the middle out, not the top down.

    Managers and senior decision-makers agree that this bill will boost productivity. Which is good for workers, and good for business. We all know that treating workers decently is just what good businesses already do.  We are backing business to level the playing field so that good employers aren’t undercut. Encouraging businesses to compete on quality and innovation in a race to the top.

    Without our bill, more working days will be lost through ill-health, costing businesses money. Inaction isn’t an option.  Businesses have everything to gain from this bill but I recognise it will be a big change which is why where businesses have raised concerns we have listened. It’s why we introduced a statutory probation period.

    We want businesses to be able to hire with confidence whilst still extending new protections for workers. These are plans which are pro-business, as well as pro-worker, which is why I am hell bent on making work pay.

    And just as we’ll leave no worker behind, we’ll also be fighting for every single town, village and estate. Too many neighbourhoods have been underestimated and overlooked for too long.

    When I first stepped into government, we inherited a burnt-out shell that they called levelling up.  It promised to rebalance the North and South. But when I got into government, the truth is, the money didn’t exist.  There was this warped idea that all places needed was a lick of paint and a chess board in the park.

    We’re doing away with the sticking plaster policies of old and working towards national renewal.  To achieve that, we need to start empowering people to drive change in their communities.  And to anyone who doubts this ambition, to anyone who doubts the North, I say that our region has been underestimated and overlooked for far too long.

    This government is only giving the North what it’s owed, and what it deserves. For too long, our outdated system of council funding has been stacked against the north.  The days of Ministers expecting the North to go cap in hand ends now. That’s why with Jim McMahon, our Minister for English Devolution and Local Government, we are making simpler and clearer structures and will fix the foundations of local government. He is already beginning to replace the funding formula to give the North nearly ÂŁ840 million more this year.  That brings the North’s total increase to just over 8 per cent – the biggest rise of all regions in England, by a good distance.

    If this new formula had been applied under the last government, the North would’ve seen billions more in funding. Instead, councils saw cuts of 23 per cent. So we’re starting to right that wrong.

    And we realise that every council has different needs. That’s why we’ve set aside a cash-terms increase for local government of 6.8 per cent. That’s over £69 billion for local government. All councils are facing pressures, but it’s particularly hard for those that bore the brunt of austerity. And this year’s settlement marks a clear direction of travel for the rest of the Parliament.

    But I know that the change this country needs can’t be micromanaged from Whitehall. It’s people in this room today – mayors, councillors, business owners and investors – who will drive us forward.  And as that happens, I can promise that the full force of the government will be behind you.

    Transferring power out of Westminster, getting Britain building, letting our towns and cities fire on all cylinders, doing whatever it takes to kickstart economic growth and leaving no one behind in that government-defining mission.

    Thank you.

  • Angela Rayner – 2024 Speech at Labour Party Conference

    Angela Rayner – 2024 Speech at Labour Party Conference

    The speech made by Angela Rayner, the Deputy Prime Minister, on 22 September 2024.

    Thank you for that introduction Paul and thank you for what you and your members do to support people across this region.

    Conference, 12 months ago, I stood here and said I hoped never again to open conference as Deputy Leader of the Opposition.

    So, it an absolute great honour to stand here today as your Deputy Prime Minister and it is an honour to open the first Conference of a Labour Government.

    And Conference I want to start off with a thanks to the British people.

    You entrusted us with the task of change and we will not forget it.

    You kept faith with us and we will keep faith with you.

    And let me thank all of you in this room too and my brilliant ministerial team. Every member, activist, councillor, community leader, trade unionist and I saw so many of you on my battle bus during the campaign.

    You have been our voices in our communities for the last 14 years. Voices that spoke up when the Tories’ told us to shut up.

    They thought our Party was history. But this year Conference we made history. Together.

    Not just a victory for our party but a victory of our values. A victory not of politicians but of people.

    We won because we had the courage to change our party. The discipline to make hard decisions and the determination to remain united.

    And now, change begins.

    Even now – especially now – there will be no complacency.

    We’ve seen where that leads.

    Don’t forget what they did: partygate, Covid contracts, the lies, division, scapegoating, and the unfunded tax cuts for the richest that crashed our economy. Don’t forget any of it.

    The Tories failed Britain and they tried to cover it up.

    A crater in the heart of Britain’s economy. A puncture in the pocket of every working family. And a £22 billion black hole.

    And not so much as an apology, let alone an acceptance, from the Tories.

    Instead, next week they will gather in the wreckage of their defeat. Reduced to 10-minute auditions for wannabee leaders, beating each other to different shades of blue. On a show that no-one is watching.

    Perhaps that’s why Kemi launched her leadership campaign with an attack on Doctor Who.

    It was bad enough when they wanted to deal with Farage. Now she’s doing sidedeals with the Daleks.

    But Conference, at least after three months as shadow housing secretary, she finally expressed concern about a tenant. It’s just a pity it was David Tennant.

    And Conference, It’s easy to forget they had five leadership candidates. Not exactly the famous five.

    They have left us to clear up their mess and I’m not just talking about the wallpaper in number ten.

    The Tories have left us facing tough choices. And even tougher ones face families across Britain, struggling to make ends meet.

    Look, I get it – balancing my own department’s budgets brought me back to the old days when I had 60 quid to get me and my son through the week.

    I know more than most that every pound counts.

    So let me be blunt. We can’t wish our problems away. We have to face them.

    That’s the difference between opposition and government.

    But Conference things can get better, if we make the right choices.

    Sustained economic growth is the only way to improve the lives of working people.

    And we are fixing the foundations to put Britain back on the path to growth.

    No more talking, but doing. 80 days in government and we’ve been busy.

    A devolution revolution. A bill to deliver new rights and protections for renters. Planning reform to get Britain building. A landmark review to fix our NHS. A child poverty taskforce. 100 new specialist officers to tackle criminals. An end to one-word Oftsted inspections. Ending the ban on onshore wind, and fines for bosses who pollute our waters.

    Bills to kickstart GB energy and prevent another Liz Truss disastrous mini budget, put buses back in local hands, and bring rail into public ownership.

    Conference, change has begun.

    And Conference many of you know, for me that means: good jobs, secure homes, and strong communities. Fixing the foundations of a good life.

    I know it only too well because they were the foundations on which I built a life for my own family.

    The foundations of what made Britain great – and will do so again.

    When I had my son as a single mum I wanted to work and had to figure out a way to do it.

    My Nana said that as long as I put him to bed she’d have him in the evening and that was after she finished working hard all day herself, so that I could work nights as a home help.

    I got the job. I loved it and loved the people I cared for, but it was tough at times.

    I started on casual terms, and I wasn’t paid for travel. Insecurity at work is the daily reality for so many.

    Far too many people across our country know the world of work isn’t working for them.

    Now, you may have heard me mention that I was a trade unionist.

    If you don’t know that, I should probably tell you that Keir’s dad was a toolmaker. And if you didn’t know Keir’s dad was a toolmaker, I probably need to tell you he’s the Prime Minister.

    But neither of us make any apology for where we came from or how we’ve ended up here.

    So when I took on this job, I promised the biggest upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation – nothing less than a New Deal for Working People.

    And I can confirm today that the Employment Rights Bill will be tabled in Parliament next month.

    They said we couldn’t do it. Some tried to stop it in its tracks.

    But after years of opposition we are on the verge of historic legislation.

    To make work more secure and more family friendly. Go further and faster to close the gender pay gap. Ensure rights are enforced and trade unions strengthened.

    That means repealing the Tories’ anti-worker laws and new rights for union reps too.

    A genuine living wage and sick pay for the lowest earners.

    Banning exploitative zero hour contracts and unpaid internships.

    Ending fire and rehire and we will bring in basic rights from day one on the job.

    Conference, this is our Plan to Make Work Pay – coming to a workplace near you.

    But 14 years of Tory chaos has not just left its mark on people’s jobs, but on homes too.

    Not enough are being built. The Tories failed to meet their targets year, after year, after year.

    Michael Gove handed back nearly ÂŁ2 billion to the Treasury in unspent housing funds. Mortgages have soared. Leaseholders are left at the mercy of eye-watering charges. Renters face crippling rent hikes in damp and mouldy homes. Homelessness is all around us.

    The simple aspiration of a safe, secure and affordable home is further out of reach than ever and we can’t go on like this. So change must begin at home.

    We are tackling the Tories’ housing emergency.

    We will get Britain building and building decent homes for working people.

    A new planning framework will unlock the door to affordable homes and provide the biggest boost to social and affordable housing in a generation.

    And Conference, our renters’ bill will rebalance the relationship between tenant and landlord and end no fault evictions – for good.

    Our long-term plan will free leaseholders from the tyranny of a mediaeval system.

    And a cross-government taskforce will put Britain back on track to ending homelessness.

    Whether you’re a leaseholder, a tenant, a home-buyer or without somewhere to live – this government is on your side.

    But my mission is not just to build houses, it is to build homes.

    Because we cannot build at any cost. These new homes must be warm, secure and most importantly safe.

    We will give families the security they need to have the best start in life.

    I know first-hand the difference a decent home can make.

    When I was growing up we didn’t have a lot. But we had a safe and secure home. Today, not everyone does.

    Working with the Prime Minister on the Grenfell Inquiry was the most sobering moment of my career: 72 lives lost, 18 children, all avoidable. A fatal failure of market and state. A tragedy that must never happen again.

    It is completely unacceptable that we have thousands of buildings still wrapped in unsafe cladding seven years after Grenfell.

    And that’s why we will bring forward a new remediation action plan this Autumn to speed up the process and we’ll pursue those responsible – without fear or favour.

    This must lead to new, safer social housing for the future.

    Under the Tories, new social housing plummeted.

    We will reverse that tide – with an ambition to be build more social homes than we lose, within the first financial year of this Labour Government.

    In my first weeks in office, I set out how we will start this council housing revolution.

    But Conference, with Government support must come more responsibility.

    This is why today I want to give you my promise that this Labour Government will take action to ensure all homes are decent and safe, and residents are treated with the respect they deserve.

    And Conference, of course, many Housing Associations, councils and landlords do good by their tenants and I know how hard they’ve had it after 14 years under the Tories.

    Which is why I will work in partnership with the sector to deliver the change.

    I will clamp down on damp and mouldy homes by bringing in Awaab’s Law in the social rented sector this autumn and we’ll extend it to the private rented sector too.

    We will consult and implement a new Decent Homes Standard for social and privately rented homes, to end the scandal of homes being unfit to live in.

    We will also ensure social housing staff have the right skills and experience. And I will ensure 2.5 million housing association tenants in this country can hold their landlord to account for their high quality services and homes. So that repairs and complaints are handled faster, but more importantly, so social housing tenants are treated fairly.

    I am under no illusion about the mountain we have to climb.

    We all saw that this summer: violent extremists preyed on our communities and local councils were left picking up the pieces.

    Local leadership is the foundation of strong communities.

    That’s why I have put local government back where it belongs, at the heart of my department’s name and mission.

    Because the best decisions are made by those with skin in the game.

    When I worked in care, me and the home-helps joined the union because we knew we had a part to play in improving things.

    We came together to work with management to deliver a service from 7am -10pm, seven days a week ,and provide flexibility for the predominantly female workforce.

    We proved we could boost productivity and provide an improved service to those we cared for as well as manage our own caring responsibilities outside of work.

    And Keir and I are determined to end this ‘Whitehall knows best’ approach and trust those with skin in the game.

    The last Labour government created the London Mayor, the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Senedd and the Northern Ireland Assembly.

    We will seize this moment and finally complete that irreversible shift in opportunity, power and wealth across our whole country.

    It’s how we can deliver real, sustained change for every region and Labour mayors have already proven it.

    Buses under local control in Greater Manchester, ÂŁ2 fares in West Yorkshire, Oxford Street regeneration in London, publicly-owned battery trains in Liverpool and opportunities for unemployed young people in the West Midlands.

    Labour mayors have shown what is possible when Labour is in power.

    And that’s why I am giving mayors more powers over house building and planning, as well as transport and skills.

    A new White Paper will map out how we will move power out of Whitehall.

    I am delighted to announce today that we will move forward with two Investment Zones – creating high quality jobs in advanced manufacturing in the West Midlands and life sciences in West Yorkshire.

    Just this week, I agreed eight devolution deals, all four corners of Yorkshire will now have a local champion.

    New Mayors for Hull & East Yorkshire and Greater Lincolnshire.

    Warwickshire, Surrey, Buckinghamshire, and Cornwall will get new powers over skills.

    And today I am proud to announce the next step in our devolution revolution.

    This government will change the future of the North of England, so Northerners will no longer be dictated to from Whitehall.

    Conference, we will be the government to complete devolution in the North.

    The change will be irreversible and I will get it done.

    As a proud Northerner this milestone is personal for me!

    And Conference, it was the foundation of a decent home, secure work and a strong community that nurtured me.

    The youth club on a Friday afternoon gave me somewhere to go, with a youth worker I could trust.

    A sure start centre is where I met other mums and learned how to look after my new baby.

    Conference, a community raised me. None of those people cast me aside or gave up on me.

    And when I became a home help, suddenly it was my job to look after the people who had once looked after me – retired professors, teachers, nurses, police officers. They needed my care in the last years and days of their life. Care that they deserved. Care that it was my honour to provide.

    I find myself once again with the opportunity to serve those people who never gave up on me.

    On 4 July, the people entrusted us with the task of change. And Hope won.

    Now is our moment, not just to say but to do.

    Labour Governments of the past took on this same challenge, at a time when Britain desperately needed change.

    They delivered a better Britain when the odds were stacked against them.

    And that is exactly what this Labour government must deliver once again.

    So Conference, let’s get on with it. Thank you.

  • Angela Rayner – 2024 Speech on Planning, the Green Belt and Rural Affairs

    Angela Rayner – 2024 Speech on Planning, the Green Belt and Rural Affairs

    The speech made by Angela Rayner, the Deputy Prime Minister, in the House of Commons on 19 July 2024.

    It is an honour to open today’s King’s Speech debate on behalf of His Majesty’s Government, and it is the honour of my life to address the House for the first time as the Deputy Prime Minister.

    We have been given a mandate by the British people to turn the page on 14 years of chaos and start the new chapter that they deserve. That began with this week’s King’s Speech, but it is not the words that we offer; it is the action. I know at first hand how Government can change lives for the better. I say that not as a politician, but as someone whose life was changed for the better by the last Labour Government, and I am determined to do the same for others. That is why we have set out a bold vision to smash the class ceiling, to get Britain building, and to improve the quality and standard of life for everyone everywhere across our country.

    Let me give a huge welcome to all the new Members on the Government Benches, who are crucial in delivering that programme of national renewal. I also extend a welcome to new Opposition Members. We will disagree on much, I am sure, but we all share the honour and privilege of representing those who sent us here, so I wish the very best to all hon. Members making their maiden speech today.

    Just over nine years ago, when I made my maiden speech on behalf of the people of Ashton-under-Lyne, I pledged that I would always tell it as it is, and I think that is one promise I have kept. Now I intend to fulfil another, because we promise the people of this country that we will serve their interests and not ours. That starts with us having the honesty to say that we will not be able to put right the mess of the past 14 years immediately. But after just two weeks, we have already made a difference by creating a national wealth fund to grow our economy; scrapping the failed Rwanda plan; lifting the near-decade-long ban on onshore wind; starting work on the 40,000 extra NHS appointments that people need each week, and on getting the 700,000 urgent dental appointments up and running; and resuming and expanding teacher recruitment. In my Department, newly renamed the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, we will replace slogans with substance.

    We are getting back to the real work of governing in the national interest. We have already taken early steps to unblock our planning system, creating a new taskforce to accelerate progress on stalled housing sites in our country, beginning with four that alone could deliver more than 14,000 of the homes that Britain so desperately needs. The housing crisis is holding Britain back. Too many families face soaring mortgage payments, or sky-high rents for damp, unsafe homes, and there are leaseholders who are trapped, facing eye-watering charges with no way out. All this has been fuelled by the chronic housing shortage, after the last Government failed to meet their housing targets every single year. Housing completions are now set to hit their lowest level since world war two.

    We know we have a mountain to climb. That is why we are already taking the first steps, starting with an overhaul of our planning system—a reform that will help us build the homes we need and speed up provision of the infrastructure to support them. We are committed not just to an ambitious target for overall housing building, but to building the biggest wave of social and affordable housing for a generation. That is a promise that we will bring back with meaningful housing targets.

    It is right that local people have a say on what kind of houses are built and where, because our aim is not to build big, but to build well. We will work with local government to plan new housing in the best possible places, with the infrastructure, public services and green spaces they need. Social housing must be there when people need it, and affordable housing to own should be there when they want it.

    Mike Wood (Kingswinford and South Staffordshire) (Con)

    I congratulate the Deputy Prime Minister on her new role. My local councils in South Staffordshire and Dudley have worked hard to prepare local plans that provide the housing they have assessed that the local community needs, while also protecting key green belt. Will the right hon. Lady really tear up plans that have been adopted, or that are in the formal process of being adopted, if her bureaucrats feel that their assessment is better than the local council’s?

    Angela Rayner

    I welcome the hon. Gentleman’s comments, and I congratulate the local authorities that have those local plans. If those plans are adopted, that is exactly what we want to see; we want to see more local plans, and more engagement with local leaders, so that we can build the houses that people want in their areas, working together with them. The hon. Gentleman talked about the green belt, but we have been very clear on the grey belt as well. We will not get the housing we need just from brownfield sites, although brownfield will be first. We will work with local leaders, because the mandate the British people gave us at this election was to get the housing that Britain needs. I am afraid that the last Tory Government did not take this issue on but failed people, and we have a chronic housing shortage. Everyone should have a place to call home, and we will legislate to make that happen.

    Our renters’ rights Bill will give protection and security to tenants, as well as responsible landlords, levelling the playing field. We will plug the gaps left by the last Government’s Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024, tackling unregulated and unaffordable ground rents and strengthening leaseholders’ rights. Our planning and infrastructure Bill will provide the extra homes we need, unblock stalled development sites and unveil the next generation of new towns.

    Dr Ben Spencer (Runnymede and Weybridge) (Con)

    My constituency has vast swathes of high-risk flood area—zones 2 and 3—and we see flooding every year; we saw it most notably in 2014, but also in January. Will the right hon. Lady’s planning reforms protect areas at high risk of flooding, so that they are not built on, making our flooding worse?

    Mr Deputy Speaker (Sir Edward Leigh)

    Order. We have a lot of speakers to get through, including some maiden speakers, so I urge Front Benchers to make shorter speeches and take fewer interventions. Otherwise, we are not going to get through these maiden speakers.

    Angela Rayner

    Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I will take your advice, and I apologise to Members for the fact that I will not take more interventions.

    We have to grapple with these issues and work with those in these areas. Obviously, flooding has been a major issue, and the Government will look at it. It is devastating to people when their homes are flooded, and we have to look at these things in the round when looking at planning.

    We will unveil the next generation of new towns, and we will learn the lessons of the past to create safe and beautiful homes and the sustainable green communities of the future. This Government are fully committed to the 13 targets set under the Environment Act 2021, and we will work closely with my right hon. Friend the Environment Secretary to ensure that we protect the environment and nature. We will work with local leaders to ensure that these towns meet our gold standard of having 40% genuinely affordable housing, with homes for social rent a priority. In some places, we will extend urban areas and regenerate them so that everyone benefits from better public transport and extra public services. We are building not just homes but communities.

    Our first port of call will be brownfield land. Previously used land will be developed first wherever possible and those sites will be fast-tracked, but brownfield development alone will not meet the country’s increasing urgent need. The green belt was designed for England in the middle of the 20th century. It is right to keep that principle but make it relevant for today. That is why we will release lower-quality grey-belt sites, disused car parks and garages, and ugly wasteland to meet the needs of 2024. Our golden rules will require developers to enhance local nature and public access to green spaces and provide the local services for communities’ everyday needs, such as schools and GP surgeries.

    We will also reverse the damaging changes that the previous Government made last December. While they backtracked in the face of vested interests and scrapped mandatory housing targets, Labour will govern in the national interest and take the tough choices to get Britain building. We will do so under an updated national planning policy framework, which we will have by the end of this month, because the current system just is not working, either for housing at a local level or for projects at a national level. These are projects such as data centres, labs and research sites, which should unleash a modern economy, not to mention large-scale projects that help improve the environment.

    Onshore wind is the cheapest form of electricity going, but planning policy has effectively banned it for nearly a decade. We are starting it up again, and we will go further. As part of our plan for cheaper household bills and achieving net zero, we are taking the brakes off the planning system. In the first three months of this year, just a fifth of major applications were determined within the 13-week period. As for nationally significant infrastructure, the average time for consent is now more than four years, compared to two and a half years as recently as 2021.

    Our Bill will speed up and streamline the process from start to finish. It will modernise planning committees and increase the capacity of our local planning authorities. By reforming compulsory purchase, it will support land assembly for development in the public interest. We will unblock new grid connections, roads, railways and reservoirs—game-changing reforms for national renewal.

    The leaders of our communities are best placed to take forward that mission, and I was delighted to invite our mayors to Downing Street with the Prime Minister, days into a Labour Government. They represent our biggest cities and our most beautiful countryside, and I know only too well the diverse challenges that our people need to overcome. There are now so many Labour mayors that I have lost count of how many we have. I also noted the positive words from Ben Houchen about the constructive engagement that local leaders have already experienced under this new Government. Along with their local citizens, we will give them a bigger say on how to transform their neighbourhoods and high streets. We will hand them the powers to transform their regions, so that they become the best places for people to live, work and enjoy.

    We are under no illusion about the hard yards needed to repair the economic and social damage that the last Government left behind. As my right hon. Friend the Chancellor has said, we have the worst inheritance since the second world war. Back then, it was Labour that rebuilt Britain from the rubble of war, creating the NHS, the welfare state and council homes for our returning heroes. It will be a Labour Government who now rebuild Britain once again.

  • Angela Rayner – 2024 Comments on Politicians Not Being the Same

    Angela Rayner – 2024 Comments on Politicians Not Being the Same

    Part of the article in the Guardian newspaper written by Angela Rayner and published on 3 July 2024.

    Travelling the length and breadth of Britain these past few weeks, I’ve seen potential in every conversation with voters. There is no doubt it’s a tall order to reverse Tory decline and restore optimism. But if you vote Labour tomorrow, change will begin immediately. We’ll start work on day one to enact our first steps – downpayments, if you like – for a better, brighter future. These will be fully funded and fully costed, as you would expect, to deliver the groundwork of a mission-driven Labour government.

    I know first-hand the transformative difference Labour in power can make. It was a secure home, decent work and a strong community under the last Labour government that changed my life when I was a young mum struggling to make ends meet.

    For too many people in Britain, those foundations of a good life feel as if they’re crumbling today. A generation looks to the future with worry rather than in hope. The dream of a safe, secure and affordable home is further out of reach. More people find themselves in insecure work and dragged into a race to the bottom. Families in every corner of the country are feeling worse off and forgotten.

    Labour understands the importance of having a secure home, decent work and putting power in people’s hands. With Keir Starmer at the helm, we’re ready to meet this moment. Our plan for secure homes will end the housing emergency created by the Tories, getting Britain building, with 1.5m homes over five years and delivering the biggest boost to affordable, social and council housing in decades.

    We will back first-time buyers, giving them “first dibs” on new developments, and a comprehensive mortgage guarantee scheme for those without access to the bank of mum and dad. And we will take action to protect renters, with an immediate ban on no-fault evictions, an end to rental bidding wars, and extended protections against damp, mould and cold. A Labour government will get back on track towards ending homelessness, by addressing its root causes.

  • Angela Rayner – 2023 Speech to Labour Party Conference

    Angela Rayner – 2023 Speech to Labour Party Conference

    The speech made by Angela Rayner, the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, in Liverpool on 8 October 2023.

    Good morning, Liverpool. And welcome.

    This year’s Conference comes at a momentous time for our Party, and a pivotal moment for our country, just days after Labour’s huge win in Rutherglen.

    Anas, my friend, we are all so proud of the positive campaign you and Michael ran. Years of hard work led to the people of Rutherglen putting their faith in Labour this week – a watershed moment.

    Now, Conference – no offence. But I hope this speech is the last one you’ll hear from me, on this podium before the General Election.

    Because just like you, I am sick of being in Opposition!

    When you elected me three and a half years ago, it was the honour of my life.

    But you didn’t elect me to be Deputy Leader of the Opposition, you elected me to be Deputy Prime Minister of a Labour Government.

    One that will transform people’s lives, like the last Labour government changed my own.

    Now, we have a great week in store. But it comes after one where we saw the chaotic face of today’s Tory Party.

    They’ve had quite a year since we last met. The Leader who lost to a lettuce. The Chancellor who forgot his own tax return, and forgot to declare it too.

    Gavin Williamson, forced to resign because it turned out he was a bully. Who knew? Dominic Raab… also forced to resign as a bully.

    I think everyone knew that one… Except the Prime Minister, apparently.

    Then there was the Home Secretary, sacked as a threat to national security. The same Home Secretary, reappointed the next week.

    I think they call that ‘time served’. Apparently she believes in the rehabilitation of offenders after all.

    Now we have the Prime Minister refusing to hand over his WhatsApp messages.

    I assume Jacob Rees-Mogg has also refused to hand over his carrier pigeon.

    Throughout all of it, the Prime Minister simply can’t stand up for the country against his party.

    Apparently he’s planning another reshuffle. Maybe that’s why he thinks we were offering him seven different bins for different kinds of rubbish.

    And at their Conference, Liz Truss was back. So one thing did become clear, we all know that he’s just Ken in her Barbie-world!

    What a contrast we are to the Tories. With Keir at the helm, Labour’s Shadow Cabinet is hungry for change.

    And I might be biased, but I think my team are shining stars.

    I lead a formidable frontbench with Matt, Sarah, Flo, Paula, Mike, Nav Mary, Sharon, Sue and Waj.

    With Justin and Imran leading on our New Deal for Working People.

    I also want to pay tribute to the woman who paved the way for Labour’s bold housing and levelling up vision with grit and determination – Lisa Nandy.

    The reality is Labour is already delivering in power. From our elected mayors, our local authority leaders, or the Labour government in Wales.

    Our movement has never been so united, so focused. Around one aim. To give Britain its Future Back.

    But the Tories also have one singular focus. To desperately cling onto power.

    That’s why the Tories’ levelling up project was dead on arrival.

    You cannot level up from the top down. The Tories only know how to centralise power and hold wealth where it benefits them.

    And it’s under their watch, the places that once built Britain have been abandoned. Communities crumbling. High streets emptying. Crime rising.

    Streets that were once bursting with pride. Shut down. Boarded up. Denied a brighter future.

    Rents skyrocketing. Mortgages soaring.

    Where work doesn’t pay.

    There’s that lingering sense that Britain is broken. Collateral damage from the swing of the Tories’ wrecking ball.

    For the Conservatives, “growth” isn’t for everyone. It means jobs for the boys. A free ride for vested interests.

    The super-rich.

    Non-doms.

    Water bosses.

    But our proud United Kingdom that once spearheaded the industrial world was not a trickle-down nation.

    It was a country where innovation and growth rose up from the ports, factories and warehouses…

    In Hartlepool, Humber and Teesside. In my lifetime, growth used to be in the hands of the workers and the communities that built Britain. From their graft, came wealth.

    But today, working people are grafting while Ministers sit in their ivory tower in Whitehall.

    The truth is – and I’m not afraid to say it – a responsible government recognises their role in providing stability in people’s lives.

    But stability has been smashed at the hands of this Prime Minister.

    Who – in his conference speech, spent an hour, rallying against plots and controversies that don’t exist.

    Worshipping at the altar of Liz Truss.

    A Government that has gone off the rails – quite literally in the North!

    The Prime Minister’s speech didn’t even mention ‘housing’ once. No doubt that’s because his housing policy is the same as his new smoking policy – increase the price year on year, so eventually no one can buy!

    The truth is, looking down from his private jet, Rishi Sunak can’t understand why young people can’t get on the housing ladder.

    Don’t forget – this is the man who boasted about snatching taxpayer’s money from deprived areas and funnelling it into wealthy ones.

    He tells working people they’re just lacking aspiration – They aren’t working hard enough.

    All while people are kept up at night by the pit in their stomach about whether their pay cheque will cover the bills, or be enough to keep a roof over their heads.

    Or whether their children will ever earn enough to be free from the same anxiety which keeps them up at night.

    That’s because Rishi Sunak and his party have taken a sledgehammer to the foundations on which a good life can be built.

    And now the simple things in life are crumbling.

    A decent job.

    A secure, affordable home.

    And a strong community.

    Simple things this government has snatched away from working people.

    Conference, we can’t go on like this any longer. The Tories are not only talking Britain down. They’ve dragged us down. And they’re holding us back.

    This is why Labour’s first and most important Mission in Government is to grow the economy.

    Growth – under a Labour government – will be in all places for all people.

    Growth in the hands of the communities and people that built Britain. To once again provide decent work, secure homes and strong communities. To truly level up our country.

    Building a strong community doesn’t mean making everywhere look the same.

    It means real choices put in people’s hands.

    Giving powers to our elected local leaders – the people who know their communities best.

    New devolved powers on skills, employment support, transport, and of course, new housing.

    This is how Labour will give local people control of their futures. We know this can and will work, because the march to devolution of the last Labour Government has been an almighty success.

    Our Mayors, Sadiq, Andy, Steve and Tracy continue to champion locally-controlled transport, delivering cheaper tickets at a time when everything is getting more expensive.

    Mark Drakeford, our First Minister for Wales, has shown the power of devolved leadership on skills, with bold action to ensure young people across Wales have access to work, education and training.

    We seek power so we can hand it back to the people.

    That is the Labour way. It belongs to them – not us.

    But that also means recognising who is in the engine room of Britain’s economy.

    Labour has a long and proud history of being the party of working people. And the Party for working people.

    Because we believe everyone deserves a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work.

    And to have enough spare at the end of the month to enjoy the fruits of their labour.

    For bread and yes, roses too.

    But under the Conservatives too often work doesn’t pay.

    The Tories’ low wage economy, stagnant productivity and tumbling business investment.

    Everything about this is bad for workers, bad for businesses and bad for our economy.

    Now, Conference.

    I’m proud that the last Labour government created the national minimum wage.

    Back then the Tories hated it, they said it would crash the economy.

    How wrong they were.

    But so much of Labour’s progress has since been reversed.

    Young adult workers are getting a raw deal, when their bills are as high as everyone else’s.

    There’s no doubt we need to raise the floor on wages – and build lasting change.

    But it’s only Labour that can make work pay.

    With a genuine living wage that working people can actually live on. We will change the Low Pay Commission’s remit so that the minimum wage will for the first time take account of the cost of living.

    Conference, I’ve heard some rumours that we’ll be watering down our New Deal for Working People.

    Be in no doubt, not with Keir and I at the helm.

    We’ll ban zero-hour contracts.

    End fire and rehire.

    And give workers basic rights from day one.

    We’ll go further and faster in closing the gender pay gap.

    Make work more family friendly.

    And tackle sexual harassment.

    And we won’t stop there.

    We’ll ensure that unions can stand up for their members.

    We will boost collective bargaining, to improve workers’ pay, terms and conditions.

    Make no mistake, this is an agenda that we will deliver hand in hand with the trade union movement.

    As we will work with business too. Because they know a good modern labour market is good for growth.

    Labour’s New Deal for Working People is our plan to boost wages, make work more secure and support working people to thrive.

    This is how Labour will make work pay!

    And this is what Keir has asked me to do. The work has already started.

    But it can only be completed with Labour in power – and as Deputy Prime Minister, I will personally table the legislation implementing our New Deal, within 100 days of taking office.

    Let no one doubt our determination.

    And I have no fear of winning that argument in an election either.

    Last week, the people of Rutherglen and Hamilton West voted to make work pay.

    Let’s give the people of our whole country the chance to do the same.

    But Conference, good wages and protections aren’t enough if every penny goes simply on keeping a roof over your head, if you live in damp, cramped housing – or have no home at all.

    Safe, secure, affordable housing is no longer the foundation on which people can rely.

    That foundation of a good life – decent wages, strong communities, and affordable homes – crumbles in Tory Britain.

    Too many people are stuck paying unaffordable private rents.

    Or living the nightmare of a home wrapped in flammable cladding.

    While leaseholders linger in a system left over from the Middle Ages, the dream of homeownership is slipping away as more than a million families wait for social housing.

    Over the last 13 years, Tory Ministers sold or demolished more than double the number of social homes than they’ve delivered.

    Families who need a council house are often stuck in cramped temporary accommodation or at the mercy of private landlords.

    And this summer Michael Gove handed back almost two billion pounds destined for affordable housing to the Treasury… because he couldn’t spend it.

    A Labour Government will right this wrong.

    We know a secure home, like a secure job, is a crucial foundation for a good life.

    That’s why we will get social homes built, brick by brick.

    Building not just homes, but also communities.

    And I’ll get out my hard hat and hi vis if needs be!

    I pledge to you today, Keir and I will deliver the biggest boost in affordable and social housing for a generation.

    And Conference, that includes council housing!

    The Tories look down on people living in social housing.

    Well I say, let’s stare right back.

    And never be ashamed.

    A council house changed my life.

    And so here’s what Labour is going to do.

    We’ll start by salvaging the system that the Tories have taken a sledgehammer to.

    Where the Tories have snatched billions from affordable housing, Labour will unlock government grants to deliver new homes by making the Affordable Homes Programme more flexible so that every penny gets out the door to build the homes people need.

    And by working with the local leaders – who know their areas best – we’ll use these funds more effectively.

    Second, we will strengthen the rules to prevent developers from wriggling out of their responsibilities and we will speed up the building of new social and affordable housing.

    We will do this by reforming the planning system.

    Elected local leaders will be given the powers they need to stand up to vested interests in building new developments, through a specialist government Take Back Control Unit that will work with them to rebalance the scales.

    And, Conference, we will provide stability and certainty for the affordable and social housing market so there is confidence to invest.

    Affordable, social and council houses aren’t just a nice add on.

    They’re fundamental to securing decent homes for all.

    A hammer to smash the class ceiling.

    And a lynchpin of the economy.

    They are quicker to occupy and build, and to get the growth we need.

    Creating reliable, well-paid, and highly skilled jobs in the process.

    But that’s not all.

    Labour will achieve rental reform where the Tories have failed for four and a half years.

    Finishing the job by banning ‘no fault’ evictions.

    We’ll give first-time buyers ‘first dibs’ on new developments in their communities.

    With a comprehensive mortgage guarantee scheme for those who don’t have access to the bank of mum and dad.

    We’ll end the mediaeval leasehold system, with root and branch reforms.

    We will deliver planning reform to build the houses the next generation so desperately needs.

    It’s Labour that is the party of home ownership.

    Because we understand what it means.

    To make your home. To start a family. To get on in life.

    And I know the difference a decent wage and a secure home can have.

    It was a Labour Government that introduced the minimum wage that improved my income.

    A Labour government built council houses. I got the keys to my first home, to security.

    A Labour government introduced equal pay. I started saving money.

    The Labour Government took me from a council estate to the parliamentary estate.

    And that’s where my Labour values come from.

    And my confidence to succeed.

    Ever since those days – to all those people who’ve underestimated me throughout my life.

    I’ve always said: ‘Watch this space’.

    So, I say to anyone who feels written off or looked down on.

    I’ve got your back.

    Labour is on your side.

    Conference, the Tories last week not only showed they’re not on your side.

    They showed they’re not fit to govern.

    It’s not just that they don’t have a plan – frankly they haven’t got a clue.

    They can’t solve the country’s problems.

    Because they are the problem.

    They’ve broken Britain.

    And left working people paying the price.

    We don’t just know Britain can be better than this.

    We have a plan to make it better.

    Not short-term sticking plaster solutions, but a mission-driven government

    So you’ll see that plan from us this week.

    A different kind of economy.

    Where better living standards for all are how we drive growth…

    And why we drive growth.

    That repairs and revives our broken public services and provides a secure job, decent pay, a strong community, and a home of your own.

    The foundations on which a good life is built.

    Conference, earlier I quoted one of the great anthems of our movement.

    It was a woman trade unionist, Helen Todd, who first demanded bread, and roses too.

    A century ago, she wanted the right to vote.

    And something worth voting for.

    In her words, that bread and roses be “the heritage of every child that is born in this country, in the government of which she has a voice.”

    Conference, our mission as a movement is the same now as it was then.

    So let us fulfil it.

    Let’s make that our legacy for every child in our country once more.

    And let us be the government where they can find their voice and follow their dreams

    Thank you.

  • Angela Rayner – 2023 Speech to the Labour’s National Annual Women’s Conference

    Angela Rayner – 2023 Speech to the Labour’s National Annual Women’s Conference

    The speech made by Angela Rayner, the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, in Liverpool on 7 October 2023.

    Good morning Ladies of Liverpool!

    It is an honour to stand here today, as your Deputy Leader, and look out at so many inspiring women.

    Let’s face it – sometimes it’s tiring being a woman in this world.

    Especially under a Tory Government!

    But that is why it falls upon us to continue the work the last Labour government started, standing side-by-side, so that all of us succeed in battling inequality, together.

    I want to start today with a story.

    Picture the scene.

    A baby boy is born.

    Destined for Eton, or Harrow or Winchester.

    Then PPE at Oxford.

    When he walks into the Houses of Parliament he feels no imposter syndrome.

    Only the feeling that he is home. He is exactly where he should be.

    He doesn’t struggle to make his voice heard.

    No hesitation to steal a well-made point and call it his own.

    On the other side of the country, a girl is growing up on a council estate. In poverty.

    Taught that women do certain things, and men do others.

    To put everyone else first.

    Overlooked, undervalued, underestimated.

    She’ll never walk in the corridors of Westminster.

    It’s not the place for her.

    Only that isn’t what happens.

    She joins a union.

    She learns the power of workers coming together… to fight for more.

    A Labour Government introduces the minimum wage. She can afford more than one meal a day.

    A Labour government builds council houses. She gets the keys to her first home, to stability.

    A Labour government introduces the equal pay act. She gets a pay rise – enough so she can save.

    A Labour government builds a sure start centre at the end of her road, where she learns how to be a good mum. She meets other young mums and they find power in each other.

    And in the end, that girl goes from her council estate to the parliamentary estate!

    Conference, like so many of us in this room today, I wouldn’t be standing here today without a Labour government.

    Labour is the Party of equality. Of the Equality Act. Of Equal Pay. Of Sure Start.

    I’m proud to say that in the Labour Party today, we now have more women MPs than men.

    With Rachel’s eyes fixed on being the first woman Chancellor.

    We are turning the tide of history.

    But the battle isn’t won. There still aren’t enough women around the table.

    It is not enough for us to cling onto our seats and celebrate the fight it took to get us here.

    You only need to look at the horrific acts of powerful men abusing young women and hiding in plain sight.

    This is why the next Labour government will fight for every girl in this country to have a bright future.

    To stand up for every woman.

    To break the glass ceiling and the class ceiling.

    Our New Deal for Working People will make work more family friendly, crack down on unfair pay and improve access to justice for those discriminated against at work.

    And as I was pleased to announce today Labour would properly tackle sexual harassment at work

    A shocking two-thirds of young women have been sexually harassed at work. This must change.

    That’s why the next Labour government will amend the Equalities Act to introduce a legal duty for employers to take all reasonable steps to stop sexual harassment before it starts.

    But that’s not all.

    We’ll make misogyny a hate crime, toughen sentences for perpetrators of rape and stalking, and halve the level of violence against women and girls.

    Women suffering the awful symptoms of menopause at work will get the support they deserve.

    We will empower women entrepreneurs.

    And we’ll tackle the crisis in women’s health by training 7,500 more doctors and 10,000 more nurses and midwives each year.

    When it comes to building a better future for women – we won’t just talk the talk. We’ll walk the walk.

    Because our lives, our careers, our futures depend on it.

    We can’t continue down the path we are on.

    Women unsafe on Britain’s streets. Two-thirds of us harassed in our workplaces.

    We must get into government and build on the legacy of the last Labour Government. We must get into government and continue the fight for equality.

    And Conference, Labour must get into government to give that young girl living in poverty her future back.

    Now, without further ado.

    I want to introduce one of the most formidable women in our movement.

    She is working across our movement – the Shadow Cabinet, members and activists – to build on the legacy of the last Labour Government and empower women everywhere.

    Anneliese Dodds.