Liz Kendall speech at Labour Party Conference 2024

Conference, 12 months ago, we gathered here in Liverpool.  

Proud of our changed Party and determined to change our country.  

And because of you - the doors you knocked on, the leaflets you delivered - just look at what we've achieved since then.  

The first Labour Government and the first Labour Prime Minister in 14 long years.  

Our National Wealth Fund – up and running.   

GB Energy – switched on.  

The onshore wind ban – scrapped.  

Renters' rights - overhauled.  

Local buses in local hands.  

Teachers' pay – up.  

And tackling child poverty back where it should be - a top priority once more. 

Conference, we are proud of the change we've begun and we know how much more there's still to do.  

All around us we see the consequences of Tory failure.  

Almost record numbers of people who want to work locked out because of poor health.   

Millions stuck in low paid, insecure jobs.  

Mums struggling with childcare.  

Disabled people denied equality.  

Food bank use soaring.  

And more than four million children growing up poor.  

This is the result, not only of a failed Tory Government, but a failed Tory ideology which says opportunity is for only a few.    

And Conference we say no more.  

No more writing people off, then blaming them just to grab a cheap headline.  

No more denying people the chances and choices in life.  

But instead: real opportunity for all.  

So families can build a better future.  

Children can fulfil their potential.  

And so we build a stronger economy and society too. 

The only way to get Britain growing again is to get Britain working again.  

So we will bring in the biggest reforms to employment support in a generation.   

An end to the culture of JobCentres focusing on monitoring benefits.  

Instead a new jobs and careers service to help people get work and get on at work.   

New plans to join-up support for work, health and skills so we tackle the root causes of worklessness.   

Led by our brilliant Mayors and local areas because they know their communities best.  

And becasue we will never allow young people to be written off, as the Tories did for years, our new Youth Guarantee so every young person is earning or learning.  

And Conference, all this backed by our New Deal for Working People with better jobs, better rights and better pay.

That's how we transform opportunity, grow the economy and tackle poverty too.  

One of the proudest achievements of the last Labour Government was lifting more than half a million children out of poverty. 

But under the Tories, poverty soared.  

And I want to tell you Conference, that tackling child poverty is my personal priority.  

It's why I ran the Maternity Alliance all those years ago.

It's why I came into politics.

And it's why I've chaired Feeding Leicester for the last five years.

Because you can't fulfil your potential without food in your belly or a decent roof over your head.  

And you can't build a better country when the talents of so many are being denied.  

And that is why I am so proud to lead this government's new child poverty taskforce alongside the inspirational Bridget Philipson.  

And it's why, dspite all the problems we've inherited from the Tories, this Labour Government has invested an extra half a billion pounds in the Household Support Fund,  helping families who need it most.   

And so we can help the poorest pensioners too.  

Conference, focusing Winter Fuel Payments on the poorest pensioners wasn't a decision we wanted or expected to make.  

But when we promised we could be trusted with taxpayers' money, we meant it.  

And when we're faced with a £22 billion black hole which the Tories left this year – we had to act.  

Because we know what happened when Liz Truss played fast and loose with the public finances.  

It was working people and pensioners on fixed incomes who paid the highest price.  

That is why we took what I know is a very difficult decision.  

But let me tell you Conference, this Labour Government has done more to help the poorest pensioners in the last two months than the Tories did in 14 years.

The biggest ever drive to increase Pension Credit uptake, backed by our commitment to the pensions triple lock.

This will increase the state pension by an estimated 1,700 pounds this parliament with an extra six billion pounds of funding forecast next year.  With an extra £6 billion of funding forecast next year.

This is the difference a Labour Government makes. 

Poverty, tackled.  

Talent, unleashed. 

More people in good jobs. 

A real living wage. 

And security in retirement for all.  

Conference, we will drive up opportunity and drive down poverty, in every corner of the land.  

Because the talents of the British people are our country's greatest asset, and we will not let them go to waste.  

Real change.   

With real hope of better days ahead.  

This is what we do.

This is who we are.

So let's get Britain working again.