Tag: Speeches

The speech made by Keir Starmer, the Leader of the Opposition, on 29 June 2024.

Can I start just by thanking all of our speakers.

Dan, that was fantastic. The idea of walking up Camden High Street and seeing Dan – I was on my way back from my office walking home and we caught each other’s eye and had that conversation – to go from that place to you standing on this stage making this speech.

And Dan is 18 years old and he’s never stood on a stage and never done anything like that before, it is fantastic.

I will keep on bumping into people on Camden High Street for a long time yet, Dan.

Thank you to all of you for being here as well.

It’s a busy Saturday, it’s a hot and warm Saturday. You could be with your friends, you could be with your families, you could be with Contact Creator!

And this is a summer, an important summer, where we all have together one job, one job, to make sure it’s a summer of change.

To restore hope, to restore spirit, belief in a better future.

To have that opportunity to take our country forward together.

So whether you’re a family that’s been struggling these last few years with the cost of living, with bills bearing down on you that you fear you can’t pay.

Whether you’re a business that’s been struggling for years under the damage that this government has done to the economy.

Whether you’ve served in uniform or your community, this campaign is for you. This fight for change is for you. And the power of the vote belongs to you.

And you can use it to stop the chaos. To turn the page and start to rebuild our country.

And that’s what this project has always been about. Four and a half years – long years -changing our party, ending gesture politics and putting our party back in the service of working people.

Country first, Party second.

And can I say thanks to all the time that you have all given. Not just in this campaign, that’s a lot of time you’ve given, but over four and a half years.

The leaflets, the door knocking, in the sunshine today but often in the rain. Those conversations you’ve been having over the weeks, the months, the years with your community.

Everything this party has achieved, past and future, is down to your efforts.

So, thank you for everything.

But this is the final furlong. This is the last push. The last mile, the hardest mile.

But it’s also the chance, the chance to do for the country what we did for our party, to return Britain to service working people.

British people want change, but hope has been kicked out of so many voters. They need to be convinced that change is possible, and most of all convinced to vote for it.

Change doesn’t happen unless you vote for it. Nothing is decided, not a single vote has been won or lost, and each and every vote is out there.

Ready to be earnt, and we must earn it. We must get together and say with one voice.

If you want to stop the chaos, you have to vote for it.

If you want to tun the page, you have to vote for it.

If you want to start the work of national renewal.

Rebuild our country and return politics to public service, then on 4th July you have to vote for it.

If you do vote Labour on Thursday, we can promise that the work of change will begin immediately.

We will make our country better off, with a mission to create wealth in every community.

And get to work on our first steps, downpayments if you like, fully funded and fully costed as you would expect, on day one.

Economic stability with tough spending rules to keep taxes down, inflation down and prices down.

Cutting NHS waiting times, with 40,000 extra appointments and operations each and every week, 2 million a year to get our waiting lists down. We’ve done it before, and we’ll do it again.

We will set up the Border Security Command to take control of our borders.

And we’ll set up Great British Energy, a publicly owned energy company that will keep your bills low, give us energy security and harness the jobs of the future.

And will recruit those 6500 teachers desperately needed in our secondary schools, giving your children the start in life they deserve.

We’ll need a clear mandate for this change, don’t doubt that. And if you don’t believe me, take a good look at the Tories.

Chaos under Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, two politicians who never had a clear mandate.

The change we want to bring about to this country is not like flicking a switch.

There will always be people saying why do we have to do this, why don’t we go slower. Britain can’t afford that.

Don’t take the risk. If you want change you have to vote for it.

Imagine, if you dare, waking up on July 5th and the Tories are back in.

It could happen, if we take our foot off the gas, if people think it’s all in the bag. Undecided voters, and there are millions of them. It could happen.

So how does that feel?

How do you feel about the future of our country on a morning like that? To see them back in power, and not just back, entitled. Emboldened. Vindicated.

Believing they could get away with anything. They could run the NHS into the ground, another unfunded spending spree, your mortgage through the roof again.

As they get on with serving themselves, the same old same old, and nothing you can do about it.

Because we’ll be stuck in same doom-loop. Pay more and get less. For five years.

That’s what’ll happen, if there is no democratic reckoning on Thursday, and we cannot allow that to happen.

Don’t forget what they have done, don’t forget party-gate, don’t forget the Covid contract, don’t forget the lies, don’t forget the kickbacks.

Don’t forget the cronyism, don’t forget the division, the scapegoating of minorities, the failure to invest, the trips to the bookies, the decimation of your public services.

Telling working people “we’re all in it together”, the people who hurt your family finances, swanning around the House of Lords, after giving tax cuts to the richest 1% that crashed our economy, don’t forget any of it.

And don’t risk it. Because you don’t have to, you can stop it,  and don’t forget that.

Change is in your hands. And you can be part of it. You can be part of changing our country next week.

We can heal the wounds, bring our country together, return politics to service, and start to build a new Britain.

Imagine that, as well. Imagine a Britain where wealth is created in every community.

Imagine everyone treated with dignity and respect at work. Imagine our NHS back on its feet, facing the future. The best technology in the hands of our NHS staff.

Imagine we build the infrastructure our children need. New towns, new roads, new hospitals and schools. The dream of home ownership restored to 1.5 million families.

Imagine your town centre thriving, because everyone feels safe on their streets, and we’ve given our young people something to do.

Imagine we show leadership on the climate, harness the golden opportunity of clean British power, create good jobs across the country, cut your bills for good.

Imagine we show that politics is about serving the country with purpose, making you and your family better off.

And that the whole country says with one voice, whoever you are, whatever your background, we back your potential, your contribution is respected.

Imagine it, fight for it, campaign for it. But first of all vote for it.

Change only happens if you vote for it, and it is time for change. Time to stop the chaos, turn the page and rebuild our country by voting Labour on 4 July

Thank you.

The speech made by Keir Starmer, the Leader of the Opposition, on 13 June 2024.

Thank you, thank you very much. Thank you, Ange, for your introduction, for everything that you’re doing, I think I’m taking your bus this afternoon. Thank you, Richard, for your words. Thank you, Daniel, for reminding us why we’re doing what we’re doing.

Nathaniel, I’ve heard your story before, but every single time it gets to me and I’m sure gets to every single person that listens to what you say, and I’m humbled by your determination to make sure that things are better for those in the next generation.

And Holly, that was fantastic. Holly is 18-years-old. Anybody who has stood on a stage like this knows how hard it is, for all of us to stand up here. That’s the first time Holly has done anything like this in her life. Fantastic, Holly. And taken together, isn’t this clear evidence of a changed Labour Party, and clear evidence of the change we need for our country.

We gave up on being a party of protest five years ago. We want to be a party of power. That’s not in the script, but that is part of the change.

And Holly, can I also say at the start of this, that this party respects and will never forget the contribution that your generation made during the pandemic. Thank you so much.

And thank you all for coming to Manchester. Thank you for all the hard work that’s gone into this campaign so far, into this project. Four-and-a-half years of work changing our party to put it back in the service of working people.

And now – the next step, the most important step, changing Britain. Rebuilding our country. So that it too serves the interests of working people.

And what a place to launch our plan to do so. The home of the Co-operative Group. An organisation that has long believed, as we do, that the pursuit of social justice and economic growth must go hand-in-hand.

A day where I am proud – in this place, in this city – to launch Labour’s general election manifesto. A manifesto for wealth creation. A plan to change Britain.

Because today we can turn the page. Today we can lay a new foundation of stability. And on that foundation we can start to rebuild Britain. A Britain renewed by an old argument – that we serve working people, as their ambition drives our country forward.

Because there is so much potential in this country. So much possibility if we stand together as four nations, and back the ambition people have for their family and their community.

I see it everywhere I go. Potential held back. I spoke to Will, he’s a fireman in Milton Keynes. He works really hard. What he wants, his dream, is to own his own home. A roof over his head that he can call his own. As well as a firefighter, he’s got two other jobs, but he can’t afford a mortgage – his dream will not be realised. That’s the price he’s paying.

I went to Alder Hey Hospital, not far from here. It is a brilliant children’s hospital, absolutely brilliant. And the day I went in, I went to the ward where they were doing operations on 0 to 2-year-old children, heart operations. It’s incredible to just see what they do, the courage of the individuals in there. Heart surgery – the brilliance of the NHS staff. I found that totally humbling, completely uplifting. Until I found out that at Alder Hey Hospital, the commonest cause for admission for operations for 6-to-10-year olds is children going there to have their teeth taken out, because they are decaying. That is the price that they are paying.

So just imagine, imagine if instead – a Labour Government gives Will and Daniel the affordable homes that they need. Imagine, if instead – a Labour Government tackles the rot of tooth decay. Imagine what those nurses and doctors could do – with a Labour Government on their side.
Now don’t get me wrong. These challenges don’t disappear overnight if Labour wins. We don’t have a magic wand. But what we do have – what this manifesto represents, is a credible long-term plan. A plan built on stable foundations, with clear first steps, tough spending rules that will keep taxes and inflation low. NHS waiting times cut – with 40,000 extra appointments every week. A Border Security Command to smash the criminal smuggling gangs. Great British Energy to cut bills in your home for good, more police in your town, cracking down on antisocial behaviour, and 6,500 new teachers in your school – giving your children the start in life that they deserve.

But also, a plan that is much more than a list of policies. A plan for change, for growth, for giving our children their future back.

A chance to refocus politics on the things that matter to your family. The era of sticking plaster politics, the chaos and division, replaced by a government back in the service of you and your family.

And make no mistake – that is the cause of this changed Labour Party and we have written that argument through every word of this manifesto, because it’s urgent.

Britain has lost its balance. It is too hard for working people to get on. Opportunity is not spread evenly enough and too many communities are not just locked out of the wealth that we create, they are disregarded as sources of dynamism in the first place.

Ignored by the toxic idea that economic growth is something the few hand down to the many. Today, we turn the page on that, forever.

Because that idea is part of the story of the past 14 years, part of everything they put you through.

When they crashed the pound to give tax cuts to the richest 1%. When they decimated your public services because of a mess made by banks. When they failed to invest in clean British energy, we were exposed when Putin invaded Ukraine.

That idea was there, a Tory inability to face the future, rather than change, reform and strengthen government, so that it can intervene, in partnership with business, to give you and your family stability in this insecure world.

It doesn’t matter how many new policies the Tories throw at the wall, hoping that some of them will stick. None of them face up to the reality of this future. But mark my words – this changed Labour Party will.

We have a plan in this manifesto. A total change of direction. Laser-focused on our cause: stability, growth, investment and reform. A government back in the service of your family, ready to change Britain.

We will restore the foundations of good government. National security, border security, economic security. We will make new choices to reform our economy and public services, hard choices, choices ducked for years.

These choices will be fully-funded and fully-costed. That is non-negotiable, you cannot play fast and loose with the public finances. We have lived through the damage that this does. The Government we have now played fast and loose with the finances, and working people paid the price.

Just after Liz Truss’ mini-budget, I went to Wolverhampton a week or so afterwards. And I met there a couple, they had a 3-year-old child, they had decided they want a second child. They had chosen a new home that was big enough to accommodate their new family. They got a mortgage offer that they could afford. Liz Truss crashed the economy, their mortgage offer went through the roof, they couldn’t afford it, they pulled out, they couldn’t move to their new home, they felt they were held back. But they also took the decision that they could no longer afford to have a second child. And they will live with that for the rest of their lives. That’s the price that they’re paying.

So I make no apologies for being careful with working peoples’ money, and no apologies for ruling out tax rises on working people. And this isn’t just the election, don’t think it’s just politics, this is an issue of conviction. I don’t believe it’s fair to raise taxes on working people when they’re already paying this much, particularly in a cost-of-living crisis.

So let me spell it out. We will not raise income tax. We will not raise National Insurance. We will not raise VAT. That is a manifesto commitment.

And another thing. Because there may be some people here today who say: where’s the surprise? Where’s the rabbit out of the hat? To which I say, if you want politics as pantomime, I hear Clacton is nice this time of year!

But seriously, we have to come to terms with this. Britain needs stability, not more chaos. I set out our long-term plan in this room 18 months ago, and that plan stands because it is the right plan.

We did the work properly. Our responsibility to give a clear direction to businesses, communities, everyone invested in Britain’s future.

We took that seriously.

So yes, those five national missions: higher growth, safer streets, cleaner energy, more opportunity, the NHS back on its feet – they remain at the core of this manifesto.

But if they are to offer hope and clarity through these times. If they are to show, despite the hard road, the light of the certain destination, then we must keep to that road, no matter the short-term ebbs and flows of politics. Even in a campaign.

That’s what mission-driven government means. A chance to stop us bobbing along until the next crisis blows us off course, and instead make sure we can keep going through the storm. Stability over chaos. Long-term over short-term. An end to the desperate era of gestures and gimmicks, and a return to the serious business of rebuilding our country.

And on that foundation of stability, we start to rebuild. A rebuilding that must begin, first and foremost, with new choices on economic growth. That is the mandate we seek from Britain at this election, a mandate for economic growth.

Because the way we create wealth in this country is broken. It leaves far too many people feeling insecure, people who are working hard and doing the right thing.

So we will reform it, and we will keep on reforming it, until it delivers for them. Wealth creation is our number one priority. Growth is our core business. The only route to improving the prosperity of our country and the living standards of working people. And that’s why we made it our first national mission in government.

But we must change our approach so that it comes from every community. Not just shared with every community, redistribution can’t be a one-word plan for our poorest towns and regions.

No, we need to give them the tools they need, back their pride and potential. Growth for every community, growth from every community, that is the path to national renewal.

And now, some people say that how you grow the economy is not a central question. That it’s not about how you create wealth, but how you tax it, how you spend it, how you slice the cake, that’s all that matters.

So let me be crystal clear, this manifesto is a total rejection of that argument. Because if you transform the nature of the jobs market, if you transform the infrastructure that supports investment in our economy, if you reform the planning regime – start to unlock the potential of billions upon billions of pounds worth of projects that are ready to go, held up by the blockers of aspiration – then clearly that does so much more for our long-term growth prospects.

And the same is true of public services. If we grew the economy at anything like the rate of the last Labour Government, we’d have tens of billions of pounds worth of investment for our public services every year.

So if you take nothing else away from today, let it be this. This changed Labour Party has a plan for growth: we are pro-business and pro-worker. The party of wealth creation.

We will reform the planning rules – a choice ignored for 14 years – and build the homes and infrastructure you need. We will level up your rights at work – a choice ignored for 14 years – and raise your wages and your security. We will create a new industrial strategy – a choice ignored for 14 years. And we will back it with a national wealth fund – invest in clean steel, new ports, gigafactories. And we will create 650,000 new jobs for communities like yours, relight the fires of renewal across all four of our great nations.

You can choose a different path – you have the power. You can choose to take back control from Westminster. More democracy for your community. New powers over transport, skills, employment. Unlock the pride and potential in every community. That is a different choice you can make.

You can cut your bills for good with a new energy company – funded by a tax on the oil and gas giants: owned by the taxpayer, making money for the taxpayer, powering your home with clean British energy. That is a different choice you can make.

And you can choose to get our NHS back on its feet. End the 8am scramble. Back our NHS staff, get the best technology in their hands, slash waiting lists in your hospital, funded by taking on the non-doms and tax avoiders. That is a different choice you can make.

And I’ll tell you another choice you can make. You can choose to live in a country that believes in and backs its young people, the future of our country.

I am fed up of politicians lecturing young people about their responsibility to our nation, when those politicians fail in their responsibility to the future.

After what young people did during the pandemic, what they gave up for people – let’s be blunt – more at risk than them, that adds insult to injury.

But more than that, it tears up the unwritten contract, the bonds of respect that hold these four great nations together, the values that make us who we are, the responsibilities we owe to each other. Past, present and future.

My dad was a tool-maker, he worked in a factory. My mum was a nurse. We didn’t have a lot when we were growing up, and, like millions of working-class children now, I grew up in a cost-of-living crisis.

I know what it feels like to be embarrassed to bring your mates home because the carpet is threadbare and the windows cracked. I was actually responsible for that because I didn’t put the football through it! But we didn’t have the money to fix it. Or to be honest – the time and energy. Economic insecurity drains you of that as well.

But look, what always comforted my parents was the idea that, in the end, Britain would give their children a fair chance.

The old saying, the story we still tell our children – “work hard and you can achieve anything” – that meant something.

My parents believed in that. But the question now, after 14 years, is – do we?

Do kids like those in Somers Town – a very poor part of my constituency, one of the poorest parts of Europe – do they look out of their window, to the glittering success of London 300 yards and another world away, and believe that success could belong to them?

Do parents here in Manchester – or in Glasgow, Cardiff, Plymouth, Sunderland, Sussex, Stoke-on-Trent – do they believe, with the certainty that they deserve, that the future will be better for their children?

Because in the Britain I want to leave to my children, they do.

And we can build it. We can restore the dream of home ownership to 1.5 million families. We can create 3,000 new nurseries to give them the best start in life. We can roll out a new generation of technical excellence colleges, a world-class vocational education respected by all, grounding young aspiration in the soil of their community.

We can guarantee, for every young person, a job placement or apprenticeship when they are out of work. We can invest in their mental health, their physical health, their dental health. We can reform the curriculum to prepare them for their world.

We can create new youth hubs and give them something to do in their community. Raise their wages if they’re at work, give them the power of the vote, tackle injustice with a new Race Equality Act and with our mission on clean power we can lead the way on climate, finally show our responsibility to their future.

A fairer, healthier, a more secure Britain, at the service of working people, with growth from every community. A Britain ready to restore that promise.

The bond that reaches through the generations and says – this country will be better for your children.

That is the change on offer on 4 July.

That is our plan and I invite you all to join our mission to stop the chaos, turn the page and start to rebuild our country.

Thank you so much.