Speech by , Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Wales.
Conference, it’s an honour to be back here in Labour Liverpool.
A spiritual home over the water, or just up the road for people
like me, lucky enough to have grown up in beautiful North
Wales.
And it’s an honour to be here again, hopefully for the last time
as Shadow Secretary of State for Wales.
And I’m very fortunate to have and working with me in our
front bench Wales team.
I’m delighted to be sharing a stage with , Welsh Labour’s Leader and
First Minister of our Welsh Government.
We shouldn’t need physical reminders in this country of what
decency, dignity and determination look like in the name of
public service – but I am thankful for how Mark exudes all those
things in everything he does.
We could not be prouder of his leadership.
And we are in the very lucky position of having a leader, in
, who shares that decency,
dignity and determination.
Who believes in public service.
Who loves and understands Wales.
Who has united our party on a path to victory.
Along with our campaigning force of nature, Welsh Labour Deputy
Leader , our brilliant Welsh PLP
and our great Welsh Labour staff, we look forward to the coming
election; MPs, Senedd Members, councillors, party members and
trades unions, all continuing our conversation with the people of
Wales.
Working hard for every vote.
Conference, have the Tories lost direction? Yes, undoubtedly so.
But, have the Tories lost the election, Not yet, no.
We have a brutal job of work to do to win power.
Just ask Mark, and our Welsh Labour Government.
Day in day out, over years and years they give blood, sweat and
tears to earn and maintain the trust of the Welsh people.
And the secret of Welsh Labour’s success? Determination and damn
hard work.
And I’m incredibly proud to work alongside Mark, and all our
colleagues in the Senedd and champion their record of delivery.
The best childcare offer in the UK, 28,000 apprenticeships, new
medical school in North Wales, a real living wage for all care
workers
All this in the face of the Tories in Westminster wrecking growth
and acting like an opposition, not a government.
What a powerful force it would be to have two Labour governments
working together in the interests of everyone across Wales.
Mission driven governments delivering on the real priorities of
our people.
Getting our economy growing again – built on good jobs so that
incomes grow faster than outgoings.
Breaking down the barriers to opportunity with everyone under 25
in Wales, guaranteed work, education, training, or
self-employment.
Unlocking Wales’s green energy potential to get cheaper bills,
new high paid jobs, and security from tyrants like Putin.
Modernising our NHS by investing in the NHS workforce of the
future with a new medical school in North Wales.
And making our streets safe with more police officers and PCSOs
in our communities.
Help for those that need it the most.
Hope for a brighter, better future.
Honesty and integrity back into the heart of UK Government.
Help - for working people –an end to fire and rehire, a ban on
zero hour contracts and rights from day one at work.
Hope - for steel, with a world-leading £3billion investment plan
to decarbonise the industry. The Tories sleepwalk on steel.
Labour will save our steel.
Honesty - back as the watchword we never thought we’d need. A
rejection of the hate, bile and lies that have been allowed –
actually, not allowed, been encouraged to poison political
discourse in this country.
Help. Hope. Honesty.
A return to growth and stability.
More pounds in your pocket.
No more panic when the bills come in.
This is what Labour in power can do. We’ve done it before. We
will do it again.
The Conservatives want the next election to be about anything
other than this.
But when they’ve presided over the biggest drop in living
standards since records began, nobody is going to be taken in by
their distraction and distortion.
But Conference, Labour’s deal with the Welsh and British people
remains to be sealed.
We have to earn that trust.
Earn each and every vote.
Let's create a Wales and a Britain where everyone can thrive.
Join us on this journey.
Together, we can and we will redefine our future.
