‘The Labour mission: hope, homes and opportunity for all’

Labour members know this better than anyone: Britain cannot go through another decade like the one we have just had.

You know it because you have heard it yourself: on the doorstep, after work, at weekends, in the rain, when most people are at home and you are out fighting for your community. You give that time to Labour because you believe politics should work for ordinary people.

Thousands of you joined me on the doors in Makerfield. You heard what I heard: the restlessness for Labour to deliver change. People want to hope again. But they need us to show that this time will be different.

Labour is on final notice. This is our last chance to change, and to show the country we have heard what it is telling us.

If I were a voter now, I would ask: what hope can we have that it will be different this time?

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That is because Westminster has not been working for people. It has not been working for a very long time. 

My generation of politicians must take responsibility. We have not been good enough, and you did not give evenings, weekends and miles on the doorstep to defend politics as usual. 

You did not join our party for finger-pointing, or more of the same.

You joined because Labour was built to change the status quo. Our movement was built by ordinary people who fought to build a country wired to work for ordinary people, rather than against them. Today, we must take inspiration from that history and get ready to repeat it.

That means giving Britain the circuit breaker it needs: a more collaborative politics, taking power out of the centre and putting it in the hands of people and places who can use it best.

Labour members understand place because you are rooted in it. You know the schools, estates, high streets, bus routes, pubs and food banks. You know what is working, what is broken, and what people need from a Labour government.

So we need an approach based on the opposite of how Westminster has been operating: place first, not party first; problem-solving, not point-scoring; long-term, not short-term.

That is how Labour should govern. I know it can be done because we have done it in Greater Manchester. When people face the same way and pull together in the same direction, a place can work as one.

But Westminster and Whitehall are set up for conflict. Power is not in the hands of the places MPs represent. An over-centralised state holds it.

The country spends too much time arguing and not enough time doing. Labour members see the cost. Councils cannot fix potholes, let alone bring forward regeneration. Local government is threadbare. Communities are held back by a system that prevents them from moving.

That has to change. The days of Whitehall fighting devolution into the regions and nations are over.

Growth cannot be ordered from the top down. It can only be nurtured from the bottom up. It comes from power at ground level, good homes, good employment, and the ability to afford the basics.

This is a vision for good growth in every British postcode. Not places forgotten or written off, but supported to make the best of their assets. Not one part of the country against another, but power flowing into every part of Britain.

Ours must be a 10-year mission to raise living standards: reform of essential utilities, reindustrialisation, and regeneration. It means greater public control over water, housing, energy, and transport, and bringing down the cost of essentials.

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And it means bringing back working-class aspiration: a council home, a secure home, and good technical education. Too many of those foundations have been taken away. University is great for those who want it, but we must also focus on young people who want something different.

Everything starts with a good home. If you do not give people a good home, what chance have they got of having a good life? So we must put housing at the top of the country’s priority list, with the biggest council house-building programme since the post-war era.

Labour members know people cannot wait forever for change. That is why you keep going: knocking on the next door, making the next call, organising the next CLP meeting, and fighting for the place you live.

On the doorsteps in Makerfield, I heard how much people need a bit extra now to help with rising costs. They need some breathing space. They need to be able to look forward again: to a night out, a holiday with the kids, and the simple things that make life feel possible. People need hope. 

Imagine a country wired to work for ordinary people, rather than against them. Imagine good growth in every postcode, and hope in every heart.

Well, imagine no more. Let’s make it happen.

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