“Labour demands a new settlement for the digital age” – Powell’s speech

Below is the full text of the speech delivered to the Labour Party conference by Shadow Culture Secretary Lucy Powell in Liverpool today.

Morning conference. Unusually, I’d like to start by thanking DCMS officials, the palace, our police and armed forces for the tremendous organisation of the last few historic weeks. Watched around the world, we showed the very best of British – our character, our values, our traditions. There was nothing more British than the Queue, all live streamed by the BBC. You just wouldn’t see it in any other country. I feel incredibly privileged to have been a miniscule part of it.

What we’ve seen over the last few solemn weeks is the best of us – united and together. It stands in stark contrast to the culture wars the Tories so often seek to sow. Conference, we won’t let their false divides rip us apart, nor will we be goaded by them.

What this moment has also shown is the value we put on service and public duty. It’s in our DNA. Look around today and ask who upholds our British values and institutions? It’s not the Tories. Offended by their own bad press and – how shall I put it – one of two Nadine Dorries interviews that didn’t go to plan, the Conservatives want to sell off Channel 4 and end the BBC as we know it.

Just as the rest of the world envies our renowned broadcasters. We understand their true value as cultural cornerstones of our world-leading creative industries. But their value is more than economic, they bring us all together in good times and bad. That’s why we will keep Channel 4 in public hands, and we will secure the future of the BBC as a universal, publicly-owned broadcaster. What’s more, we will protect it from party political interference. But I say this to BBC executives, public trust is at its strongest when the BBC is truly independent. Don’t put that at risk by dancing to the Tories’ tune.

Sport and culture also has a much deeper value. They give us belonging, shared experiences, joy and are at the heart of our communities. They aren’t only for the elite. The rise of the Premier League has made English football top of the world. But the lion has become unchained. That’s why the next Labour government will bring in a statutory, independent football regulator to protect clubs for communities and fans.

As a Mancunian in Liverpool, perhaps we can agree on this, sport and culture have been pivotal to our regions’ renaissance after decades of decline under the Tories trickle down which never got North. Libraries, galleries, nightclubs and leisure are crucial to the revival of our high streets. And charities are at the heart of a society that works for everyone, yet they are at real risk from the cost-of-living crisis and the pandemic. We just have a different view than the Tories about how to build a successful country. Not by leaving some behind, but by enabling happy, thriving people and places that they feel proud of.

The Elizabethan age was an age of huge progress. Ordinary working people able to own their home, go to university, get free healthcare and communicate around the world with access to any information in their back-pocket.

But we are now entering the digital age. Technology is changing at breakneck speed. Science fiction has become science fact. But the big choice today is who this benefits? While the promise of the digital era was to spread knowledge and connectivity, it has in fact seen power and influence amass in the hands of a few.

Just as Harold Wilson demanded the ‘white heat of technology’ worked for everyone, today’s Labour demands a new settlement for the digital age, working for the many.

Let’s be honest, this isn’t a task Truss’s Tories can take on. To them, regulation is a dirty word, even if it means regulating to stop our children being harmed online. Her idea of what is right for the many is to give even more power and wealth to the few and hope for the best it trickles down. It won’t.

In the information age, where data and platforms wield the power, shaping what we think, buy, work and how we access services. This is an urgent task. We will put an end to workers being at the wrong end of automation. And instead ensure its a tool for their prospects to improve.

We will ensure we have world-leading digital infrastructure, with every home connected and lead the race on industrial 5G. And let me be clear conference, we can’t deliver that without decent pay and conditions for telecoms workers. We will draw up world-leading regulation opening up data and unleashing small businesses to spread wealth.

We will upskill our workforce and citizens, so that we become a tech-savvy society. We will ensure we have cyber resilience and security against rogue states and actors.

The choice is clear – unlock the power of the digital revolution in the interests of the many, or continue to benefit a small few. Conference, together we’ll ensure a Labour government delivers on that mission.