David Lammy, Deputy Prime Minister/ Justice Secretary, speech at Labour Party Conference 2025

David Lammy, Deputy Prime Minister/ Justice Secretary, speech at Labour Party Conference 2025

"Conference, friends.

I was raised by a strong single mother who often struggled to put food on the table but fought hard to give her children the best start she could.

So, I know real working-class hero when I see one.

And in recent years, I've had the honour of working alongside one of those heroes. Someone who got Britain building again, won new rights for working people, and is a beacon for working women across our nation.

Conference, join me in thanking Angela Rayner for all she has done, and all she will continue to do for our movement, our party, and our country.

And let us pay tribute to another working-class hero — a titan of our Party.

He helped deliver the Kyoto climate change agreement. He helped deliver devolution to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. And he helped us win three general elections.

We lost him last November, but he left an indelible mark on our movement and on our country.

Former Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott.

And now I want to tell a story about the difference a Labour government makes.

When I was back in Opposition, I visited Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

A year before the horror of October 7th.

Before Hamas terrorists killed and took so many Israeli hostages.

Before the devastating loss of Palestinian lives Israel has caused in Gaza.

I met with the then Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority.

He looked me in the eye and he asked me one question: if Labour wins, will you stick to your party's commitment to recognise the State of Palestine?

I said we would.

The Tories opposed it. Reform opposed it. But last week, we honoured our commitment. Britain now recognises the State of Palestine. 

This is the difference a Labour government makes.

This horrific war must end. The hostages must be released. We need a two-state solution because the Palestinian cause is a just cause.

Israelis and Palestinians must be able to live side by side in peace - with equal rights, equal dignity and equal freedom.

Conference, governing in hard times is not new to our party or our movement.

From 1945, as Attlee's Labour governed out of the ashes of World War Two, rationing continued to bite. And the public grew weary. But did Attlee, Bevan and Morrison wring their hands?

No. They built the NHS. New Towns. The welfare state.

In 1967, Harold Wilson's Labour faced devaluation. And the very next year the ugly rise of Enoch Powell.  Did Wilson retreat?

No. He championed the White Heat of Technology. The Open University. The Equal Pay Act.

And back in 2000, when I entered parliament, Tony Blair's Labour was facing fuel protests. Tony was booed by at a conference speech.

Did we give up?

No. We held our nerve. We kept Britain moving. Record investment in schools and hospitals, the minimum wage, and Sure Start for every child.

This is Labour's story: not ducking hard choices but facing them down.

And today we are showing that leadership again.

Don't let our opponents tell you the Labour government has not made a difference. 

Don't let them tell you there is no difference between us and the other side. 

Don't let them pretend all politicians are the same. 

We aren't. Remind them of everything we have done already in our first year. 

Five interest rate cuts. The fastest growth in the G7. Wages rising more in ten months than in the Tories' last ten years.

We cut NHS waiting lists. Two million extra appointments promised — five million delivered.

We gave parents thirty hours of free childcare, saving them up to seven and a half grand a year.

We signed trade deals with the EU, the US and India.

We reformed planning — unlocking billions. Delivering the highest housebuilding in decades.

That's the difference a Labour government makes.

And conference, I know that you know after my friend Khadija Saye died on the 9th floor of Grenfell Tower along with 71 others, I was the first to call for an inquiry.

You also know after my parents' generation, the Windrush generation who gave so much but took so little were stripped of their rights, deported, detained and denied housing, healthcare and work, I led the campaign for their justice.

So, it was the honour of my life in my first weeks as Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary, to meet with the Hillsborough families and bring the Hillsborough Law to Parliament.

So here in Liverpool I say: working people seeking justice will never walk alone again.

That is the difference a Labour government makes.

And friends, when you see Nigel Farage measuring the curtains of Downing Street, look around the world.

In Australia, Labor trailed by ten points - until they won.

In Canada, the Liberals were once twenty points behind - until they won.

In Norway, Labour were at one point 16 points down - until they won.

The lesson is clear: progressives win when we follow the north star of our values with the guardrails of our realism.

Not through scapegoats. Not through stunts. But through hope. Purpose. And progress.

My first task, as your Deputy Prime Minister and Justice Secretary, is to bring these values to our justice system.

Justice has been the constant thread throughout my life.

Growing up in the shadow of Tottenham's Broadwater Farm estate, in Thatcher's Britain, life wasn't easy.

I was stopped and searched by the police.

I saw too many who looked like me end up on the wrong side of the law.

But education gave me a different path.

I studied law. I Practiced as a young lawyer.

I served as a Minister.

I led a review into racial disparities in the justice system.

I shadowed the Justice Secretary in Opposition.

This is not just another brief for me, it feels like coming home.

Conference, in taking the role of Lord Chancellor, my starting point is Magna Carta:

Noone is above the law. Noone should have justice delayed. Noone should have justice denied.

And yet under the Conservatives, Prisons bursting at 99% capacity. Courts with record backlogs — rape victims waiting years. Legal aid deserts across the land. Probation officers at breaking point.

Justice delayed. Justice denied.

That is the Tory legacy we have been left to fix.

So, conference, this is how we will put it right.

First, we will rebuild trust.

Because justice is not a slogan.

It means the victim heard, not silenced.

The woman fleeing violence safe, not turned away.

The community protected, not paying £18 billion a year for reoffending.

We will strengthen victims' rights.

We will open up the courts to the people they serve.

And we will crack down on illicit finance, a fight we will lead with a London summit next year.

Second, we will modernise justice.

Probation officers told me: “Help us spend less time on forms, more time changing lives.”

So, we will use technology for people, not against them:

AI to cut paperwork. Electronic tags to keep communities safe. Digitalised courts that deliver justice without delay.

Third, punishment that works.

In fourteen years, the Tories built just 500 extra prison places.

In fourteen months, we have delivered 2,500 — and we're on track for 14,000 extra prison places by 2031.

The fastest prison building programme since the Victorian age.

We are recruiting thousands more probation officers.

And let me just say, we in this room know that probation officers are the unsung heroes of our justice system. 

And we are reforming sentencing, so justice is not just locking people up, but turning lives around.

If you go into prison addicted, we will help you clean up.

If you go into prison without skills, we will help you train up.

If you go into prison without a chance, we will help you leave with an opportunity. 

Our Labour Party will never give up on the power of redemption. 

Working hand in glove with our NHS, with DWP, with businesses and industry, with Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous.

Because justice is not the work of one minister, it is the project of a nation united in its pursuit of fairness.

While others divide, we will build coalitions that work.

And today I can confirm my commitment to the expansion of Intensive Supervision Courts. 

For too long our criminal justice system has been stuck in a cycle - short sentences that change nothing. 

The same people reoffending again and again. 

Intensive Supervision Courts are about breaking that cycle. They bring the full force of the courts together with local services.

And they keep reoffenders coming back to face the judiciary as they turn their lives around. 

It's tougher, it's more demanding. And its punishment that works.

And here in Liverpool, I'm proud to announce that we will establish a new women's site.

This city once again, leading the way. 

And let us end the lie about one of Attlee's greatest creations – legal aid.

The myth of “fat cat lawyers” is destructive.

Legal aid lawyers are not rich. Many are paid less than nurses, teachers, and the police who rely on them in court.

They are the high street lawyers of Cornwall and Tottenham, Liverpool and Leeds, serving their communities for much less than they could earn elsewhere.

I am so proud that the Hillsborough Law means never again will grieving families be left without a lawyer when the state lines up against them.

Conference, this marks the biggest expansion of legal aid in a generation. Backed by the biggest investment in a decade.

And we will champion our legal services across the world — worth £42 billion a year, employing 300,000 people, two-thirds outside London.

Because we know when British law is strong, Britain is strong.

That's why I'm proud to announce we will be launching the New English Law Panel - Uniting voices across the sector to promote English Law worldwide as a gold standard that drives growth.

Robert Jenrick doesn't get it. 

He sees himself as next in the long line of Tory leaders.

But his attacks on our judges and institutions would make Winston Churchill shudder in his grave.

Robert, Patriotism isn't smearing our independent judiciary from the pub on X.

It's standing up for the rule of law.

Magna Carta. Habeas Corpus. The rule of law. They are Britain's gifts to the world.

And Nigel Farage doesn't get it either. He wraps himself in our flag - but his policies don't match British values.

We must call his scheme to round up and deport our French, Indian and Caribbean neighbours who already have indefinite leave to remain what it is.

It is racist.

I say: not in our country. Not in our name. Not in our time.

That's the choice, Conference:

Real patriotism that builds Britain up or pound-shop patriotism that drags Britain down.

Reform choose grievance. The Tories choose anger.

We choose progress.

We choose hope.

We choose justice.

Because fairness is Britain's highest value. Because the rule of law is Britain's greatest gift to the world.

Together, we will deliver justice for all.

When Keir Hardie campaigned for unemployment benefits and protections for miners, he wanted justice for all.

When Harold Wilson delivered the race relations act in the 1960s, he wanted justice for all.

When Barbara Castle introduced the equal pay act, she wanted Justice for all.

When Tony Blair created the Human Rights act, what did he want? Justice for all.

When Gordon Brown created the minimum wage, what did he want? Justice for all.

When Angela Rayner brought the Employment Rights Bill to parliament, what did she want? Justice for all.

And when Keir Starmer brought the Hillsborough Law to parliament last week, what did he want?

Justice for all.

Justice for all.

That is what a Labour government will deliver the people of our country. Let's get to work.

Thank you, Conference."