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Tag: Speeches

  • Keir Starmer – 2025 Statement on the Russian Drone Attack on Poland

    Keir Starmer – 2025 Statement on the Russian Drone Attack on Poland

    The statement made by Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, on 10 September 2025.

    This morning’s barbaric attack on Ukraine and the egregious and unprecedented violation of Polish and NATO airspace by Russian drones is deeply concerning.

    This was an extremely reckless move by Russia and only serves to remind us of President Putin’s blatant disregard for peace, and the constant bombardment innocent Ukrainians face every day.

    I have been in touch with the Polish Prime Minister this morning to make clear our support for Poland, and that we will stand firm in our support for Ukraine.

    My sincere thanks go to the NATO and Polish forces who rapidly responded to protect the Alliance.

    With our partners – and through our leadership of the Coalition of the Willing – we will continue to ramp up the pressure on Putin until there is a just and lasting peace.

    KEIR STARMER
    PRIME MINISTER OF THE UNITED KINGDOM

  • Paul Nowak – 2025 Speech to TUC Conference

    Paul Nowak – 2025 Speech to TUC Conference

    The speech made by Paul Nowak, the General Secretary of the TUC, in Brighton on 8 September 2025.

    80 years ago, our Congress met, just weeks after the end of the most devastating conflict in human history

    Tens of millions killed on the battlefield.

    Millions slaughtered in Nazi concentration camps.

    And millions more – across the globe – the innocent victims of war, including more than 200,000 men, women and children who died when the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

    At that historic Congress in 1945, our then President – Charles Dukes – reflected, that out of the ruins of war,

    ‘We are offered the opportunity of making a clean new start….

    In the hands of freedom loving people, the new world waits to be built.

    Peace and security must ever be its foundations’.

    But today, as we meet in Brighton eight decades on, that vision, that hope, seems a long way off.

    We see a world riven by conflict, by war, by inhumanity.

    A world where authoritarian governments act with impunity.

    And a world where the populist and far-right are once again emboldened.

    So my first call to you today is simply this.

    Let us honour the vision set out to delegates at that Congress in 1945.

    Let us take a stand for solidarity not division.

    And for a world where everyone can live, thrive and work, in peace.

    ——————-

    Congress, I want to start by celebrating our successes.

    I want you to compare where we are now, with when I first addressed you as general secretary in Liverpool two years ago.

    The Tories anti-strike legislation…now gone…Our right to strike…protected.

    Hundreds of disputes across the public and private sector…won

    A public inquiry into the scandal at Orgreave…secured.

    And the Employment Rights Bill  – about to be given Royal assent in a matter of weeks.

    Not by chance.

    Not by accident.

    But because we fought for it.

    We campaigned for it.

    And we will ensure it’s delivered, in full.

    Congress – we are winning for workers.

    ———————

    And that’s not all.

    It was unions, and a Labour government working together, that saw Parliament recalled and thousands of jobs saved in British Steel.

    It is thanks to our campaigning over decades that Britain’s railways are coming back where they belong – in public ownership.

    And it is thanks to us and our calls for taxes on the wealthiest, that at the Budget the Chancellor abolished tax breaks for non-doms, and introduced VAT on private school fees.

    Increased taxes on private jets.

    And even clamped down on well-known TV personalities buying farms to avoid taxes.

    Taxes that are vital for our NHS, and our schools.

    Again.

    Not by chance.

    Not by accident.

    But because we fought for it, we campaigned for it , and Congress, we won it.

    ——————

    It is right to celebrate our success, because our movement is needed now more than ever.

    The populist right is fuelling the narrative that Britain is in decline.

    And of course, we know this country faces huge challenges.

     That’s the toxic legacy of Tory destruction:

    • 14 years of stagnant wages and living standards.

    • 14 years of austerity and cuts to public services.

    • 14 years of rising insecurity and inequality.

    Congress, the Tories took Britain to the brink, and the public knows it.

    That’s why last July, the government was elected on a manifesto that promised change.

    But we have to be honest.

    For too many people, change still feels like a slogan – not a lived reality.

    That cannot continue.

    Think about that 1945 Congress, and think about that 1945 government.

    Throughout our history, we’ve been at our best when we’ve been ambitious for working people.

    So today, my message to the government is simply this.

    Deliver the manifesto on which you won a huge majority last July.

    Deliver good jobs, decent public services and better living standards in every corner of the country.

    Deliver the change people voted for and show working people whose side you are on.

    ———————-

    Congress, if the choice is asking the rich to pay their fair share of tax.

    Or cutting our public services.

    Then a Labour government must always be on the side of patients, parents and pensioners.

     If the choice is a fair deal for low-paid women.

    Or pandering to the outsourcing giants who profit from poverty pay

    Then a Labour government must always be on the side of the people struggling to make ends meet.

    And if the choice is making sure the Amazons of this world play by the rules.

    Or allowing corporate bully boys to trample over workers’ rights.

    Then a Labour government must always be on the side of workers standing up for a fair deal.

    And don’t just tell people you’re on their side.

    Show them.

    Introduce a windfall tax on record bank profits and gambling companies.

    And back it with new taxes on wealth.

    Congress – if billionaires can afford fleets of private yachts.

    And day trips into space.

    And weddings that shut down Venice.

    They can pay a bit more tax.

    Do what’s best for those who go out to work day in, day out, and still can’t get by  – deliver the Employment Rights Bill and deliver it in full.

    And make it clear – a Labour government will never stand aside and watch a child’s potential be wasted because of poverty – lift the two child cap, and give our kids the future they deserve.

    Now Congress it is obvious that over the last 14 months, the government haven’t got everything right, and we have called them out when they haven’t got it right.

    But, Congress be clear.

    The biggest threat to working class people in this country are the bad bosses and the right-wing populists.

    A nasty combination that should worry any trade unionist and any worker.

    Just look at the Employment Rights Bill.

    The government has a manifesto promise to make work pay.

    Stronger rights at work are overwhelmingly popular with voters across the political spectrum

    The public knows decent work is the best way to deliver the reset this country needs.

    The best way to improve living standards.

    And the best way to rebuild our communities hit hard by low pay and insecure work…the sort of communities Nigel Farage likes to say he represents.

    But here’s the truth.

    There is a world of difference between what Nigel says, and what Nigel does.

    Every single Reform MP, including Mr Farage, voted against outlawing fire and rehire.

    Against banning zero hours contracts.

    And against day one rights for millions of workers.

    So here’s my challenge to Nigel Farage.

    Say you stand up for working people?

    Then ignore your wealthy backers and vote for the Employment Rights Bill.

    Say you stand up for British industry?

    Then stop supporting Donald Trump and his destructive tariffs.

    And say you believe in the NHS?

    Then look the British public in the eye and tell them why you support US-style private healthcare.

    Nigel Farage, it’s time to come clean about whose side you are really on.

    Because here’s the truth:

    You’re not representing working people

    You are selling them out.

    To those who voted Reform at the last election, and to those who are considering voting for Reform…

    I get your frustration with mainstream politics.

    I get your sense that change isn’t coming fast enough

    And I respect your right to vote for whoever you choose.

    But ask yourself this fundamental question.

    Do you believe, in your gut, that Nigel Farage really cares about the people of Clacton, when he is off collecting his speaker fees in the United States?

    That Richard Tice really worries about the people of Skegness, while he’s living it up at home in Dubai?

    Or are they just right-wing con-men, lining their own pockets.

    And they’re not alone.

    The modern Tory Party loses credibility with every single passing day.

    And I have to just say this….no amount of TikToks, or Ozempic, or expensive haircuts will ever hide the inner ugliness of Robert Jenrick.

    The man who ordered murals painted over in a reception centre for children seeking asylum is, indeed, a xenophobe.

    An opportunistic xenophobe helping to create a political climate that ends up with far-right thugs laying siege to hotels, and Black and Asian people being threatened and harassed on our streets.

    And let me just say this about flags.

    I understand people take pride in the Union Jack, in the St Georges Cross, the Saltire and the Red Dragon.

    But patriotism is about much more than flags.

    As that 1945 generation knew, real patriotism is about building decent homes, and ensuring no-one is left behind.

    It’s about creating good jobs so people aren’t left in poverty and feel pride in their labour..

    And real patriotism is never about daubing graffiti on people’s homes or shops or intimidating our friends and neighbours.

    That’s not patriotism and it should shame anyone who loves this country.

    ——-

    Congress, the far right, and populist right don’t care about working class people, they don’t speak for working class people, and they never will.

    That’s our job. That’s what we stand for.

    —–

    Now two years ago in Liverpool, I told you about my grandad Joe.

    About my pride in him coming to Britain from Poland to help in the fight against fascism.

    And my even greater pride in him building his life here in Britain.

    Part of that 1945 generation who rebuilt this country, and rebuilt Europe after the war.

    His generation, Charles Dukes’ generation, thought they had vanquished the darkness of authoritarianism, and the darkness of war.

    But Congress right now, that darkness is everywhere.

    In Ukraine.

    In Sudan.

    And of course, in Gaza.

    A humanitarian crisis that shames the world.

    Thousands of starving civilians – women and children – killed while queuing for food.

    Hospitals, aid workers and journalists deliberately targeted.

    Kids seeking clean water attacked by the IDF.

    Congress – Israeli and Palestinian Human Rights groups are clear.

    Amnesty International are clear

    Medicins Sans Frontieres are clear.

    And I think we should be clear.

    Benjamin Nethanyu’s government is committing genocide in Gaza.

    In April, I travelled to Palestine.

    And saw the conditions workers and unions face in the West Bank.

    One of the communities I visited, where a mosque had been burnt out, has now been erased from the map at gunpoint, by illegal settlers.

    Homes, land, livelihoods – stolen.

    I’m proud to say we are joined today by Shaher Saed, general secretary of Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions.

    Shaher please stand up.

    Today, in front of Shaher, let us reiterate our movement’s calls.

    A new, permanent ceasefire.

    The release of all hostages and political prisoners.

    Suspension of the UK’s trade deal with Israel.

    Tougher sanctions.

    A ban on imports from the occupied territories.

    Respect for international law.

    An end to licences for arms traded with Israel.

    And the immediate recognition of the state of Palestine.

    Because you can’t have a two-state solution.

    Without a safe, secure and free Palestine.

    ——

    A better future in the Middle East.

    And Congress, a better future at home.

    A country where your postcode doesn’t determine your life chances.

    Where public services are a source of pride – not profit.

    Jobs you can build a life on.

    Wages that keep up with the cost of living – and then go further.

    Thriving communities and high streets.

    And a government that puts people, not profit, first.

    A better future means a fair, managed and compassionate approach to migration.

    A better future means industrial renewal, strong public services and fixing the Tories’ bad Brexit deal.

    And a better future means

    every new school,

    every hospital,

    every power station,

    every wind turbine,

    built with union labour

    proper apprenticeships

    and supporting UK jobs.

    Congress – we have so much to do to put right 14 years of Tory government.

    But I know that our movement can, and will, rise to the challenge, because we have done it before, and we can do it again.

    In 1945 – when my grandad, your grandparents,  our unions and a Labour government.

    Battered by six years of war.

    Created the NHS.

    Built hundreds of thousands of new homes.

    Rebuilt our economy.

    And not just in 1945.

    The minimum wage.

    Paid holidays.

    Maternity leave.

    The right to join a union.

    Universal education.

    Protection from discrimination.

    So much more.

    None of these… None of these, were handed down.

    They were fought for by people in unions.

    At our best when we are ambitious for working people, their families and communities.

    At our best when we work together, united, as a labour and trade union movement.

    So here is our challenge to government.

    Deliver that employment rights bill in full, deliver the change you promised at the election…

    …and show working class people you are on their side.

    A challenge to employers.

    Don’t fall on the wrong side of history.

    Don’t repeat the mistakes of opposing the minimum wage.

    Respect the government’s mandate to improve rights at work.

    And finally, a challenge to me

    To every member of TUC staff.

    To every delegate in this hall.

    And to every trade union activist and rep out there in workplaces.

    To grow our movement.

    To take those new rights into workplaces up and down the country.

    And to reassert the reason this movement exists.

    To stand with, and win for, working people in every town, in every sector, every generation, every community.

    Congress.

    This movement has shaped the history of our country.

    Now it’s time to shape the future.

    Let’s get to it.

    Solidarity Congress.

  • Keir Starmer – 2025 Statement on Russian Strikes on Kyiv

    Keir Starmer – 2025 Statement on Russian Strikes on Kyiv

    The statement made by Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, on 7 September 2025.

    I’m appalled by the latest brutal overnight assault on Kyiv and across Ukraine, which killed civilians and hit infrastructure. For the first time, the heart of Ukraine’s civilian government was damaged.

    These cowardly strikes show that Putin believes he can act with impunity. He is not serious about peace.

    Now, more than ever, we must stand firm in our support for Ukraine and its sovereignty.

  • Hilary Benn – 2025 Speech to the British-Irish Association Conference in Oxford

    Hilary Benn – 2025 Speech to the British-Irish Association Conference in Oxford

    The speech made by Hilary Benn, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, in Oxford on 5 September 2025. The text is the Cabinet Office version which is politically redacted.

    It is a great pleasure to be back here at the BIA, and to have the opportunity to reflect upon the UK-Ireland relationship with all of you, and thank you, Dominic and Francesca, for the invitation and for all that you do to nurture this really important institution.

    It has certainly been an eventful 12 months since last we met.

    Continuing war in Ukraine. The unfolding disaster in Gaza. The climate continues to warm. A new partnership between the UK and the EU. And a new President of the United States of America.

    But one thing that hasn’t changed has been the growing warmth of the relationship between our two countries.

    Simon, I want to say how grateful I am for the friendship and enthusiasm with which you – and the whole Irish Government – have embraced not only the reset in the relationship between our two countries, but built on it with trust, honesty and ambition.

    And nowhere has this been more evident than on the issue of legacy, which you and I have discussed at length in all of its complexity, and to which I shall return later on.

    You know as well as anyone the Prime Minister’s personal commitment to our partnership – a commitment  shared by the Taoiseach – and it was a great pleasure to be at the first of the new UK-Ireland Summits in Liverpool in March.

    I was reminded then of the poetic words of President Higgins – whose extraordinary public service we applaud as he prepares to leave office – who said on his 2014 state visit to Britain that the UK-Ireland relationship had progressed from ”the doubting eyes of estrangement… to the trusting eyes of partnership and, in recent years, the welcoming eyes of friendship”.

    We are, indeed, today the closest of friends  as well as the closest of neighbours.

    The UK Government has also, of course,  been working to reset our relationship with our European partners.

    As part of this, we remain steadfastly committed to the full and faithful implementation of the Windsor Framework.

    Not because it is perfect, but given our departure from the EU, the open border, and two entities with two different sets of rules, we had to find together with the EU a means of  dealing with a unique challenge, and the Framework was the pragmatic result.

    And over the past year, we have continued to try together to ease the flow of goods within the UK internal market by:

    • removing unnecessary customs paperwork;
    • setting out our plans to safeguard the supply of veterinary medicines;
    • and working to protect consumer choice in the final phase of ‘Not for EU’ labelling.

    And of course the biggest prize from our commitment to rebuild trust and partnership has been the  Common Understanding announced in May between the UK and the EU – our largest and closest trading partner.

    What a contrast with the breaking of promises and the threatening to rip up international agreements of recent years.

    An SPS agreement in particular will make a big difference once it is implemented.

    It will remove the checks and procedures on animal and plant products moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland – as well as making it easier for businesses across the UK to export to the EU.

    This matters for practical economic reasons.

    But it also matters to the sense of Northern Ireland’s integral place in the United Kingdom.

    And following the publication yesterday of the independent review of the Windsor Framework carried out by Lord Murphy, the Government will of course now give full consideration to his findings and recommendations.

    We have also worked to try and reset relationships with the Northern Ireland Executive.

    I want to pay tribute to Michelle O’Neill and Emma Little-Pengelly, and to all of the Executive Ministers, for what they have achieved in the 19 or so months since power-sharing was restored.

    They have worked constructively together and agreed an ambitious Programme for Government, published a Fiscal Sustainability Plan, brought forward a strategy to end violence against women and girls and a childcare and early learning plan, allocated the first £129m of ringfenced funding from the UK Government for public services transformation, and announced a three-year strategic plan for health and social care, to start getting on top of the long-standing crisis in the health and care system.

    There is, of course, so much more to do, whether its on health waiting lists,  water quality in Lough Neagh, or the constraints on growth that come from an overloaded waste water system or slow planning decisions.

    But there have also been some depressing developments. The disorder and racist thuggery – let’s call it out for what it was –  we saw in Ballymena and other towns this summer was despicable, and has no place whatsoever in Northern Ireland or anywhere else in the United Kingdom. When people feel they have to put signs or flags in their windows in hope that this will stop them from being smashed then something is terribly wrong.

    We all have a duty to speak out and I greatly welcome the strong statement agreed at the Northern Ireland Executive meeting yesterday condemning racist and sectarian attacks.

    The Government is providing £137 million in continued funding to tackle terrorism, paramilitarism and organised crime. The threats are changing and more than ever we have to work together to meet them.

    Paramilitarism remains a scourge on Northern Ireland society, and following our agreement earlier this year, the Tánaiste and I will soon jointly appoint an Independent Expert to scope the prospects for paramilitary group transition to disbandment. I know that not everyone agrees with that decision – of course paramilitaries should have left the stage long ago – but the fact is they’re still here and still causing harm to communities.

    As demand for more and better public services continues to increase and pressures grow on the public finances of governments across the world, in these straitened times, all of us know that we need to raise revenue – and spend it as effectively as possible – if we are going to deliver on our commitments.

    This Government is clearly showing our support for Northern Ireland through continued and significant investment.

    At the Spending Review the Chancellor announced a record funding settlement of £19.3 billion per year through this Parliament – the biggest since devolution.

    This will ensure that Northern Ireland continues to be funded above its level of relative need. And it has ended the prospect of a financial cliff-edge in 2027, which had been left hanging over Northern Ireland by the previous government.

    With its unique strengths in cyber and AI, in green technologies, in the creative industries and in defence manufacturing, Northern Ireland has so much to offer.
    That is borne out in our modern industrial strategy, and the forthcoming defence industrial strategy.

    It is reflected in the £310 million the UK is investing in Northern Ireland’s City and Growth Deals, the deal announced by the Prime Minister in March to supply Ukraine with more than 5,000 air defence missiles from Thales, and in the £30m investment we announced last month for Northern Ireland’s science and tech sectors and Local Innovation Partnerships Fund, £2m for Queens University Belfast’s Cyber AI Hub and £46m a year to fund Local Growth.

    And at  the first meeting of the East West Council under this Government in June I announced the Connect Fund, which will award up to £1 million to strengthen collaboration between community groups in Northern Ireland – whose work is so important and so valuable – with their community organisations in Great Britain.

    These are all further examples of this Government’s commitment to Northern Ireland’s future.

    And I hope that  PM the £50m investment by the UK Government in the redevelopment of Casement Park, alongside the investments we continue to make in football, rugby and other sports in Northern Ireland will now enable progress to be made on both the GAA stadium and the sub-regional stadia programme for football. And of course we have the enticing prospect of Northern Ireland being part of the UK’s bid for the 2035 Women’s World Cup.

    In the same spirit of partnership, the new Irish Government has shown its continued commitment to infrastructure development and tourism in the border regions through the Shared Island Fund, with a welcome €50 million in new funding announced earlier this year.

    All of this means that the Executive has what I think is an unprecedented opportunity ahead of it to build on the positive start it has made and to do the hard work of reforming public services, generating further investment and improving the lives of all the people of Northern Ireland.

    Now, it shouldn’t need to be said, but [political content redacted] let me be absolutely clear that this Government’s commitment to the Good Friday Agreement – in its entirety – is unwavering and absolute, and I know that is shared by the Irish Government as co-guarantor with us.

    The Agreement on that miraculous Good Friday brought an end to three decades of appalling violence in Northern Ireland and across the United Kingdom.

    [Political content redacted]

    To try and unpick the Good Friday Agreement would not only be dangerously irresponsible but would also disrespect all those who sacrificed so much to help bring about the peace that the people of Northern Ireland – and across these shared islands – now enjoy.

    The GFA, as Nancy Pelosi once said in a speech to the Dáil, a “beacon to the world”.

    And it is with that in mind that I am greatly looking forward to welcoming foreign ministers from the Western Balkans, alongside other European friends and partners, not least yourself, Simon to Hillsborough Castle in October, as part of the UK’s hosting of the Berlin Process, which promotes prosperity, security and reconciliation in South-Eastern Europe, specifically the former Yugoslavia.

    At home and abroad, let us continue to talk about our countries’ shared experience and pass on the lessons we have learned to the next generation.

    Which brings me to the legacy of the Troubles.

    Helping bereaved families to get answers about the deaths of their loved ones ultimately proved to be beyond the architects of the Good Friday Agreement.

    But they knew it needed to be done.

    They said: ”The participants believe that it is essential to acknowledge and address the suffering of the victims of violence as a necessary element of reconciliation.” But they couldn’t quite get there, given everything else they had to deal with.

    Everyone in this room knows that there have been numerous attempts at fulfilling this promise but I’ve met a lot of people who are still waiting for those answers. Their voice above all needs to be heard in the current debate.

    The 2014 Stormont House Agreement, negotiated by the Conservative-led coalition government and the Irish Government, came close, with its commitment to an independent Historical Investigations Unit and a separate, joint information recovery body.

    But in the years that followed, the political courage required to deliver on that agreement dissipated.

    [Political content redacted]

    That legislation was rejected across Northern Ireland, a number of its provisions have been ruled against by the Northern Ireland courts, and this Government came into office committed to repeal and replace it.

    The independent Commission, that was created by the Act, now has a growing  caseload – including some of the most high profile terrorist murder cases from those awful times, like the Guildford pub bombing and the Warrenpoint ambush.

    But it is clear that the Commission in its current form does not command enough confidence in Northern Ireland. So, if it is to be successful, it urgently needs significant reform.

    I have always said that I want a legacy process that is capable of commanding support across all communities. And it has always been my view, and that of the Prime Minister, that – if at all possible – this should be a shared endeavour with the Irish Government, with reciprocal commitments from both sides.

    That remains the objective of the agreement with Ireland that we have been working on. And I would say we are now close to being in a position to announce that.

    I have already set out many of the things that we intend to do, building on the principles of the Stormont House Agreement and drawing on the lessons from Operation Kenova.
    A reformed, independent and human rights compliant Legacy Commission that gives families the best possible chance of finding answers, with investigations capable of referring cases for potential prosecution where evidence exists of criminality.

    A new oversight body for the Commission, a Victims Panel as in Kenova, public hearings and representation for families.

    The maximum possible disclosure of information, in line with the disclosure process for public inquiries.

    The potential for a separate information recovery body, as envisaged by Stormont House and the subsequent treaty between the two governments.

    The resumption of a number of inquests that were prematurely halted by the Legacy Act.

    And – for the UK Government’s part – protections to ensure that anyone who served the State in Northern Ireland to keep people safe and who is asked to participate in a legacy process as a witness is treated with dignity and respect.

    Most of us here lived through the Troubles, in my case at a distance but not for many of you. I remember watching the reporting on television and reading about  terrible events in the newspapers, and like you I despaired.

    But unless we went through the experience, none of us will ever fully be able to appreciate what was – and still is –  felt by those people who lost dearly loved family members, but who have never been able to find  answers about what happened to them.

    Answers that have been hidden for too long. Answers that some people may not like. Answers that are uncomfortable or shocking or a painful reminder of grim times and brutal deeds.

    Great Hatred Little Room, Jonathan Powell’s account of the Northern Ireland peace process, concludes with these words:
    “The burden of history remains, and before the two sides become truly reconciled they need to find a way to deal with the past…. If I have one wish, it is that the people of Northern Ireland find an acceptable way to lay the past to rest.”

    How right he was. But I am under no illusions. This is difficult. It remains highly contentious. Different views are understandably and  passionately held. And  the pain and the trauma still run deep.

    We all know that a perfect outcome is not attainable – not everyone is going to get everything they want – remembering that wonderful quote in the Ulster Museum Troubles exhibition.  ‘We have a shared past, but do not have a shared memory’.

    But I am also certain that, with trust in each other and with continued resolve, we can find a way forward to deliver on the unfinished business of the Good Friday Agreement and put in place our best chance to acknowledge and address the suffering of the victims of the violence as we seek to find answers for all.

    So as our two countries turn to face the future, let us neither be burdened by the past, nor turn our backs upon it.

    A way forward is now within our grasp and that is why we must find the courage to do this, and do it now.

  • Keir Starmer – 2025 Statement on the Death of Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Kent

    Keir Starmer – 2025 Statement on the Death of Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Kent

    The statement made by Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, on 5 September 2025.

    I wish to send my sincere condolences to His Majesty The King and the Royal Family on the death of Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Kent.

    For many years, she was one of our hardest working royals – supporting our late Queen Elizabeth II in her official duties at home and abroad.

    She brought compassion, dignity and a human touch to everything she did. Many will remember that moment at the Wimbledon Ladies Final, when she touchingly comforted the runner-up, Jana Novotna.

    Later, when it was discovered she had been giving her time and working anonymously as a music teacher at a school in Hull, it seemed typical of her unassuming nature.

    In so many ways, the Duchess sought to help. My thoughts are with her husband, His Royal Highness The Duke of Kent, her family and all those whose lives she touched.

  • Keir Starmer – 2025 Letter to Angela Rayner Accepting Her Resignation

    Keir Starmer – 2025 Letter to Angela Rayner Accepting Her Resignation

    The letter sent by Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, to Angela Rayner, on 5 September 2025.

    Letter (in .pdf format)

  • Laurie Magnus – 2025 Letter to the Prime Minister on Angela Rayner’s Flat Purchase

    Laurie Magnus – 2025 Letter to the Prime Minister on Angela Rayner’s Flat Purchase

    The letter sent by Laurie Magnus, the Independent Adviser on Ministerial Standards, to Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister, on 5 September 2025.

    Letter (in .pdf format)

  • Peter Kyle – 2025 Mansion House Speech

    Peter Kyle – 2025 Mansion House Speech

    The speech made by Peter Kyle, the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology at the Mansion House in London on 3 September 2025.

    I want to talk about a society and economy where AI benefits every person and community in the country.

    Where there is opportunity for anyone, no matter their background. Where our huge potential for wealth creation isn’t centred in the capital but is distributed where talent lies – which is everywhere people are.

    And where we finally become a country that celebrates entrepreneurial zeal, and those can who move from innovation to commercialisation, and thrive in a modern Britain.

    To get there, the question I’m seeking to answer in government isn’t ‘do we want to be a country that adopts AI or not’…because AI is going to happen. We know it is.

    That’s true for every country from Britain to North Korea.

    The better question is: do we want to use all the power and agency we have, as a government to shape how it unfolds?

    This will be my focus tonight.

    And what better setting than here, in Mansion House.

    The place where the future of this country has so often been debated, and yes, defined.

    Almost 70 years ago, in April 1956, this room was the setting of a major Cold War summit.

    Where Nikita Khrushchev came, after Stalin’s death, with a delegation from the USSR.

    On the way here he stopped by Claridge’s. Clearly nothing is too good for the workers.

    Before coming for dinner here, with Clement Attlee and Anthony Eden.

    Mansion House was done up, looking its finest.

    The Lord Mayor gave a speech.

    And the team put on a delicious spread, as always.

    It was a huge effort.

    But we know now, looking back at history…the charm offensive didn’t really work.

    Khrushchev returned to the USSR as resolved as he ever had been to lead, through technology.

    Racing to be first to the space rocket, the microchip, the bomb.

    Thankfully, those Cold War days are behind us.

    But on the world stage, the tech competition remains as fierce as ever.

    Only this time, the defining competitive advantage of this century – I believe…is going to be AI.

    Artificial intelligence will shape our economies, our security, and our place in the world.

    Those who wield it in their national interest – who invest in the right skills and hardware, while they have the chance…will be the economic superpowers of the future.

    Look at the US, and China.

    Or the Gulf states, vying to compete.

    Time and again, we see that a nation’s sovereign interest rests on its technological edge.

    It’s the lesson Khrushchev almost learned – but not quite.

    You see, in the years after his Mansion House visit, Khrushchev set about increasing the USSR’s tech capacity.

    As part of the plan, he wanted to have his own Soviet Silicon Valley.

    He ordered the creation of a new city, on the outskirts of Moscow: Zelenograd.

    The city had its own cinema, billboards, homes and offices. And a massive statue of Lenin.

    And the whole place was designed for engineers, racing to design microchips.

    The idea was simple: copy what worked in America, but do it faster.

    The Soviets got their hands on a prototype for a US microchip, the SN-51.

    Alexander Shokin, the official in charge, summoned the engineers of Zelenograd into his office, and he ordered them:

    “Copy it, one-for-one” – without a single deviation.

    This, ultimately, was their big mistake.

    The Soviets chose to imitate rather than innovate.

    At a time when the pace of change in chips was impossible to keep up with, without their own domestic research capacity.

    American speed proved too difficult for the Soviets to match.

    Individual US entrepreneurialism outpaced Soviet central control.

    And Silicon Valley won the chip race.

    Today, history is repeating itself in the development of AI and the new technological revolution.

    And the UK must think like the US, not act like the USSR.

    The computing power needed to train leading AI systems has doubled roughly every 6 months for the last decade.

    If we don’t keep up – with a domestic AI ecosystem of our own, on British shores, we’ll always be beholden to others, following where they point us.

    Buying off-the-shelf, from overseas.

    That’s a precedent I am not willing to set when it comes to our military tech, the integrity of our NHS, and data protection.

    Or when the prize is a huge competitive edge for our economy.

    Fortunately, we’re starting from a good place.

    We currently rank third for AI, after the US and China. We have 4 of the world’s top ten universities. The lowest corporation tax in the G7. And more venture capital investment than anywhere else in Europe.

    Only this year, the chief executive of NVIDIA, Jensen Huang, said the UK is in a ‘Goldilocks’ moment for AI.

    Because we are country not burdened by over-regulation, or a lack of ambition.

    Britain is striking the right balance.

    I remember, before this government came to office, I spent ages asking businesses what they needed from us.

    You certainly weren’t shy in telling us.

    Take AI seriously. Regulatory reform. Make sure we don’t fall short on talent.

    And ever since, we’ve been getting on with it.

    It started in January, with the AI Opportunities Action Plan.

    It outlined the 50 steps we are taking to grow the economy, and create scores of new jobs as part of the government’s modern industrial strategy.

    An early priority for me was skills.

    In June, we launched our TechFirst programme – backed by £187 million in funding which will bring digital and AI learning directly into the classroom and reach every secondary school pupil in the country.

    Next, we looked at the workforce. Forming a skills partnership with firms like Barclays, Amazon, BT, and Google.

    Together, committing to train 7.5 million people in AI – a fifth of the country’s workers.

    It’s fantastic to see how so many of you have risen to that challenge.

    After that, we looked at hardware.

    If we wanted to compete, we knew we had to improve our physical machinery.

    The raw processing power we have on offer, here in the UK, to churn through the mountains of data that will be required.

    The Compute Roadmap I set out in July charts that course.

    And I recently launched Isambard – our new supercomputer, the most powerful in the country.

    A machine that will be able to process an unthinkable amount of information, in seconds.

    We have another one, Dawn, in a lab in Cambridge.

    And I’ve announced the creation of a national supercomputer that will be based in Edinburgh.

    All told we’re on track to increase our compute capacity 20-fold between now and the end of the decade.

    We have our plan for the National Data Library.

    AI is pretty straightforward in its basic form. It is chips. It is data. It is software.

    We talk about chips a lot. We talk about software a lot. But we need to talk much, much more about the data that fuels it.

    AI is only as good as the data it uses, and Britain has the best data in the world.

    We will be safely harnessing it to power scientific and medical discovery, to drive our understanding of the human condition, and as potentially the biggest engine for the commercialisation of innovation in our country’s history.

    And we’re not slowing down any time soon.

    Our next big priority is our AI Growth Zones.

    These will be dedicated hubs of AI development.

    The first will be just 60 miles away, in Culham.

    And we’re getting spades in the ground for sites in Wales and in Scotland.

    Each has the potential for a full campus – bringing together companies, researchers, and investors.

    These efforts have been met by a wave of commitment from the private sector.

    With £14 billion in investment announced by firms like Vantage Data Centres, NScale, and Kyndryl.

    A brilliant British company, Synthesia, has announced they are expanding their London office just a few weeks ago.

    And global firms like Cohere, Open AI, and Anthropic have followed suit – choosing our capital as their home from home.

    That is a vote of confidence not just in our tech sector, but in the UK’s future.

    So this evening, I’m proud to publish the next 2 parts of our plan.

    The first is a roadmap for a new British AI assurance industry.

    Backed by a fund worth £11 million.

    In the next few years, AI assurance will bloom into a unique profession, worth up to £18.8 billion to our economy, based on a growing pool of independent experts with the skills to verify that new AI innovations are secure, and trustworthy.

    We hope it will give firms the tools they need to build trust with both customers and markets, especially smaller teams, who lack the in-house expertise to do this work themselves.

    Applications for that fund will be opening in the Spring – please do keep an eye out.

    Lastly, we’re looking very closely at regulation.

    I know this is a crucial issue for many of you. So I want to make it plain:

    British companies shouldn’t have to wait months for approvals, whilst competitors overseas race ahead. If AI can speed things up, even a little, then we will do everything we can to make that a reality.

    As part of this effort, today we announced our new AI regulator capability fund.

    Designed to support 5 UK regulators – from Ofgem, to the Civil Aviation Authority with up to £2.7 million in funding, to help them both use and regulate AI better.

    Whether it’s a new AI assistant. Analysing huge datasets. Or streamlining approvals.

    This is our challenge to regulators:

    Use every tool at your disposal to get new products to market quickly, without sacrificing safety.

    In aviation, for example, this might mean getting faster at clearing the skies for new drone technologies.

    Or, for the Office for Nuclear Regulation, we’re investing more than a quarter of a million pounds in a project that will enable the nuclear industry to test new AI tools in nuclear plants.

    Including things like making us more efficient at handling high risk nuclear waste.

    I want to personally thank the team at our Regulatory Innovation Office, set up last year, for being so forward-looking on this. I’m immensely proud of the work that it’s already doing.

    So that’s where we are today.

    A little over a year after I first set foot in the Department for Science, Innovation, and Technology, I don’t think a single person in this room could say, hand on heart, that we haven’t got stuck in.

    And it’s starting to pay off.

    In our first 12 months of in government we’ve attracted more than £44 billion worth of investment into the British AI sector. The average deal last year was worth £5.9 million.

    And we have doubled the number of AI firms in Yorkshire, Wales, the Midlands, and the North West compared to just 3 years ago.

    We have learned the lesson of history: countries can only prosper if they get the big calls right; if they decide to go beyond the expected and embrace the future; to innovate not imitate; refusing to be constrained by the problems of today by taking on the challenges of tomorrow.

    In these uncertain times, I am certain that’s what it takes to get a global competitive edge.

    So, if there is anyone here who still doubts our commitment.

    My message to you is simple:

    Britain is preparing for the challenge of the new technological revolution.

    We want you to keep investing here, keep building here. List here. Scale here.

    And if you invest in Britain, you will share in that competitive edge.

    I look forward to working with you all as, together, we create the security and opportunity society people are counting on us to deliver.

    Thank you.

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

    Angela Rayner – 2025 Statement on Stamp Duty on Second Flat

    The statement made by Angela Rayner on 3 September 2025.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • Calum Miller – 2025 Speech on the Middle East

    Calum Miller – 2025 Speech on the Middle East

    The speech made by Calum Miller, the Liberal Democrat Foreign Affairs spokesperson, in the House of Commons on 1 September 2025.

    I thank the Foreign Secretary for advance sight of his statement. I welcome the robust approach of the E3 in initiating the snapback mechanism in response to Iran’s nuclear ambitions and programme, which are in breach of its undertakings.

    The Foreign Secretary’s statement on 21 July shocked this House, and we had a long debate about the situation in Gaza, yet the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza and the west bank has deteriorated even further since then, as he has acknowledged. We have seen hundreds more Palestinians killed while seeking aid; famine declared in the strip; a chronic lack of medical supplies, attested to by UK medics volunteering in Nasser hospital; the start of IDF operations in Gaza City; and the images of emaciated hostages still held in brutal captivity by Hamas terrorists.

    The human suffering is indeed beyond comprehension, yet the extremists are indifferent. Hamas terrorists publish videos intended to torment the families of hostages. Cabinet members Ben-Gvir and Smotrich advocate for the forced displacement of Palestinians. In Israel, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum and Opposition parties call for an end to the violence. In the UK, our constituents are desperate for the same. The bloodshed can be stopped only by decisive actions—actions that I regret the Government have so far failed to take.

    The Prime Minister was wrong in principle to condition the recognition of Palestine on the actions of the Netanyahu Government, and wrong in practice, as he has been ignored. Will the Foreign Secretary confirm today that the UK will recognise Palestine later this month at the UN? The Government must learn a lesson and now apply relentless pressure on the Netanyahu Government, so the Liberal Democrats call today on the Foreign Secretary to finally sanction Prime Minister Netanyahu for expanding his military campaign and pursuing the illegal expansion of the E1 settlements, and to take the steps necessary to ban the export of all UK arms to Israel, including F-35 components. Will he also make representations to the Qatari Government to demand that they exile Hamas from their political headquarters unless they agree to the release of all the hostages immediately and unconditionally?

    The Foreign Secretary bemoans that words are not enough to alleviate the suffering. He acknowledges that the Government have failed to move the combatants, yet there is one man who could unlock progress. Donald Trump has the power to secure peace in Gaza, if he chose to, by picking up the phone to Netanyahu. Will the Foreign Secretary tell the House how he will use his special relationship with Vice President Vance to help secure that goal, and will the Government commit to making a ceasefire in Gaza a priority during President Trump’s state visit?

    Mr Lammy

    I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his remarks, particularly on Iran. He is absolutely right to place at the centre the 15,000 people who have been injured in Gaza while simply seeking aid, and the more than 2,000 who have died seeking aid. It is totally unacceptable, and he is right to remind the House about the position of the hostage families, who are crystal clear that they do not want to see further military endeavour and operation in Gaza City. What they want is a ceasefire, and they fear that further military endeavour will actually harm their loved ones further, not succeed in bringing them home.

    The hon. Gentleman criticises our position on recognition. I ask him to reflect on that, because it must be right that the Government continue to give diplomacy an opportunity as we head to the UN alongside other partners. Surely he would want us to be working with our French, Australian and Canadian partners as we head to that gathering at UNGA, and surely he would want to see the Israelis commit to a ceasefire, commit to a process and end the war. All of that is what we are seeking to do as we make an assessment of where we have got to in the coming weeks. I reassure him that of course I raise the issue of Gaza with all levels of the US Administration. I did raise the situation in Gaza with Vice President Vance earlier in the summer and with Secretary of State Rubio, and I have spoken to envoy Steve Witkoff in the last 24 hours to get an update on this fast-moving situation. Direct sales of F-35s to Israel are banned, and the hon. Gentleman knows that we ban arms that could go to the IDF for use in Gaza.