Louise Haigh speech at Labour Party Conference 2024

Thank you, Conference. It's 14 years since a Labour Transport Secretary addressed you. 14 years of potholes, protracted strikes and empty promises.

Our transport system had become a symbol of national decline, of a country that no longer works and a government that had no plan or any interest in fixing it.  

It's thanks to your graft, to your commitment, your belief that now we have the chance to change that.

The chance to fix what is broken and rebuild Britain in the service of working people.

I know I stand on the shoulders of some giants of our Labour movement in assuming this office. Our first female Transport Secretary, the incomparable Barbara Castle.  Who famously said 'in politics, guts is all'. And she came under horrendous attack for it - even receiving death threats for introducing those disgracefully woke anti-driver measures - the seatbelt and the breathalyser.

Barbara understood that transport wasn't about the roads or the tracks, but about the people and the opportunities it can create or deny them. What was true then is true today.

From the woman I met on the campaign trail who had to move house because her local bus route was cut – she couldn't get to work, to the doctor, to see her parents.

To the young person who is always late for work, because they can't afford the car insurance or even book a driving test in the first place.

And the businesses who want to invest but choose to go elsewhere. Because they can't get their people of their produce to where they want to be. Keir has set us on a mission. Our mission is to get Britain moving. And that is why we have not wasted a single second in getting to work.  

My Ministerial team and I – Peter Hendy, Simon Lightwood, Lillian Greenwood, Mike Kane – we told our Department that our new motto is to move fast and fix things, and that's exactly what we're doing.  

30 years of rail privatisation has left us with a system that served no one other than its shareholders. Record delays, record cancellations. Crippling strikes holding our country back. Passengers an afterthought. We are bringing the age of privatised chaos, underwritten by public money, to an end. For good.  

There are those that said this could never change. That our politics is too small to stand up to a challenge like this.

That it doesn't matter the colour of the rosette, things will always stay the same. But that has never been Labour.

That has never been us. There is a reason our party is the greatest force for social change our country has ever seen.

Twelve months ago I told you we would take action if the British people gave us the chance - and because of what we achieved together, that is exactly what we are doing. That's why the first Bill of this new Labour Government we worked so hard to elect is a Bill to bring our railways back into public ownership, where they have always belonged.

Real action, real change, right now. The Tory choice was more of the same. The Labour choice is change. The legislation is underway. The savings will be made and reinvested in better services. The railways will work for passengers not profiteers. By the end of this Parliament our railways will be in public ownership, run by Great British Railways, in the service of you the British people.

And change doesn't stop there. We've hauled in failing train operators and put them on remedial plans. Announced world-leading legislation to ensure flying will be greener. Called time on divisive culture wars around walking and cycling. Repealed the toxic Minimum Service Level legislation. Greenlit hundreds of affordable homes by stations. And got round the table with the unions to put an end to the longest ever industrial dispute on our railways. That's real action. real change, right now.

But I couldn't speak to you today without talking about a passion of mine. Buses. Millions depend on them yet, for too long, politicians in my position have cared too little - and it's shown.  For decades private operators have been allowed to pick and choose routes and services that put profit ahead of passengers, with no control for communities.

Last year, I stood in front of you and promised we would extend powers so that every area of the country run their bus services just like London has done for decades. Building on the brilliant work of our mayors across the country that's exactly what we have done. Within weeks of being elected, our Labour government has brought forward legislation to bring our buses back under public control.

And we'll go further still. And we will overturn the ideological Tory ban on public ownership of bus companies 

A public transport system that is for the public.

Don't let anyone ever tell you the colour of the rosette doesn't matter. Don't let anyone ever tell you politics doesn't change things. Because of what we achieved together, we are not just cleaning up the mess of the last 14 years, we are ripping up the very roots of Thatcherism that have undermined and run down our transport system for decades. Privatisation of our transport is not pragmatism. It hasn't spurred innovation. It hasn't made things better. It belongs to a past that failed. 

And we don't accept failure when it comes to the lives and livelihoods of the British people.

There is so much more work to do.  We are going to transform the way we invest in infrastructure. We'll get HS2 back under control, and give people faith that Britain can build again. And we'll work across Government to deliver a 10 year infrastructure strategy which supports growth right across the country.  

The task ahead is not easy, but nothing worth doing ever is.  Together we will Fix the Foundations of this country. Together we will deliver the Change that we promised. Together we will build a Better Britain. Let's move even faster. Let's fix things. We can do it. Together.