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  • David Lammy – 2025 Africa Debate Speech

    David Lammy – 2025 Africa Debate Speech

    The speech made by David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, in London on 2 July 2025.

    Ladies and Gentleman, Friends.

    It’s a great, great pleasure to be here today. Thank you to Sumaila and the team behind the Africa Debate, for bringing us all together.

    This week, it’s 25 years since I was first elected the Member of Parliament for Tottenham and therefore began my journey in public life. So I want to start by looking back for just a moment in time.

    I was a Member of Parliament and then a Junior Minister in the governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. And they were both very, very focused on Africa and the continent of Africa.

    However, when I look back on that period, it was most definitely  principally through the lens of development and aid. This was the era of the Jubilee debt campaign. It was absolutely the era of the Millennium Development Goals. Make Poverty History was the theme of the day and the G8 Summit in Gleneagles in 2005, implementing many of the recommendations of Blair’s Commission for Africa.

    These efforts left of course a legacy. In 2000, almost two-thirds of all sub-Saharan Africans lived on under three dollars a day, by 2010, when Gordon Brown left office, the figure was under half.

    But when I became Foreign Secretary last year, I wanted to modernise our approach to Africa, modernise our approach to development.

    I of course had been travelling to the continent for many, many years, the first country I ever visited was Kenya. But I’d seen the transformation of cities and communities, all brimming with huge potential.

    And I suppose I also benefited from my own heritage in the Global South. My parents hailed from Guyana. And so I understood some of the frustrations of countries and communities when it felt like the West was ignoring people or not listening to people, not understanding what they really needed.

    I wanted to change that. And to reset relations then with the Global South, and particularly with Africa. And to implement a new approach, partnership, not paternalism.

    Genuine partnership is, by definition, between two equals each respecting the other. So in this job, I have tried to show that respect. And in the past year, I have visited eight African countries. The first Foreign Secretary to visit South Africa or Morocco since William Hague. And the first Foreign Secretary ever to visit the great country of Chad.

    And on my first visit to the continent as Foreign Secretary, I launched consultations on our new Africa Approach. A five-month listening exercise, hearing from governments, from civil society and diaspora communities, from businesses and universities, from Cape Town to Cairo, from Dakar to Djibouti, what they valued, what they wanted to see from Britain.

    We needed to listen. And I thank you all for your engagement over the course of this process and for what you told us, what we needed to hear.

    The message actually didn’t surprise me. Because what African people want from Britain is exactly what British people want from Africa. You want, we want, growth.

    And not just any form of growth, a jump in numbers on a spreadsheet for a year or two.

    But a secure, sustainable growth for everyone, high-quality jobs, affordable prices, citizens living better lives than those of their ancestors.

    You want, we want, opportunity.

    Opportunity arising from our respective strengths, like the British education system, like of course the City of London, the incredible natural assets and energised young people across Africa, and our collective commitment to multilateralism.

    And you want, and we want partnerships. Partnerships that harness our deep historic ties, and the array of personal connections that exist between us.

    But partnerships that also continue to grow and deepen, as we both invest in them. That’s just a snapshot of a detailed piece of work.

    But of course, the work can only be beginning. The real test of our Africa Approach, and this was clear in the consultation as well, is how we put it into practice.

    Because talk is cheap. It’s actions in the end that count. I am excited by the deals driving growth that we have been delivering so far.

    A new Strategic Partnership with Nigeria, a new growth plan with South Africa, a new partnership with Morocco, joint work on a new AI strategy in Ghana, and new investments in Tanzania and of course in Kenya, announced in the first East Africa Trade and Investment Forum here in London in May.

    And thanks to our Developing Countries Trading Scheme, and free trade agreements with many African countries, almost £15 billion of goods were exported from Africa to Britain tariff-free last year.

    And following the publication of the British Government’s new Trade Strategy, we will further simplify the rules of the DCTS scheme which benefits thirty-eight African countries, and review our tariffs with South Africa, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia.

    The Trade Strategy reinforces Britain’s belief in the power of free trade. And the largest free trade area in the world is Africa’s.

    And that’s why we back the rollout of the African Continent Free Trade Agreement, reducing barriers to intra-African trade through support in areas like digital trade and custom cooperation.

    And we will increase opportunities for British firms to play their part, just as it will increase prosperity in Africa. The British businesses and investors in this room have a big part to play. And I want our Ambassadors, our High Commissioners working closely with you, so that together, we can play a confident role in investing more, and supporting the growth of the African market.

    So, more trade, more investment, this is the best path to prosperity for all.

    And there is a role of course for development as well. But this has to be a modernised approach to development, recognising that fundamentally development is about growth, development is about jobs, development is about business.

    The modern development expert needs to have a mindset of an investor, not a donor. Looking for the best return, not offering the biggest handout.

    And it’s in that spirit that British International Investment recently signed an MoU with South Africa’s Public Investment Corporation, one of Africa’s largest asset managers.

    And this week agreed to support Wave Money Mobile, an exciting African fintech unicorn.

    And it’s also in that spirit that Britain is co-hosting the next Global Fund replenishment summit in South Africa.

    And just last week I made a £1.25 billion pledge to the recent Gavi replenishment in Brussels, the largest of any sovereign donor.

    That work will save lives – many, many millions. But it will also unlock economic value -every pound given to Gavi drives £54 in wider economic benefit.

    And, crucially, it unlocks value in Britain and Africa. Gavi works closely with cutting-edge British pharmaceutical firms like GSK. And it’s also designed the first African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator, which is using industry partnerships to deliver vaccines for Africa.

    Vaccines, and this is very important, because people talked about that during the COVID pandemic, they asked the question, why, why are we failing, the West failing to vaccinate the African continent, and that was an important question.

    But there was a second question – why has the African continent not got its own manufacturing capability, and that is what we now need to deliver in Africa.

    Working with partners like Nigeria, we are pushing for organisations like Gavi and the Global Fund to work together and reform, so that their work has national ownership at its heart.

    National ownership is similarly important when it comes to reforming wider international finance, especially for climate and nature.

    And thank you, President Ruto, for your leadership on the climate issue particularly. The theme of your conference is precisely the right framing, Africa has Natural Capital. But it cannot unlock this if we make it impossibly challenging for states to access the finance that they need.

    At the recent Development Finance Summit in Seville, we were again pushing for reforms of the multilateral development banks and the IMF. We have to mobilise private capital and use guarantees to unlock more funds.

    To empower regional development banks, like the African Development Bank, where developing countries have more of a voice. To tackle unsustainable debt. To work with the City to bring innovations like disaster risk insurance and strengthen local capital markets.

    One example of what this can mean comes from Sierra Leone, where I can announce £2 million pounds worth of British government investment to back a mangrove restoration project by West Africa Blue. The project protects over 90,000 hectares of mangrove estuaries, improving coastal and community resilience.

    But it is also demonstrating how this model can be commercially viable, unlocking future investment in similar projects in the future. And finally, alongside our work on trade, on investment and development finance, we have heard the clear message from the consultation on illicit finance as well.

    I know that this message is not new. For years, friends in Africa have been saying Britain needs to do more to tackle dirty money. Kleptocrats and money launderers rob all our citizens of wealth and security.

    And now, the Government is listening too. That’s why I’ve started imposing sanctions on crooks who siphon off public money for themselves, like Isabel dos Santos of Angola and Kamlesh Pattni’s illicit gold smuggling network.

    And that’s why I’ve also announced that London will be hosting a Countering Illicit Finance Summit, bringing together a broad range and a broad coalition from the Global North and the Global South, to drive these criminals out of our economies.

    Friends, I said the messages of our recent consultations were that Africa wanted more growth, Africa wanted more opportunities, Africa wanted more partnerships.

    In effect, Africa wants Britain to help them to have more choices. Choices over who to do business with, because it’s choices which matter in a volatile geopolitical age.

    Britain wants choices too. And I believe that, given the choice, more and more British businesses and investors will be choosing Africa in the coming years.

    But don’t take my word for it – let’s hear from an African voice. It’s my pleasure now to introduce to the stage a great partner of the UK, a global leader on climate and nature action, and our next keynote speaker, His Excellency, Dr William Ruto, President of the Republic of Kenya.

  • Daniel Zeichner – 2025 Good Food Cycle Speech

    Daniel Zeichner – 2025 Good Food Cycle Speech

    The speech made by Daniel Zeichner, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, in Bradford on 15 July 2025.

    Well, good afternoon everybody and thank you. First of all, thank you to Andrew, and to all our brilliant contributors – really fantastic.

    Politicians often say they’re really pleased to be in places. And I am pleased to be in places – but I have been really thrilled to be here. I’ve not been to Bradford before, and I’ve been absolutely knocked out by what I’ve seen this morning. I’m so pleased to be here.

    I’m told you’re one of the UK’s youngest, most diverse, and dynamic cities. I represent Cambridge, and we probably could have a little discussion about that – but I think you may be winning! What I know for sure is that you’ve got a rich food culture here. I’ve been seeing it outside, I’ve been hearing about it, and I’m so thrilled that we made the decision that Bradford should be the place to come and talk about the government’s vision for our food system. What we’re calling the Good Food Cycle.

    And I hope that’s a phrase that will stick in your minds – because that’s what this is all about.

    Let me start, though, by thanking some of the people who’ve made this morning possible: Bradford 2025, the local council – I’m delighted to be here working with you – and Inn Churches. Very impressed by the work you’re doing.

    I’ve heard about Jamie Oliver’s Ministry of Food, I’ve seen some of the demonstrations that are being done outside with some of the children – I’ve met some of the children – who are extraordinarily confident and well-informed about raw beans! Very good for them!

    Living Well, the wider community, all the efforts being made to empower, educate, and inspire as many people as possible to cook great-tasting, healthy food for themselves and their families. I think this project here, which I’ve been hearing about – clearly a long time in the making – what a fantastic achievement in this year of 2025.

    It really does show how communities, local government, food producers and processors can work together for the community. Because it shows that good, healthy food can be accessible to everyone, and help bring communities together.

    And just in my brief tour around, I could see how that’s being brought to life.

    I’m told it’s £31 million of investment into the heart of Bradford – it shows what can be done to support local food producers, what you’re making, and how we used to have those strong local food production systems. What a chance to re-energise that!

    But of course, this sits in a wider context – one that includes household-name food businesses with a national footprint, like Morrisons, like Marks and Spencer. They all play a part in our national food system.

    And let’s pay tribute to that national food system, because it is one of the most extraordinary and advanced in the world. Huge, huge things. I remember, I was the shadow minister during the Covid crisis, and there was a point where it wasn’t entirely clear that we could carry on feeding the nation. But people stepped up. And it really showed what an amazing system this is.

    But we also have to be aware that the current food system does have some challenges.

    Henry Dimbleby – a lot of you will be aware – did a lot of work a few years ago on this. He called it the junk food cycle. Which, at one level, is harsh. But what he was pointing out was that there are internal dynamics within the system that keep producing negative feedback loops.

    That’s the thing we want to address.

    I think it can be addressed. I think there are many people in this room who have been working on this for many, many years. But it’s possible to do something about it. To do it differently.

    And that’s why I’ve come here today – to launch what we’re calling the Good Food Cycle. We think it’s a really significant step in the change we want to take together.

    And I think this is actually a very special moment because it’s the first time, as far as I can see, that the whole of government is aligned on a vision for the food system, looking ahead to the future. And it’s one which puts people and the planet at its heart.

    Now, we haven’t done this alone. This is not just about government. We’ve worked across the food system.

    Sarah [Bradbury, IGD CEO] has been saying this – and our colleagues involved in the systems process have told us too – we’ve worked with industry, trying to do what only government can do: convene and coordinate action on food.

    And the reason we’re doing this is not just because it’s a good thing to do – it’s because what we’re hearing from people, right across the country, across generations and communities, is that this is really, really important.

    Because the one thing we all do – is eat. And we should take joy and celebration in that. It’s really important.

    So, over the last six months – in the early part of this government – we’ve spoken to over 400 individuals. That’s been coordinated through the process – thank you to everyone who helped make that happen.

    We’ve heard from organisations, from businesses. We’ve been asking the question: What would a good food system look like?

    I’m very grateful to the people who’ve been sitting on the Food Strategy Advisory Board – some of you may have read about that – Sarah has been providing the secretariat and more; keeping together a complicated group of people with very different views, but we’re working well together – and the Systems Advisory Council. Also, the F4 – that’s the grouping of the key parts of industry. All of them have been involved in this discussion. So many people from academia as well – I see leading academic figures locally.

    All have given time and effort to help us develop what we believe is a shared vision.

    [Political line removed]

    Well, I’m absolutely determined, as the food minister, that we will not make that mistake.

    We will listen. We’ll work alongside those in the food system who make key decisions – and also those who play key roles in that system. Whether that’s a supermarket boss, or someone who’s making the Sunday lunch. Or someone working in a shop.

    All those people are going to be involved in this discussion.

    This is a vision for a healthier, more affordable, sustainable, and resilient 21st-century UK food system that grows the economy, feeds the nation, nourishes people, and protects the environment and climate – now and in the future.

    So, for the next steps to make our Good Food Cycle vision a reality, we’ve identified ten priority outcomes that we’ll be working with people to deliver.

    Those outcomes are focused on:

    • Ensuring everyone has access to healthier and more affordable food
    • Creating the conditions for a thriving and growing food sector, with more investment in healthy, sustainable, affordable food
    • Ensuring a secure, sustainable and resilient food supply
    • Building on vibrant local food cultures – like we’ve seen here in Bradford

    We know there’s a huge prize for investing in the UK food system, which is why we are focused on creating the right conditions to bring money and talent into the UK food system.

    Because when we grow, make, and sell healthy food, frankly, everyone benefits.

    Now, the cost of healthy food is a key concern for working people across the country. And we’re focused on food and nutritional security, from a household to a national level.

    One way to support a secure and more resilient food system is to enhance our food security monitoring – in response to continued volatility from geopolitical and climate shocks.

    It’s critical that this information is transparent and available to people across the food system.

    Today I am committing to a new annual food security statistics publication to be published in the years between the triennial UK Food Security Report, starting this year.

    It will be a more frequent and focused publication, designed to ensure that key UK food security analysis is made public in order to capture emerging trends, and to support both policymakers and the public.

    That’s a government step we’re announcing today – to ensure we continue to support a more secure food supply chain in this country, so we can build a stronger future.

    I believe now is the time to act and make positive change to support our nation. Because with climate, health, and economic pressures growing, we stand to lose out if we don’t act now. Action on improving the food system isn’t just for national government – frankly, it’s for all of us.

    So, I’d like to say just a little bit about what I’ve heard is happening here in Bradford – and I hope you’ll find it as inspirational as I do.

    I understand that in February of this year, the Bradford 2025 UK City of Culture, in collaboration with others, unveiled over 30 innovative projects as part of its Creative Health programme, harnessing the transformative power of culture and creativity to tackle some of the district’s most urgent health and social challenges.

    And we’re already seeing great outcomes from this work.

    The Cookery School, run by Inn Churches in this Market, in partnership with Jamie Oliver’s Ministry of Food,  teaches children and adults how to make healthy, fresh, tasty meals from scratch for themselves and their families.

    Living Well is an initiative led by Bradford Council Public Health, the NHS Bradford and Craven Health and Care Partnership and a wide range of key stakeholders and community groups. They are helping to address the rising levels of obesity and reduce the high levels of early and preventable deaths within the district.

    I’d like to thank the initiatives leaders, the Bradford Council and Bradford District and Craven Health and Care Partnership for all their hard work in helping individuals to live well.

    This government wants to work across the food system to make the healthy choice the easy choice for people in Bradford and across the country.

    But a healthy food system is not only about what we eat, it is also about how our food is produced and the impact it has on the environment.

    When we come together to eat – we are sharing in something incredibly powerful. Culture.

    Which brings me back to why I am here in Bradford today. Culture and Community are closely interlinked. Communities build culture. This building is the site of a shift in culture. One which is about connecting people with their local food producers, as well as supporting them to have the skills to use this amazing bounty of British ingredients.

    Everyone should be able to take pride and joy in what they grow and eat. And we want local producers to grow more of what we eat and communities to eat more of what we grow.

    This Government is here to enable, protect and prepare. Enable health, growth and productivity. Protect food standards. Prepare for the impacts of a more extreme weather and more volatile world.

    This is a cross-government strategy, and we will work collaboratively to ensure we take the right steps to address the needs of the nation.

    This is a milestone in our commitment to transform the food system. So today, we set out what we want to achieve, and why it’s important.

    Now and in the future, we’ll work with citizens, with civil society, with farmers, with fishers, with food businesses to agree how to reach that vision, and how we will measure our progress.

    If we can replicate some of the energy and commitment I have seen today and enable the growth of other Darley Street markets in other towns across the country; enable every class of school children to enjoy healthy, delicious food; enable investment in responsible food businesses , we will be well on our way.

    Friends, together we can make the healthy, sustainable choice the easy and obvious one – for everyone. Together, we can create the Good Food Cycle.

  • Rachel Reeves – 2025 Mansion House Speech

    Rachel Reeves – 2025 Mansion House Speech

    The speech made by Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, at the Mansion House in London on 15 July 2025.

    Lord Mayor, Governor, Ladies and Gentlemen.

    My thanks go to the City of London Corporation for hosting us here this evening…

    …and to the Lord Mayor for his address…

    …as well as to the Economic Secretary to the Treasury for all her hard work.

    It is a year since my party was elected to office…

    …and year since I was appointed as Chancellor of the Exchequer.

    Recently, on a visit to a primary school, a young girl asked me –

    “if you could have any job in the world, what would it be?”

    Given the events of the last few weeks, I suspect many of you would have sympathised if I had said –

    “anything but the Chancellor.”

    But I didn’t.

    Because I am proud to stand here tonight and address you for a second time at Mansion House…

    …as the Chancellor of Exchequer.

    This evening, I want to talk about the progress we have made over the past year:

    Restoring stability;

    Securing investment;

    And delivering reform.

    And I want to talk about the future:

    The economy that we are building;

    The opportunities that we are seizing;

    And the prosperity that we together are creating.

    In my Mais lecture last year, I talked about how a resilient economy must be built on security.

    And the importance of that security has been brought into sharp focus in recent months.

    As the world changes before our eyes, and global economies are becoming more uncertain.

    The job of a responsible government is not just to watch this change –

    We must step up, not step back.

    We must build a dynamic economy on strong and secure foundations…

    …where success is not limited to a handful of sectors, a few people, or certain parts of the country…

    …but where the rewards of hard work are shared…

    …harnessing the contribution of every part of Britain.

    This is the foundation of an economy and a country that is more active and more confident…

    …where people and business look to the future and talk about hope…

    …talk about opportunity…

    …assured of their own capability, and of the ability of our country to boldly face the challenges ahead…

    …and certain in the prize when they succeed:

    Of higher wages and higher living standards;

    The renewal of Britain in every home and every high street.

    To put it simply: a Britain that is better off.

    The financial services sector is critical to my ambitions for our country.

    It is one of the largest and most successful sectors in the UK…

    …worth around 10% of total economic output…

    …and supporting 1.2 million jobs in clusters right around the UK:

    In Cardiff, and Belfast and Edinburgh where we have growing Fintechs;

    In Manchester, where BNY have their new Angel Square hub;

    And in London, the financial centre of the world.

    And financial services is also critical in people’s everyday lives:

    Whether that’s a couple looking to buy their first home;

    A budding entrepreneur wanting to start  their first business;

    Or people getting more out of the money they’re putting aside for the future.

    And that’s what these plans, that I will set out tonight, will deliver.

    Growth must be built on a platform of economic stability.

    When we came into office…

    …it was our government, this government, that restored Britain’s reputation as a beacon of stability by putting the public finances back on a firm footing…

    …getting debt on a downward path, while investing prudently alongside business.

    That was – and still is – the right choice…

    …because there is nothing progressive about a government that simply spends more and more each year on debt interest, instead of on the priorities of ordinary working people.

    And fiscal stability is a choice that reflects economic reality.

    National debt remains at its highest level since the 1960s…

    …and globally, the cost of borrowing has increased in recent years.

    This is not the inheritance that I would have chosen…

    …but it is the reality.

    And that is why the Prime Minister, and I and this government are remain committed to our non-negotiable fiscal rules.

    The stability that we have restored is already delivering:

    Four cuts in interest rates by the Bank of England since the General Election, reducing the cost of mortgages and business lending;

    And investment is returning to our economy.

    At the Spending Review, I set out £120 billion of public investment over the next five years…

    …and last month, the Prime Minister confirmed that the UK has attracted £120 billion of private investment – in just the last 12 months.

    In a globally competitive market…

    …firms all over the world are choosing to invest in Britain…

    …as one of the best places to start up, to scale up and to list:

    The FTSE is at an all-time high, today, for the first time ever, breaking 9000 points;

    London is home to the deepest equity capital market in Europe;

    It is the third biggest venture capital market globally;

    And the London Stock Exchange is the most international in the world…

    …with the FTSE soon to include shares listed not just in sterling but also in dollars and in euros.

    Last year, to ensure the UK remains competitive, we made significant changes to the listing regime…

    …for example, relaxing dual class share rules to give founders flexibility to pursue their growth ambitions.

    The FCA have today published their final Prospectus Rules…

    …simplifying the listing and capital raising processes for firms of all sizes.

    And, as I committed to last year at Mansion House, we are delivering PISCES…

    …a brand-new type of stock exchange for private company share trading…

    …with the first trading events due to take place later this year.

    And I am announcing a new Listings Taskforce with the Office for Investment…

    …to attract the best businesses in the world to IPO here in London.

    But we must do more to ensure that British savers benefit from the success of growing British businesses.

    Last year at Mansion House, I set out an overhaul of our pensions system…

    …and the Pension Schemes Bill, led by my colleague the Pensions Minister, will be signed into law in the next few months.

    The creation of Defined Contribution and Local Government Pension Scheme megafunds…

    …will mean larger and more powerful pots of funding invested productively across the country.

    Pension funds, and this government, are united in our determination to deliver higher returns for savers and more investment in the economy.

    That is why, since last year, funds covering the majority of the Defined Contribution market have committed to the Mansion House Accord…

    …pledging to invest at least 10% of their main funds into private assets such as infrastructure and growth markets…

    … with at least half of that going into UK projects.

    And I would also like to congratulate the Lord Mayor on his employer pension pledge…

    I am delighted, Lord Mayor, to see businesses such as Tesco, First Group and Octopus making this commitment…

    …and like you Lord Mayor I look forward to seeing more companies joining up.

    The UK economy is enhanced by its outward-facing approach…

    …and this year we have built on that with our new trade deals:

    A trade deal with the United States, where we were the first country to sign a deal so that British businesses are better protected against tariffs, and where we have worked with our G7 colleagues to avert new taxes.

    I’m pleased to welcome US Securities and Exchange Commissioner Hester Peirce here tonight…

    …who is driving forward proposals for greater digital collaboration between our two financial centres. Thank you for being here.

    And a trade deal with the European Union, where our strategic partnership will slash red tape and reduce costs for business…

    …as well as providing a platform to further deepen our relationship in future.

    And I am pleased to welcome the European Union’s Financial Services Commissioner Maria Luis Albuquerque.

    Maria Luis, we met earlier today to discuss our continued cooperation on financial services, and I look forward to working more closely with you.

    And a trade deal with India, with whom our recent FTA agreement will give us the best trading relationship of any country in the world with India.

    And we have concluded the first Economic and Financial Dialogue with China in six years.

    And we are implementing the Berne Financial Services Agreement with Switzerland too.

    At the G20 in South Africa later this week I will continue the call I made at the IMF Spring meetings –

    …for countries to come together to tackle trade imbalances and drive growth…

    …underpinned by stronger multilateral institutions.

    I look forward to hearing more on this from the Governor in his address…

    …and I would like to congratulate him on his recent appointment as Chair of the Financial Stability Board…

    …a testament to both Andrew and this government’s commitment to international standards.

    Britain is open for business;

    Open for trade;

    Open for investment.

    And that’s why we must be willing to change how we do things to stay competitive in that global economy.

    We have ripped up the planning rules;

    We have swept away regulations;

    We have published our industrial strategy;

    And today we can go further, by announcing the Financial Services Growth and Competitiveness Strategy…

    …including my Leeds Reforms…

    …named after one of the UK’s great hubs for financial services…

    …and the city that I have been proud to represent as a Member of Parliament for fifteen years.

    These are the most wide-ranging package of reforms to financial services regulation in more than a decade.

    At Mansion House last year, I said we must regulate for growth and not just for risk…

    …and we are delivering on that commitment…

    …while continuing to protect financial stability…

    …so that the benefits of a thriving and growing financial services sector can be realised for people all over Britain.

    Let me set out the details of that package in four parts:

    First, I am rolling back regulation that has gone too far in seeking to eliminate risk;

    Second, I am delivering targeted changes in the areas where the UK already has particular strengths;

    Third, I am making changes to capital requirements to unlock more productive capital;

    And fourth, I am introducing measures to boost retail investment so that more savers can reap the benefits of UK economic success.

    I will begin with the biggest reforms.

    As I promised last year, I am delivering the most significant reform to the Financial Ombudsman Service since its inception…

    …including proposing to limit for ten years for claims.

    This will speed up the time it takes for consumers to get redress for their complaints…

    … returning it to its original purpose as a simple, impartial arbitration service…

    …and ensuring that it no longer acts as a quasi-regulator.

    And I welcome the announcement today, made by the Financial Ombudsman Service that will reduce the interest rate it applies before a decision from 8% to base rate plus 1%.

    I am introducing new targets for the FCA and PRA to cut times on authorisations and approvals…

    …and I have tasked the FCA with assessing the impact of the Consumer Duty and whether it unduly effects wholesale activity…

    …to ensure that regulators are really regulating for growth.

    And I am streamlining the Senior Managers and Certification Regime…

    …reducing the burdens it imposes on firms by 50%…

    …and slashing approval timelines…

    …so you can bring in talent to your business more quickly.

    My next set of reforms provide targeted regulatory support to the areas where the UK does already have a comparative advantage.

    For insurance – where Britain is the destination of choice for underwriting complex, specialised and high-value risk…

    …I am introducing a new competitive framework for captive insurance.

    For asset management – where the UK is the world’s second largest centre…

    …I am futureproofing the regulatory regime and will publish draft legislation in early 2026.

    For sustainable finance, I am determined to focus our efforts on policies that matter most to our world-leading sector and support investment in the transition…

    …so, after consultation and consideration, I have decided not to pursue a green taxonomy…

    …but instead work with regulators through the Transition Finance Council to capitalise on the £200 billion opportunity of the global transition to net zero.

    And for Fintech – where almost half of Europe’s Fintech’s are already based here in the UK…

    …the PRA and FCA are launching a scale-up unit to support innovative firms to grow in the UK, including in our world-leading payments system.

    And I will drive forward developments in blockchain technology…

    …including tokenised securities and stablecoins…

    …and an ambitious design for a new digital gilt instrument…

    …so that UK financial services can be at the forefront of digital asset innovation.

    And because I believe the UK is the best place in the world for financial services…

    …today I’ve announced the Office for Investment’s new concierge service.

    Launching by October this year, it will provide a tailored service to companies considering setting up and expanding in the UK…

    …and I am grateful to Chris Hayward from the City of London Corporation, for his work to drive this forward.

    Thank you Chris.

    Now, let me turn to the changes I am making to capital requirements…

    …to allow UK banks to do more lending and release more capital for investment into our infrastructure and into our businesses.

    First, I am supporting the Bank of England’s decision to raise the asset threshold for MREL requirements to between £25 and £40 billion.

    This will benefit the challenger banks and bring increased competition and innovation to the market…

    …and support those businesses to expand their footprint here in the UK.

    Second, I am confirming our approach to Basel 3.1…

    …implementing lower capital requirements for domestically focussed banks from January 2027…

    …while preserving flexibility on our approach for international banks to ensure the UK always remains competitive while aligning with international standards.

    Third, I have committed to meaningful reform of the UK’s ringfencing regime…

    …recognising that now is the time to go further in tackling inefficiency and boosting growth…

    …while retaining the aspects of the regime that support financial stability and protect consumer deposits.

    And fourth, following the new, growth focussed remit letter I sent in November…

    …I welcome the Financial Policy Committee’s announcement that it will review the overall level of bank capital needed for UK financial stability…

    …reporting back to me by the end of this year.

    The review will inform the work the Treasury is taking forward with the Bank…

    …to ensure the prudential framework strikes the optimal balance to deliver resilience, growth and competitiveness.

    And I welcome the recent changes the Financial Policy Committee has announced to the loan-to-income limit on mortgage lending…

    …which the PRA and FCA are implementing immediately…

    …that means tens of thousands more people could be able to get a mortgage in the next year alone…

    …with Nationwide already offering its ‘Helping Hand’ mortgage to more first time-buyers…

    …supporting alone an additional 10,000 each year.

    And my thanks to Dame Debbie Crosbie for her leadership.

    My final set of reforms are focussed on boosting savings investment.

    I recognise the potential for ISA reform to improve returns for savers…

    …and access capital for UK businesses.

    I have confirmed that Long-Term Asset Funds can be included in stocks and shares ISAs…

    …allowing long-term ISA investors to benefit from this innovative product.

    And I will continue to consider further changes to ISAs…

    …engaging widely in the coming months…

    …and recognising that despite the differing views on the right approach…

    …we are united in wanting better outcomes for both UK savers and for the UK economy.

    For too long, we have presented investment in too negative a light…

    …quick to warn people of the risks, without giving proper weight to the benefits…

    …and our tangled system of financial advice and guidance…

    …has meant people cannot get the right support to make decisions for themselves.

    That is why we are working with the FCA to introduce a brand-new type of targeted support for consumers ahead of the new financial year.

    And I also welcome the campaign to promote the benefits of retail investment which will launch next April…

    …and the action to look at our current approach to risk warnings – and that will report back in January…

    …and I’m grateful to Chris Cummings of the Investment Association for spearheading both of those initiatives.

    Thank you very much Chris.

    Today, I have placed financial services at the heart of this government’s growth mission…

    …recognising that Britain cannot succeed and meet its growth ambitions…

    …without a financial sector that is fighting fit and thriving.

    The reforms I have set out this evening are the next chapter in how I intend to support this growth…

    …and I thank Gwyneth Nurse and her brilliant team at the Treasury for all of their hard work on this package.

    I knew that Gwyneth would get the biggest clap …

    I am also pleased to have been able to work in lockstep with our regulators…

    …and I want to extend my thanks both to Nikhil Rathi and Sam Woods for their innovation and the work they have done in response to my updated remit letters last year.

    Thank you Nikhil and thank you Sam.

    We have been bold in regulating for growth in financial services…

    …and I have been clear on the benefits that that will drive…

    …with a ripple effect felt right across all sectors of our economy…

    …putting pounds in the pockets of working people.

    Getting better deals on their mortgages…

    better returns on their savings

    and more jobs paying good wages across our country

    As I look ahead…

    …it is clear that we must do more.

    In too many areas, regulation still acts as a boot on the neck of businesses…

    …choking off the enterprise and innovation that is the lifeblood of economic growth.

    Regulators in other sectors must take up the call I make this evening…

    …not to bend to the temptation of excessive caution…

    …but to boldly regulate for growth…

    …in the service of prosperity for our whole country.

    I’m really proud of how far we have come in the last year as government and as a country.

    I know that the changes that we have made will reform and transform our economy and our country.

    And I know that you will waste no time in seizing the opportunities that lie ahead:

    To build a stronger economy;

    To deliver the renewal of Britain;

    And to make working people in all parts of Britain better off.

    Thank you very much.

  • Steve Reed – 2025 Speech at the Water UK Skills Summit

    Steve Reed – 2025 Speech at the Water UK Skills Summit

    The speech made by Steve Reed, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in London on 15 July 2025.

    This is a moment for Government and industry to join together to unlock the potential of our water sector and grow our economy in every region of this country.

    We need water for economic growth.

    Communities can’t function without it. Water is essential for every household and business across the country. We need it to grow the food that feeds our families. To build 1.5 million new homes, hospitals, schools and roads. To cool power stations that supply our electricity and the data centres to run our IT systems.

    Water flows through our breathtaking countryside, boosting our tourism and leisure industries.

    The public were not aware at the time of the last general election, this country was facing water rationing within ten years.  There was not enough water to meet the growing demands of our population. As David just said, no new reservoirs had been built in 30 years.

    Water infrastructure was outdated and crumbling. Leaking pipes wasted valuable water supplies. Record levels of sewage polluted our waterways.

    In just one year, we’ve introduced tough new measures to clean up our rivers, lakes and seas. Including ringfencing customers’ money so it can only be spent on what it was intended for: upgrading and improving water infrastructure.

    Our Water Special Measures Bill became law in February, giving the regulators new powers to hold water companies to account.

    And Sir Jon Cunliffe, the former Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, will soon complete the biggest review of the water sector in a generation to ensure we have a robust regulatory framework to clean up our waterways, build the infrastructure we need for a reliable water supply, and restore public confidence in this vital economic sector.

    He will publish his full findings next week, and the Government response will follow quickly afterwards.

    This strong action has laid the groundwork for the sector to move forward.

    Today is the start of a new partnership between the water sector and government.

    Turning the page on the past to begin a new chapter of growth and opportunity.

    The water sector is a priority for economic growth.

    We’ve worked together and secured £104 billion pounds of private sector investment in the water sector over the next five years.

    That’s the biggest private sector investment into our water sector in its entire history, and the second biggest investment in any part of the economy over the lifetime of this parliament – and getting this investment right matters.

    It will build and upgrade infrastructure in every region of the country – cutting sewage in half by 2030 and cleaning up our rivers, lakes and seas.

    So, parents don’t have to worry about letting their children splash about in the water. So, we can experience the majesty of national treasures like Lake Windermere. Or enjoy a moment of calm by going for a swim in nature.

    It will fund nine new reservoirs and nine large-scale water transfer schemes, and reduce leaks from water pipes.

    So families – like those in Guildford –   don’t have to rely on bottled water when their water supply is disrupted. So businesses don’t lose profits when they’re forced to shut because the taps have run dry. So farmers can keep growing food in the face of increasingly unstable and unpredictable weather patterns.

    This vast investment will fuel economic growth.

    Over the next 5 years, it will create 30 thousand good, well-paid jobs in every corner of the country.

    Jobs that are rooted in the communities they serve.

    Money to upgrade roads, schools and hospitals. Encouraging businesses to invest in the area. Attracting more visitors to support rural tourism.

    This investment will make sure we can build 1.5 million homes this Parliament, construct major infrastructure projects to support the green energy transition, and power new industries such as data centres that can unlock the UK’s AI potential.

    This is what we mean when we talk about the Government’s Plan for Change.

    We must work together to make sure that £104 billion is spent in the best way to secure the improvements we want to see, and in the timescales we want to see them.

    Earlier this year, my colleague the Water Minister Emma Hardy and I toured the country to see how this investment will be spent.

    Around Cambridge, one of the UK’s fastest growing economies, investment in water infrastructure will support 4500 new homes, community facilities such as schools and leisure centres, and office and laboratory space in the city centre.

    On the River Avon, Wessex Water are investing £35 million pounds to expand the Saltford Water Recycling Plant, increasing their wastewater treatment capacity by 40% to meet rising demand, and creating local jobs near Bath.

    And in Hampshire, work’s begun on the Havant Thicket Reservoir, the first reservoir to be built in the South East since the 1970s and when it’s full, this will supply water to around 160,000 people and, during construction, it will generate more than £10 million a year to the South East economy,  with construction jobs and apprenticeships.

    We need to get spades in the ground in every region.

    I’ve set up a Water Delivery Taskforce to bring together Government, regulators, and water industry representatives, to ensure water companies complete their planned investments on time and on budget – providing value for money for customers.

    The Taskforce will make sure we have the water, wastewater and drainage needed for the new developments and infrastructure that will drive long-term economic growth.

    Energy and Utility Skills estimate 43,000 people will be needed to take up jobs in the water industry over the next five years.

    That’s good, skilled, well paid jobs such as bioresources technicians, hydraulics specialists, engineers, construction workers, and surveyors.

    It’s imperative we have the skilled workforce in place.

    Because without it, all this investment will not be possible.

    That’s why we’re here today. To work together to ensure the industry and supply chain have the capacity to meet our shared ambitions for a successful, growing water sector underpinning a successful, growing economy.

    This demands a whole Government approach.

    Torsten Bell, the Minister for Pensions, and Baroness Jacqui Smith, Minister for Skills, will both be here today, will give more details on how we plan to do this via our employment and skills programmes.

    And I’m delighted that later today I’ll sign our ‘Water Skills Pledge’ with Alison McGovern, the Minister for Employment – affirming our commitment to ensuring the water sector has the skills and workforce it needs to succeed.

    We will work together to show people that a career in the water industry and its supply chain is something they can be proud of for a lifetime.

    Something that gives you new skills, exciting challenges and can set you up for life – wherever in this country you live.

    These are jobs that make a difference. Making sure people have a reliable, clean water supply, protecting our food security, cleaning up our waterways – and stimulating economic growth in every part of the country to raise living standards and wages and improve people’s lives.

    This is a fresh start, a moment to build new partnerships and set the direction for the water sector of the future.

    We are working together to bring about the change that people in this country voted for last year. It’s an exciting time for the water industry, and I’m proud to stand alongside you as we chart the journey forwards to success.

    Thank you.

  • David Lammy – 2025 Speech on Diplomacy in the Digital Age

    David Lammy – 2025 Speech on Diplomacy in the Digital Age

    The speech made by David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, at the British High Commission in Singapore on 12 July 2025.

    It’s great to be here today.

    As you have heard, I recently marked 25 years as a member of Parliament and this week one year as Foreign Secretary. It’s a pleasure to visit your great country following your sixtieth birthday as a nation.

    Whenever I’ve come to Singapore and the wider ASEAN region, I’m struck by the innovative spirit, the creativity and the optimism.

    Sixty years ago, Prime Minister Harold Wilson talked of the “white heat of technology” transforming British society and industry. Today, the whole world is being radically reconfigured by technology, but nowhere faster, or more successfully, than here.

    I’m particularly pleased to be here after my second ASEAN foreign ministers meeting in Malaysia. In Laos last year, I promised to reconnect Britain to the Indo-Pacific and that is well underway.

    In just over a year, I’ve made 5 visits spanning 10 countries to the region. I’ve no doubt this will rise during my time in this job.

    The Indo-Pacific matters to the UK. ASEAN will be the world’s fastest-growing economic bloc over the next decade. Your investments into Britain like Malaysian firm SMD Semiconductor’s new R&D hub in Wales, your market of 700 million consumers are a huge part of our growth ambitions.

    Over the past year, we have been delivering on our promise to bring our economies closer together. Our CPTPP membership now ratified, our free trade agreement with India now signed our Industrial and Trade Strategies now published all speak to a hugely ambitious future for Britain in the Indo-Pacific.

    But we want to go much further.  We’re working with ASEAN on their Power Grid and economic resilience.  We support CPTPP widening, deepening, and starting dialogues with trading blocs like ASEAN and the EU.

    We are exploring other agreements, too, like a deeper FTA with South Korea or accession to the Digital Economic Partnership Agreement which Singapore co-founded. Today’s ‘digital trade’ will tomorrow simply be ‘trade’, and Britain is committed to making it faster, cheaper and easier.

    As you in Singapore know very well this region is the crucible for global security. Partner countries like Britain must stand up for an open, stable and rules-based international system because our region’s security and your region’s security are inextricably linked.

    Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine drove market turbulence in Asia. Any major supply chain disruption in Asia could push prices up in Britain. If we have learnt one lesson over the past decade, it is that economic security does not respect borders.

    That is why Britain’s new National Security Strategy recommitted to the vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific region. Our Carrier Strike Group recently sailed through your waters – a deployment involving 12 other nations.

    We’re deepening our many regional security partnerships including AUKUS and the Five Power Defence Arrangements.

    HMS Prince of Wales, as we’ve heard, is participating in Exercise Bersama Lima in September and the Malaysian chair kindly invited me to the ASEAN Regional Forum just yesterday, where I underlined British support for ASEAN centrality and our growing cooperation against transnational crime and illicit finance.

    In Singapore, you have proven over generations that it is not size which determines success it is strategic clarity. This is true of technology more than any other area. Singapore has shown what’s possible when digital innovation is matched with long-term thinking and national purpose.

    Back in 1981, when most of us were still working out what a computer was, your leaders set up a National Computerisation Committee. In 2014, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong launched the whole-of-government Smart Nation initiative. Then in 2019, Teo Chee Hean unveiled a National AI Strategy.

    Each time, your leaders were ahead of the game. Each time there was a broader lesson. Singapore didn’t get ahead by throwing money at the private sector and hoping for the best.

    Instead, you built serious public capability like SingPass, thanks to deep technical expertise inside government and investments in areas like compute and data infrastructure.

    Starting in this job, I said that Britain needed to do more listening and less lecturing. A huge part of my trip this week has been to listen and, I hope, learn lessons on how we can pursue a similarly long-term strategy embracing technology. That vision must include specific focus on the intersection of AI and diplomacy.

    This is not yet a staple of foreign ministry and foreign ministers’ discussions at least in my experience. But I believe that unless we lift our heads above the rat-race of crises and summits and examine the longer-term trends reshaping our world we will be boiled like the proverbial frog.

    AI is not just the next rung in the technological ladder. It will deliver a paradigm shift in the distribution and exercise of power. It will redefine how nations project influence how threats emerge and how we defend ourselves. It will therefore transform how diplomacy is conducted.

    As Prime Minister Wong said earlier this year: “The once-rising tide of global cooperation that defined the past decades is giving way to one of growing competition and distrust.  As a result, the world is becoming more fragmented and disorderly”.

    There is much evidence of emerging technology catalysing the deterioration of both domestic and international norms. AI is at the spearhead of hybrid threats like disinformation. It is not enough for responsible states to complain about others’ reckless behaviour.

    If we do not invest in gaining technological edge then our influence will inevitably decline. So today I want to outline a more hopeful vision of a sovereign, AI-enabled foreign policy.

    I am proud of the role British diplomacy played at the Bletchley AI Safety Summit, our creation of the AI Security Institute, our plans for a new counter-hybrid taskforce in the FCDO to ready us for this new age.

    I’m pleased also to see our work with Singapore in areas such as Responsible AI in the Military Realm and with ASEAN on AI for development.

    But there has been little discussion between Britain and partners in the Indo-Pacific and beyond on how to use AI and advanced technology to make our diplomacy more effective.

    I am determined to address this gap as Foreign Secretary, bringing AI to the centre of the FCDO’s policy machine. Like most foreign ministries, too many Foreign Office practices have changed little over the past half century. But the old levers of government – briefings, memos, lengthy debates on drafting – are too slow and cumbersome for the pace of modern statecraft.

    In an age of ever-accelerating speed and complexity we need the tools to match. Let me be clear: AI will obviously not solve foreign policy. It will not eliminate risk, nor remove the need for careful human judgement and the ability of people to build trusting relationships, as I have been doing with ASEAN partners this week.

    Diplomacy in 2025 needs machine speed and a human touch. It can help us to make better decisions amidst rising uncertainty. It can improve our ability to detect early signals of crisis, to simulate the likely effects of policy choices and to respond with speed and confidence.

    Imagine for a moment an AI-powered unit at the heart of a foreign ministry. That could catalyse patterns of military movement, energy flows, and online narratives, model how a diplomatic crisis in one part of the world will have ripple effects elsewhere, red-team our response to a crisis – attacking our own policies before others can. Or flag emerging risks that human analysts might miss, especially when they emerge in grey zones favoured by adversaries.

    These capabilities are not science fiction. They are already being employed. The United States’ DARPA and KAIROS projects already simulate complex political developments and anticipate conflict escalation. Estonia’s STRATCOM Centre uses AI-enabled systems to detect disinformation campaigns in real time.

    Of course, Singapore’s Ministry of Trade and Industry uses predictive analytics to flag risks to critical supply chains.

    The question before us is not whether AI will shape foreign policy. It is who will shape it, and how.

    In the British Foreign Office, this government is investing £290 million in reforming our Department, helping to equip our teams with the capabilities and technologies that the modern era demands.

    But outside of the United States and China, no country has the scale to deliver all the capabilities we need independently.

    My call today is therefore for more collaboration, more AI diplomacy within a perimeter of values. I want partners such as Britain and Singapore to align standards, share tools and develop models that reflect our shared principles.

    Deep bilateral partnerships will be at the core of Britain’s approach. For us, our special relationship with the United States will remain foundational rooted in particular on our deep security links.

    With the European Union, we can pursue AI cooperation through the prism of foreign policy and security, not just regulation, and I will be discussing this with Kaja Kallas as part of our recently agreed Security and Defence Partnership.

    With India through the ‘Technology Security Initiative’ we agreed last year, we will focus collaboration more sharply in critical and emerging technologies.

    And with other Indo-Pacific partners I hope that we can build on initiatives like the UK-ASEAN AI Innovation Summit later this year and extend cooperation to AI-enabled foreign policy.

    I said that you in Singapore have shown the power of long-term thinking. The importance of a long-term vision, and I hope we can apply that same approach to breaking down the silos between foreign policy and technology.

    We live in a volatile world. Technology is reshaping our societies, making power more diffuse. Nations like Britain and Singapore need to equip ourselves with the tools to navigate these shifts and that means fusing AI and diplomacy, focusing on a long view of change and doubling down on our shared interests.

    Thank you.

  • Yvette Cooper – 2025 Speech at the Police Bravery Awards

    Yvette Cooper – 2025 Speech at the Police Bravery Awards

    The speech made by Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, at the Royal Lancaster Hotel on 11 July 2025.

    Thank you very much, good evening everyone, and thank you as ever to the Police Federation and of course Police Mutual for organising the event this year, and thank you for the invitation to speak and to present this inspirational award.

    I’m very conscious as well of being asked to speak before everyone gets to eat as well.

    I’ve actually been an MP now for 28 years, of which 15 of them I have had the honour to be able to come here to this event.

    It was an early mistake that I tried to learn from in my first years as an MP, where I had been invited to the annual dinner from a local community organisation. I had all of the briefing notes from my new office, and they said, they wanted to speak for three quarters of an hour.

    Three quarters of an hour? And then they asked me to speak before dinner as well – seriously? And I got to 25 minutes into this speech, and I could see everybody just getting really, you know, picking up the glasses, getting increasingly irritable.

    We’ve got a chair next to me, obviously rustling bits of paper, and I’m thinking, and it still says speak for three quarters of an hour. And I kept going. I had said literally everything I could think of about this community organisation. And finally I sat down and the chair said to me, said “right, well, we’ve cancelled the first course. We’re going to move on.”

    I said – what have I done? He said “so we did ask your office if you could speak for four to five minutes.”

    So I will learn from that experience and try not to speak for too long. But I did want to just have a chance to pay some tributes and to say a huge thank you, because it’s many times I have been here in shadow roles, in different roles, and to see a huge amount of work that policing does, the bravery that policing shows.

    But this is my second time here and at the end of just my first year as a Home Secretary, and it has been a huge honour to see every single day this year the incredible work that policing does in so many different parts of the country, so many different ways.

    But I actually wanted to start by paying tribute not to the officers who’ve been nominated, not even to all of the officers and staff that support them, but to all the family members who are here and who do so much to support all of the officers, all of our police family in the work that they do.

    The policing family includes all of those family members who are here, who have to put up with, who have to get the kids to school, who have to sort out everything, and also deal with the stress and the worry and provide the support so that every one of you can do your job. So please join with me in saying a huge thank you and paying tribute to all of the family members.

    I want to say thank you as well to not just all of you, but everyone within policing and the the officers, the officers who’ve had to face the most difficult situations, but also all of the colleagues, all of the PCSOs, the staff, from the forensics officers to the family liaison support officers, everybody within policing who holds policing together, that in turn holds our communities together and keeps all of us safe.

    And we often talk about the way in which you have to run towards danger when the rest of us get to walk away, but you also have to run towards the trickiest, the most difficult situations that the rest of us can’t solve. And when everybody else has given up, it’s you that have to pick up the pieces. And as one officer that I spoke to this evening said, he was saying “well, it’s just the job we do.” He said “who else are you going to call?”

    And it’s true, when everything else goes belly up, you are the ones that we call. So I just wanted to say a huge thank you, because we owe you a huge debt of gratitude for being the ones we call when everything else has gone wrong, and for being the ones who are there to pick up the pieces too.

    So I want to thank you too to recognise the impact and the consequences that that can have for all of you, because I know too that this really isn’t an easy job, and it’s a special job, and you do it with the most incredible dedication, but it also has consequences, and there’s a price to be paid for doing such a difficult job as well.

    And so I wanted to just also say we’re drawing up now, and Diana Johnson, the Policing Minister, is here today as well. We’re drawing up now a policing reform white paper that recognises many of the challenges that are faced across policing. And we’re trying to do this in a different way, working with police forces, working with policing in a way that I don’t think governments previously have done.

    But we will also make sure that respect for the workforce and the support the workforce needs is also a part of that white paper.

    And I wanted to particularly to thank everyone for the work that has been done to roll out, based on some of the pilots that’s been done, the first police specific mental health crisis line, to be able to provide that added support that we will need to build on to make sure that we recognise the impact that this has, this incredible job also has on those who do this.

    I want to say a huge thank you to all of them, the award nominees here tonight, and to pay tribute and to honour the huge bravery shown. You will hear the stories later on. And some of those who I’ve spoken to have said, well, I’ve heard everybody else’s stories, but really, you know, I shouldn’t have been nominated, because look at the bravery that everybody else has shown. And I think everybody has, I’ve heard say something similar, and would really just say to all of you, please do, let us pay tribute to you, because the bravery you’ve shown in those split second moments has been truly incredible and has helped save lives and has helped change lives, and has been the crucial things that we depend on you to do. And we are saying thank you, both to you and also to all of your colleagues, through you as well.

    Those stories of total selflessness, where we’ve had people trapped in burning buildings or freezing waters with no hope of survival, until our police officers from Lincolnshire, Staffordshire, Derbyshire, Essex, Manchester and Sussex came running to their rescue.

    The stories of the sheer instinctive courage, where dangerous men were stopped from doing huge harm to others only because officers from Bedfordshire, Cheshire, Dorset, Durham, Hampshire, Leicestershire, Leyton, Suffolk, Surrey, Thames Valley, Tower Hamlets and Wiltshire were willing to put their own lives on the line to keep everybody else safe.

    And the stories of the incredible compassion where people who were ready to end their own lives were pulled back from the brink by the interventions from officers from Kent, from Humberside, from Norfolk, South Wales, West Yorkshire.

    And stories of officers from Cambridge and North Wales, Nottinghamshire, South Yorkshire, dealing with apparently routine cases, issues that they were responding to, suddenly found themselves dealing with the most serious and deadly situations that they had to respond to with the utmost calm as well.

    And if the stories tell us anything, it’s the way in which all of you need to respond and be ready to respond to anything that you face, whether it’s the off duty officers in Lancashire or Southall breaking up fights in the street. Or in Cleveland, Cumbria, West Mercia, West Midlands, dealing with the mobs or gas explosions or speeding vehicles or dangerous dogs. Or in Northumbria, responding to the disgraceful disorder that broke out on the streets last summer.

    I am so sorry that so many of you who had to deal with frankly that disgraceful way, you should never have had to face the attacks on police officers by mobs, by missiles, and I will always back you in the job that you do to keep people safe.

    I think what the awards also show us is the fine line, the close margins between the miracles and the tragedies, and between the lives that you were able to save and the lives that no one could have saved.

    But you were still there, and you still did your best to help them, and the stories that we have this evening from Avon and Somerset, from Dyfed-Powys, from Gwent, from Northamptonshire and Warwickshire of officers trying to rescue individuals trapped in the most terrible of situations.

    So as we celebrate the lives that were saved, we also mourn the lives that were lost, and think of the victims too, and thank every officer for the incredible, incredible courage that was shown.

    And the same is true, perhaps most of all for our colleagues here this evening from Merseyside police, and I know they would give anything not to be in the room tonight and not to have their story be one of those that we once again, remember or be forced to relive that awful day once again.

    But we all know, and we’re all so grateful, because it was if it was not for you, and if it was not for your courage or the instinct that told you and your colleagues to run towards danger that day, there would be many more mums and dads in Southport today without their little girls to hold.

    So it’s a reminder, it’s a recognition of what something Sir Robert Peel said in a speech in Parliament 180 years ago when he talked about recognising the very best of public service, but also recognising you and through you, all of those that you work with too, because the service you have given, in his words, was “remembered, marked and honoured by a grateful country.”

    So I’m hugely grateful, but I say this on behalf of people right across the country. We’re hugely grateful for the bravery that you’ve shown, not just to face the really difficult things, but also then to get back up the following morning and to face it all again.

    So thank you for doing that. Thank you for caring so much for the job that you do, and thank you so much for being part of the amazing thing that is British policing. Thank you for keeping us safe.

  • Keir Starmer – 2025 Comments on the UK-France Summit Press Conference

    Keir Starmer – 2025 Comments on the UK-France Summit Press Conference

    The comments made by Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, on 10 July 2025.

    Good afternoon. It’s a real pleasure to be here with President Macron, a firm friend to me personally – and a firm ally to the United Kingdom.

    We first met at the Élysée, I think about two years ago, before I came into office, when I was Leader of the Opposition.

    And it was clear to me then – that we had a shared sense of the dangerous times we’re living through.

    And of our responsibility to step up and to lead. We also share the fundamental belief that we serve our people better – create better jobs and opportunities.

    Make our nations stronger, fairer and more secure if we work together.

    And the State Visit has been a celebration of this relationship –

    Our unique bonds of history and of culture.

    And today, our task is to look forward.

    To deliver a step change in this partnership…

    To meet the challenges of this moment…

    And get the results that people want to see.

    Starting – first – with tackling illegal migration.

    Now, this is a global crisis, and it’s a European crisis….

    But it is also – very acutely…

    A crisis for our two nations –

    A crisis of law, security, humanity – and fairness.

    We face a sprawling, multibillion pound enterprise…

    Run by organised criminal gangs…

    Leading hundreds of people to their death in the Channel.

    So we are determined, together, to end this vile trade.

    There is no silver bullet here.

    But with a united effort…

    New tactics –

    And a new level of intent –

    We can finally turn the tables.

    So I’m pleased to announce our agreement today…

    On a groundbreaking returns pilot.

    For the very first time, migrants arriving via small boat…

    Will be detained…

    And returned to France –

    In short order.

    In exchange for every return,

    A different individual will be allowed to come here…

    Via a safe route, controlled and legal…

    Subject to strict security checks…

    And only open to those…

    Who have not tried to enter the UK illegally.

    This will show others trying to make the same journey…

    That it will be in vain.

    And the jobs they’ve been promised in the UK

    Will no longer exist –

    Because of the nationwide crackdown we’re delivering on illegal working –

    Which is on a completely unprecedented scale.

    The President and I have agreed that this pilot will be implemented in coming weeks.

    Now, I know some people will still ask –

    Why should we take anyone in?

    So let me address that directly.

    We accept genuine asylum seekers –

    Because it is right that we offer a haven to those in most dire need.

    But there is also something else here…

    Something more practical.

    Which is that we simply cannot solve a challenge like stopping the boats…

    By acting alone and telling our allies that we won’t play ball.

    That is why today’s agreement is so important…

    Because we will solve this…

    Like so many of our problems…

    By working together.

    Just look at the steps the French Government is planning…

    Subject to their ongoing Maritime review…

    To allow their officers to intervene in shallow waters…

    And prevent more boats from launching.

    This is a big step.

    I want to thank the President for driving it through.

    So this is our plan, together:

    Hard-headed, aggressive action on all fronts…

    To break the gangs’ business model –

    Secure our borders…

    And show that by attempting to reach the UK by small boat…

    Will only end in failure, detention and return.

    Second, we have also made real progress today on boosting jobs and growth…

    Building on our new agreement with the EU.

    We’re ambitious for what we can do together…

    As G7 economies…

    Close trading partners…

    And leaders in areas that will dominate in years to come.

    Together our countries account for over half of European spending on research and technology.

    So we’ve gone further today…

    Collaborating on satellite connectivity…

    Bringing together our leading supercomputers – to seize the opportunities created by AI…

    And bringing down barriers to trade and investment in strategic sectors.

    Just this week we’ve welcomed EDF’s major investment in Sizewell C –

    Which will create thousands of jobs,

    Boost our energy security,

    And protect billpayers for years to come.

    Third, we have strengthened our work…

    To stand together for European security, and in support of Ukraine –

    Because I’m clear –

    The security of the British people starts in Ukraine.

    We have just co-chaired a meeting of the Coalition of the Willing –

    Including representatives from the United States – for the first time.

    We announced plans for a new “Multinational Force Ukraine.”

    Headquartered in Paris –

    So that we’re ready to support a peace deal when it comes.

    But while Putin turns his back on peace…

    We are rallying more support for Ukraine right now…

    To defend their people – and force Putin to the table.

    Now, as Europe’s only nuclear powers…

    And as leaders in NATO…

    We play a vital role in preserving the peace and security on this continent.

    So today we have updated the historic Lancaster House treaty –

    To protect our people, and our way of life.

    This is a major modernisation.

    We are overhauling the Combined Joint Expeditionary Force –

    To make it five times larger…

    50,000 troops strong…

    Able to act across every domain.

    But we’re going further.

    This morning, we signed the Northwood Declaration.
    Confirming for the first time…

    That we are coordinating our independent nuclear deterrents.

    From today, our adversaries will know –

    That any extreme threat to this continent…

    Would prompt a response from our two nations.

    There is no greater demonstration of the importance of this relationship.

    And while we stand together for our collective defence…

    We must also deliver a defence dividend for working people.

    So we have agreed a deeper industrial partnership today…

    To bring our defence industries closer than ever before.

    We’re not just talking about stepping up…

    On defence, jobs and growth –

    We’re delivering it.

    Previous governments tried and failed to secure results like this.

    We can achieve them now…

    Because we have taken the time and care…

    To do the real work…

    The quiet, serious diplomacy…

    To build proper relationships…

    Which multiply our strength and the opportunities we enjoy.

    So Emmanuel, thank you so much for being here.

    We represent two fiercely proud and independent nations.

    But by working together…

    We are delivering for our people…

    And we are a force for good in a dangerous world.

    Thank you, Emmanuel, and over to you.

  • Keir Starmer – 2025 Comments at the British Museum

    Keir Starmer – 2025 Comments at the British Museum

    The comments made by Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, at the British Museum in London on 9 July 2025.

    It’s really fantastic to see you here and to just really take in this incredible place that is the British Museum, a world-class institution, which I’m really proud to say is also right in the heart of my constituencies, so welcome to my manor.

    Mr President, Emmanuel, Mrs Macron, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, you’re very, very welcome here and it is fantastic to see you. We have thousands of visitors here every day from all over the globe to admire the Museum’s incredible collection of world history all around us here, every single day. So it’s a real pleasure to welcome two special sets of guests this afternoon, our brilliant French guests and friends who are all here, but also young people representing the next generation and that is so important as we contemplate our history because I know just how important access to the arts, to culture and history is for the next generation.

    Its potential to spark the imagination. There’ll be very many people who come here and have their imagination sparked and that has put a light on for them and for so many other people to transform young people’s lives by bringing history and culture and art into it. And opening their eyes to new possibilities and opportunities and encourage them to reach the full extent of their ambitions and their talents. So no matter where you’re from or who you are, it’s here to bring us together to remind us of our shared history but also the common bonds that endure across languages, across borders and cultures – and that’s what today is all about, making sure that everyone can appreciate our incredible history, inviting young people to bridge our past and our future and igniting the passions and the talent of the next generation.

    And we are celebrating a brilliant initiative today. Everybody is walking around here with a smile on their face and when the President yesterday announced to both Houses what was going to be happening here there was a great cheer went up and that was representative I think of how this is being felt across the entire country.

    It is a brilliant initiative because what Emmanuel, my friend, announced yesterday, this cultural exchange between our two nations, two of the great treasures of our history, the priceless artefacts of Sutton Hoo, which we’ve just been to see upstairs, absolutely incredible story, incredible artefacts. And the Bayeux Tapestry, which means so much and again the smiles as people saw just the depiction on the wall behind me as we walked in tells you just how much this means. Because for Sutton Hoo 1,300 years ago in East Anglia, a wealthy man, we don’t know who it was, probably a King, was buried in a lavish funeral ceremony, an Anglo-Saxon era that of course was put to an end 300 years later by William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings, but it is an incredible piece of history that we have here just imagining what that must have been like changing our perception of that era of history frankly and bringing so much learning to us, and of course the Battle of Hastings illustrated by the remarkable Bayeux Tapestry – the beginning of a thousand years of shared culture that is now defined by mutual admiration and kinship, as well of course by some healthy competition as anyone who was watching the Euros on Saturday will attest, but that history, that long history forms the foundation of the European continent as we know it today. Now both these treasures contain stories of war and of peace, of power and of politics, alliances and enemies that we still know all too well in our modern world. They show us how connected our countries have always been, they deepen our appreciation of our shared history and enrich the relationship between our two nations today because we are now entering a new era of world history, a time of huge change and turmoil that has led to insecurity for so many people and in this new world our alliances are in my view more important than ever.

    The strength and solidarity of countries that share the same values, the same aims, the same hope for the future so just as we stood together in the last century to bring peace to Europe and it was a real privilege, Emmanuel, to mark Armistice Day in France, walking with you the same route as Churchill and de Gaulle once walked. Thank you so much again for that invitation to be there at that very special moment and today the UK is proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with France leading the coalition of the willing to support Ukraine, as well of course us working together to call for a sustainable peace in the Middle East. And at home we’re working together for our shared security and prosperity, creating jobs and growth for our people, tackling irregular migration, strengthening our defences to protect Europe from any threats, growing our economies and collaborating on the technologies of the future, and forging closer connections between our peoples with this cultural exchange, giving people across Britain the chance to admire a Bayeux Tapestry, and there will be so many people who will want to come here to see that as soon as they can, and people across France to enjoy the treasures of ancient England. Well timed for the thousandth anniversary of William the Conqueror’s birth in 2027, so as we look back together today we are also inspired to look forward towards the future and remember that it is for us to write our own chapter of history now as two nations who forged peace, made our people better off and remain the strongest of allies and the closest of friends and on that note it is a pleasure to welcome my friend, Mr President, Emmanuel, to speak to you today.

    Thank you so much.

  • Peter Kyle – 2025 Speech at the Google Cloud Summit London

    Peter Kyle – 2025 Speech at the Google Cloud Summit London

    The speech made by Peter Kyle, the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, at the Tobacco Docks in London on 9 July 2025.

    Thank you for having me, and thanks also for acknowledging the GOV.UK App, which I’m sure you’ve all downloaded.

    If you haven’t already, then you should be doing so now. And I don’t if you’re looking down at your phones while I’m speaking, if what you’re doing is downloading the GOV.UK App – which is already outselling the Bible on the app store, I’m reliably told.

    When I came into office a year ago, I was told to deliver an App, with a digital wallet, with a chatbot, and with a digital driving licence attached to it, I was told it couldn’t be done in one parliament, that it couldn’t be done in one 5 year period.

    My response was I’m sure Google and others don’t take that long to design and deploy their technology. Let me see a timeline.

    The timeline came back to me a week later, and it was now 3 years.

    We did all of this, the start of the deployment of GOV.UK App, within one year of government.

    Within 15 months, all of those services I’ve just outlined will be deployed and put to the benefit of citizens right around the country.

    And that for me is a source of huge pride, because we’ve used technology to wrap services around individual citizens needs.

    Right now, as all of you know, too often citizens are being wrapped around the needs of services themselves.

    And this is a profound change as we go forward.

    Now, sometimes I’m accused of being “too close to big tech”.

    And I could have no better place to have this argument out on the table with you now.

    In May, The Guardian criticised me for meeting with the sector 70% more than my predecessor. Now, to this crime, I plead guilty.

    In truth that was just 28 times over the course of a 6-month period, that equates to around twice a week over that time.

    As Technology Secretary I simply will not apologise for meeting with technology companies – that is the job.

    Just as meeting with the families of victims of social media, regulators, founders, overseas governments and the creative sector, it’s all part and parcel of what I’m paid to do on behalf of the people’s government.

    But I don’t do these meetings just because I’m paid to do it.

    I do them because they matter:

    keeping children safe or from social media – it matters;

    making sure Britain is the best prepared for developments at the frontier of AI – that matters;

    and securing better deals for the taxpayer for the billions of pounds spent every year on software, cloud services, devices and information technology – that matters.

    So today, I’m here to acknowledge our agreement for an entirely new way of working with Google – and how that will impact our public services.

    It’s an agreement that recognises our value as the UK government as a huge client to their organisation.

    And how important their technology is to help us deliver the changes to public services to make them more in-touch and more in-tune with citizens. And better value for money for taxpayers.

    The agreement signals and signifies our determination to exploit the full potential of a partnership between government and Google, with much more collaboration between their UK AI lab, DeepMind, and my own AI developers in my department, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology with a new digital centre of government.

    We’ve already used Gemini to build “Extract”, a specialist AI tool to help councils convert decades-old, handwritten planning documents and maps into data in minutes.

    It could be pivotal in our plans to stop bureaucracy from holding up the construction and ultimately help us build 1.5 million homes that we’ve pledged over this parliament.

    We know that tools using the same technology are capable of transforming Whitehall itself, the NHS, and other essential services that millions of people across our country rely on.

    So, with more hands-on support, I can’t wait to see what our 2 teams deliver together.

    Google are also aiming to train up 100,000 public sector professionals with the skills that they need to use this technology by 2030.

    That’s going to help us hit the target the Prime Minister set earlier this year, where we’ve committed to double the number of digital experts across government…

    …essential to shaking up decades old processes and making public services work in the way people expect services to work in the 2020s – whether that’s in the NHS, policing, benefits or tax.

    And, perhaps most importantly, we are looking to the sector to help shake off the legacy technology that costs the taxpayer an absolute fortune and leaves us vulnerable to outages and to cyberattacks.

    More than one in 4 public sector systems run on this “ball and chain” tech – rising to 70% in some police forces and NHS trusts.

    With contracts signed decades ago, and a high costs of exit, we’ve seen a few tech companies really taking liberties with the public sector.

    In the worst cases, contracts have made it impossible for public sector organisations to move on. They’ve locked up their data up in vulnerable, archaic servers…

    …only to have the price of maintaining the tech hiked up, year-on- year, with no sign of light at the end of the tunnel.

    Now, as Technology Secretary, I am determined to break free from these costly chains once and for all.

    Through agreements like this we can transition public sector organisations trapped by the ball and chain of legacy products and services, and to migrate to the cloud.

    That move alone will liberate public service organisations and use the latest technology, and more freely explore the wider market moving forward. That is what I am determined to do.

    All in all, this partnership could see Google invest hundreds of millions of pounds in Britain’s public sector technology.

    Helping to deliver my ambition to bring the public services people use every day, drag it into the 21st century.

    Without deals like this in place, we had hundreds of public sector organisations…

    …police forces, NHS trusts, local councils, government departments and many, many more…

    They were simply just going it alone in negotiations with big tech companies.

    And they just don’t have the experience and market clout they need to drive the best deal for taxpayers.

    They end up paying the full shop-front rate or even being entirely mis-sold tech that doesn’t work for them in the first place.

    But they’re all buying on behalf of the same client: you, the British taxpayer.

    And that taxpayer is footing the bill for an annual £21 billion for buying the same technology time and time again.

    That’s why I’m determined to secure a new deal for buying tech for the British taxpayer.

    For too long, too many governments haven’t done enough to build the positive business relationships that Britain needs to prevent the taxpayer being short changed when it comes to procuring tech – from healthcare services, policing systems right through to benefits processes, and bin collections, right down to street sweeping.

    Just as with Google on this strategy, when I negotiate with Tech companies, I am negotiating on behalf of the British taxpayer.

    Britain will be using technology in more areas and more than ever before.

    So, my message to big technology companies is clear: bring us your best ideas, bring us your best tech, and bring it at the best price.

    In return, you’ll get access to the biggest client in the country, one that will be increasingly intelligent and increasingly digital.

    And as we start to operate as a more intelligent buyer of technology, new opportunities are going to emerge.

    The first one that I’m pushing for, is to make sure that, whenever possible, UK technology companies- large and small – get a fair shot at winning a contract.

    Our upcoming marketplace – the national digital exchange – will make sure more and more UK tech companies can get their slice of the £21 billion pie.

    That means more money for companies operating here in the UK, workers and founders.

    It will help us to achieve the economic growth upon which Britain’s future prosperity lies. And it will improve the public services on which British citizens depend.

    Now I want to acknowledge the foresight of Google in signing this key agreement, and I want more to follow. I want it to stimulate many similar co-operation agreements with the full range of international and domestic technology companies.

    That is in the interests of higher economic growth, more jobs, better public services and greater value for taxpayers.

    Thank you very much for having me along today.

  • Jacqui Smith – 2025 Speech at the SKOPE Skills Summit

    Jacqui Smith – 2025 Speech at the SKOPE Skills Summit

    The speech made by Jacqui Smith, the Skills Minister, at Keble College, Oxford University on 4 July 2025.

    Introduction

    Good morning.

    Thank you for inviting me today.

    I am delighted to see the exciting work on skills education being led by SKOPE’s research on joined-up tertiary education systems.  It is being discussed across the sector.

    And I include government in that, as part of our commitment to evidence-based policymaking.

    It’s a pleasure to be back in Oxford, where I studied all those years ago.

    I was at Hertford, 5 minutes down the road, a college with a proud tradition of inclusion. I was a beneficiary of the Hertford Scheme to encourage state school pupils to apply.

    I hardly dared hope on a snowy December day in 1980 that I could be the first person from my Worcestershire comprehensive to study here.

    It was Hertford, with its pioneering approach to outreach, that gave me the confidence to apply.

    Starting in 1965, it dramatically raised the college’s academic standards and performance.

    In fact, at one point, the university threatened to disassociate Hertford for unfairly ‘poaching’ the best students!

    But many colleges set up similar schemes to emulate its success, before admissions were finally standardised in 1984.

    Why am I telling you this?

    Because it shows that breaking down barriers to opportunity is the key to success.

    For Oxford to succeed, it must welcome-in the best talent, from across the whole population.

    Challenging Oxford

    Oxford recently released their state school admissions data for 2024.

    And the results were poor.

    66.2% – the lowest entry rate since 2019.

    I want to be clear, speaking at an Oxford college today, that this is unacceptable.

    The university must do better.

    The independent sector educates around 6% of school children in the UK.

    But they make-up 33.8% of Oxford entrants.

    Do you really think you’re finding the cream of the crop, if a third of your students come from 6% of the population?

    It’s absurd.

    Arcane, even.

    And it can’t continue.

    It’s because I care about Oxford and I understand the difference that it can make to people’s lives that I’m challenging you to do better.  But it certainly isn’t only Oxford that has much further to go in ensuring access.

    For example, it is shocking how few care leavers attend university, let alone this one!

    Just 14% enter higher education, and they are more than twice as likely to drop-out.

    University entry is supposed to be a meritocracy.

    But there’s still an awful lot of untapped talent out there.

    People with the potential to soar in higher education.

    Universities have got to go further.

    Play a stronger role in expanding access, and improve outcomes for disadvantaged students.

    And this must include more support for care leavers, some of the most vulnerable people in our society.

    I welcome Oxford’s recent commitment, along with other Russell Group universities, to do more for students who grew-up in care.

    And to increase your admissions transparency, and use of contextual admissions.

    I look forward to seeing some tangible outcomes from this pledge.

    I’m not looking for tinkering at the edges. A leg-up here, a bursary there.

    As a Labour government, we want Big Picture change.

    This is about individual opportunity, but it matters across government,

    from education, to health, to the economy. Just yesterday, Wes and Bridget have set out how we’re asking universities to do more to support our mission to break down the barriers to opportunity.  We’re looking at better transparency over university admissions, starting with publishing data on medical schools’ admission of those from lower socio-economic backgrounds.

    We must strive to ensure, from early years all the way through to higher education, that background never equals destiny.

    And that’s where our Post-16 Education and Skills Strategy comes in.

    The Post-16 Education and Skills Strategy

    We will publish the strategy soon.

    It will include our vision for a world-leading skills system.

    One that takes a whole-system, mission-driven approach to breaking down barriers to opportunity to unleash growth.

    This means:

    • A more focused skills system, underpinned by Skills England’s national view of skills needs.
    • Clear, high-quality qualifications that ensure every learner has a clear route to further study or work.
    • Firm foundations, putting the system on a financially stable footing that supports strategic specialisation.

    And finally,

    • A new culture of ‘skills first’ where it is everyone’s responsibility – individuals, employers, and the state – to ensure workers reskill and upskill throughout their lives.

    This will boost personal and national prosperity, and reduce reliance on migration to fill skills gaps.

    What do we need to do to achieve this?

    First, there needs to be a renewed partnership between government and business.

    This means both local and central government working with business to identify skills gaps and develop solutions.

    We’ve heard the calls for more flexibility in the skills offer by introducing foundation and short apprenticeships.

    Now we’re going further with new short courses from April 2026, funded through the Growth and Skills Levy, in areas such as digital, artificial intelligence and engineering.

    These support priority sectors named in our Industrial Strategy, like the Creative Industries and Advanced Manufacturing.

    Because we recognise the importance of key sectors to delivering our Industrial Strategy and our Plan for Change.

    That’s why we’ve adopted a sector-based approach to address key skills needs.

    We started with our construction skills package, worth £625 million.

    To train up to 60,000 extra construction workers – crucial for delivering on our pledge to build 1.5 million new homes.

    We announced a further three further packages in the Industrial Strategy:

    • An Engineering package worth over £100 million, to support the pipeline of engineers into priority sectors like Advanced Manufacturing,
    • Clean Energy Industries, and Digital Technology.
    • A Defence package that is foundational for national security and economic growth,
      including establishing Defence Technical Excellence Colleges.
    • And a Digital package, including £187 million investment for digital and AI skills,
      and a commitment to train 7.5 million UK workers in essential AI skills
      by 2030, through a new industry partnership with major tech players.

    Raising the prestige of Further Education

    We understand that the economy needs both technical skills and academic disciplines in order to grow.

    It’s not a zero sum game – because both have so much to offer our people and our economy.

    And, dare I say it, much to learn from each other!

    Further education needs to emerge from the shadow of Higher Education as an equal partner.

    That means positive prominence in careers advice.

    And public recognition that’s long overdue.

    Technical education needs to be a respected alternative to academic pathways.

    And Technical Excellence Colleges will be at the heart of this.

    Only when there is parity, will we secure high-quality post-16 routes for all learners, rather than the lucky few.

    For learners from 16-19, we will be guided by the independent  Curriculum and Assessment Review, set to publish this autumn.

    High esteem follows high-quality teaching and student outcomes.

    We will provide funding to recruit and retain high-quality Further Education teachers, especially for courses delivering scarce skills to priority sectors.

    And this is backed by funding secured at the recent Spending Review.

    We are investing £1.2 billion a year more in skills by 2028-29, alongside over £2 billion of capital investment in skills to support the condition and capacity of the estate.

    Strengthening Higher Education’s role within the skills system I said earlier that Further Education needs to be an equal partner of Higher Education. Since we came into Government in July, we’ve ended the culture of talking down universities, and dismissing the opportunities higher education provides.

    We’re doing quite the opposite, working with you to:

    • drive up standards;
    • maintain our position as a world-class beacon of excellence;
    • build on a proud history of innovation and brilliance in higher education.

    But as the world changes, so must our higher education system.

    We cannot allow the town and gown divide to widen, and for universities and their communities to drift.

    We need collaboration, partnership, and mutual respect.

    Higher Education needs to reach out and play a bigger role in the skills system.

    Because ‘high-quality post-16 routes for all learners’ doesn’t necessarily mean they must choose between HE and FE.

    Our analysis shows the majority of the future skills we’ll need will be at higher levels.

    This means technical students will need access to cutting-edge facilities and courses, as they build their qualifications.

    So the artificial barriers between Further and Higher Education must come down – in a coordinated, effective way.

    And this will be facilitated by the Lifelong Learning Entitlement.

    The Lifelong Learning Entitlement

    The ability to learn across our working lives is no longer just admirable, or valuable. It’s essential.

    People aren’t just working for longer.

    They are changing roles and careers more frequently.

    And the skills needed for those roles are also evolving rapidly.

    Yet despite all this change, the student finance system still largely operates on the assumption that learning only happens early in life.

    To break down the barriers to opportunity, we must support learning at every stage of life.

    This is exactly what the Lifelong Learning Entitlement – or LLE – will do, offering choice, flexibility and opportunity to adults across their working lives.

    From January 2027, the LLE will replace the student finance system.

    It will continue to fund students entering higher education to take traditional degrees.

    But it will also fund new, flexible modular pathways, widening student finance to a broader range of courses and learners.

    That includes those returning to education later in life, who may be working whilst studying. Providing flexibility around personal commitments like caring responsibilities.

    What does means in practice?

    I want you to imagine Sarah, a full-time receptionist and mother who decides she wants a career change. However, Sarah is concerned about committing to studying full-time, as her family is still growing, and she is struggling to take out time to pursue retraining in computer science.

    Through the LLE and the funding of individual modules, Sarah will be able to study one module at a time, to build up her credits over time, alongside her work and family commitments.

    The LLE will not just change the type of provision on offer.

    It also has the potential to transform how employers work with providers to train and recruit staff, allowing modular top-up to build or update their skills.

    We’re already seeing this play out through our modular acceleration programme.

    We want education providers to innovate in how they respond to the new model, so that lifelong upskilling becomes accessible and unremarkable.

    At the same time, employers must be active partners in LLE provision, co-designing flexible courses that create accessible pathways into the workforce.

    We will shortly set-out the final policy design of the LLE, so FE and HE providers can plan for this transformational change.

    Improving local join-up

    The final thing we must do to widen opportunity and build growth is better local join-up. This means strategic collaboration between local education providers, employers, research hubs and health services.

    We set the scene at the end of last year with our ‘Get Britain Working’ and ‘English Devolution’ White Papers.

    These described how mayors and Local Growth Plans will play a key role in shaping their regional skills systems. Local Get Britain Working plans will drive joined-up action to reduce economic inactivity, and take forward our Youth Guarantee.

    This is key for ensuring young people in difficult circumstances are supported to achieve good qualifications and good employment.

    The skills system is at its most effective when detailed local understanding is matched with insight from local employers and training providers.

    Many young adults face complex barriers to engaging with skills courses; an estimated 1 in 8 young people are NEET – not in education, employment or training.

    Improving the accessibility of training will be crucial to reducing the number of NEETs,.

    But to bring them into the fold, you have to understand local barriers as well as national, systemic issues.

    Further Education colleges often do this well by working with many local partners. They are big participants in Local Skills Improvement Plans (or LSIPs).

    These collaborations identify and respond to gaps in skills provision, giving employers a more strategic role in the system.

    I believe in LSIPs because they facilitate partnership

    Early evidence shows Plans are already having an impact, raising the number of learners training in priority sectors – with more employers telling us that local skills provision meets their needs.

    But we must go further to join-up local systems to drive opportunity and growth.

    Which bring me back to universities.

    Discussions on LSIPs should involve all local providers, and all levels of education – including up to Doctorate level!

    If your university offers a course that relates to your local skills offer, or local employers, you have something to contribute to these discussions.

    And to the outcomes of local students studying beyond your campus, in neighbouring colleges.

    And let’s not forget the role of research and innovation.

    Universities are renowned for delivering solutions to global challenges.

    But this also happens at a local level, as seen with the Oxford Local Policy Lab.

    HE also brings new ideas to market, through start-ups and partnerships with industry.

    Whichever way you look at it, Higher Education has a huge role in driving local growth and opportunity.

    You need to be part of this conversation.

    Universities involved in local growth

    And this is not just some government aspiration!

    There are plenty of examples of institutions stepping-up to play their part.

    The London South Bank University group acts as an anchor institution within the local education community. It brings together FE colleges, sixth form colleges and employers – particularly the NHS – to ensure a truly collaborative approach to education, training and skills provision.

    You’ll hear later from Professor Kathryn Mitchell, Vice Chancellor of Derby University.

    They work closely with FE colleges and local employers, particularly Rolls Royce to ensure clear links between education and the labour market.

    And in the North East, organisations like Sunderland Software City are leading the tech industry to match local education and training provision with regional requirements.

    It’s great to see – and shows just what university participation in inclusive growth can do for the local economy and community.

    Conclusion

    I know I’m not alone here in admiring this, and wanting change.

    Many people in this room who are working to make Further and Higher Education better – to better serve our people and our nation.

    I’d like to thank you for your innovation and dedication to this – which can sometimes be uphill work!

    I’m grateful to SKOPE, who’ve worked with my officials to share their expertise in developing our Post-16 Education and Skills Strategy.

    And to the Nuffield Foundation for helping to fund SKOPE’s research.

    The strategy is just the beginning, by the way!

    The different parts of the system will need to work together to meet its vision.

    To bring about a fairer society, where everyone has the chance to gain good qualifications, get a good job, support their family, and contribute to their community and our economy.

    Let’s make it happen!

    Thank you.