Across the world the progress we once thought inevitable is in
retreat.
Just ask the girls in Afghanistan.
Shut out not just from school but the lives they expected to
lead.
Or the LGBT community in Uganda.
Persecuted and killed for loving who they love.
Or the children in East Africa.
Starving because of inaction on climate change and war in
Ukraine.
It is the starkest reminder that the arc of history doesn’t
always bend towards progress.
While here at home the government plays fast and loose with the
lives of the most vulnerable people on the planet.
An act of vandalism to one the greatest gifts we’ve given to the
world.
Imagine what Labour’s first overseas development minister would
have made of the idea this great island nation can’t look after
people at home and show leadership overseas.
Barbara Castle wouldn’t have stood for it. And conference,
neither will I.
So, we will bring the same energy and commitment but to changed
times.
Because last time we ousted the Tories, democracy was on the
march.
Now it’s in retreat.
Nations that once came together to solve our shared challenges
are unable to rise together to meet these stormy times.
That’s why the next Labour Government will do things differently.
We will throw out the old, tired model of charity handouts and
embrace a new approach based on respect – a genuine partnership
with the global south supporting their plans to eliminate
poverty, tackle climate change and reach the global goals.
We will bring together British charities and churches; businesses
and universities to create systemic change, recognising that
trade and jobs and livelihoods are as important as vaccinations,
food and clean water.
We are committed to spending 0.7 per cent of GNI on development
as soon as the fiscal situation allows.
But we won’t stop there.
We will share British expertise in cutting-edge data technology
and use our influence to unlock new, global private financing.
Our politics has been too small for these times. We need big
ideas for big problems.
We will rebuild the culture in government that stimulates the
innovation and thought leadership that once earned us the title
of a development superpower.
Together we will build economies and public services that allow
host nations to invest in their people and create the next
generation of leaders and innovators at home.
To tackle underlying debt and harness technology so we all
benefit from the clean energy revolution.
We do this because it is the right thing to do.
And because it is the only thing to do.
Security at home depends on stronger global partnerships to
challenge the growing influence of Russia and China.
Honesty about immigration means recognising and tackling the
poverty, climate change and conflict which force people to move.
Good jobs here in Britain rely on pioneers, like the Oxford
scientists whose Malaria vaccine will save countless lives
overseas and create opportunities at home.
Reconnecting Britain to the world.
So, we can face the future. Together.
And conference I tell you today that my absolute priority will be
to embolden and empower woman and girls in every part of the
world.
In 2023, that 130 million girls are still denied the right to
education.
And women hold just 25 per cent of parliamentary seats worldwide.
And one in three of us endures physical or sexual violence at
least once in our lifetime is not inevitable.
So, we will stand with the women who are changing the world and
put them at the heart of everything we do.
With the women in Ghana and Bangladesh who against all odds are
becoming engineers and innovators, transforming their countries.
And with the brave women from Belarus to Afghanistan who are
rising up to demand not just rights but political power.
Let the message from this hall ring loud and clear.
If you look the other way as sexual violence is used as a weapon
of war.
If you deny us education.
Deny us the vote.
Deny us opportunity.
If you attack women’s rights anywhere then you attack them
everywhere.
And we will not stand for it.
Because women’s rights are human rights, and human rights are
non-negotiable.
Conference.
We know that by the strength of our common endeavour we achieve
more than we achieve alone.
That is why we will reject false choices and stand with our
friends across the world once more.
Never let them say it can’t be done.
We are the party that gave the world the first ever climate
change act.
We introduced civil partnerships at home.
And flew the pride flag over British embassies in countries where
loving who you love is a crime.
We lifted a million children out of poverty in the UK.
And 3 million a year overseas.
We opened up university education to a generation of children at
home and helped 40 million children into school worldwide.
The light on the hill for people at home and overseas.
That is what it means to give Britain its future back.
So, we will go out with courage and conviction and build the
country and the world we want to see.
And we will do it the only way that counts. Together.
