Tag: Ed Davey

The speech made by Ed Davey, the Leader of the Liberal Democrats, in Bournemouth on 23 September 2025.

Don’t let Trump’s America become Farage’s Britain

What a time we’ve had here in Bournemouth. Lots of lively debates – on so many important topics. And somehow we’ve managed to get through it all without bringing someone up onto the stage to argue that it was Covid vaccines that caused cancer in the Royal Family.

See, Nigel? It can be done!

Friends, when we were last here in Bournemouth – two years ago – I challenged us to get more Liberal Democrats elected to Parliament. And you rose to that challenge. Thank you. 

I said we needed to get the Conservatives out of Number 10. And you got that job done too. And now our new team of 72 MPs are getting their jobs done, for their constituents. 72 brilliant community champions, fighting for their local hospitals and schools, local businesses and their local environment too. Paying back the trust of voters, by working hard for their communities every day.

But look at the job our new team is doing in Parliament too. Look at the big changes we have won in the last year alone:

Stronger protections for survivors of domestic abuse. Better support for family carers. A Sunshine Bill, to put solar panels on every new home. Making sure every child living in poverty gets a healthy lunch at school – for free. So much progress – and none of it happens without Liberal Democrats in Parliament. An amazing record of achievement already. And we’re planning much more.

We followed up last year’s historic national success with this year’s set of fantastic local election victories. Gaining more councillors for the seventh year in a row – our best ever winning streak. Winning majorities in Cambridgeshire, Oxfordshire, Shropshire – so we now control more councils than the Conservatives. Winning more council seats than either Labour or the Conservatives, for the first time ever in our party’s history.

Incredible results. Historic results. Thanks to you all.

Conference, the last few years have been the most successful our party has ever had… So far.

Because friends, let me tell you this: In the immortal words of Frank Sinatra, the best is yet to come!

And yes, friends, I will keep doing it My Way. So get the bungee harness ready… Because my ambition – for our party, our values, our ideas – has no ceiling. And our ambition for our country has no ceiling either.

With the threat that Reform now poses to our country and our democracy – friends, we have a moral responsibility to aim high. And we have a historic opportunity to win big – as the only party now representing the views and values of Britain’s decent silent majority.

So let me tell you – in confidence – our secret first target for the next general election. Our first target is to win more seats than the Conservatives, for the first time since Herbert Henry Asquith in 1910. Now we have even more ambitious targets than that – but let’s start with the Tories. For when it comes to the Conservative Party – you might have thought the scale of their defeat would have forced a bit of… introspection?

Maybe they’d… apologise? Show a hint of contrition. Self-awareness?

But no.

Tory ministers who cheered Liz Truss’s budget – now complain about the state of the economy they left. Tory ministers who stopped processing asylum claims and caused the enormous backlog – now make videos complaining about it and protesting outside the asylum hotels they opened.

The Conservative Party today is like a herd of bulls – going back into the china shop with a camera crew, pointing at all the broken china everywhere – and decrying the state of china shops in “woke, liberal” Britain.

The Conservative Party: No shame. No remorse. No wonder the country is saying: No thanks.

Conference, I’ve lost count of the people who’ve told me they voted Conservative all their lives, but now they’ve switched to the Liberal Democrats. And not just because they feel so badly let down by their old party. But because they see their values reflected best in our party.

So my message to millions of former Conservative voters – millions of One Nation conservatives who reject the divisive politics of Badenoch and Farage – my message to you is this:

Come and talk to us. About our ideas to grow the economy. Cut crime. Defend our nation. Come and join us. To oppose this failing Labour Government and offer our great country real change. Come, Conservative friends. Help us save our country. Come and win with us. 

But friends, I’m going to let you in on another secret about our plans for the next election. And friends, this is not to leave this hall… We won’t only be targeting seats held by the Conservatives. I said before the election, that just getting the Conservatives out of power wouldn’t be enough. 

We were all worried – weren’t we? – that Labour wouldn’t be nearly ambitious enough to make the big changes our country needs. I really hoped Labour would prove us wrong. But they haven’t. They’ve no vision for our country’s future. No plan to really change things. 

Conference, don’t just take it from me. That’s what Labour MPs and Labour members are saying about their own government. After being failed and neglected for so long, the country needed leadership. Clarity. Vision. It needed the Government to succeed. To turn things around. To just be better. Instead, they’ve lurched from mistake to mistake. From U-turn to U-turn. Crisis to crisis.

And look at who Labour have hurt along the way: Pensioners. Farmers. Carers. Disabled people. Small businesses.

Every day, Labour is looking more and more like Continuity Sunak. And our country is still crying out for change. And as every day goes by it gets clearer – the two old parties can’t deliver that change. Neither of those old parties can win back people’s trust. Neither of them will win the battle of ideas for the future of our country.

So it comes down to us. Or Nigel Farage.

Liberal Democrat change – true to British values. Transforming our economy, our public services and our politics. The real change people crave. Or Farage’s change. Change away from the country we love. Change towards Trump’s America. 

Just imagine – if you can bear it…

Imagine living in the Trump-inspired country Farage wants us to become. Where there’s no NHS, so patients are hit with crippling insurance bills. Or denied healthcare altogether. That is Trump’s America. Don’t let it become Farage’s Britain.

Where we pay Putin for expensive fossil fuels and destroy our beautiful countryside with fracking – while climate change rages on. That is Trump’s America. Don’t let it become Farage’s Britain.

Where gun laws are rolled back, so schools have to teach our children what to do in case of a mass shooting. Trump’s America. Don’t let it become Farage’s Britain.

Where social media barons are free to poison young minds with impunity. Trump’s America. Don’t let it become Farage’s Britain.

Where the government tramples on our basic rights and freedoms, unconstrained by the European Convention on Human Rights. Where Andrew Tate – Andrew Tate – is held up as an example to young men. Where racism and misogyny get the tacit support of people in power. Where everything is in a constant state of chaos.

That is Trump’s America. Don’t let it become Farage’s Britain.

Instead of the real change Liberal Democrats have always championed – the change our country desperately needs – Farage is picking off groups of people, one by one. If you’ve got a mental health problem, Farage says you’re probably making it up. Even as suicides have risen to a 25-year high. If your child is disabled or has special needs, Farage says it’s been wrongly diagnosed. Even as parents struggle against the crisis in SEND. But of course, it’s on immigration where he claims to offer the change people want. 

So let’s look at Farage’s record on immigration.

Who was it who campaigned to rip up twenty-seven return agreements, where in the EU, the United Kingdom could legally and fairly return people who had no right to be here? Yes it was Boris and the Conservatives – but it was also Nigel Farage.

He caused this crisis, and he should apologise.

And look at this hypocrite’s big announcement on deportation last month. Look at what his plan really means… Sending men, women and children who have fled the Taliban back to Afghanistan to be murdered by them. And even paying the Taliban to do it. That isn’t patriotic. That isn’t British. That isn’t who we are.

And that’s why it’s so frustrating – so infuriating – that Farage gets such an easy ride from the media. As he lies and divides, the BBC and others give Farage so much time and attention. But they never hold him to account for all the damage he has already done. The damage of Brexit. Farage was Brexit’s champion. The damage of Donald Trump. Farage campaigned for him. All the damage of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss. Farage backed them both.

So much that is broken in our country today is broken thanks to Nigel Farage. 

And now he wants to break it even more. Unless we stop him.

This will not be easy. The forces of darkness are working together – across the whole world. We all saw another agent of chaos last weekend. Elon Musk. Inciting far-right violence on our streets.

Just like all those revolutionary leaders throughout history, bravely issuing his call to arms – by video link, from an undisclosed location thousands of miles away .

Conference, he’s certainly no craven coward, is he?

But we know why Elon Musk is so keen to meddle in our democracy, don’t we? It’s not because he cares about the British people. It’s not about our rights and our freedoms. It’s all about Musk’s ego. His power. And his wealth. He rails against the Online Safety Act. But not because he cares about free speech.

It’s because Musk wants to run his social media platform without safeguards – without taking any responsibility for the terrible harm it is causing – especially to our children. After Musk took over and slashed the platform’s child-safety teams, X has become a much more dangerous place for children. The promotion of self-harm. Of grooming. Of sexual exploitation. All happening on Elon Musk’s watch.

No wonder he wants to get rid of the laws to tackle it.

And Nigel Farage says we should give Musk what he wants. A Wild West on social media, that only benefits Musk and his ilk – while our children suffer. I say no. The UK must stand up to Elon Musk, and properly enforce our laws so he can’t get away with inflicting harm on our kids. Holding the powerful to account – no matter how powerful they are.

It’s what Liberals are all about. Friends, we are engaged in a fight for the future. One that comes down to the most fundamental questions of all: 

What kind of country we are. And what kind of country we want to become.

For the British people, there is a real choice right now. Between the traditional values that have made the United Kingdom great – and dark forces that have threatened our country before. When a country faces so many big challenges on so many different fronts, there are two ways it can respond. One is to set our sights lower. Become smaller, meaner. Give in to the worst in us. Close ourselves off. Turn inwards. Hark back to a simpler time. Talk about all the things we can’t do.

Trump’s America. Don’t let it become Farage’s Britain.

Reform’s vision of the future is not one befitting our great United Kingdom. The other path – the better path – is to do what Britain has always done when confronted by such big challenges in the past. Rise to them together. With guts, determination and hope. You see, I start from a deeply optimistic view of our country.

When I travel the UK and meet people from all backgrounds and all walks of life – working hard, raising families, helping others, playing by the rules – it fills me with pride to be British. And hope for the future. There’s a question Nigel Farage is fond of asking. He likes to ask “Whose side are you on?” Well we know the answer, don’t we? Nigel Farage is on the side of Elon Musk, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump.

Liberal Democrats are on the side of the British people.

Because unlike Farage, I actually love Britain. I’m proud of our country. There’s no doubt that a lot needs fixing. Crumbling hospitals and schools. Anaemic economic growth. The sewage in our rivers. Crime and anti-social behaviour. Dangerous Channel crossings. Deep inequalities that limit opportunity for young people. The housing crisis. The nature crisis. The climate crisis. The prison crisis. The cost-of-living crisis. All the challenges we’ve been discussing and debating here this weekend.

But we shouldn’t lose sight of the many incredible strengths this United Kingdom has going for it. The best farmers, carmakers and universities in the world. The place Hollywood comes to make Barbie, Spider-Man and Mission Impossible. The land of the Lionesses and the home of Formula One. Windermere and Loch Ness. Male Voice Choirs and Hogmanay. County shows and school fairs. Fish and chips. Village greens and cricket pavilions. And let me tell you – the best rollercoasters and waterslides on the planet.

So much to celebrate about our country.

But above all, our strength lies in the British people and our shared British values. We are a nation that believes in tolerance, decency, and respect for both individual freedom and the rule of law. 

That is our United Kingdom.

And that is why I am so confident that, together, we can get things back on track. Because the crises we face… These are not the failings of the British people. These are the failings of governments – Labour, Conservative and SNP. And we know that there are no failings of British governments that cannot be put right by the talents of the British people – as long as they have the power and the freedom to make it happen – and the powerful vested interests are held to account.

And friends, if we are to win this fight for British values – we need to show that the change Liberal Democrats want is the change the British people want. That starts with the economy. We must show – we can show – that only Liberal Democrat change will fire up our economy again. We have to get our economy growing strongly – for so many reasons. To end the cost-of-living crisis and boost people’s living standards. To create good jobs and real opportunities for people in every part of the United Kingdom. To generate the revenues we need for the National Health Service and our other public services – and raise the money we need for our national defence too.

But another benefit of strengthening the British economy is that it would strengthen our hand in dealing with Trump. And here again, only we Liberal Democrats have set out plans for the economy that are both transformational and achievable. Plans to rebuild our relationship with Europe, tearing down the Conservatives’ trade barriers with a new Customs Union – boosting trade and putting us back on the path to the Single Market.

Conference – there is no serious strategy for restoring economic growth that doesn’t involve rebuilding Britain’s relationship with Europe. And beyond Europe, we have set out plans to form a new economic Coalition of the Willing to stand up to Trump’s tariffs – not only with our European neighbours, but Commonwealth allies like Canada and other like-minded nations across the globe. To take control of our own economic destiny, instead of waiting anxiously for the next rambling Trump press conference. And then there’s our plan to cut energy bills in half by 2035 – making sure everyone feels the benefits of the cheapest forms of electricity: wind and sun. Helping families, pensioners and businesses with energy bills out of control due to gas prices and failed Tory energy policies. 

Big, bold Liberal Democrat ideas to cut the cost of living and grow our economy. To build a country with opportunity for all. The kind of country we want to be. And there’s something else. 

Something that crystallised for me in something Emily said during the election campaign last year, when we were talking about the future we hoped for our son John. Emily said: “What you’ve got to have is a caring community, a caring society. That’s our best hope for the future.” A caring society. A caring country. That’s the kind of country we want to be. A country that properly values care – and properly values carers too. 

This is personal for me, as you know. But it’s something our party has always fought for.

Last month, our Liberal Democrat family mourned the loss of the wonderful Annette Brooke here in Dorset.

And it’s been striking to hear the word so many people most associate with Annette: “caring”. In Parliament, Annette campaigned on behalf of blind children and young carers. And after Parliament, she set up a support group and put on tea dances for people with dementia and their carers. We miss Annette deeply. She understood the value of care, and so do we all.

That’s why we have been standing up for family carers – including those hit by the appalling Carer’s Allowance scandal. Tens of thousands of carers, hounded by the DWP and even threatened with prosecution. All because the system simply isn’t fit for purpose. So we took their fight to Parliament. I raised it directly with the Prime Minister. We forced a vote on it. And, with the Guardian newspaper, we secured an independent review.

But it’s not over. When that review concludes – and I hope it’s soon – that will be the moment for the Government to finally overhaul the way we support family carers. Not just to make some tweaks and tinker around the edges. But put in place a system that actually reflects the reality of life as a carer. A system that makes it easier to juggle work with caring responsibilities.

This is the moment for real change for carers. To build a more caring country. And we will press ministers to seize it.

And Conference, we want to be a caring country that honours the ideals of the NHS. Not just in words, not just in theory, but in practice. High-quality healthcare, free at the point of use and – crucially – accessible to everyone, wherever and whenever they need it. Whether that’s the mum, trying to find an NHS dentist for her daughter. The pensioner, trying to get an appointment to see his GP. The teenager, dialling 999 because dad’s had a heart attack. Or the family whose world has just been turned upside down by a cancer diagnosis.

A caring country.

When we were here in Bournemouth two years ago, I told you about a man called Ian. An engineer. From Nottingham, like me. Who lost both his parents to cancer when he was young. Like me. Ian had been diagnosed with bowel cancer. A small stage-one tumor. Operable. But he was kept waiting four months before starting any treatment. His cancer progressed to stage four and spread to his liver. Inoperable. I said then that we owed Ian better than that. I said we would make cancer a top priority. And when we launched our manifesto last year, I got a lovely message from Ian. He told me how pleased he was that we had included a cast-iron guarantee for every cancer patient to start urgent treatment within two months. “Please keep pushing this”, he wrote. And we have. 

In March, I got another message – this time from Ian’s best friend. To say Ian had sadly passed away.

Ian will never get to see the Ten-Year Cancer Plan that patients were promised more than three and a half years ago. But I hope it will come very soon – and be as ambitious as today’s cancer patients, and the patients of tomorrow, need it to be. Ian will never get to see whether our 62-day cancer guarantee gets written into law. But he asked me to keep pushing for it, and I promise you Ian – we will.

But I’m afraid the biggest threat to the fight against cancer isn’t our government’s timidity or delay – disappointing though that is. No. It’s what’s happening on the other side of the Atlantic. Because the United States is by far the world’s biggest funder of cancer research – mostly through its National Cancer Institute. But since Donald Trump returned to the White House, he has cancelled hundreds of grants for cancer research projects. He’s slashing billions of dollars from the National Cancer Institute’s budget. He’s even ordered a review of all grants for research involving supposedly “woke” keywords – including the word “women”. 

And last month, Trump’s Health Secretary – Robert Kennedy Jr – cancelled half a billion dollars’ worth of research into mRNA vaccines.He did it based on totally false conspiracy theories about these life-saving vaccines. The same type of vaccines that protected us from Covid just a few years ago.

Not only do we need these new vaccines in case of a future pandemic, but they have incredible potential for treating cancer too. They can be tailored to each person’s particular cancer, allowing the body to attack cancer cells and stop them from spreading. It is hard to express the cruelty and stupidity of cutting off research into medicine that has the power to save so many lives. A decision – by the way – that was enthusiastically applauded by Farage’s party at their conference.

Trump’s America. Don’t let it become Farage’s Britain.

And Conference, I don’t think we should let the Trump Administration hold back progress on tackling cancer like this. The UK should step up and say: if Trump won’t back this research, we will. We’ll boost funding for cancer research in the UK. We’ll rebuild a National Cancer Research Institute after it was closed under the Conservatives, to coordinate research and drive it forward. We’ll pass a Cancer Survival Research Act to ensure funding for research into the deadliest cancers. We’ll invest in mRNA vaccines and explore their potential for treating cancer to the full. And to the cancer scientists in the US who have had their research stopped by Trump, let’s say: come here, and finish it in the UK. We’ll set up a dedicated fellowship scheme for you, and we won’t let extortionate Home Office fees stand in your way.

The United Kingdom, stepping into the vacuum left by Trump’s anti-science agenda. Especially after the dangerous nonsense he’s peddling today, about paracetamol for pregnant women.

The United Kingdom, leading the world in the fight against cancer. And giving patients real hope, with the treatment they need.

Britain, delivering on the promise of the NHS. A caring country. A healthy country. A great country. That is the kind of country we want to be.

So despite all the challenges, I have no doubt that together we can build a better future for our country – guided by our British values and our liberal principles. But if we are to change our great country for the better, we have to help change our world for the better too. Too many of the threats the UK faces are international ones. From Putin’s Russia to climate change, from international crime gangs to foreign conflicts that cause chaos around the world and wash up on our shores. So the UK must stand tall on the world stage. Stand together with our allies. Stand as a force for good.

As we have done proudly in solidarity with Ukraine, as they resist Putin’s brutal war machine. No matter what Donald Trump does next, the United Kingdom’s support for Ukraine must never waver. We must continue to defend our Ukrainian friends, defend our continent, and defend the fundamental values of democracy, liberty, human rights and the rule of law. All of which Putin is seeking to destroy. 

Democracy, liberty, human rights and the rule of law. Our United Kingdom is at its best when it proudly champions these fundamental values. And that means taking action when they are being trampled over. As they are, undeniably, right now in Gaza.

Friends, I travelled to Israel and Palestine last year. I saw the devastation in a kibbutz raided by Hamas on October the seventh. I joined mourners at the site of the Nova music festival, grieving the loved ones brutally slain by terrorists. I spoke with the families of hostages who are still held captive, almost two years later. I completely share their condemnation of genocidal Hamas. I completely share their determination – their desperation – to get the hostages home. And I condemn – I utterly condemn – antisemitism in all its forms. Including here on our streets in the United Kingdom.

And let us also be clear: Nothing – nothing – can justify what the Netanyahu government is doing to innocent men, women and children in Gaza. We have all seen it. The baby boy – starving and skeletal – held tight in his mother’s arms. The crowds of desperate people, rushing to get food. The bodies of children, killed as they queued for water. Children. A famine unfolding before our eyes. Conference, the actions of the Netanyahu government go well beyond self-defence. They are clear breaches of international law.

I think Omer Bartov – an Israeli historian and former IDF soldier – puts it simply but clearly: What Netanyahu’s government is trying to do is – quote – “to make Gaza uninhabitable for its population.”

Now, there is a case on this before the International Court of Justice. And it is right that we as a party support that process and respect the role of the international courts in upholding and enforcing the Genocide Convention. But the court is unlikely to be able to give its judgment for another two years or more. And I cannot shake the words of two leading Israeli organisations – B’Tselem and Physicians for Human Rights-Israel. They said powerfully and plainly: “in these dark times it is especially important to call things by their name”.

Conference – they are right.

Respecting the role of the ICJ should not stop us from speaking the truth today. We must call it by its name, and we must condemn it unequivocally.

What is unfolding in Gaza is a genocide. And the United Kingdom must do all it can to make Netanyahu stop.

And when I criticise Prime Minister Netanyahu, I do it as a friend of Israel. Knowing that his Government’s actions do not represent the Israeli people. I stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the Israeli parents of hostages still held captive by Hamas. And who desperately want their government to change course. Like Itzik Horn, who I met when I was in Israel. And who last week called on Netanyahu to sit down with him and explain why his son Eitan is still rotting in a tunnel. Conference, I want to get Eitan home to his dad. I want to get all the hostages home.

This has to stop.

I am proud that the United Kingdom has finally recognised the independent state of Palestine. Something we have rightly led the charge on for almost a decade. But this is not the end. It must be the beginning. The moment that the UK finally steps up, and does everything we can to end this appalling cycle of bloodshed. To get the hostages home. To end the aid blockade. To build a viable Palestinian state, without Hamas. To secure a two-state solution. The lasting peace that both Israelis and Palestinians deserve.

Just imagine… The United Kingdom, leading again on the world stage. Standing up for our values, in the Middle East, in Europe and across the world. And here at home.

Our United Kingdom. Not Trump’s America. Not Farage’s Britain.

A country where everyone’s rights are protected and respected.

Our United Kingdom. Not Trump’s America. Not Farage’s Britain.

A country where we take care seriously, and fix our NHS.

A country that tackles climate change and protects our natural environment.

A country with a thriving, dynamic economy – that rewards aspiration and gives everyone the chance to succeed.

Our United Kingdom. Not Trump’s America. Not Farage’s Britain.

A country where everyone has real power to make decisions about their own lives – and where the powerful are held properly to account.

That’s our United Kingdom.

That’s the country we want to be.

That is the change we want to make.

So Conference, this is not a time for caution or complacency. After the chaos and destruction of the Conservatives – amid the mistakes and disappointment of Labour – the failures and division of the SNP – and up against the dangers and lies of Reform – we are in a battle for the very future of our country.

And it’s not a battle we can afford to lose.

So if you believe in a Britain that stands proud for its values – at home and abroad. If you believe in a Britain of growth and opportunity. Fairness and prosperity. If you believe in a Britain that cares.

If you are fed up with the two old parties letting you down. If you are scared of the rise of racism and extremism. If you believe in decency, tolerance and the rule of law.

Because we believe in the British people. We love our country. And together, we can change it for good.

Thank you.

The comments made by Ed Davey, the Leader of the Liberal Democrats, in the Guardian newspaper on 1 February 2024.

The Post Office Horizon scandal is the greatest miscarriage of justice of our time, and I am deeply sorry for the families who have had their lives ruined by it. As one of the ministers over the 20 years of this scandal, including my time as minister responsible for postal affairs, I’m sorry I did not see through the Post Office’s lies – and that it took me five months to meet Alan Bates, the man who has done so much to uncover it.

The Post Office is owned by the government but not run by it, so the official advice I was given when I first became a minister in May 2010 was not to meet Bates. He wrote again urging me to reconsider, and I did then meet him that October. But he shouldn’t have had to wait. When Bates told me his concerns about Horizon, I took them extremely seriously and put them to the Post Office. What I got back were categorical assurances – the same lies we now know they were telling the subpostmasters, journalists, parliament and the courts.

The speech made by Ed Davey, the Leader of the Liberal Democrats, in the House of Commons on 7 November 2023.

May I, like others, start by paying tribute to His Majesty for delivering his first King’s Speech? It was clearly an historic moment, but for our King it must have been an emotional one. He made reference to his late mother, our late, amazing Queen, and many of us listening to him felt that he delivered that speech with grace and aplomb, and we are very grateful to him.

May I also pay tribute to the right hon. Member for Scarborough and Whitby (Sir Robert Goodwill) and the hon. Member for Stroud (Siobhan Baillie) for their speeches? I have always rather admired the right hon. Gentleman, for many reasons. His speech today was extremely entertaining, but I have always liked the fact that he, like many on our Benches, opposed the third runway at Heathrow and that he was a constructive, if unfashionable, Conservative in his views on a constructive relationship with our European partners. But perhaps what makes him more at home with the current Government is his romantic enthusiasm for the steam engine, as we have heard: more noise than substance and going nowhere in the modern world.

My mother-in-law, an expert beekeeper and honey producer—and the swarm officer for North Dorset, no less—would join the seconder of today’s motion in congratulating Stroud on being the world’s first bee guardian town. I am sure that Stroud has a real buzz about it, but the House will be pleased to hear that I do not intend to drone on and on. Given your strictures at the beginning of this debate, Mr Speaker, I should like to clarify that I was not referring to any other Members in talking about droning on.

Today’s Gracious Speech is overshadowed by horrifying events around the world, with the monstrous terrorist attacks by Hamas on Israel one month ago—more than 1,400 Israelis were slaughtered and hundreds were taken hostage, and they are in our thoughts today—and now the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza. Innocent Palestinians have been cut off from food, water and medicine. Their homes have been destroyed, and more than 10,000 have been killed.

We also have war on our continent, as the brave Ukrainian people continue to resist Vladimir Putin’s war machine. At times of global crisis such as this, the UK can be a force for good, when it stands tall in the world. But the British voice can be at its strongest only when we have a Government that are strong and united. I am afraid that that is sadly lacking now.

As the Gracious Speech shows, we do not even have a Government strong and united enough to take real action here on the challenges that people face at home. These are very tough times for the British people. They are working hard, showing remarkable decency and strength, but people are finding it harder and harder just to make ends meet. Instead of helping, what have this out-of-touch Conservative Government done in this King’s Speech and over the past few years? They have put up taxes, energy bills and mortgage payments. They have been adding to the pain, instead of soothing it.

Let us look just at energy, where today the Government could have brought forward plans to ensure Britain’s energy security and to bring down energy prices, with sustainable energy price cuts, for the long term. The Government could have announced plans to insulate homes to cut people’s energy bills and to invest properly in cheap, clean, renewable energy for the future. Instead, the Conservatives are choosing, once again, to shackle us to the expensive, dirty fossil fuels of the past.

Today’s Speech is yet more proof that this Government simply do not care. Just last week, the covid inquiry heard that during the pandemic the Government thought that older people should just “accept their fate”. That callous approach reveals an attitude that stretches far beyond the pandemic. By failing to address the cost of living crisis, the NHS and care crisis, the sewage crisis and many other crises like them, this King’s Speech, in essence, tells families and pensioners struggling to get by to “accept their fate”. This Government tell the pensioner, waiting weeks to see her GP, to accept her fate, and the cancer patient, waiting months just to start treatment, to accept his fate. They tell communities who are seeing their rivers polluted and their countryside destroyed to accept their fate. They tell the British people, fed up with being taken for granted by an out-of-touch Government, to accept their fate.

However, whatever this Government might want, the people of our great country—the British people—have never been ones to sit back quietly and accept their fate. They will not accept a Government who are so weak and divided that they cannot tackle the country’s challenges. They will not accept a Conservative party that is out of touch and out of ideas; they will kick it out of office. They will get that chance soon. No matter how long the Prime Minister delays it, an election is coming, so the British people do not have to accept the miserable fate of this tired Conservative Government. They can choose a better future and I believe they will.

The speech made by Ed Davey, the Leader of the Liberal Democrats, in Bournemouth on 26 September 2023.

Thank you friends.

I’m afraid I have to start this afternoon with an apology.

You might remember –

After our incredible victory in Somerton and Frome in July –

When the amazing Sarah Dyke overturned a Conservative majority of nineteen thousand –

I said it’s time to get these clowns out of Number Ten.

We even wrote it on the side of a big blue cannon.

Do you remember?

Well, a party member got in touch afterwards, to say he is an actual clown. And he took great offence at being compared to this Conservative Government.

On reflection, I have to admit, he’s got a point.

Clowns didn’t crash our economy and send interest rates soaring.

Clowns didn’t let water companies make billions in profits while dumping filthy sewage into our rivers and onto our beaches.

Clowns didn’t plunge our NHS into crisis, pushing waiting lists to record highs.

Clowns didn’t waste billions of pounds – of our money – on dodgy PPE contracts.

Clowns didn’t prop up a lying, law-breaking Prime Minister – and then put his cronies in the House of Lords.

Clowns didn’t do it. The Conservatives did.

So let me take this opportunity to apologise unreservedly to that party member, and to the whole clowning community.

I’m sorry. I used the wrong c-word.

Let me try again:

It’s time to get these Conservatives out of Number Ten!

And Liberal Democrats, we’ve made a great start.

Sarah Green in Buckinghamshire. Helen Morgan in Shropshire. Richard Foord in Devon. And now Sarah Dyke in Somerset.

And next up, of course, the wonderful Emma Holland-Lindsay in Mid Bedfordshire.

Friends, our by-election record in the last two and half years is nothing less than historic.

And so too have been our fantastic local election results.

This May, we gained an incredible four-hundred-and-seven councillors right across England – from Sunderland to South Hams, from Lewes to Lancaster.

And gained control of twelve more councils.

In Scotland last year, we boosted our councillor base by a third. We’re growing back strongly there too as we hold the Nationalists to account for the total mess they have made of everything.

In Wales, we took control of Powys Council for the first time ever.

Liberal Democrats – right across our United Kingdom – you should all be so proud of what we’ve achieved together.

Our campaigns – our victories – are changing the future of British politics and turning the tide against the Conservatives.

We’ve shown the next election won’t be all about the Red Wall.

It’s about the Blue Wall too. Former Tory heartlands where we’ve shown we are the only ones who can win.

The only ones who can bring the change people crave.

And even better. With Richard’s win in Devon, Sarah’s in Somerset and superb local government success, we can now say proudly:

The Liberal Democrats are back in the West Country!

A second front against the Conservatives, where every Liberal Democrat vote is the powerful vote for change.

But now comes the big one.

The General Election.

For the British people, the next General Election can’t come quickly enough.

People are desperate for change.

And while Rishi Sunak clings on – out of touch and out of ideas –

Our job – our responsibility – is to show the British people that positive change is possible.

And that we are ready to fight for it, whenever the election comes.

And this week, we’ve done just that.

We’ve shown we have the policies, the passion and the people – not just to get the Conservatives out, but to deliver the real change people want.

The fair deal people deserve.

Our task is to get more brilliant Liberal Democrat MPs elected – so they can be strong local champions for their communities. And lead the change our country needs.

Bringing real hope to millions in this economic crisis.

Hope to people struggling to get by and struggling to get on.

Cleaning up our environment.

Rescuing our NHS and care system.

Transforming our politics for good.

Remember at the start of the year, Sunak gave a big speech where he told the country “we’re either delivering for you – or we’re not”?

Well, in fairness to Rishi, he was telling the truth.

It is one of those two things.

And friends, I think we all know which one.

His Government is failing to deliver, and what’s so horrific is the sheer scale of their failure.

In so many ways, our country today just isn’t working the way it should.

It’s not working as it should for the parents forced to travel two hours just to find their kids an NHS dentist. Or skipping meals so their children can eat.

It’s not working for the couple in my constituency, who fear losing their home of thirteen years as their mortgage payments have shot up by more than four hundred pounds a month.

It’s not working for the teaching assistant and her young family, evicted from their home in Ambleside so the landlord could turn it into a holiday let.

It’s not working for the pensioner going without heat in the winter.

Or the commuter left on the platform by yet another cancelled train.

It’s not working for the swimmer who spent thirteen days in hospital with cellulitis after swimming in sewage-infested water.

Conference, I have never known our country so badly governed.

Crimes unsolved. Backlogs in our courts. Delays to get a passport.

Crumbling school buildings. High streets in decline. And potholes, everywhere.

Now, there are many reasons why all these issues have got so bad, of course.

But there is one fundamental cause.

The Conservative Party.

Britain isn’t working, because the Conservatives aren’t working.

They’re more like a bad TV soap than a functioning government.

The factions and the feuds.

The personal vendettas.

The shock exits. And unwelcome returns.

Each episode worse than the last.

Well it’s time to change the channel.

The corruption of Boris Johnson. The chaos of Liz Truss. The carelessness of Rishi Sunak.

This whole Conservative shambles.

They all have to go.

And Liberal Democrats, our task is to get them out. And then get Britain working again.

And that of course starts with the economy.

We need to get our economy growing strongly again.

Conservative Ministers might think zero percent growth and seven per cent inflation are numbers to boast about – but the British people certainly don’t.

Inflation’s still higher than any time since Black Wednesday. Worse even than the height of the financial crisis.

Food prices up thirty percent in just two years. Energy bills almost doubled. Mortgage rates through the roof.

And Rishi Sunak says this all shows his plan is working.

Honestly, the Prime Minister sounds so complacent, so out of touch, sometimes I think he must be reading the graphs upside down.

Well Rishi, if this is what it looks like when your plan is working, I think we need a new plan.

And that’s what the Liberal Democrats have been putting forward.

A real plan – not just to stop things getting worse, not just to return to business as usual – but to build the economy of the future.

To build an economy that is genuinely innovative, prosperous and fair.

An economic plan that gives everyone the chance to get on in life, and see their hard work and aspiration properly rewarded.

A plan that backs entrepreneurs to grow their small businesses and create worthwhile, well-paid jobs in their communities.

And yes – a plan to tackle the climate crisis, reach net zero, and embrace the clean technologies of the future.

To lead the world, instead of trying to hide from it.

Conference, after Rishi Sunak’s disgraceful speech last week, the contrast between our approach and his could not be clearer.

We already knew he doesn’t care about tackling climate change. That’s no surprise.

But what about the damage his U-turns will do to our economy? To our car industry? To people’s jobs right across the UK?

Doesn’t Sunak care about any of it? Apparently not.

Frankly, instead of delivering that speech, Rishi should have torn it up and thrown it away.

If he’s got seven bins, he might as well use them!

His small-minded and backward looking approach is simply not worthy of our great United Kingdom.

From the steam train to the internet, Britain has always led the world with ingenuity and innovation.

We are a nation of pioneers and inventors. Not just in our history, but in our present and our future.

Liberal Democrats understand that.

In Government, we made Britain the world leader in offshore wind.

We invested early. We had an industrial strategy. We showed we were serious.

We attracted global firms to come to the UK, and spend tens of billions of pounds to build factories and windfarms and create thousands of clean, secure jobs.

And thanks to Liberal Democrat policies, the price of wind energy has more than halved.

So now renewables are by far the cheapest form of electricity. And the most popular.

We could be doing the same with so many other new technologies.

Tidal power. Clean flight. High-speed rail.

Creating jobs and cutting prices.

But Rishi Sunak says no.

We say: build Britain’s economic future here in the UK. Rishi Sunak says: outsource it to China.

That is a dismal failure of leadership. And we can do so much better.

Britain led the world, and we can lead it again.

But not with the Conservatives squabbling amongst themselves and clinging to the fossil fuels of the past.

And not with the Prime Minister refusing even to attend the United Nations General Assembly last week.

Instead of standing at his lectern in Downing Street single-handedly trashing our economic future,

Rishi Sunak should have been in New York working with global leaders to tackle this crisis together.

Britain can be an incredible force for good when it stands tall on the world stage.

But Rishi Sunak doesn’t seem to care about that either.

He’s getting it wrong at home, and he’s getting it badly wrong abroad too.

Our vision is for a Britain that leads the world as we embrace the economy of the future.

The Conservatives would only shackle us to the past.

And there’s another crucial part of our economic vision. Another area where we are different from this Government.

Something that would so obviously make an enormous difference to our economy and our standard of living.

Something we have always been proud to champion, even when no one else even dared whisper it.

Fixing our broken relationship with Europe.

The Conservatives botched the deal with Europe, and it’s been a disaster for the UK.

They sold out British farmers and fishers.

They tied up British business in red tape.

And they pushed up food prices in our supermarkets.

So much unnecessary pain inflicted on so many by so few.

And only the Liberal Democrats have consistently stood up against it.

Only we have set out a plan to tear down those trade barriers, fix our broken relationship with Europe and get a better deal for Britain.

Yes – only we.

Because Labour’s plan – if you can call it a plan – is nowhere near that ambitious.

To be fair, they’ve come a long way from when they voted for Boris Johnson’s terrible deal.

But Labour has a long way still to go.

Which means it’s up to us to lead the way.

A better economy. A better future. With Europe.

Opportunity. Investment. Innovation. Trade.

That’s the Liberal Democrat recipe for economic success.

And one more ingredient:

People.

Because at its heart, what makes our approach different is that we understand that the economy isn’t just a series of abstract percentages and meaningless slogans.

It’s all of us.

It’s the things we do every day, together.

It’s the jobs we do. The services we rely on. The food we eat. The homes we live in.

It’s the TV shows we watch. The places we visit. The presents we give each other.

We understand that, when you strip everything else away, an economy is its people.

And if we want to get our economy growing strongly again, we need to focus far more on our people.

That means investing in people through education. Training. Skills. Of course.

But today I want to talk about another investment in people.

An investment that too often has not been linked to economic growth – even though it’s central to growth.

And that’s an investment in people’s physical and mental health.

Because we can’t build the economy we need, with seven million people stuck on NHS waiting lists.

We can’t grow the economy with two and half million people shut out of the labour market by long-term physical and mental illness.

When people aren’t supported to recover from long Covid.

Wait weeks for a GP appointment.

Can’t get basic help, so they can get back to work, feed their families and get on in life.

A healthy economy needs a healthy population…

And a healthy NHS.

I am so proud that we Liberal Democrats have consistently led the way in highlighting the crises in the NHS and proposing solutions.

Reversing cuts to GP numbers and guaranteeing an appointment when you need one.

Tackling life-threatening ambulance delays, and improving access to NHS dentists.

There are so many parts of our NHS plan that would both treat people better and boost our economy.

And today I’d like to focus on one particular, awful part of this health crisis. That shatters lives, and takes people in their prime.

It can be very difficult to talk about. It’s difficult for me, and I know it’s difficult for many of you, but we do need to talk about it.

And that’s cancer.

As many of you know, my brothers and I lost both our parents to cancer when we were young.

My dad died aged thirty-eight, just a few months after being diagnosed with a cancer called Hodgkin lymphoma.

I was only four, so I don’t remember it very well.

What I do remember is my mum’s grief. And her incredible strength in the months and years that followed, after being widowed so young, with three boys under ten.

Then, when I was nine, cancer came for mum too.

She was diagnosed with breast cancer, and I do remember how that felt.

She had treatment, including a mastectomy. But three years later, they found secondary breast cancer – metastatic cancer – in her bones.

And they told her it was incurable.

Yet mum refused to accept that it was incurable. She battled it for three years. For her boys.

She tried everything – including a naturopath – while we looked after her.

It was hardest of course in the last eighteen months or so, as she became bed-ridden and the pain became excruciating.

For me, caring for her became my life. Before school and after school.

I’d sit for hours on her bed, talking to her. Telling her about my day, listening to her stories. Trying to make the most of every minute.

When she was fighting the cancer with the naturopath, my top task was mashing up carrots and apples for the healthy juice drinks she lived on.

Then there was helping her with the pain. Pouring out doses of morphine from this big bell jar we had in the kitchen. I don’t think they’d allow that now.

Putting pads on her legs and sides so she could give herself small electric shocks when the pain got really bad.

That was a tough period as a teenager. But of course it was much tougher for mum.

Yet those years were also special. They gave me an incredible bond with my mum.

She was so strong, so resilient. Fighting to be with her boys, even in the face of such a cruel disease.

I like to think I learnt a lot from her.

I was fifteen when she died.

They’d put her on a totally unsuitable dementia ward in Nottingham General Hospital.

I was visiting her. On my way to school. In my school uniform. By her bedside.

When she died.

Now I don’t tell you all this because I want you to feel sorry for me. It was a long long time ago and I’ve been very lucky since.

But I do tell you all about it because actually too many families have their cancer stories. Like mine. Today.

My family’s story isn’t unique: there are millions of us whose lives get turned upside down by cancer.

This very day, across the UK, a thousand people will hear that fateful diagnosis.

A thousand people, choking back tears as they try to process what it means for them.

A thousand people, trying to figure out how to tell their loved ones.

How to break the news to their partners. To their parents. To their children.

And then, a thousand people wondering what comes next.

Now, we are fortunate in this country that there are brilliant people in our NHS and in charities like Macmillan.

And there’s a story of progress. And hope.

Cancer mortality rates have fallen by twenty-five percent in the last thirty years.

Ten-year survival rates have doubled in the last forty.

Diagnoses like both my parents were given are no longer necessarily the death sentence today that they were back then.

Science, and universal healthcare, really are wonderful things.

But I still think we could be doing so much better on cancer.

Far too many people are still waiting, far too long for a diagnosis. Or to start treatment after being diagnosed.

And I’m afraid to say, they’ve been let down and forgotten by this Conservative Government.

Last year, the Government promised a new Ten-Year Cancer Plan.

It was supposed to be “a searching new vision for how we will lead the world in cancer care”.

This year – after two changes of Prime Minister and three changes of Health Secretary – that plan has been junked.

Yet another casualty of all the Conservative chaos.

Hopes raised. Only to be cruelly dashed.

Because we do need a cancer plan.

Despite all the progress, our survival rates still lag behind France, Germany, the US and Japan.

And the Government is now missing every single one of its waiting time targets for cancer.

Not by a little. But by a lot.

Right now, there are more than twenty thousand people across England who’ve been told they have suspected cancer –

Who have been referred for urgent treatment by their GP –

But who’ve been waiting more than two months to start treatment.

More than two months.

Just imagine the fear. The anxiety. The helplessness.

Knowing you need treatment. Knowing every day could make a difference.

But powerless to do anything but wait.

Like Ian. An engineer who I was speaking to just last week.

Ian lives in Nottingham, just down the road from where I lived with mum before she passed away.

And like me, Ian lost both of his parents to cancer when he was young too.

Ian had been fit and healthy all his life, but he was diagnosed with bowel cancer two years ago, in his mid-sixties.

The national screening programme caught it early. It was a small stage one tumour.

Crucially, it was operable.

Ian needed chemotherapy and surgery – as quickly as possible.

But he was kept waiting for four months before starting any treatment.

Now his cancer has progressed to stage four and spread to his liver.

Now it’s inoperable.

Ian calls those four months of waiting the worst time of his life.

He said “I would wake up every morning wondering if I had a future.”

And he told me how preventing those delays could not only have saved his own despair, but also saved the NHS so much money.

Conference, it’s just not right to keep people in such limbo, for so long.

We owe patients better than that.

We owe their families – their children and their loved ones – better than that.

We owe Ian better than that.

We must, must, must do better than that.

But here again, there is hope.

Just in the last few months, we have seen incredible breakthroughs that could revolutionise the way we diagnose and treat many types of cancer.

Trials of a new blood test that can detect more than fifty types of cancer are encouraging, and the head of the NHS says it could “transform cancer care forever”.

A simple blood test you could even carry out at home.

Or the new breast cancer drug trialled at the Royal Marsden hospital.

It’s been shown to slow the growth of tumours – and even shrink them in many cases. With far less debilitating side effects than chemotherapy.

Just think what a difference breakthroughs like these could make.

Think how much time they could save.

How much misery they could prevent.

How many lives they could save.

It’s the job of government to back research like this, so scientists and doctors can make the next breakthrough, and the one after that, and the one after that.

It’s the job of government to make sure that – whenever those breakthroughs happen – the NHS rolls out the benefits to patients as quickly as possible.

If someone’s life can be saved by a new blood test or a new drug, no unnecessary delays should stand in their way.

And it’s the job of government to make sure that we are diagnosing cancer as early as possible, that patients are starting treatment as early as possible, and that every patient gets the ongoing care and support they need.

Now, friends, none of this should be party political.

I know there are MPs in every party who have lost loved ones to cancer like I did, or who’ve battled it themselves.

So I fervently hope we can build a consensus across politics to make cancer a top priority in the next Parliament.

But as Leader of our party, I can at least promise you this:

For Liberal Democrat MPs, it will be a top priority.

And that’s why today I am announcing our new and ambitious plan to end unacceptable cancer delays and boost survival rates.

We will hold the Government to account, for every target it misses and every patient it fails.

We will never stop fighting for better care for you and your loved ones.

Of course, it’s not just cancer where the Government is letting patients down.

It’s pretty much everything.

The Conservatives have broken promise after promise on the NHS.

From their forty new hospitals. To six thousand more GPs. To Rishi Sunak’s pledge to bring waiting lists down.

All of it – just meaningless noise.

All a total con.

Perhaps there should be a warning on the ballot paper, like there is on cigarette packets:

Voting Conservative is bad for your health.

So it falls to us to rescue the NHS, and make sure everyone can get the care they need, when they need it.

We know it won’t be easy, but we see a bright future for the NHS.

Not because we are blind to the scale of the crisis,

But because we are clear-eyed about the solutions:

More GPs, so that everyone can get an appointment within seven days, or twenty-four hours if it’s urgent.

More investment in the latest technology from MRI scanners to radiotherapy machines.

And, crucially, more carers.

Conference, we know that the crisis in the NHS is inextricably linked to the crisis in care.

We know that you can’t fix the NHS without fixing social care.

We know you can’t fix the NHS without valuing family carers.

Fix care and you fix the NHS.

Better social care, with many more care professionals, better paid.

More support for family carers, so people can cope better looking after loved ones.

These are low-tech, affordable ways to save our NHS – investing in care.

So people can be discharged more quickly. Or don’t need hospital care in the first place.

So pressure on overstretched hospitals can be reduced.

So patients aren’t stuck for hours waiting to be seen in A&E.

So ambulances aren’t stuck for hours waiting outside A&E to hand over patients.

It’s all connected.

Our plan for social care and family care is a central part of our plan for the future Health Service.

And remember – in turn, health and care both are key parts of our plan for the economy.

The Conservatives broke our economy with their carelessness.

Liberal Democrats will fix our economy with care.

As we make our pitch to people, we need to show such real change is possible. We need to restore hope.

For when you look at the harm these Conservatives have done to people, done to our country, one of their worst is this.

Cynicism.

When I speak to people on the doorstep or in my surgeries, I get a very clear impression of this.

The idea that nothing can be done. That people in power don’t care. And won’t fix things.

A sense of hopelessness.

The toxic brew of incompetence, scandal and chaos served up by this Government has poisoned not only people’s view of the Conservatives, but their trust in politics as a whole.

Frankly, it’s the only weapon the Conservatives have left: convince people to expect less from government.

Now, there are two ways to respond to the widespread cynicism the Conservatives foment.

One way is simply to accept it.

That’s the path that the Labour Party sadly seems to have chosen:

Lower your sights. Give up on really changing things. Make your pitch nothing more than “Not as bad as the Tories”.

Half-heartedly oppose what the Conservatives are doing, and then shrug your shoulders and say “we’d pretty much do the same thing”.

That’s one way of responding to it. But it is not the Liberal Democrat way.

Our ambition for our country is much greater than that.

Our faith in the British people is much stronger than that.

Our path – the path we have always chosen – the path we walk today – is to confront that cynicism head on, and to offer people hope.

Not with yet more platitudes and promises. Not by announcing another nebulous “mission” that’s immediately forgotten when the speech is over.

No. By fighting for the big changes. The changes needed to restore people’s trust in politics and rebuild their confidence in our public services.

And that starts with real political reform.

Liberal Democrats have long known that Britain’s political system is broken.

Millions of people – powerless and excluded. Robbed of their rightful say and unable to hold the powerful to account.

And we’ve always fought to change that.

But the Conservatives… Instead of fixing our broken politics, have shattered it into pieces.

Their constant attacks on the rule of law and traditional British freedoms.

Their betrayal of integrity, truth and honesty.

Stuffing the Lords with Boris Johnson’s lackeys.

Handing out billions in contracts to their cronies.

One rule for them, another rule for the rest of us.

And it wasn’t just Boris Johnson.

Owen Paterson. Nadhim Zahawi. Matt Hancock. Dominic Raab.

So much sleaze. So many scandals.

No wonder people are cynical.

Clearing it up is no small task.

It will take more than tinkering around the edges.

We need to transform the nature of British politics itself.

To make it more relevant, engaging and responsive to people’s needs and their dreams.

To bring together our great family of nations, instead of tearing it apart.

And yes, at the heart of those reforms must be a fair electoral system.

Proportional representation, so everyone’s vote counts equally.

Because we know that the antidote to cynicism is not defeatism. It’s empowerment.

Putting real power in every voter’s hands, to elect MPs who can’t take them for granted, who have to listen to their concerns, who must work hard for them.

Real power to hold politicians properly to account when they fail to deliver.

Real power to demand better schools and hospitals, affordable housing and safe communities, and a clean, healthy environment.

That’s why fair votes is such an important part of the fair deal we’re fighting for.

Empowering people at the ballot box is the only way to make the big changes we need as a country.

It’s the only way to mend our broken politics, restore trust, and offer real hope.

But when we listen to people, we get it: it is hard to hope right now.

With everything we’ve been through, the years of Conservative neglect and the multiple crises we face.

And with a terrible war still waging on our continent.

It’s hard to hope.

So I don’t blame anyone for feeling cynical.

I blame the Conservatives for spreading cynicism – I don’t blame anyone for feeling it.

But for myself, I’m still incredibly optimistic about our future as a country.

Because everywhere I go, I see the amazing strength, decency and courage of the British people.

And because my life has taught me that, no matter how tough things get, you can get through them. Brighter days can follow even the darkest.

That was true for me as a teenager, and I know it’s true for our country today.

Our future is bright.

Better days lie ahead for our country, and – Liberal Democrats – we know what must be done to reach them.

Mend our broken politics. Put real power in people’s hands.

Support people through this awful cost-of-living crisis.

Save the NHS, fix care, and make cancer a top priority.

Clean up our rivers and protect our precious environment.

Build the economy of the future, lead the world, and spread prosperity and opportunity to all.

This is our vision.

These are our priorities.

These are the big changes our country needs.

So let me be crystal clear:

Whenever the next election comes, every vote for the Liberal Democrats will be a vote to make these changes happen.

And every Liberal Democrat elected to Parliament will fight tirelessly to make them happen.

That is how we rebuild trust, restore hope and repair our country.

So Conference,

We have our policies.

We have our priorities.

And very soon, we will have our election.

And I know you’re ready.

I have seen you on the streets of Shropshire and the doorsteps of Devon.

I have seen your determination and dedication, and it makes me so proud to be one of your number.

And I firmly believe that, together, we are the strongest campaigning force in British politics.

We have taken chunks out of the Blue Wall.

We have made it start to crumble.

So now let’s smash it for good.

The British people are desperate for hope.

The British people are desperate for change.

The British people are desperate for a fair deal.

And we are the ones who can make it happen.

So let’s get to it!

Thank you.