Tag: Speeches

  • Jonathan Reynolds – 2022 Speech to Labour Party Conference

    Jonathan Reynolds – 2022 Speech to Labour Party Conference

    The speech made by Jonathan Reynolds on 26 September 2022.

    Conference, thank you for the chance to address you today.

    We meet at a time when the challenges facing our country feel very grave indeed. When you’re worried about how your communities and your families will get through the months ahead.

    I know it is hard to feel optimistic when things are so tough. But serving in this role has given me cause for hope.

    I believe a fresh start with Labour can rebuild this country.

    I’m thinking of the steelworkers I met in Port Talbot who are ready to make the green steel customers want.

    The automotive workers in my hometown of Sunderland who have the skills to make the electric cars we need.

    The scientists I met at Imperial College who have the ideas to solve some of our greatest challenges.

    We’ve got some brilliant people in this country. But what we don’t have is a government committed to a domestic steel sector or to building the battery factories we need.

    We don’t have a government who values the collaboration of scientists across Europe.

    We simply don’t have a government on people’s side.

    That is what we must change.

    There was a time when the Tories believed they were ‘the party of business’. Now they are just in the business of parties.

    After twelve years of misrule, they have failed British business. On their watch business investment is the lowest in the G7, economic growth is set to be the lowest in the G7. We’ve had the worst squeeze to real wages of any country in the G7.

    Don’t just take make my word for it. Ask them. They admit it.

    The new Chancellor said they have presided over a ‘vicious circle of stagnation’. The new Prime Minister said our public services are in a state.

    Frankly, when the Tories find out whose been running this country for the last 12 years, they are going to be furious!

    This is now the big choice in British politics. Everyone agrees the last 12 years have been awful.
    The difference is we choose to look to the future while the Conservatives are dusting off the failed policies of the past.

    In the face of an energy crisis, a business investment crisis, a climate crisis who do they pick to meet these challenges? Jacob Rees-Mogg!

    One newspaper said he was better suited to running a museum than the business department. Frankly, museums are far too important for that.

    Now the Tories want to claim they’ve got the answer to the problems they created – higher bankers bonuses, cuts to corporation tax, ‘deregulation’, picking fights and divisive politics. It won’t work.

    George Osbourne’s cuts to corporation tax didn’t increase business investment and we all know what ‘deregulation’ is code for. Cuts to working people’s rights, cuts to environmental standards so more sewage ends up in our rivers and a race to the bottom which good businesses and working people never win.

    Now I agree with the Tories on one thing – the last 12 years have been a disaster. But while they want to double down on their mistakes we’ve got a real plan to make it better.

    Conference I am pleased to announce today that we are launching Labour’s industrial strategy and it’s a real industrial strategy – with ambition and the means to achieve it.

    Our Industrial Strategy will deliver clean power by 2030, taking the action needed on the climate emergency and keeping good jobs in Britain for decades to come.

    We will harness data for the public good ensuring it isn’t just held by corporate gatekeepers but used to benefit us all.

    We will bolster our national resilience ensuring our supply chains and working people are never again left so exposed to global shocks.

    Finally we will value the care sector for what it is – an essential part of our economy, ending the job insecurity too often associated with this vital work.

    Policies like fair pay agreements will be to the next Labour government what the National Minimum Wage was to the last one.

    And Conference I pledge to you now, there will never, ever be a scandal like P&O Ferries, under a Labour Government.

    Because a proper Industrial strategy, our new deal for working people, our reform of business rates, our targets for greater spending on research and science. These provide the real alternative the country needs.

    Labour knows that is how you grow the economy. Not on the backs of working people or rewarding bad practice. But through vision, leadership and real partnership to make economic success a reality.

    No-one can deny Britain faces significant challenges. But rather than shrink from these challenges, the role of government is to meet them head on.

    Many of you lived through the 80s when Tory Governments left people on their own in the face of massive industrial change.

    We cannot – and we must not – allow this generation of Tories to do the same in response to the challenges we face today.

    Good work, good wages, a fairer, greener future. That is what we can deliver.

    And I ask for your support, to make it happen.

    Thank you, Conference.

  • Ed Miliband – 2022 Speech to Labour Party Conference

    Ed Miliband – 2022 Speech to Labour Party Conference

    The speech made by Ed Miliband on 26 September 2022.

    Friends, I want to start by thanking my ministerial team Kerry McCarthy and Alan Whitehead and I congratulate all the delegates who have spoken in this economic debate.

    What we have heard is one guiding idea – Labour’s mission of an economy built by the many for the many.

    What a contrast with that extreme, trickle-down Tory Budget last week – for bankers and millionaires, a vision of an economy built by the few for the few.

    We owe it to the country to defeat this lot at the next general election.
    Now we meet here amidst three emergencies.

    A cost of living and energy bills crisis affecting millions of families and businesses.

    An energy security crisis borne of a decade of Tory neglect and exposed by Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

    And the climate crisis which came to Britain this summer with our first ever 40-degree day.

    These emergencies demand the boldest of leadership.

    These emergencies demand an energy policy for the people and the planet.

    I say these emergencies demand a Labour government.

    Let’s start with energy bills.

    Labour led the way in January with the call for a windfall tax.

    Labour led the way in August with the call for an energy price freeze.

    Now Liz Truss said she won’t have a windfall tax because she says it is a “Labour idea”.

    For the first time in recorded history, Liz Truss has got something exactly right.

    The windfall tax is a Labour idea.

    Standing up to the big vested interests, the rich and powerful, so we can help the people of Britain in their moment of need.

    An energy policy for the people and the planet, not the oil and gas companies.

    Labour ideas, Labour values, Labour principles.

    Now the crises we face might seem very different but they all come from one source:
    The climate and nature crisis is caused by our burning of fossil fuels.

    The energy bills crisis is caused by the fact we are exposed to the rollercoaster of fossil fuel prices wherever we get our gas from.

    And the crisis of energy security comes from the scramble for gas triggered by global events.

    So all these crises have the same ultimate cause: our dependence on fossil fuels.

    And all of them have the same solution.

    Low-cost, homegrown zero carbon power.

    The price of solar and wind energy is nine times less than that of gas.

    This is the defining truth of our age.

    This is the undeniable truth of our age.

    It is cheaper to save the planet than destroy it.

    That’s why for bills, for security and for climate, I am proud to announce a Labour government will make Britain the first major country in the world to set and achieve the target of zero-carbon power by 2030.

    The essential foundation of the drive to net zero.

    Britain a clean energy superpower.

    Saving £93 billion off bills.

    And we will do it by sweeping away Tory dogma that is holding our country back. It is within our grasp. Isn’t it? Let’s hear it for doubling onshore wind, trebling solar power, quadrupling offshore wind, tidal power, nuclear, hydrogen power and all underpinned by the best investment we can make – £60 billion over a decade to insulate 19 million cold, draughty homes, saving £1000 off bills, cutting carbon emissions, and led by our brilliant Labour local authorities.

    That is what I mean by an energy policy for the people and the planet.

    Now can the Tories deliver it? Of course not.

    They tell us that after 12 years in power, after all their promises, after all their hot air, after four Tory Prime Ministers.

    They say and I’m not making this up “the energy system is broken”.

    Friends, who broke the energy system?
    They did.
    Who banned onshore wind in England leading to higher gas imports and more expensive energy?
    They did.
    Who said cut the green crap and drove up bills?
    They did.
    Who cut home insulation to twenty times less than under Labour?
    They did.
    Who deregulated the energy market leaving 32 companies to go bust?
    They did.

    If you want to mend the broken energy system, I’ve got an idea: let’s start by getting rid of the Tories who broke it.

    And it gets worse.

    Under Liz Truss, fracking is back.

    The Tories banned fracking in 2019 because they said it was dangerous.

    Now they’ve moved the goalposts: moderate earthquakes are just fine.

    Let every Tory MP and candidate be asked: where do you stand on dangerous, expensive fracking?
    On breaking your manifesto promise?
    On the safety of your constituents?

    Let them try and sell their charter for earthquakes to the people of Lancashire, Yorkshire, the Midlands, and communities across our country.

    We will hold them to account on behalf of the people of Britain.

    And who do they solemnly say should be entrusted to look after the future of our planet, entrusted with the fates of your children and grandchildren?
    Jacob Rees-Mogg
    19th Century Mogg.

    A man who says we must extract “every last drop” of oil and gas, even though it would mean 3 degrees of global warming.

    A man who says, “Trying to forecast the climate is unrealistic. The cost is probably unaffordable.”

    Let’s say it like it is: this is dangerous, climate denial.

    If you want an energy policy for the 1820s, Jacob Rees-Mogg sure is your man.

    If you want one for the 2020s, we need a Labour government.

    And I tell you this, our plans are not just about transforming our energy system, they’re about transforming our economy too.

    There is a global race for the jobs of the future and Britain under the Tories is losing it.
    Let me tell you about ITM Power in Sheffield.

    It is one of the world leaders in the hydrogen industry.

    They have plans to build a new factory.

    They were looking at the UK, but seeing the lack of support from this government, they now plan to go overseas.

    I say it must and it will be different under a Labour government.

    It’s time to invest and build the wealth of this country.

    Invest and ensure good jobs at good wages with strong trade unions.

    It’s time to invest in Britain again.

    That’s why Rachel Reeves and I are today announcing a new institution that will take back control of Britain’s economic destiny.

    Working with business, government as partner, investor and, yes shareholder.

    A new National Wealth Fund for Britain to lead the world in hydrogen.
    Lead the world in the EV revolution from the North East to the West Midlands.
    Lead the world in green steel from Port Talbot to Scunthorpe.
    Lead the world in decarbonising industry from here on Merseyside to Grangemouth.
    Lead the world in jobs in wind energy from the South West to Scotland.

    That’s what I mean by the green industrial revolution.
    That’s what I mean by a green new deal.
    That’s what I mean by an energy policy for the people and the planet.

    And it cuts to a deeper truth: the goal of the next Labour government won’t just be to tinker round the edges.

    The hour is too late, the moment is too serious.

    The next Labour government will deliver fundamental reform to the institutions of our economy.

    An economy built by the working people for working people.

    As it says on the party card: wealth, power and opportunity in the hands of the many not the few.

    So here is the election choice.

    Lower energy bills with Labour, higher bills under the Tories.

    Energy security with Labour, energy insecurity under the Tories.

    Millions of green jobs with Labour, the opportunities squandered under the Tories.

    Leading the world again in tackling the climate crisis with Labour, climate delay, denial and destruction under the Tories.

    These are the stakes.

    So don’t let anyone tell you all parties are the same.

    Don’t let anyone tell you politics doesn’t matter.

    Don’t let anyone tell you nothing will change whoever you vote for.

    This is our mission.

    This is our chance.

    Let’s protect the people and the planet.

    Let’s rise to this moment, let’s lead and together transform our country.

  • Louise Haigh – 2022 Speech to Labour Party Conference

    Louise Haigh – 2022 Speech to Labour Party Conference

    The speech made by Louise Haigh, the Shadow Secretary of State for Transport, on 26 September 2022.

    Thank you, Conference  .

    It’s great to be together again and I have to say, it’s little short of a miracle so many of you managed to get here over the weekend given the current state of our public transport.

    Record delays, overcrowding, routes and services slashed week on week.

    We have a system where the public have come last for too long.

    And we know there is too much at stake for the country and the climate to carry on with this shambles.

    Where broken promises on public transport hold our country back.

    Where services connecting our major cities are slashed without warning by unaccountable private operators.

    And where the public pay ever more for less.

    Because if many millions - let down by services they can no longer rely on – cannot or will not use public transport then – quite simply – there is no path to net zero.

    And we will never build the fairer, greener future our country demands.

    That’s why my number one priority as your Secretary of State will be ending this spiral of decline on our public transport system.

    When the Victorians laid the foundations for our modern railway, it was a vote of confidence in Britain’s future.

    Today there are new challenges that demand the same ambition.

    No less than sixty times the Conservatives promised to connect our great Northern towns and cities and deliver Northern Powerhouse Rail.

    A once-in-a-century chance to invest in public transport - to transform opportunity across the whole country, rebalance our economy, and take millions of cars off the roads.

    And they flunked it.

    But while the Tories fail our country, Labour will seize this opportunity, and lay the foundations for the century to come.

    We will build an Elizabeth Line for the North and deliver Northern Powerhouse Rail and HS2 in full.

    But we know – we can only build a fairer, greener future by taking power from failing private operators and putting it back in the hands of the public.

    Avanti West Coast has become just the latest poster boy of the failing status quo.

    The worst performing operator in the country – half of all trains late, 60,000 complaints, and what have the Tories done in response?

    They handed them £19m including – and you couldn’t make this up – £4m in performance bonuses.

    Out of the pockets of the public, and directly into the hands of shareholders.

    Instead of holding those responsible to account for this fiasco – the Tories played their tired, old tune.

    They blamed the workers who keep our rail network going.

    But we know the truth conference.

    The workers aren’t failing the British public – the Tories and their disastrous rail system have catastrophically failed us all.

    Under the Conservatives, British railways have become a cash machine for companies and foreign governments.

    No matter the performance, failure will always be rewarded.

    The truth is, the Conservatives still worship the dogma that has let this country down.

    They will always give the operators one more chance.

    And shareholders one more pay-day.

    They will do whatever it takes to prop up a failed system.

    Because to do anything else would be to admit their ideology is wrong.

    Right across our transport system, we see the same failed dogma.

    No other country in the developed world allows private bus operators the power they enjoy here – to pick what routes they want and charge passengers whatever they wish.

    Entire communities cut off by decisions taken far away from the people they affect.

    5,000 bus services slashed nationwide since the Conservatives came to power.

    Fares have risen twice as fast as wages.

    And who relies on buses more than anyone else – the poorest in society.

    This cannot go on, things must change.

    And Labour in government will make sure they will.

    We will put the public back in control of the essential public transport they depend upon.

    We will give those communities that want it the power to set bus routes and fares, following the path set by our brilliant Mayors in Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire and here in Liverpool City Region.

    And we will end the ideological ban on communities establishing their own municipal bus companies.

    Conference, the days of tinkering around the edges of a system that has so clearly failed the public are over.

    That’s why an incoming Labour government will end this farce.

    We will end this failed experiment.

    We will cast aside the tired dogma that has failed passengers.

    We will improve services and lower fares.

    And yes conference, Labour in power will bring our railways back into public ownership as contracts expire.

    Because we believe in a public transport system where power is in the hands of the public.

    A system that serves– above all else – the public interest.

    Where lower fares, and more reliable services help reverse the spiral of decline.

    A system that can deliver economic, social and climate justice.

    Together, we can build it.

    So, now, let’s get out there, win power and make it happen!

  • Jonathan Ashworth – 2022 Speech to Labour Party Conference

    Jonathan Ashworth – 2022 Speech to Labour Party Conference

    The speech made by Jonathan Ashworth, the Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, on 26 September 2022.

    Last Friday’s Tory budget was the most unfair, the most unjust, the most unequal and the most divisive budget we’ve seen in our lifetimes.

    I ask you, what kind of a government is it who, when pensioners shiver in the cold, hands tax breaks to the wealthy that no ordinary person could ever dream of?

    What type of government is it, who when parents queue at foodbanks, tells mothers there is no help to feed their hungry children but there’s money to lavish tax cuts on bankers and billionaires?

    That budget was proof, if ever it was needed, that we speak for Britain in saying a new government is needed and we need a Labour government now.

    When workers see their pay packets cut, disabled people live in fear, when women working part time face sanctions, these Tories protect the gas and oil profits, instead of protecting the poor.

    I tell you we speak for Britain in saying we need Keir Starmer as Prime Minister now.

    These Tories tell us that after 12 years of their own stagnation they now have a plan for growth but all they’ve given us is a plan to grow more poverty, hunger and despair.

    They tell us they are ripping up the orthodoxy but it’s the same old Tory orthodoxy back – that wealth will trickle down and a rising tide lifts all.

    We’ve seen that story before. It means more sinking beneath the waves. It sees pay and conditions worsen. It leads to the offensive, grotesque fiction of Ministers telling us that to make bankers work harder, pay them more but to make working people work harder, pay them less.

    Friends, doesn’t that tell you it’s time for change, time for fairness. Friedns, it’s time for Labour.

    And it renders social security so threadbare, that food banks are now the safety net and churches turn their halls into ‘warm banks’.

    I thank those running them. But we seek government to create a society where foodbanks are no longer needed. Because we shouldn’t have to rely on charities to feed children and keep pensioners warm.

    This isn’t the way, as Rachel Reeves says, to secure growth in our economy. Because you can’t build sustainable growth when so many are left behind.

    What we need is an economy of all talents with full and fulfilling employment. Worklessness is such a waste.

    I remember queuing with my dad at the dole in the 80s, I remember the desperate look on faces.

    So for young people not in work or training and the thousands of over 50s now not in jobs but want one, we will reform Jobcentres and employment services to help more people into work as we target our ambition of the highest employment in the G7.

    We’ll do it, not through Tory threats or sanctions. But through active help with training, coaching and support for those who need it.

    We’ll do it not by wasting money on big outsourcing corporations but instead delivered on the ground, in partnership with community groups, local authorities and services like the NHS.

    And we’ll insist these jobs adhere to a very simple principle that when people work for a living, they should be paid a decent living wage as we tackle in-work poverty too.

    And we’ll reform, overhaul and replace the Tory Universal Credit system. We’ll treat people with dignity, not burden them with impossible debts, support children not punish them and we’ll reinstate a principle Labour has championed since the days of Barbara Castle but ditched by the Tories, the financial independence of women should be protected in our social security system too.

    A few weeks ago, I received this letter from a mother:

    “Sorry, it took so long to post after writing: I struggled to justify the price of the stamp.

    “My babies are sound asleep but I cannot sleep: I sit awake terrified for their future.

    “I am stressing about what to feed my kids tomorrow.

    “What is going to be done, Mr Ashworth?”

    What is to be done, Mr Ashworth?

    What sort of a government ignores pleas like that? I’ve known hardship and how it seeps through every aspect of your being. Consumes every decision.

    How it excludes from the necessaries, comforts and pleasures of society and haunts for the rest of your life. Children never forget going to school hungry and ill clad.

    We’re one the biggest economies in the world yet 4 million children live in poverty and tonight, thousands of children hungry, cold and have no bed to sleep in at all. It doesn’t have to be like this.

    Social inequality need not be etched into the landscape of this nation. Defeating child poverty is the obligation our generation owes to the next.

    Never forget Labour in government lifted millions of children out of poverty before and that’s the change we can make again.

    So, friends, this is our mission:

    Full employment and decent pay;

    Security in retirement;

    A better world for our children;

    Because as Nelson Mandela said:

    “Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity but an act of justice.”

    Let us rise to that cause and build a future of opportunity, fairness and justice for all.

  • Keir Starmer – 2022 Tribute to HM Queen Elizabeth II at Labour Party Conference

    Keir Starmer – 2022 Tribute to HM Queen Elizabeth II at Labour Party Conference

    The tribute made by Keir Starmer, the Leader of the Opposition, on 25 September 2022.

    Conference, the Late Queen Elizabeth II was this great country’s greatest monarch. She created a special, personal relationship with all of us. A relationship based on service and devotion to our country. Even now, after the mourning period has passed it still feels impossible to imagine a Britain without her.

    Hardly any of us have ever known anything else. For us, the Late Queen has always been simply the Queen, the only Queen. Above all else, our Queen. And I am proud to lead our party’s tribute to her today.

    Because our Queen’s devotion to Britain was underpinned by one crucial understanding – she knew that the country she came to symbolise is bigger than any one individual or institution.

    Between the history we cherish and the present we own she was the thread. A reminder that our generational battle against the evil of fascism and the emergence of a new Britain out of the rubble of the Second World War don’t belong only to the past but are the inheritance of each and every one of us.

    An example that taught us that whatever challenges we face, the value of service endures. And a reminder that the creativity, the hard work, the enterprise that defines this nation is as abundant now as it ever was.

    That the prospect of a better future still burns brightly. That’s why the people came in their droves to pay their respects.

    So conference, as we enter a new era, lets commit to honouring the late Queen’s memory. Let’s turn our collar up and face the storm, keep alive the spirit of public service she embodied and let it drive us towards a better future.

    For seventy years, Queen Elizabeth II stood as head of our country. But, in spirit, she stood amongst us.

    So please join me in paying tribute to the Late Queen.

  • Shabana Mahmood – 2022 Speech to Labour Party Conference

    Shabana Mahmood – 2022 Speech to Labour Party Conference

    The speech made by Shabana Mahmood, the National Labour Campaign Co-ordinator, on 25 September 2022.

    Good afternoon, Conference.

    As your National Campaign Coordinator, it is my great pleasure to report that, after a decade of defeat, decline and embarrassment at the ballot box – the Labour Party is back on its feet.

    Keir appointed me over a year ago and I know how lucky I am to have this fantastic job. It has taken me all over the country – from Scotland to the south coast, from Wales to Wakefield.

    But I have to let you into a little secret Conference. No matter where I go there are always two constants.

    The first is that this job is completely incompatible with any kind of diet! It’s been catastrophic for my waistline, something I’m sure my predecessors will attest to! You’ll all be familiar with the campaign diet, which is now my daily reality. The long days, late nights and trips around the country mean that healthy eating is now basically out of the window.

    The problems with food don’t end there. I had lunch recently with a very senior Labour figure and we were discussing the massive electoral challenges facing our party. Our debate was punctuated with his offering of food from the prepared spread – different breads and cheeses, all very nice.

    The stumbling block was his repeated offer of the ham that he’d bought which, as a Muslim, is obviously a total no go! It was all very embarrassing and I was desperate not to cause any offence.

    Conference, I am willing to sacrifice my waistline for the general election but not so much my place in heaven.

    Second, and I want to say this as delicately as I can, anyone who wants a seat in Parliament seems rather adept at tracking me down to lobby me. No matter where I go, in every part of the country they seem to have a special GPS and beat a path to my door. In fact, I’ve been lobbied for various seats three times in the ladies’ loo already this morning.

    So anyone planning to grab five minutes with me over the next few days be warned: I have no shame in taking the credit for anyone’s future success wherever I can but I have to level with you, I actually have no power over who gets selected.

    But Conference, those are small prices to pay for such an important role.

    And in this role my priority is getting the party ready for a general election. This has mostly been about the organisation, our party machine. And I want to say a special word of thanks to my deputy, Conor McGinn, for the work he’s done and the difference he’s made over the last year

    Winning in May’s local elections was a key milestone. Our machine has been fine-tuned. This was evident both in May and in the by-elections we have contested over the last year.

    We have seen significant progress, not least in those so called Red Wall seats. Based on this year’s results we’d be winning back seats we lost in 2019 and more besides. We’re competitive in seats we thought were out of reach, certainly in the short term.

    And the significance of Labour’s victory in the Wakefield by-election cannot be downplayed. We exceeded expectations in a seat that illustrated the crushing move away from Labour in 2019. Winning back a seat like Wakefield is a huge deal.

    Our majority was the highest we have ever had in that seat. So a massive well done to the whole team and in particular Simon Lightwood – our newest MP.

    Voters in Wakefield backed a confident, renewed Labour Party that proved it had the ideas and drive to appeal to working people. We were side by side with local people in Wakefield, taking on the issues that mattered to them.

    And we offered a clear choice between a failing government and a Labour Party that has listened since the 2019 general election and changed itself to acknowledge the bruising lessons we were taught.

    I am very pleased that we are winning and you should be too. You – and our activists across the party and across the country – are winning. The work you do matters; you are the beating heart of our party. You secured our results in May.

    And you delivered over 2 million conversations with voters – the most in any election campaign since our records began! I applaud the time and effort you give and I thank you for it. You have set a high standard and I want to maintain it.

    My hope is that one year from now I will stand here and report to you on how we won a general election.

    May’s results have us winning in Copeland, Great Grimsby, Hartlepool, Plymouth Moor View, Stevenage, Thurrock, West Bromwich East, West Bromwich West, Workington and Worcester.

    Fantastic. An absolutely fantastic position to be in. But conference, do you know what? That isn’t good enough.

    Those results would only give us 291 seats in Parliament. We would be the biggest party, sure. But that’s not good enough for me – and I know that is not good enough for you. It certainly isn’t good enough for the British people.

    I want a majority Labour government. We want a majority Labour government. Conference, Britain needs a majority Labour government.

    After our defeat in 2019 that looked impossible. But it is possible. We have done it before and we can do it again. And all over the world, centre-left parties are winning.

    Now, we’re going to talk about Labour’s road to Downing Street. To do that, I’m delighted to have with us, all the way from a stunning general election victory in May, Paul Erickson – National Secretary of the Australian Labor Party.

    But, before I talk to Paul, we’re going play a little video about the last time we came into government from opposition with a stunning Labour landslide.

    Conference, we can do this. We have done it before and we can do it again.

    The road to Downing Street runs through all those seats I mentioned earlier but if we want a Labour majority then we must also pass through Dudley, Blackpool and Uxbridge. And there’s no Labour majority without wins in Scotland and in Wales.

    We are selecting the candidates for each of these contests – and we have some of those fantastic candidates here with us today.

    They’re in the front row, so I’d like them to stand up, turn around so you can see them all – and conference please show your support for our brilliant candidates and future MPs. Thank you all of you and to all the candidates who couldn’t be here today.

    Conference, these are the people who we need to get elected to deliver a Labour government. They are the people we need to get behind if we are going to reach Downing Street.

    The road we must travel is long and there are many obstacles. No matter how finely tuned our party machine is, the organisation can’t outrun the politics. The politics has to set the pace.

    It is the politics that will win us the next election. Our organisation will not be found wanting but only the politics can build the coalition we need to win.

    And this impacts on all of you because I need you to get uncomfortable.

    If we are going to build that coalition then we have to talk and listen to the voters who aren’t with us yet. There is no ideological one size fits all. We must have uncomfortable conversations.

    We won’t build that coalition without talking, without discomfort and we won’t build it without compromise. That is a dynamic process. Every conversation teaches us something about where we are going, and how far we still have to go.

    But I know you can do it. When the general election comes, we will be ready.

    Now, you met our new army of trainee organisers earlier – they will reinforce our superb staff team providing a solid foundation for our campaign. Not just for the election before us but for many elections to come. You’ve met our candidates, the standard bearers in every seat. And we have you – the party’s most important asset. The people who deliver the leaflets, slog the streets and notch up millions of conversations with voters!

    The Tories can fool themselves as much as they want and they can bask in the false light of their latest leader. They need to know this – we are coming for them.

    The public is not fooled. Whether that’s in Ashfield, in South Thanet, in Carmarthen, or in Inverclyde. The Labour Party is on the road to Downing Street.

    Thank you Conference. See you on that road!

  • Anneliese Dodds – 2022 Speech to Labour Party Conference

    Anneliese Dodds – 2022 Speech to Labour Party Conference

    The speech made by Anneliese Dodds, the Chair of the Labour Party and Shadow Minister for Women and Equalities, on 25 September 2022.

    I want to start with some words of tribute to our late Queen, Elizabeth II. For seventy years, she devoted herself to our nation, the Commonwealth and the British people. She did so much to bring Britain together, through the good times and the bad.

    Our country made great strides for women’s equality during the Elizabethan era – from measures for equal pay to the legalisation of abortion to the passing of the Sex Discrimination and Equality Acts.

    Those changes only happened because of Labour Governments.

    What a contrast with the appalling inequality laid bare after twelve years of Tory-led governments.

    Conservative Governments have left women brutally exposed to the cost of living crisis and the current epidemic of violent crime.

    They have slashed support for disabled people and refused to uprate legacy benefits.

    They saw how Black, Asian and ethnic minority people were overexposed to the pandemic – only to patronise with claims that structural racism doesn’t even exist.

    And they binned their LGBT Action Plan, disbanded their LGBT Advisory Panel, and broke their promise to ban conversion therapy.

    Who owns this dreadful record?

    You probably missed it – she didn’t seem to notice herself – but the Minister for Women and Equalities for the last three years was… Liz Truss.

    A minister so dedicated to women that one of her first acts as Prime Minister was to scrap the dedicated role for women in Cabinet.

    A minister so steeped in Conservative failure that she sat on the Tory frontbench for ten long years.

    A minister who said nothing about all those Tory scandals – from the golden wallpaper squirrelled into Boris Johnson’s flat, to the suitcases of booze wheeled into Number 10, to the X-rated tractors beamed into the Commons chamber.

    We can’t expect change from a continuity Conservative leader.

    We can’t expect delivery from someone who’s failed to deliver.

    And we can’t expect fairness from someone who’s governed so unfairly.

    We can expect all those things from Labour.

    To women grafting day and night on incomes £200 less on average today than in 2010, I say: Labour will deliver a fairer future.

    To the half a million women waiting for gynaecological treatment, I say: Labour will deliver a fairer future.

    To female victims of the Tory epidemic of violence, misogyny and discrimination: Labour will deliver a fairer future.

    To the millions of disabled people facing fuel poverty, to the majority of Black children growing up in poverty, to LGBT+ people faced with the surge in homophobic and transphobic hate crime: Labour will deliver a fairer future.

    The last Labour Government did more to advance equality than any other in British history. The next will match that record – and we will start with the economy.

    We will act to eradicate gender, ethnicity and disability pay gaps.

    We will bring in strong family-friendly rights.

    We will measure what we do and be accountable for it – equality impact assessing every budget.

    And we’ll always – always – treat the British people with dignity and respect.

    Respect. A concept this Tory Government will never understand. But one that I will put at the heart of Government as Labour’s first ever Secretary of State for Women and Equalities.

    Respect means equalising the law so that all forms of hate crime are treated as aggravated offences.

    Respect means modernising the Gender Recognition Act and upholding the Equality Act, including its provision for single-sex exemptions.

    Respect means banning all forms of conversion therapy outright while making sure that doesn’t cover psychological support and treatment. Because unlike the Tories, we will never hide behind strawman arguments to avoid doing what’s right.

    Respect means working with disabled people, not against them – ending cruel disability assessments and supporting disabled people to live the lives they want and deserve.

    And respect means tackling the epidemic of violence against women and girls – with specialist rape units in every police force area, minimum sentences for rape and stalking, and making misogyny a hate crime.

    Labour won’t dismiss structural racism – we’ll tackle it head on, with a landmark, new Race Equality Act, by implementing all the Lammy Review recommendations, and with a curriculum that reflects our country’s diverse history and society.

    We will never pit communities against each other for cheap political points like the Conservative Party. And unlike the Tories, we will always tackle issues around inequality or prejudice in our own ranks.

    The Forde Report made difficult reading for anyone who cherishes our Party and its values. It’s unacceptable that members of our party and party staff, were subject to sexism, misogyny and racism. As Chair of the Labour Party, I want to reiterate the apology that David Evans and Keir Starmer have made.

    Over the last two years we’ve acted to change our party:

    A new Independent Complaints Process – passed at conference last year – and now in operation as the most robust complaints process of any political party.

    New Codes of Conduct against Islamophobia and Afrophobia and Anti-Black Racism. Mandatory training against bias, for staff.

    And radical reforms to recruitment.

    But that job of work will never be finished – as Chair, I will always act to ensure the Party we love is a safe place for everyone who shares our values.

    That is how we prepare our Party for the responsibility of government.

    This year was a turning point. This year, we were the only party to win councils in Scotland, England and Wales. We won in the North West, the South East, and Tory-run bastions like Wandsworth and Westminster. After twelve long years in opposition, we are assembling excellent candidates to take the fight to the Tories at every single contest between now and whenever Liz Truss dares to go to the country.

    Let’s hope it’s soon, because the country can’t take much more chaos from the Conservative Party. I’ve now seen off four different Tory Party Chairs over the last year. But no matter how much the Conservatives rearrange their Party Chairs, their ship of state is sinking fast.

    They’re clapped out. Checked out. It’s high time they cleared out.

    Whenever that election is called, I say – bring it on. Because Labour will be ready with the policies we need to change lives.

    Over the last year, I’ve learned from brilliant examples of Labour in power – from West Dunbartonshire to Worthing to Wales. They show that Labour works in government – and you can read all about the difference our Labour councillors, MSPs, Senedd members, metro mayors and Police and Crime Commissioners are already making on the Labour Works website – released to conference and the public, today.

    As Chair of the Stronger Together policy review, I’ve also worked with Keir, the Shadow Cabinet, our affiliated trade unions and hundreds of you – our members – to develop the ambitious policy agenda that’s in this year’s Stronger Together report, which I am delighted to present to conference today.

    No-one who reads this report can doubt that Labour is the party of ideas in British politics. From tackling the cost of living and climate crises to building a stronger, more secure economy to delivering a New Deal for Working People – it shows that Labour is ready to take on the challenges our country faces.

    Only Labour can unite our country, clean up our politics, and build a fairer, greener future for Britain. That future is in our grasp. I look forward to joining you on the campaign trail to make it a reality.

    Thank you.

  • David Evans – 2022 Speech to Labour Party Conference

    David Evans – 2022 Speech to Labour Party Conference

    The speech made by David Evans, the General Secretary of the Labour Party, on 25 September 2022.

    Conference, it is so great to be here in Liverpool.

    This year we have the largest exhibition for a decade and our biggest ever fringe. We will all leave more motivated, more committed and more inspired.

    I was certainly inspired last time I was here as a member. In a small room, at the back of this conference centre, I had the privilege to hear Jack Dromey. He told the story of the struggle that was the Grunwick dispute, honestly, openly and with absolute conviction. He spoke of the Asian workforce denied union recognition. Of the passion and resolve of Jayaben Desai and the other strikers and the power of a movement standing by those in need. He represented the very best of our movement. We miss you Jack and we carry on the fight.

    From this conference floor to the fringe, there will be moments just like that this week. Moments that give complete clarity to our mission. To gain power, political power. Not for itself but so we can give it to those who don’t have it. Root out injustice, and set our country on a fairer course. To do this we need to win and keep winning.

    When I was appointed in 2020, some confided that they had doubted we would ever win again. They looked at the electoral map – an endless ocean of blue. They saw a party at sea, in danger of being washed away altogether. And be in no doubt, 163 seats behind the Tories, 2019 was a near death experience.

    But because of Keir and Angela’s leadership, because of your hard work, your belief, your dedication, we have a real chance to do something never done before and turn a defeat of that scale into victory in a single term. We are tackling everything that stands in the way. Not measuring ourselves against 2019 but against the best campaigns in the world. Focused on the voters we need to persuade in the seats we need to win.

    We’ve made hard financial decision so today we have no debt, no deficit, now able to invest in a winning campaign. We’re also making sure our Party lives up to its values. So that anyone who walks into a CLP meeting is welcomed, supported, and included in our Labour family, just as I was 43 years ago when I first walked in.

    That’s why I have apologised on behalf of this Party for the unacceptable behaviour set out in Martin Forde’s report. And why we will act on the report, without fear or favour. And why we must never forget the contents of the EHRC’s investigation into us for anti-Semitism.

    It showed we had not just fallen short of our values, we had fallen short of the law, a law the Labour Government created. That is why, because of your votes last year, we set up an independent complaints process for all forms of discrimination. The strongest of any political party in the world. That is why, at this podium last year, I said I would not accept prejudice directed at anybody in the party or by anybody in the party. I have not and I will not.

    Conference, to win, we start with the voters. I’d like talk about Sarah, who I canvassed in Wakefield in July. She was in her back kitchen where she ran a hairdressing business. She left us at the last election, she voted Conservative. She made an honest choice based on what she thought was best for her, her family and her business. She’d lost faith in politics. Lost trust in us. We need to earn her trust, because only then can we persuade her.

    Think about who you trust? People you know well, who share your values, who you can depend on when you need them. It is the same for our Party.

    Sarah needs to see and hear a Labour Party that listens, is authentic, rooted in everyday life that has genuine answers to the problems she faces. And in the next General Election she will. She will see this on the TV and hear it on the radio. From our incredible frontbench team right through to our equally incredible councillors. She will hear it from our campaigners and candidates, online and on her doorstep, who will take the time to understand her concerns. She will see it in the posters in shopfronts and in her neighbour’s windows. Leaflets through her letterbox. And she will feel through the leadership of Keir Starmer. On her side. A prime minister in waiting. Ready to change Britain.

    We are starting to earn that trust back. In the local elections, we had a clear offer about energy prices, the cost of living, the need to have a windfall tax.

    What were the Tories talking about? Their repugnant Rwanda policy and a curry house in Durham. The same old Tory playbook. Using the defenceless as political pawns, creating division and distrust.

    Our message cut through by going directly to voters. Earning trust, one voter at a time. Over two and a half million conversations on the doorstep, the highest ever recorded in a local election campaign. And we got our best results for a decade. Our vote up six per cent. Dominant in Wales. Back as the main opposition in Scotland. Winning councils for the first time from Worthing, to Westminster to Cumberland. That was in May.

    In June, we got our best by-election win for a decade. And by the way, Sarah did vote Labour in that by-election in Wakefield. But we need to keep her with us. By July, Boris Johnson was forced out. Was that inevitable? No. These wins did that, we did that, you did that, Sarah did that.

    This is what political activism means. This is what it can achieve. And these wins were also the work of our staff. All our successes are built on small acts of empathy, creativity and graft, that taken together amount to something awe-inspiring. This is what I see every day from our Labour staff. You are brilliant. Thank you.

    But conference, be in no doubt about the scale of the challenge. Public services hang by a thread. Poverty rising. Living standards falling. Under this government, every shock we’ve seen austerity, Covid, energy prices. It has been the poorest who have paid the price. That’s why our job is not just to win the next general election. For deeper, more fundamental change, so this never happens again.

    We need to win, win and win again. This means building a Party that sustains Labour in government that gets ahead of the Conservatives and stays ahead. We all have a role in this.

    I was working for the Party last time we went into government. And winning isn’t the end, it’s just the beginning of change. Look being in opposition is retched. But being in government is tough, it’s easy for the Tories, they are in it for themselves, but we want to transform our country, change the world. Our goal now is to forge a closer relationship between our Party that will be in government and our Party in the country. A more honest, open, modern politics.

    We need a Labour government listening, engaging, drawing on the full strength of our movement. Our Party in the country, acting as a direct line to the people. That’s why I’m determined that our Party grows deeper roots into every community. It’s how we win and it’s also how we achieve lasting change.

    That’s why I’m so pleased we’ve just hired 31 trainee organisers to join our brilliant team in every region and nation of this country. They are here today. And by 2024 we’ll have 30 more. They will work in the seats that will decide this election and the next.

    It is also why I’m so thrilled about our newly selected candidates. A new generation of Labour representatives, with the life experience, dedication and values we need to win and to govern.

    Conference, this is the future of the Party we’re building together. A party that will get Keir Starmer into Downing Street and Labour into Government. A party that will end this 12 year nightmare. A party united in our common mission.

    So let’s get out there and show we are ready. Let’s keep organising. Let’s keep listening. Let’s win.

    And let’s keep winning.

  • Angela Rayner – 2022 Speech to Labour Party Conference

    Angela Rayner – 2022 Speech to Labour Party Conference

    The speech made by Angela Rayner, the Deputy Leader of the Labour Party, on 25 September 2022.

    Conference, it is a pleasure to speak to you today as your Deputy Leader and to be back in Liverpool, together again. After all our country has endured, all those we lost during the pandemic and at a time of national mourning.

    The Late Queen stood for unity in the darkest of times and public duty above all else. This is her legacy. For many, this time has been a painful reminder of losing a loved one – as too many of us did during the pandemic. For others, it’s a moment to reflect. For me – I think about a lifetime of public service, and the legacy we all leave.

    Our duty to the next generation to shape a future that is brighter than the past. That is our task this week – to set out the future that should face our children. Because I see too much lost potential. Britain deserves better – and I know we can do better.

    Just look at this government’s record since we last gathered in Liverpool just four years ago:

    Three different leaders, a catalogue of sleaze, waste and lies, Cummings, Paterson and Pincher backed to the hilt.

    Chris Grayling. Grant Shapps. And too much Matt Hancock. Far too much Matt Hancock.

    Green Cards and Non-Doms, treehouses and even Tractor Porn.

    Breaking the law – in a specific and limited way.

    Queues at the airports. Chaos at the borders.

    Mountains of PPE unfit for use. Billions in fraud written off.

    Sewage in the rivers. A Prime Minister hiding in a fridge.

    Three sleaze watchdogs out in the cold.

    The Barnard Castle eye test.

    The Downing Street crime scene.

    Broken swings, wine stains, sick on the walls.

    126 fines – more than anywhere else in the UK.

    Rules made. Rules Broken.

    Partygate. Wallpapergate. Too many gates. Too little, too late mate.

    And now a Prime Minister who says people don’t work hard enough. Well, enough is enough.

    Just as our country was desperate for change in 1997, we need change now. Because Britain is at a crossroads. A moment of decision. About what future we want. About what we can collectively achieve. About who we can be.

    And at this moment, what do the Conservatives offer? Lining the pockets of oil and gas executives. Enriching bankers while families are starving. Attacks on our most basic rights. Be in no doubt – they are coming after the most basic things we expect. Decent work, fair pay. The foundations of a family life.

    Conference, so long as I have a breath left in my body I will defend those rights. Including the right to strike. And when in power we will repeal all the anti-worker and anti- trade union laws this Conservative Government has enacted. All of it.

    The Tories are not on the side of the working people in Britain today. Liz Truss has already made that clearer than it’s ever been. She’s chosen to stand for vested interests. For the oil companies and bankers. For those profiting from this crisis not suffering from it. And it is working families who bear the brunt.

    When I was a young mum, I remember the sick feeling in my stomach. All it takes is one break, one accident, one mishap and you can’t get by. If your kids have holes in their shoes, their feet get wet on the way to school. If your fridge breaks, you can’t feed your family. That is not a vision of a modern Britain. It is the result of years of Tory decision. Families up and down the country this winter – many for the first time in their lives – are now living on the edge.

    And it’s not just families that are suffering. Years of under investment have shattered the resilience of British businesses. I think of the small business owners, like Pauline in my constituency of Ashton who runs the local pub that doubles as a foodbank and a community support centre. During the pandemic, Pauline had to close her doors – another small business left out in the cold by this government. And now she is sick with worry as she watches her energy bills skyrocket, fearing closure yet again.

    Local pubs and businesses are the lifeblood of our communities. But at every twist and turn, the Government poured money into the pockets of cronies, leaving people like Pauline high and dry. They need a government on their side. Instead, they get Liz Truss. Levelling down Liz. Trickle down Liz.

    And so, I ask Liz Truss today – whose side are you on? When you boost bankers’ bonuses but force working people to carry the can for the energy crisis, whose side are you on? Using a pandemic to pile billions into the bank accounts of cronies while nurses wore bin bags. Whose side are you on? When you say the working people of this country need more graft then deprive them of fair pay. Whose side are you on?

    Conference, I’ll tell you who was on my side when I needed it. A Labour government was on my side when I had my first baby and had nowhere else to turn. A Labour government was on my side when I didn’t have a home – let alone enough money to heat it. A Labour government was on my side when I wanted to be a good mum to my kids and improve their lives. And I promise you now, that when I am Deputy Prime Minister a Labour government will be on your side.

    I will make it my mission to spend every penny of public money for the good of the nation. Making Britain work for working people, investing in our local communities and talent and standing up for this country.

    The moment of choice is upon us. Our moment. To show our country what we can do together.

    The next Labour government will pump money back into the pockets of local communities. The people who built Britain. Consider this. A third of all government spending goes on procurement. More than the NHS. Double the education budget. Labour will unleash the power of procurement to drive up standards.

    Today I am announcing our Value for Money Guarantee. Our pledge to ensure that every single penny of taxpayer’s money provides the best possible value to the public. We will turn the Tory procurement racket on its head – so it serves the national interest, not the vested interests.

    Our five-point National Procurement Plan will start by rewarding businesses and enterprises who pay their taxes and their workers properly, creating opportunities for new jobs and skills, and helping our high streets thrive again. To unlock opportunity everywhere and reverse the tide of young people forced to leave their home towns. Hand in hand with Labour’s Green Prosperity Plan for green growth across Britain, we will partner with businesses to boost green growth.

    Second, we will give small enterprise a level playing field at winning contracts. Where the Tories handed billions of pounds to their cronies with links to tax havens, we will ensure local businesses are no longer shunted to the back of the queue behind giant corporations with more form fillers than they have workers. We will cut red tape and streamline the bidding process, giving small businesses a genuine shot. It will no longer just be the giant corporations with the glossiest leaflet that wins. Everyone will get a fair chance. Those who put into the system and uphold good standards will be rewarded.

    Now, the Tories had a VIP lane. Their donors, cronies, firms with Tory MPs on their books or anyone who could WhatsApp Matt Hancock. We will replace that approach entirely. The only fast track lane I will allow is for local businesses and enterprises who create wealth in all our communities and contribute to a fairer society. The VIPs under a Labour government will be all of you: the British public.

    Thirdly, we will raise standards across the economy by clawing back the public’s money from those who fail to deliver for taxpayers and plough that money straight back into dynamic, ethical local enterprise. Quality and innovation – not failure – will be rewarded. By striking off failed providers we will help local business thrive.

    Never again Conference, can we see a repeat of the scandal that has seen Tory Ministers write off £10 billion on unusable PPE they bought with our money. Defective. Substandard. Unfit for use. We’ll give the Tory sleaze merchants their marching orders. Instead, we will use the power of procurement to boost local businesses that work for Britain. With Labour, they will no longer be locked out of the system.

    And fourthly, we will guarantee transparency about how taxpayers’ money is spent through a public dashboard of government contracts. Inspired by Ukraine’s anti-corruption blueprint. Even under attack from Russia they are honest about how they spend public money. What’s the Tories’ excuse? They were at it again this week, refusing to come clean to the British public and allow the spending watchdog to assess the true damage of the Tories’ discredited trickle-down approach. There will be no hiding place for cronies – and no corner for corruption. We will keep the receipts and publish them. And conference, we won’t stop there.

    We will back the workers who are creating Britain’s wealth, demanding better for our people. Which brings me to outsourcing.

    Conference, the Tories have become too dependent on handing away our public services on the cheap, and now we are paying the price. We will oversee the biggest wave of insourcing for a generation.

    Today I can announce that before any service is contracted out, public bodies must show that work could not be better done in-house. And we’ll reinstate and strengthen the Two-Tier Code, created by the last Labour Government and scrapped by the Tories, to end the scandal of outsourced workers getting second class pay and conditions. But we will go further still. Building on our New Deal for Working People, I can today unveil Labour’s Fair Work Standard. Inspired by Labour in power across the country – in Wales, in London, West Yorkshire, the North of Tyne, Greater Manchester and here in Liverpool,

    It will underpin a new Fair Work Code for the public sector, guaranteeing fair conditions, job security, wellbeing, proper training, rights at work, and union access. We will also create a Fair Work gold standard to champion the very best of employers. And a Labour government will be on the side of the self-employed too. We will give genuinely self-employed workers the right to a written contract and timely payment by law – so they aren’t left out of pocket and chasing invoices. Because our Fair Work Standard will raise standards for all.

    Conference, I say all this to you because Labour doesn’t just have a vision for this country. We have a plan. We have a plan to grow a fairer, greener economy. We have a plan to rebuild trust in public office. And to clean up politics. We have a plan to unleash the potential the Tories have held back for far too long. And our plan for Britain means we’ll rise to the occasion – just as we did in 1997. Because the Conservatives have made their choice. They’ve chosen their side. But we are on yours. And are ready to lead this country to better.

    A Labour Government to unite this country through the dark times ahead. A Labour Government to hand power back to the people and the places that once powered Britain. And a Labour Government that will always be on the side of working people.

    The Tories have broken Britain – but together we’ll rebuild it again.

    And make Britain work for working people once again.

  • Jacob Rees-Mogg – 2022 Statement on Retained EU Law

    Jacob Rees-Mogg – 2022 Statement on Retained EU Law

    The statement made by Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, in the House of Commons on 22 September 2022.

    On 31 January, to mark the two-year anniversary of the UK’s departure from the European Union, the Government set out their plans to bring forward the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill.

    Retained EU law is a category of domestic law created at the end of the transition period. It consists of EU-derived legislation that was preserved in our domestic legal framework by the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 to ensure continuity as we left the EU.

    However, retained EU law was never intended to sit on the statute book indefinitely. The time is now right to bring the special status of retained EU law in the UK statute book to an end on 31 December 2023, in order to fully realise the opportunities of Brexit and to support the unique culture of innovation in the UK.

    To achieve this, the Bill I have introduced today includes the following provisions;

    Sunsetting retained EU law

    The Bill will sunset the majority of retained EU law so that it expires on 31 December 2023. All retained EU law contained in domestic secondary legislation and retained direct EU legislation will expire on this date, unless otherwise preserved. Any retained EU law that remains in force after the sunset date will be assimilated in the domestic statute book, by the removal of the special EU law features previously attached to it. This means that the principle of the supremacy of EU law, general principles of EU law, and directly effective EU rights will also end on 31 December 2023. There will no longer be a place for EU law concepts in our statute book.

    Before that date, Government Departments and the devolved Administrations will determine which retained EU law can be reformed to benefit the UK, which can expire, and which needs to be preserved and incorporated into domestic law in modified form. They will also decide if retained EU law needs to be codified as it is preserved, in order to preserve specific policy effects which are beneficial to keep.

    The Bill includes an extension mechanism for the sunset of specified pieces of retained EU law until 2026. Should it be required, this will allow Departments additional time where necessary to implement more complex reforms to specific pieces of retained EU law, including any necessary legislation.

    Ending of supremacy of retained EU law in UK law by 2023

    Currently, retained direct EU legislation still takes priority over domestic UK legislation passed prior to the end of the transition period when they are incompatible. This is not in keeping with our status as an independent, sovereign trading nation, and the Government’s 2019 commitment to remove this.

    Therefore, the Bill will reverse this order of priority, to reinstate domestic law as the highest form of law on the UK statute book. Where it is necessary to preserve the current hierarchy between domestic and EU legislation in specific circumstances, the Bill provides a power to amend the new order of priority to retain specific legislative effects.

    Assimilated law

    Following the removal of the special features of EU law from retained EU law on 31 December 2023, any retained EU law that is preserved will become “assimilated law” to reflect that EU interpretive features no longer apply to it.

    Facilitating departures from retained EU case law

    To ensure that EU law concepts do not become “baked in” through over-cautious court judgments, the Bill will also provide domestic courts with greater discretion to depart from the body of retained case law. It will also provide new court procedures for UK and devolved law officers to refer or intervene in cases involving retained EU case law.

    Modification of retained EU legislation

    To correct an anomaly created by European Union Withdrawal Act which gave some retained direct EU legislation legislative parity with Acts of Parliament for some purposes, despite it not having been properly scrutinised, the Bill will downgrade the status of retained direct EU law for the purposes of amendment. The Bill will modify powers in other statutes, to facilitate their use to amend retained direct EU law in the same way they can be used on domestic secondary legislation. This will enable the amendment of retained direct EU law, with the appropriate level of parliamentary scrutiny.

    Powers relating to retained EU law

    The Bill will also create powers to make secondary legislation so that retained EU law or assimilated law can be amended, repealed and replaced more easily. This Bill will allow Government via Parliament to clarify, consolidate and restate legislation to preserve its current effect. Using these powers, the Government via Parliament will ensure that only regulation that is fit for purpose, and suited for the UK will remain on the statute book.

    Business impact target

    Having left the EU, the UK has further opportunities to reform its regulatory regime. The UK Government published their consultation response to the “Reforming the Better Regulation Framework” and is in the process of implementing the wider reforms outlined.

    As part of these reforms, the Bill repeals the business impact target, which is outdated and not fit for purpose. Any subsequent replacement of the business impact target, when combined with the other wider reforms, will ensure that the UK’s regulatory framework is fit for the UK economy, business and households, into the future.