Mental health treatment when you need it. We’ll guarantee that. The 8am scramble for a GP appointment. We will end it. Dangerous waits for a cancer diagnosis. We will consign them to history.

Conference, I never thought I’d say this but I’m beginning to see why Liz Truss won. Although I still think we’d be better off with that lettuce. After all, it’s been 13 years now and what does Britain have to show for it? For cost savings, you can change your plan at any time online in the “Settings & Account” section. If you’d like to retain your premium access and save 20%, you can opt to pay annually at the end of the trial. But honestly, how has it come to this? Working people paying for their own healthcare – in a cost-of-living crisis. Pensioners waiting weeks, months, sometimes waiting years just to get the care that they need. And conference, step four, a new mindset. Because when an opportunity is there to be won, you have to take it. Clean British energy is cheaper than foreign fossil fuels. That means cheaper bills for every family in the country. But also a chance to make us more competitive across the board. Countries like America are using this gift to create manufacturing jobs the like of which we haven’t seen for decades. And they’re not the only ones. The next election will be a fight – against the Tories and the SNP Conference, my sister is a care worker. She was a care worker during the pandemic. 14 hour shifts, often overnight. Unimaginable pressure. And the reward? A struggle every week – and I mean every week – just to make ends meet.Step one. Our National Wealth Fund. Standing with business. Ready to invest in the critical infrastructure we need. The battery gigafactories, the clean British steel, the ports that can finally handle large industrial parts. More growth, more demand, more jobs. Honestly – what can you say about a Prime Minister who goes to Manchester to cancel Manchester’s train line? The self-declared champion of motorists, who had to borrow a shop worker’s car for his photo op. A man who keeps a close watch on the cost-of-living crisis – from the vantage point of his short-haul helicopter. Some people say to me: “It’s about honesty, isn’t it? We were lied to. These politicians are liars.” But do you know, that’s not it. Well – maybe it is for one of them… But for people like Rishi Sunak it’s more that they cannot see the country before them. The walls of Westminster are so high. The view that your lives, your services, your future – are just pieces on their board. That is so deeply ingrained in their mindset. They have no way to understand what you’ve been through. If you think our job in 1997 was to rebuild a crumbling public realm. That in 1964 it was to modernise an economy left behind by the pace of technology. In 1945 to build a new Britain out of the trauma of collective sacrifice. Then in 2024 it will have to be all three. Training lab workers in Derbyshire. Automotive Engineers in Wolverhampton. Computer Scientists in Manchester. Nuclear Technicians in Somerset. Builders in Staffordshire. Toolmakers in Hull. My dad would have loved that.

But it’s not just about that. It’s also about respect. Working people never let each other down. And in the pandemic, the British people didn’t let them down. The bond of respect was there. That’s why we clapped. Britain knew exactly who was serving it, in its time of need. That is why the global crises of the last 13 years have been so painful for Britain. The stand-aside state leaves nobody with the future they want, because there’s no direction. An irresponsibility towards the future, that defies the values conservatives say they support.That’s why we’ll set up a National Wealth Fund. Work hand in glove with the private sector to rebuild this country. But as we share the risk, we must also share the rewards. So we will make sure that the British people retain a stake in our investments. And conference, this new path can only be walked by a new party. A changed Labour Party. No longer in thrall to gesture politics. No longer a party of protest. A party of service. Rebuilt. Renewed. Reconnected to an old partnership. A bargain. That we serve working people as they drive our country forward. And for me, that’s the biggest frustration. Not just the pitiful reward this government gave for that service. But also the countless missed opportunities to deepen that bond. Use it to change our country. Because I believe this country respects itself. I believe the British people respect each other. And I believe that if people see that respect. See that service in their politics. Then they will commit to the mission of national renewal. ‘A Britain strong enough for you to invest your hope and your future’ You know, they actually believe what comes out of their mouths. When your public services were cut to the bone and they said: “We’re all in it together.” When they told you – to your face – that Brexit would only bring benefits to your business. When they say now, that they’re taking tough decisions for you, in this cost-of-living crisis. They’ve convinced themselves that this is what they’re really doing. They can’t see Britain – not your Britain. Can’t accept that every time your interests were on the line, they made you pay. But when it’s people like them, they look after themselves. But I believe in this country. I believe in its spirit. In its people, in its businesses, in its communities. I don’t just see the sewage in our streams and our seas. I see the volunteers – people who love their community – standing up to fight for clean water. I don’t just see the crumbling concrete in our schools. I see the teachers, in the temporary classrooms, still giving our children the education they deserve. I don’t just see the boards going up in our high streets. I see the businesses – the pubs, the cafes, the retailers still trading. Still finding a way through the chaos. Still serving their community.

Because there are two stories of the past 13 years. A Westminster of chaos and crisis. Five Prime Ministers in seven years. And then the other side a Britain, where working people never let each other down. In fact, whenever they were asked, they dug deep for this country. Came together for this country. That’s the cruellest cost of these 13 years of decline. That a government this weak can winnow the confidence of a proud nation. Undermine our foundations with the gnawing rot of despair. A sense that government cannot achieve great things. That Britain cannot achieve great things. And conference – it will be a fight. The SNP will re-group, of course they will. Once again they will wave away the lessons of history. Try to present nationalism as a bridge to the world. We have to remind them it can barely provide a ferry to the Hebrides. Rishi Sunak and the shallow men and women of Westminster. Unable to see, unable to listen, unable to stand in your shoes and serve this country. And they won’t change. They can’t change. Couldn’t change even in the pandemic when our country came together to follow rules. Rules that they set. And they broke.Conference, we must bulldoze through it. We used to call it the ‘dream of home ownership’, didn’t we? We used to say it glibly on stages like this. But look at Britain now – it has become a dream. It’s out of reach for millions. And if we don’t take action – it will only become more distant. A luxury for the few not the privilege of the many. Where is their minimum wage? Where’s their Sure Start? Crime down by a third. More students than ever. Devolution. The shortest NHS waiting times in history. Half a million out of child poverty. Peace in Northern Ireland. I’m not going to do the whole list. I haven’t got time. But isn’t the contrast stark? 13 years of ‘things can only get better’ versus 13 years of ‘things have only got worse’. This is our mantra. The fight for the future must go hand in hand with the fight for every pound. That’s a Britain built to last. Not state control, not pure free markets. But a genuine partnership, sleeves rolled up, working for the national interest. Worker and business. Public and private. Building a bridge from the jobs we must protect today to the opportunities we have to win tomorrow. “ Government must steer the ship on industrial policy” If we ignore appeals for the status quo on private school tax breaks or an outdated national curriculum, then we can have mental health staff in every school. More expert teachers in the classroom. More creativity, speaking skills, confidence. Shatter the class ceiling at source.