Deputy Prime Minister speech at the Pontignano Conference

It is my pleasure to be in Rome with our many friends, and partners and allies.   

Here to celebrate a relationship between our two nations with so many layers of history.  

Our Queen Elizabeth the First used to receive her news about Europe from informers in Rome. 

Now, a hundred years or so later there's another feisty red-head keen to make the UK ties with Italy even closer. 

I was talking to the Mayor of Rome yesterday, complaining about some of the restrictions that I've found in the planning system when trying to deliver the homes we desperately need in the UK. 

I thought I had challenges with bats and newts, and then he told me that every time he tries to dig a new metro line, he's forced to stop work preserving ancient artefacts.

It turns out that Rome wasn't built in a day, but it's incredible to see the work that the Mayor is doing and the priority that both our nations put on regeneration and infrastructure.    

And as my counterpart as the Deputy Prime Minister, Antonio Tajani, and I will surely agree later over an espresso – I know  the law! No milk after midday! –  our nations are key partners: in trade, foreign affairs, and culture.  

 No one ever needs an excuse to come to Rome.  

 And I am delighted that this is my first official overseas trip. 

Myself and my fellow ministers Nick Thomas-Symonds and Gareth Thomas are here not only to admire the beautiful city and country, but to build our strategic relationship and joint agreement our Prime Ministers issued in September. 

A declaration which reflected the warmth we feel as partners and the scale of our ambitions. 

Our people are friends, bonded by historic ties and values, and our mutual love of art, music, good food and wine. We Brits cannot resist coming in our millions to admire Italy's remarkable scenery, architecture and fashion, and bask in the sunny climate.  

And we are delighted that 600,000 Italians chose to make Britain their home – it is fantastic to have our vibrant cultures entwined.   

My friends – 

Bilaterally and internationally, 

At home and abroad, 

Now and in the future –  

We want this important partnership to count even more.  

And in many areas – including action to tackle the illegal gangs trafficking migrants through Europe – our cooperation is already at a higher level.  

Prime Minister has a great description for the UK and Italy – she calls us ‘fundamental pillars' of the transatlantic community. 

Well I could not agree more.  

Pillars standing firm, side by side, in the face of shared challenges. 

Our governments come from different ends of the political spectrum but we have plenty in common.  

On the world stage, we share values as G7 economies and as allies in NATO. The first duty of any government is to keep its citizens safe and, more than 75 years on, the organisation remains a cornerstone of global security, constantly adapting in the face of modern threats to our society and embodying the principle of collective defence.  

And at home, we share foundational values that we once took for granted. The right for people to have a safe and secure home and dignity at work.  

But in an ever more complicated world, these values are being challenged – and friends and allies are more important than ever.  

We share the aspiration to do better for our people by tackling issues of profound economic and social justice, such as the need to tackle regional and social disparities and strengthen workers' rights.  

And that's why I'm so delighted to be here at this Conference, and the Co-Chairs, I thank you for covering both foreign and domestic policy in this year's conference themes.  

The strength of this conference – why it has flourished for 32 years – is the diverse interests and expertise assembled in one place.

The very best and the brightest of influencers and thinkers, champions for the ties between the UK and Italy – at the wonderful Villa here with our fantastic host whom you all know so well - our British Ambassador, Ed who kept sneaking off and leaving me but

I've forgiven him for that. 

Where better to explore our shared interests and opportunities? 

The UK, like Italy, is negotiating a landscape of shifting but interconnected policy changes: energy security, volatile supply chains, legal and illegal migration; the war in Ukraine and the Middle East.  

And with mounting international tensions, I want to congratulate Italy for leading the drumbeat of diplomacy over the past year, both in its Presidency of the G7 and under the European umbrella. 

The UK and our partners remain united in supporting Ukraine against Putin's spiralling aggression, with economic, humanitarian and military assistance.  

We also welcome news of the long overdue ceasefire between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah. Italian soldiers comprise one of the largest contingents of the UNIFIL in Lebanon, and civilians in both Lebanon and northern Israel have suffered unimaginable consequences during the last few months of devastating bloodshed. 

Prime Minister Meloni's efforts to de-escalate conflict align with the UK's desire for long-term, sustainable peace in the Middle East, the return of all hostages, and a return to stability. We continue to work urgently to support progress towards a two-state solution, with a safe and secure Israel alongside a viable and sovereign Palestinian state.   

And closer to home, both the UK and Italy want to stem the flow of people arriving illegally on our shores – crossing the Mediterranean and the English Channel in small boats, smuggled by ruthless gangs that don't care if they live or die as long as they pay up. 

Prime Ministers Starmer and Meloni believe that preventing people from travelling in the first place – tackling the problem ‘upstream' – is one of the best ways to deal with this difficult and sensitive issue.  

And like Italy, the UK is committed to sharing more international intelligence and carrying out more joint operational work to dismantle the smuggling networks.  

Now – as I mentioned, I am here with ministerial colleagues from the Cabinet Office and the Department for Business and Trade. And Minister Thomas-Symonds will be speaking just a little later on the strength of our bilateral relationship, and our desire to reset relationships across the European Union - without going back on Brexit.  

Tomorrow it is Minister Thomas's turn to discuss the UK's industrial strategy – and how we are building on our strengths to support even more international businesses to thrive in our market.  

So, I am going to focus my intervention this evening on our domestic agenda – and matters very close to my heart.  

I want to focus on our number one mission as a newly elected Government in the UK - with a strong majority and four years ahead of us - to promote the growth that every part of the UK needs and deserves… 

I want to focus on how we will raise living standards for everyone, everywhere, to heal economic and social hardship … 

How we will get the homes and jobs we desperately need, by fixing our broken housing market. 

And create the opportunities to breathe new life into our towns and cities. 

The theme of this conference is, indeed, ‘creating opportunities'. There's no better subject, or moment, to talk about it than now.  

For my entire career I've been fighting for the left-behind and the forgotten, the overlooked and the underestimated. 

Now, serving as Deputy Prime Minister, I've got my opportunity to tackle the long-standing social injustices that have held our country back for far too long.  

And I will not waste it. 

Helping people out of insecurity and instability, giving them back their self-respect is deeply personal to me.  

Because I've lived a life on the edge – and I remember how it feels.  

As a little girl, growing up on a council housing estate in a poor part of Manchester, I had no expectations.   

And no one expected much of me, either.   

I was a teenage mum who was lucky enough to get a good job and the support of social housing – it was the first step to a secure life for me and my son.  

I know that secure, affordable homes is not a luxury or a nice-to-have.

It's the foundation on which all else is built: self-respect, stability, the chance of decent work, and hope for a better future. 

And I am determined now, to deliver for the millions of people for the opportunities that I had.  

The ambition to tackle social and regional inequality is something the UK and Italy have in common. 

And the North-South divide is an age-old problem for both of our nations.

Although the financial strongholds are at the opposite ends of each country.  

But it wasn't always this way. 

The UK has a tradition of gutsy Northerners, proud of the place they call home.  

And for good reason.  

In the 19th century, the north of England was a powerhouse of industry and innovation.  

Growth surged through the factories, the mills, the mines and the ports.  

It was unstoppable.  

We were unstoppable. 

But while our workers were fuelling the Industrial Revolution, the wealth stayed with the business owners.  

The people of the North were further punished by the decline in manufacturing and the economic tilt towards the service industries.  

And today – our citizens are bursting with ambition and potential, as they are all around our country. 

We have the raw ingredients to power growth – the high-skilled workers, competitive industries, the leading universities and world-class businesses. 

But even though the talent and potential are there to be found in every town and city – the opportunities are not. 

With the regional inequalities people face now, not only will you do better at school and get a better job, and better wages and have a heathier life if you live in the south-east of England.  

You will also live longer – on average ten years longer - as a man living in Hampshire, near the south coast, than in Blackpool, on the north-west coast.  

And I know the challenges are similar in Italy, where some regions have GDP as high as 127 per cent of the EU average, and in others it is as low as 56 per cent. 

In the UK, the Prime Minister knows that healing our social and educational and cultural disparities is vital to our growth –  

And he has asked me to lead the way in three key areas which I'm going to take you through this evening. 

First, we are giving local people a bigger say in shaping the place that they live and call home.  

And we're doing it by extending opportunities not from the top down – but from the bottom up.  

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And I'm a firm believer in strong leaders who live and work close to their communities being best placed to shape their communities. 

When they make informed choices about where the money goes and flows, they also have the biggest stake in getting it right.  

And already there are mayors in England's biggest cities – including, Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool and Newcastle – with powers over areas such as housing, transport, skills and business support. 

As with Italy's directly elected Mayors, working with central government, they can address local needs and day-to-day problems, and build a closer connection with citizens. 

Now, every country is different and there is not one size that fits all approach, but what we want to do is go further in the UK.   

By letting people with the biggest stake in the outcomes make the decisions, in the UK, we believe that we will be more successful, resilient in our communities and revive areas that have been left behind. 

Now as we build an economy that works for everyone in the UK – we are also looking after the workers themselves.  

Making work pay, and bringing in strengthened employment rights fit for a modern economy, has been my lifelong mission.  

I am so proud that our New Deal for Working People – on which I'm leading with Jonathan Reynolds, the UK Business Secretary - will change the lives of over 10 million people.  

I'm even prouder of its protections for people in the most deprived areas – including the North and the Midlands – and the particular recognition for the brilliant and indispensable work of carers.

For millions of people in casual work, unable to rely on guaranteed hours, working hard on low pay and struggling to make ends meet, our Government is working for them, we are a Government in the service of working people. 

And our deal is pro-business, pro-growth and pro-worker. It's a new partnership between workers and business, putting money in the peoples' pockets which will go back into our economy. 

And I commend Prime Minister Meloni's government for achieving two historic milestones: a record high number of people employed and, most significantly, a record 10 million women in employment.   

Both our countries are looking for the balance between providing financial support to those in need and promoting policies that actively encourage people to take up work. 

And my colleague Minister McGovern discussed these areas with her Italian counterpart at the G7 meeting – and we are very keen to continue that conversation.  

And in the UK, better quality work for the lowest paid in society will mean higher living standards for working families and communities in every corner of our country.  

There is a small cost to some employers from our reforms mostly in salary payments. But it is expected to be 0.4% of the £1.3 trillion pay bill paid by UK businesses annually.  

And our reforms are ambitious, but they will deliver real change – the biggest uplift in workers' rights in a generation, which benefits workers, businesses, and our economic future. 

And the last area I wanted to focus is our drive to Get Britain Building.  

We have a housing crisis to tackle – and our pledge to build 1.5 million homes in the next five years is a stretch target.  

But we have to think big – we can't carry on with over 150,000 children living in temporary accommodation in the UK, and 1.3 million households waiting for social housing. So, we're aiming to build a new generation of secure, social and affordable homes. 

Now I'm going to be announcing a significant shake-up of our National Planning Framework shortly – but unfortunately, I can't jump the gun even if the Chatham House rules applies in here before I've put those proposals to Parliament.

But what I can say is we want to remove the obstacles to development and encourage investment; and make planning the launchpad for building the vital homes and the infrastructure – the schools and healthcare – that we need to go with them. 

Around the Cabinet table, we are standing up for every citizen of the United Kingdom, whether they voted for Labour or not.  

And for me, it's my chance to give the people in every community the same opportunities that changed my life.  

These are our priorities, as a fresh Government in the UK, making a fresh start. But we are not operating in isolation, oblivious to what is going on around us. 

On the contrary, we want to make a fresh start with our closest friends and partners in Europe too – it's what we call our EU reset. 

And I'd like to end by saying this: our nations are the closest of friends and allies. So many Brits love coming to Italy and so many Italians are proud to call the UK home and make a fantastic contribution to our nation's life. 

So it stands to reason that our two nations have so much to learn from each other – and I am looking forward to absorbing and following up on the many fascinating debates and workshops that will be held here.  

Together, the UK and Italy will continue to move forward with common purpose in pursuit of our opportunities and goals – as partners, allies and friends.  

Thank you.