“Unity and common purpose” – Nick Thomas-Symonds’ Fabian speech

Below is the full text of the speech delivered today by Shadow Home Secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds at the Fabian Society new year conference 2021.

Friends. It’s a great honour to be able to speak to you all today. The Fabian Society – from its origins in the 1880s, to its role as founding organisation of the Labour Representation Committee in 1900 – has facilitated important debates that have changed the course of our party and our country. I know for so many of us in the Labour Party the idea of coming together to discuss ides and inspire one another is such a core part of our politics – and our lives.

We are all missing that at the moment, whether it’s the usual party events we would attend – or discussions with friends and family over the dinner table – I think I’ve got to the stage where I would even take some of the worst doorstep rants I’ve endured – over the isolation we face. So, in times like this, events such as today’s are even more important. I would like to thank all of those who have made today possible, the dedication and perseverance throughout is fantastic. But I’d especially like to thank all of you for attending. I know you will be doing so in the spirit of hope, optimism and in the knowledge that through our combined efforts we can build better tomorrow, even in the face of the huge challenges of this pandemic.

So, today, I would like to speak about the work we are doing in the shadow cabinet – and the shadow Home Office team in particular to be an effective opposition through this crisis. And developing a vision for a Labour approach to home affairs, that rebuilds trust in Labour to keep you, your family and community safe. But firstly, I also want to set that work in the context of my great passion – that of Labour history.

I am deeply proud to be a biographer of Nye Bevan and Clement Attlee. Growing up in a working class mining valley, next door to Nye Bevan’s constituency, I have always taken great inspiration from this towering figure in our movement. And, like all of us, my politics is indelibly shaped by the colossal achievements of that 1945 Attlee government.

I’ve spent years of my life studying that period – and it feels like the perfect primer for the world we are now in. The challenges they faced, emerging from the Second World War could not have been more stark. A nation both literally and figuratively in need of rebuilding. Facing staggering debt. A social safety net not able to deal with the needs of the day. Yet, in the face of this, Labour’s vision was as bold as it was necessary. For a more equal society where everyone could live a fulfilled life from beginning to end. With decent pensions and homes for all, support for people who were sick and keeping people in work.

This was aptly summed up in the title of the 1945 manifesto: Let Us Face The Future. And when the country turned to Labour, with its promise of a better world, it delivered changes and institutions that to this day define our country. Chief among them of course was the NHS. Never more loved and necessary than it is today. Labour was able to rise of the challenges of that post war period not inspire of our values, but because of them. These were values forged in the labour movement and in tune with the concerns of the British public. As Bevan said: “The language of priorities is the religion of socialism… The argument is about power… because only by the possession of power can you get the priorities correct.”

So, that challenges now passes to our generation of this great movement. We have a responsibility in moments of crisis like this one. People rely on us; they look to Labour to offer direction and moral leadership. Because these moments of crisis shine a penetrating light on: How the world has been; how we live today; and what our futures could hold. That is why they can be such catalysts for change.

One thing is for sure, a Tory Party that left this country so poorly prepared going in to this crisis, who have handled the pandemic so badly, certainly can’t be trusted to rebuild. On that point, I’m reminded of another of my favourite Bevan quotes. When discussing typical Tory mismanagement he said: “This island is made mainly of coal and surrounded by fish. Only an organising genius could produce a shortage of coal and fish at the same time.” And doesn’t that remind you of this shower of a government we have in power today? With the resources of this brilliant country at their disposal, we are suffering with an increasingly high death toll and a severe economic impact.

We remember every single one of those lives lost to this awful virus. In my role shadowing the Home Secretary I get to see this incompetence close up. Priti Patel promised to ‘terrify criminals’, instead she is ultimately responsible for letting them walk free. This week we saw the startling news that 150,00 police records have been deleted from the police national computer. As the picture emerged it was calculated that the number had risen to 400,000 deletions – a staggering number. Firstly, the policing minister said this wasn’t data from convicted criminals, that was contradicted within a matter of hours. Although perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised, given he found out about this massive crisis from Twitter.

This is an extraordinarily serious security breach that presents huge dangers for public safety. Losing DNA, finger prints and arrest records will mean criminals escape punishment, victims will lose access to justice and communities will be more dangerous. Yet on an issue of such magnitude, the Home Secretary has shown no leadership. Instead she is hiding away from scrutiny. The truth is this Home Secretary is quick to try and talk tough, but when the going gets tough is nowhere to be seen.

On top of that crisis – in this week alone – the government has been forced to delay requirements for travellers to have a negative Covid test, because the Home Office couldn’t get the systems in place. At the same time just 3% of people who arrive in the UK are being tracked by the quarantine system. Little wonder the virus strains that emerged in Brazil and South Africa have been found in the country.

Instead of having a strategy, the government is lurching from one crisis to another, reacting after events and putting the public at risk. These are chronic, systemic failures across the board. The scale of the incompetence of Priti Patel and the Conservative government is putting national security at risk. Part of the reason for this is that than focusing on the job at hand, all too often their leadership is either looking for tomorrow’s headline or looking over their shoulder at their backbenchers.

However, with the vaccine beginning to roll out there is hope and light ahead. And I have nothing but thanks and admiration for the British scientists and our NHS are delivering this hope. I’m also proud that the Labour Party, the Trade Unions and the Mirror have come together to help mobilise our collective strength to help with the roll out.   And believe me that is a powerful movement – the workers, united can help defeat this virus.

This is the spirit of unity and common purpose that I want to continue to harness as we seek to gain the public’s trust in Labour to rebuild out of this crisis. I know that people will only trust Labour with that job if they trust us keep the things they care about safe. It’s a solemn part of the contract we see to build. However, let me be clear, they way to do that is never to copy the divisive and hateful politics of those we seek to replace.

I take my inspiration from Aneurin Bevan: “Not even the apparently enlightened principle of the ‘greatest good for the greatest number’ can excuse indifference to individual suffering. There is no test for progress other than its impact on the individual.” That’s the principle I draw on every day – when I judge government policy, when I judge our policy. Nobody should be left behind. We will always support the most vulnerable, we will always stand beside victims. To do that, we need an approach that prevents crime and catches criminals.

In my work shadowing the Home Secretary I see the impacts of their lack of compassion and competence on a daily basis. Violent crime up 150% in a decade. Domestic abuse services struggling to keep the doors open. A Windrush Compensation Scheme so mean and badly handled that it is heaping insult on top of injustice. And an attitude to immigration that will starve our NHS the workers we need to save lives – and would rather see children abandoned in a burning refugee camp than live up to our promises. We stand beside victims, the Tories are letting down victims.

Is it any wonder when the direction for all of this was set by a Home Secretary who broke the ministerial code through bullying? And what does it say when it’s the Prime Minister’s adviser on ethics that loses their job over that fiasco – and not the Home Secretary. It’s one rule for them and another for everyone else.

So, I am clear that with me as Shadow Home Secretary we will expose this rotten government. And we are achieving successes: a massive win securing £76m for domestic abuse services in lockdown; working with people across the labour movement to secure concessions in the domestic abuse bill; improving housing access for victims; stopping perpetrators using the courts to continue their abuse; abolishing the awful so-called ‘rough-sex’ defence that allowed people to escape punishment for awful sexual violence; and winning a u-turn on the shameful NHS immigration surcharge for health and care workers.

As we clapped on a Thursday, the government was carrying on charging our overseas workers for using the very services they were maintaining, and keeping in place, for other people. We have also stood with our brave frontline emergency service workers through this crisis. And I want to thank our frontline police officers and fire service. It’s been an inspiration to meet with those in the frontline who have steadfastly put themselves in harms way to keep us safe throughout this crisis. They have been there for us – and a pay freeze is unforgivable.

We also know how dangerously stretched these services are following a decade of austerity, and we must argue to prevent the same damage being repeated again. Although clear that it is only through being trusted on policing that we can be trusted to bring about the reforms necessary. Part of my job is to rebuild that trust – and it’s one I take incredibly seriously.

In the Labour Party we also know that our emergency services belong to all communities. Yet we know that the Black Lives Matter movement has been a power movement for change. We must listen to those voices from our Black communities who have expressed how deep-rooted the systemic racism is in our society and why so much more remains to be done.  These words must be met by deeds. Yet, with this government, that never comes. As Home Secretary, I would lead the change that is necessary from the top. I don’t need yet more reviews to set out the issues with structural racism. What we need is action and I, as Home Secretary, will act: a Windrush compensation scheme worth of the name; diversity in police recruitment and training  – so our forces look more like the communities they serve; implement the Lammy review; and action on deaths in custody. And I’m proud to be part of a Labour shadow cabinet that is committed to a new Race Relations Act. That will be about tackling structural racial equality at source.

We also know that on so many fronts the Tories will try to use the pandemic to push through reforms that will damage the UK in so many ways. Take immigration – their new system judges people on the money they make, not the service and skills they provide. Even after this awful pandemic they still think that care workers are unskilled – but in Labour we have always known they are the true heroes and heroines of our society. On security, Priti Patel talks tough, but the Tories have made promises on security that they are struggling to keep. Now the pressure is on to show how they can ensure we have the tools needed to replace those lost when we left Europe.

Although it’s not enough just to point out the failings of this rotten government. We also have to show how Labour will be better. How we will make concrete changes to improve people’s lives. Take the example of Barbara Castle. Again, a shining example of how giant Labour figures put values into practice. Whether it be advancing equal pay, or saving lives through public safety legislation and droving forward campaigning to tackle global poverty. Or the Last Labour government: the minimum wage, record increases in investment in public services and record decreases in crime. Every time the Tories leave this country in a worse place and every time the Labour Party improves it.

And we will do it again I promise under Keir Starmer’s leadership Labour will always be the one of the national interest. That’s why I’m looking forward to campaigning with labour councils and police and crime commissioners across the country in the run up to May’s elections. Our people are making a huge difference in the frontline: funding domestic abuse services; paying for youth clubs the Tories have slashed; and welcoming refugees who are escaping unimaginable hardships. They are an example of what we can achieve in power and it’s all of our role now to do all we can to help return as we can in those elections.

That’s a vital step in the long and difficult road back to power for Labour. However, if we are in need of inspiration we don’t have far to look. We can look around us at every community in this country. Pulling together to over come this awful virus. The biggest of challenges expose characters – and in the face of this crisis the British people have been inspirational. So, I want to work with all of you – and across our movement – to harness all of that power, optimism and selflessness to shape a vision for the next transformative Labour government. Thank you.