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  • Penny Mordaunt – 2023 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

    Penny Mordaunt – 2023 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

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

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

    What a great conference.

    I love conference.

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

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

    Now, physically getting here has not been straightforward.

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

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

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

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

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

    So I know that you are a tough bunch.

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

    Conference, we face the fight of our lives.

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

    Stand up and fight.

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

    Stand up and fight.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    That is what our nation is for.

    We stand up and fight.

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Margaret Thatcher.

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

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

    All of you still inspire.

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

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

    And we face such a moment now.

    Unprecedented threats yield unprecedented opportunity.

    Unprecedented fears provide unprecedented challenge.

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

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

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

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

    The freedom to access public services and public transport.

    The freedom to build a business and create wealth.

    The freedom to invest in your children.

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

    The freedom to speak one’s mind.

    The freedom of political association.

    The freedom to take personal responsibility.

    All at risk.

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

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

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

    Aided and abetted by Labour.

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

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

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

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

    We have seen this movie before.

    They want to return us to the 1980s.

    Conference, we are not for returning.

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

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

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

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

    People who want to turn the BMA into the NUM.

    Conference, we’ve seen all this before.

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

    They are the iron fist, the iron fist.

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

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

    Why?

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

    Or Sadiq Khan and his taxes on the working poor.

    Or Angela Rayner and her Trade Union Charter.

    He is incapable of standing up and fighting.

    He doesn’t believe in anything.

    He doesn’t stand for anything.

    Who is he?

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

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

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

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

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

    When has Sir Keir ever done that?

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

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

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

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

    He will not stand up for anything or anyone.

    He will not stand up for you.

    More likely, he’s gonna lie down.

    Lie down in the street with Just Stop Oil.

    Lie down with the Lib Dems and the SNP.

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

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

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

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

    When it should be thinking about the future.

    Taking the long-term decisions to guarantee its success.

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

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

    Stand up and fight for our families.

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

    Stand up and fight for those that take responsibility.

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

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

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

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

    Stand up and fight.

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

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

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

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

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

    Have Courage.

    Bring Hope.

    Stand up and fight.

    Stand up and fight.

    Thank you, conference.

  • Suella Braverman – 2023 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

    Suella Braverman – 2023 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Well, the answer is: yes, I do.

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

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

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

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

    We listen, we learn, and we renew ourselves.

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

    We are raising our game.

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

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

    There are huge challenges ahead.

    The world is being transformed by powerful forces.

    I think the British people see that.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    It’s an entirely realistic prospect.

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

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

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

    But Conservatives are also practical and realistic.

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

    Even if we concreted over the countryside….

    Turned our cities into one vast building site…

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

    …It still wouldn’t be enough.

    Demand will always outstrip supply.

    I know it.

    You know it.

    And the voters know it.

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

    The decency of the British people cannot be questioned.

    But they also care deeply about overall numbers.

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

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

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

    We are the only Party that will take effective action.

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

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

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

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

    But under Rishi Sunak’s leadership things are changing.

    We are raising our game.

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

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

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

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

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

    And Conference we will soon begin closing down asylum hotels.

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

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

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

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

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

    All of this is ultimately a question of political will.

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

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

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

    And I believe the public will back it.

    Because everybody knows what Labour will do on migration.

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

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

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

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

    It’s actually deliberate.

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

    Because the truth is we struggle to remove foreign criminals;

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Always aided by their allies in the third sector.

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

    And all of them bleating the same incessant accusation:

    Racist. Racist. Racist.

    They’ve always used that smear.

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

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

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

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

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

    We believe that Britain has the right to secure borders…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Between a Conservative government that stands up for the police…

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

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

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

    …Stop workers from getting to their jobs…

    …And stops ambulances from getting to hospitals.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    They’ve already started the character assassination against Sue.

    The distortions. The insults. The lies.

    That’s what the Labour Party always does:

    It prefers smears to debate.

    Personally, I take their abuse as a compliment.

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

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

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

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

    Of course, they are entitled to their beliefs.

    But let’s be honest.

    These are luxury beliefs.

    What do I mean by that?

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

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

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

    And you can be sure of one thing.

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

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

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

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

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

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

    We have a secret weapon.

    Well, not that secret.

    Everyone in this hall knows it.

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

    And our friends in the media definitely know it.

    Our secret weapon is…Sir Keir Starmer.

    The British people have no enthusiasm for Sir Keir Starmer.

    They know that he believes in nothing…

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

    Keir Starmer lacks the personality to lead this country effectively.

    Imagine what would happen if he became Prime Minister.

    Luxury beliefs would reign supreme.

    Britain would go properly woke.

    Things are bad enough already.

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

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

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

    Gender ideology.

    White privilege.

    Anti-British history.

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

    Whole institutions become captured.

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

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

    Scolded for rejecting that they are beneficiaries of institutional racism.

    Disciplined for using the wrong words.

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

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

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

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

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

    Because we are the trade union of the British people.

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

    …Which I’m shamelessly taking back from Labour:

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

    We stand with the many…

    The law-abiding…

    Hard working…

    Common sense majority.

    Against the few…

    the privileged woke minority…

    … with their luxury beliefs…

    … who wield influence out of proportion to their numbers.

    Our message to the people is clear.

    We are raising our game.

    We are fighting for a Britain that puts you first.

    We are on your side.

  • Alex Chalk – 2023 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

    Alex Chalk – 2023 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

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

    Goodness, conference.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    These are the pitfalls of being a politician.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    And we can deliver it within our overarching legal obligations.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    That is how we secure justice.

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

    All this we do and more.

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

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

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

    Second, the conviction rate for all rape is higher.

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

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

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

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

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

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

    We will go further to support victims, conference.

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

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

    And today I want to right another injustice.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • Michael Gove – 2023 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

    Michael Gove – 2023 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

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

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

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

    Consider the facts.

    We have delivered.

    We have delivered better state schools than ever before.

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

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

    Our universities the best in Europe and they are growing.

    We have record numbers in employment.

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

    Welfare is simpler, fairer and better targeted.

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

    Families have many more hours of free childcare,

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

    We have also delivered:

    The first national living wage…

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

    Stronger defence with two new aircraft carriers…

    … new nuclear submarines and a strengthened NATO.

    We have delivered the fastest decarbonisation of any major economy.

    And we are world leaders in offshore wind.

    World leaders in reforming farming.

    And we have shown world leadership in protecting our oceans,

    Brexit has been delivered…

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

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

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

    We have delivered a points-based migration system.

    Crime is down.

    The Union has been strengthened.

    … devolution delivered in England…

    … nationalism is in retreat in Scotland.

    We delivered the fastest vaccine rollout in the world.

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

    And we are every nation’s indispensable partner…

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

    We have a record to be proud of…

    … a Conservative record…

    …a record of delivery against the odds…

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

    This is a record which will give us victory.

    And we will take the fight to the Labour Party.

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

    Sir Keir…

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

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

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

    He is the jellyfish of British politics…

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

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

    …but never prepared to stand up for our nation.

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

    … the highest debt and deficits.

    The party of low ambition…

    … lower standards in our schools…

    … and – always – the line of least resistance…

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

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

    We will fight, fight and fight again…

    … for the country we love.

    And there is so much to love about our country.

    Though you might not always think that…

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

    There is a fashionable tendency to denigrate our country…

    … to denounce our past…

    … and to see only decline in the future.

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

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

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

    … we fight poverty in Africa… and tyranny everywhere.

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

    A Foreign Secretary whose mum came from Sierra Leone.

    A Home Secretary whose family are from Kenya and Mauritius.

    A Business Secretary brought up in Nigeria.

    And a friend of mine…

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

    …our Prime Minister.

    Rishi Sunak.

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

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

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

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

    For while we have achieved so much together…

    … there is still much more to do.

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Can we thank them all?

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

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

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

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

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

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

    … but we need many more.

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

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

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

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

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

    … we are the party of beauty and nature.

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

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

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

    … and we will stop them.

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

    And by investing and building in our cities and towns…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    In our towns…

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

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

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

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

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

    That is what Government requires.

    That is what Conservatives deliver.

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

    Because only we can deliver the changes this country needs.

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

    Only the Conservatives have the resolution to resist easy answers…

    … avoid empty pledges…

    … and make the right decisions for the long term.

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

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

    Only the Conservatives are up for the fight.

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

    That fought to clear slums over a century ago.

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

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

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

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

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

    And fought to uphold democracy in Ukraine.

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

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

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

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

    … more confident… and more ambitious.

    We will fight together…

    …for the country we love.

  • Michelle Donelan – 2023 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

    Michelle Donelan – 2023 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

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

    Thank you, Conference.

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

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

    I want to start by thanking my amazing ministerial team.

    Our ever-zestful science superpower, George Freeman.

    The tireless tech titan, Paul Scully.

    The Baron of Broadband, John Whittingdale.

    And our in-house entrepreneur, Viscount Camrose.

    And of course, my brilliant PPS Paul Bristow.

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

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

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

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

    And Conference, we have continued to prove them wrong.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    But Conference, we have a plan.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    So, I injected some common sense.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    I said, enough is enough.

    Now the bill will protect children from online porn.

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

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

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

    Britain is leading the way on AI safety.

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

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

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

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

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

    Conference, I believe we should be proactive not reactive.

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

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

    The opportunities in the future really are limitless.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    This is record breaking funding.

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

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

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

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

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

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

    British scientists are the bedrock of our great economic power.

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

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

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

    She was right.

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

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

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

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

    Well Conference, I think it does matter.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Let this message go out from this conference hall.

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

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

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

    Science must be based on facts.

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

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

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

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

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

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

    And that says it all really.

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

    We are busy taking the long term decisions and delivering.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Consistency in our values.

    Long term commitment to opportunity.

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

    Thank you.

  • Steve Barclay – 2023 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

    Steve Barclay – 2023 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

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

    Thank you, Luke.

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

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

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

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

    Putting 800 new ambulances on the road.

    Delivering 5,000 permanent hospital beds.

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

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

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

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

    Take strokes.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    This is alongside our new pilot for medical degree apprenticeships.

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

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

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

    Shorter degrees.

    New roles.

    And more ways onto the NHS career ladder.

    Better for patients and the taxpayer.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    But it doesn’t end there.

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

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

    And then there’s Labour.

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

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

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

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

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

    Labour don’t want to embrace innovation.

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

    Look at Labour run London.

    Sadiq Khan has banned Wimbledon adverts on the underground.

    Why?

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

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

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

    But their record on health makes for grim reading.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • Gillian Keegan – 2023 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

    Gillian Keegan – 2023 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

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

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

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

    I could never have imagined myself standing here today.

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

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

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

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

    “Why on earth are you a Conservative?”

    Well, here’s why.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Less than one hour per year of office.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Our plan is working.

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

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

    Our free schools are driving up choice and standards.

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

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

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

    And our reforms are working despite the opposition.

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

    They said our literacy drive was “dull.”

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

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

    They play the same old politics.

    We make the decisions that improve things for our children.

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

    The distraction, the disruption, the bullying.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Not that Hatton cared.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Now, common sense is what guides me.

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

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

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

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

    And University is not the only option.

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

    Some people view them as second rate.

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

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

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

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

    This is outrageous behaviour.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Conference, thank you very much.

  • Therese Coffey – 2023 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

    Therese Coffey – 2023 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

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

    Conference, thank you.

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

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

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

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

    As Defra ministers, we live and breathe the countryside.

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

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

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

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

    Our updated twenty-five year Environment Plan,

    Our Plan for Water,

    Our Plan on Unleashing Rural Opportunity,

    Our Agricultural Transition Plan,

    To name just a few.

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

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

    And also by being agile, turning ambition into action.

    Conference, we are Conservatives by name,

    Conservatives by nature,

    And Conservatives for nature.

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

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

    She spoke about Britain’s world leading scientists.

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

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

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

    Well, Conference, I know people are savvy,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Not some pizza topping.

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

    And that’s of Ukraine…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Whether it’s London and ULEZ,

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

    And even here in Manchester,

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

    He wanted a region-wide ULEZ as well.

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

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

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

    To support new small schemes,

    And boost the supply of new affordable housing to rent.

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

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

    So when it comes to the countryside, Conference,

    Yes we have lots more to do,

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

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

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

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

    Freedom from European rules,

    Freedom to choose what works best for Britain.

    We have already legislated to allow gene editing,

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

    My officials are cutting red tape and introducing smarter regulation.

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

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

    Contrast all this to Labour,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    So Conference,

    Be proud of what we Conservatives have achieved,

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

    Much progress made,

    Still much more to be done

    Now and for the long term.

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

    Thank you.

  • Mel Stride – 2023 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

    Mel Stride – 2023 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

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

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

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

    Since 2010, we now have:

    • payroll employment at a record high.

    • 4 million more people in work.

    • 2 million more disabled people in work.

    • Unemployment about halved.

    • Well over a million fewer people in poverty.

    • 400,000 fewer children in poverty.

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

    • 200,000 fewer pensioners in poverty.

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

    Now that is a record to be proud of.

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

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

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

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

    But interventions of this kind can only ever be temporary.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    This is a moral imperative.

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

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

    We made sure that work always pays.

    But now, Conference, we face new challenges.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    It’s bad for businesses struggling to recruit staff.

    It’s bad for the public finances.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Youth unemployment had increased by 45%.

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

    They opposed the household benefit cap.

    They opposed the two-child benefit limit.

    They opposed benefit sanctions.

    They even said they would scrap Universal Credit.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    So, our message is simple.

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

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

    Low unemployment. Improving economic activity. Rising employment.

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

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

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

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

    A society made alive and whole.

    That is truly something to inspire.

    Conference, we are getting Britain working.

  • Kemi Badenoch – 2023 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

    Kemi Badenoch – 2023 Speech to Conservative Party Conference

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    No amount of money can fully compensate for liberty unjustly taken away. But with the help of my business minister Kevin Hollinrake, last month we announced that every wrongfully convicted postmaster will receive £600,000 in compensation.

    Telling the truth is the most important thing in politics. It’s the only way to really show who’s side we’re on.

    One of my heroes is the economist, Thomas Sowell. He says “When you want to help people, you tell them the truth. When you want to help yourself, you tell them what they want to hear.”

    Nowhere is this more important than in my role as Women and Equalities minister. I’m not a difficult woman but I do like doing difficult things. Conservatives aren’t afraid of doing difficult things.

    Last year I published a report that told the truth about race in the UK. Labour didn’t like it. They want young people to believe a narrative of hopelessness.

    A narrative that says there is no point in trying, because British society is against you and you’re better off asking for reparations.

    A narrative that tells children like mine that the odds are stacked against them. I tell my children that is the best country in the world to be black – because it’s a country that sees people, not labels.

    Conservatives want young people to be proud of their country when others want them to be ashamed. It wasn’t a tough decision for us to reject the divisive agenda of critical race theory. We believe as Martin Luther King once said, people should be judged by the content of their character – not the colour of their skin. And if that puts us in conflict with those who would re-racialise society, who would put up the divisions that have been torn down – well, Conference, all I can say is: bring it on.

    Let Labour bend the knee before this altar of intolerance. We’ll keep building a country that is, in every way, stronger and fairer for all.

    The left accuses us of fighting a culture war. But we will not apologise for fighting for common sense.

    I will not apologise for fighting for a society that knows what a woman is.

    It was this Conservative government that stopped shameful SNP and Labour politicians in Scotland pursuing a self-ID policy that let convicted rapists pretend that they were actually women so they could be housed in a women’s prison with potential new victims.

    I pay tribute to the many women’s and LGBT groups such as Conservatives for Women, Sex Matters and the LGB Alliance who despite unbelievable opposition kept fighting this policy, refusing to be cancelled and speaking the truth.

    There is no other party that will defend common sense.

    Next week, Labour will tell the country that it is ready for government. But ladies and gentlemen, let me ask you this if Labour MPs can’t tell us what a woman is, what else aren’t they telling us?

    Conference, I think it is obvious that I love my country, I love my party and I love my job. I’m proud of what my ministers and I have achieved in the last year.

    No, the job is not yet finished… it never is. But we have done great things and we cannot let our good work be undone by letting Labour in.

    The biggest threat to Britain’s future would be the calamity of a Labour government and when we get closer to the election the starkness of that choice will become clearer.

    We have in Rishi Sunak, a Prime Minister who is making decisions for the long term interest of our country, even when he gets flak for it. He protects businesses and employees when in crisis as he did during Covid. But he says no to lazy subsidies and anti-competitive regulations.

    He has the intellect and work ethic to steer us through whatever comes next, to tell the country what it needs to hear, not just what it wants to hear.

    Brexit was perhaps the greatest ever vote of confidence in the project of the United Kingdom – and we will soon be asking the country to trust that this project is safe in our hands.

    We’ll do this by reminding them that Conservative ideas are just as powerful, just as relevant today as they have been in the past. That Government is not the answer to every problem and neither is more spending.

    We’ll remind them that just as Margaret Thatcher and Nigel Lawson did in the 1980s we are taking tough decisions for the long-term future of the country today.

    A new British success story is getting started: we must not let Labour ruin it.