It was a pleasure to address Welsh Labour Conference delegates in Llandudno this weekend, almost a year into my role as Labour’s Secretary of State for Wales.
Watch my speech in full here:
Transcript
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Thank you, Conference. It’s so good to see so many of you from across our Labour and trade union movement here today in Llandudno.
A year into my role as Secretary of State for Wales, it’s been a privilege to work with Labour colleagues across both the UK and Welsh governments and our local councils.
I want to give a special thank you to Nia Griffith and Becky Gittins for their hard work
And to all our Welsh Labour MPs who have tirelessly advocated for their constituents every day of the past year since our landslide general election victory.
As we approach the anniversary of that victory, we remind ourselves that it was a victory delivered through the strength of our common endeavour.
And look at what we have achieved together – two Labour governments investing in Wales’ future.
In our economy, in our public services and in our people.
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When we came into office, our economic inheritance was dreadful. We set to work, fixing the foundations and urgently tackling the crises the Tories had left behind.
Nowhere more so than in Port Talbot.
Within 10 weeks, a better deal negotiated with Tata with improved support for every single worker impacted.
£1.3bn invested in Port Talbot for a new electric arc furnace, the construction of which, by locally contracted firms, will begin in the next few weeks.
And we have created the conditions for future investment, so the town and our steel communities have a bright, long-term future.
Contrast that with the Tories, who left the Transition Board unfunded with not a single penny out of the door to support steel communities in 10 months.
In the same number of months, this Labour government has fully funded the £80million promised to support steelworkers, their families, and businesses through the transition to green steelmaking, in Port Talbot, Llanwern and Trostre.
And I want to pay tribute to our steel communities and to Community Union, GMB and Unite for all their work supporting their members and their families.
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From that fund we have supported steelworkers to reskill, retrain and set up their own businesses.
Yesterday I spent some time with a former Tata employee, Martin, who with Transition Board funding has set up his own mental health and counselling business to support his colleagues.
He is already employing people and plans to employ more. Martin is just one example of many – but his story tells us everything we know about our steel communities – they look after each other.
And conference, we will never stop supporting our Welsh steel communities.
That’s why today. I’m announcing an £11.8 million Economic Growth and Investment Fund jointly funded by the UK Labour Government and Tata. This fund will support businesses to invest and create new jobs in the region, supporting long-term growth.
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This follows our announcement in the Spending Review of a further £80m investment for port infrastructure in Port Talbot and just last week, the Crown Estate announced the two developers who will deliver the new generation of floating offshore wind farms, the largest in the world, in the Celtic Sea.
This will deliver billions of pounds in investment, over 5,000 new jobs, power 4 million homes with clean electricity and bring down energy bills.
This is a huge vote of confidence in Wales and the UK’s offshore wind sector at a time of global volatility, putting us at the forefront of a new industry and opening up even more opportunities in the future for our people and supply chain businesses.
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I am so excited about the opportunities this is creating for people in Wales.
A few months ago, I met a young woman apprentice, Libby, at Dragon LNG in Milford Haven. Libby is a qualified hairdresser – very useful – but she saw an advert for apprenticeships in renewable energy and is now training to be an engineer in clean energy.
A good, secure, well-paid career is ahead of her. And it means she doesn’t have to leave Pembrokeshire to learn or to earn. Something that she told me was really important to her.
A Labour government investing in our new industries, in new jobs, with a plan to make Wales the best place to invest in the world.
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Our Modern Industrial Strategy published this week tells a powerful Welsh story.
Both our Labour Governments have worked closely and with business up and down Wales – this is as much their plan as it is ours. The strategy is robust, strategic, and unashamedly long-term.
It leverages our freeports, our investment zones and our highly skilled workforce and will create tens of thousands of jobs.
Conference, this is Wales leading the way. Together we are investing to improve our economy and creating the jobs of the future.
Because we are Labour governments, these jobs will be secure, unionised jobs, in every part of the country.
Because we are Labour governments, 160,000 workers in Wales are getting a record pay rise this year.
Because we are Labour governments, wages are going up, employment is up, economic inactivity is down, and interest rates have fallen four times.
People across our nation expect nothing less. We are the Labour party; work is in our name.
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When Keir appointed me as Secretary of State for Wales, I made no secret of the fact that I wanted to end the Tory’s historic underfunding of Welsh rail. I made it my number one priority.
For years the Tories peddled their lies and false promises on rail. Chronically underfunding Wales and riding roughshod over the Welsh Government in the process.
Conference, we’ve put an end to that.
Working closely with the Transport Secretary, Heidi Alexander and Welsh Government Cabinet Secretary, Ken Skates, at the Spending Review the Chancellor announced nearly half a billion pounds to invest in new stations, faster trains and more capacity on our rail network.
Money for the Welsh Government to continue their excellent work on upgrading the core valley lines.
And money to ensure a pipeline of future rail projects.
Our rail transformation journey has begun and it’s not stopping any time soon.
Conference that is what happens when two Labour governments work together – we invest in our economy, we invest in our public services, and we invest in our people.
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Nowhere has the damage of Tory austerity been more apparent than in our public services.
But because we now have two Labour governments, Wales will have an extra £5bn more over the next three years to invest in the public services which we all rely on, every single day.
We protected every single penny and Wales’s share of the UK structural funds. Wales got the best deal of any UK nation.
And unlike the Tories, we have fully funded the Welsh Government’s crucial work to keep coal tips safe. £143m delivered, because we know that keeping Wales safe is our first responsibility.
We are investing billions into our national security, committing to spending 5% of GDP on defence and recruiting 13 thousand more neighbourhood police and PCSOs. Keeping the country safe. Making streets safe. Keeping people safe.
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And our two Labour governments are working together to keep those NHS waiting lists falling
to build more social housing
to regenerate our high streets
and to keep Wales safe.
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Conference, that’s what is possible and what happens with two Labour governments working together
We’ve invested in our economy
in our public services
in our people
We have ended Tory austerity.
And together we’ll make sure that austerity is never imposed on Wales again.
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Meanwhile, Plaid will continue to complain from the sidelines. But ask them this.
Could all this investment Labour has made in Wales happen if they got the chance to put their divisive plans into action to rip the UK apart?
Why did they vote against hundreds of millions of pounds more for our NHS, schools, transport and business support?
And conference – they voted against the Welsh Labour government investing millions of pounds into keeping coal tips safe!
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So who will deliver the best deal for Wales?
Is it Rhun ap Iorwerth and Nigel Farage, or is it Eluned Morgan and two Labour governments working together?
Conference you know that when we work together – we deliver for Wales.
In less than a year, we’ll face the most important election in the history of devolution.
Our opponents are two sides of the same coin.
Plaid and Reform are divisive nationalists determined to rip our country apart.
One with no plan to pay for the NHS, another with plans to sell it off to the highest bidder.
They will destroy the work we have done to create thousands of jobs in renewable energy, in advanced manufacturing, in defence.
They will stop our free prescriptions and halt the progress made on waiting lists.
Look at what we have achieved so far. We cannot let that be put at risk in May.
We must fight for every vote and we must win this election.
By the strength of our common endeavour – just like we did last year.
Conference, I’ll see you on the campaign trail.
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Thank you.