Read Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy’s conference speech in full

Georgia, I want to thank you for your bravery, for your courage, for your leadership. I also want to thank you for sharing your dreams with us. But good lord, this should not just be a dream should it.

And I want to say this to you conference. You know I watched our Prime Minister standing on this stage yesterday. I believe in him, I know he believes in this country and I believe in him and what he’s about to do for this country and I was reflecting on the fact that for 100 years men and women have stood on this stage and dared to dream. It is because of those men and women that came before us that I am standing here.

It’s because of the pioneers of the Race Relations Act and Comprehensive Education and Equal Pay. And it’s because of the millions, millions of working-class men and women who fought quietly, and determinedly and sometimes loudly every day over a century to take those dreams and then make them a reality.

And it is because of the ambition of our movement, that I believe only a state that has been far too small and far too timid for too long, could arrive here, with an inspirational young woman standing on stage, articulating her dream that young women growing up today could simply be safe.

And I am on a mission to change it.

Because the world wide web – that created by Tim Berners Lee, to share knowledge, not exploitation – has revolutionised the way we live. An extraordinary democratic force, a source of connection, creativity and solace that has unleashed incomprehensible hatred, anger and polarisation – ask yourselves this, while it has undeniably shaped and defined us, have we done anything like enough to shape and define it?

Like the printing press, electricity and television, it has upended society. But what is almost unique to this moment is how absent the state – on behalf of its people – has been for so long. We have outsourced a revolution almost entirely to the private sphere to shape and police.

It is, as Georgia describes, an almost violent indifference. To the women whose privacy and dignity is stripped from them. To the children who are preyed upon, their childhoods stolen. To people – how many of you in this room particularly women- hounded from public life. Where anger is monetised and profit put before people’s lives.

So conference, we are calling time on that indifference. Enough is enough.

We will not look away or stand aside when it comes to safety online. And we will be the first. First in the world to introduce legislation to make it impossible for children to take, share or view nude images.

First in the world to introduce a comprehensive social media ban for children. And, Georgia, I give you my word. We will be the first to tackle abusive and non-consensual images. We will work together to build a future where no woman has to go through what you went through, where abusive content is not just removed, but removed forever.

And Georgia, let me be clear, we will do whatever it takes. Because when it comes to women and girls. Women’s rights are human rights and human rights are non-negotiable.

But friends shouldn’t we be ashamed, that decades of violent indifference has come to this, having to remove our children from social media altogether, because we cannot protect them from harm?

So our message to the incredible tech sector, who are everyday leading breathtaking innovation, is that this is our collective call to arms.

Let this country pioneer technology as an unequivocal force for good. Because our online spaces live in the palm of our hands, and the cables that run under our feet. They are a civic space like any town hall or high street. So let’s insist they are not just safe but thriving, inclusive and empowering.

Where people can trust what they see, and find common ground and connection. Let us be the leaders of this new age, and the light on the hill for the rest of the world. Because those pioneers of our movement that went before us – the men and women who are the reason I can stand here today, they didn’t just see things as they were and ask why.

They dreamed things that never were and asked, why not? This movement was founded on the belief, that we achieve more by our common endeavour, than we achieve alone and it is for us to defend the commons, to help people connect with one other, and find common ground.

Nowhere is that more acute than for this generation of young people. They have been at the sharp end of the vandalism of the last government, saw their youth services smashed to pieces, and arts, sport, music erased from their classrooms and communities.

As the architecture of a richer, larger life was stripped away, they were told they were to blame. So as we ask young people to put down their devices and go out into the real world, my message is clear. We will grip the challenges of your generation. And rebuild what has been taken from you.

It is why we launched Youth Matters. The first national youth strategy in a generation. And why we invited you in to write it with us. And I am proud that because of you, in the last two years, we have launched the Arts Everywhere fund, in memory of the first and greatest arts minister Jennie Lee. The biggest investment into arts and culture in a single parliament, and almost all of it in the places that have been ignored, or overlooked for too long.

We’re building music studios in libraries, guaranteeing access for children in care, fighting off vested interests to return football to its fans, and building new sports pitches for girls and boys the length and breadth of Britain, through our programme Every Child Can.

Most of all conference, after the vandalism of the Tory years, I am so proud that with Bridget, and Lucy, we have kept our promise to you. And we have put arts, music, sport, dance and drama back at the heart of the curriculum.

Where it belongs. Every Labour government in history, has believed to its core, that the chance to live a richer life, belongs to all of us and ours is no different.

So, in that spirit, as we take the extraordinary step of protecting young people from social media, we are going to wrap our arms around this generation, and ensure they once again have places to go, things to do, and someone who cares.

This is personal.

Before I came into Parliament, I worked with some of the bravest young people I know. At Centrepoint and The Children’s Society, we didn’t change their lives – they did. But it took someone who cared, to hold on to them at the hardest times in their lives.

I remember the girl, separated from her mum in a refugee camp, finally getting to speak to her months before she died of heart failure, because of a youth worker in Newham who went the extra mile to find her.

I remember the youth worker who fought off loan sharks preying on a girl in Birmingham, whose mum was destitute. And I remember the youth worker in Manchester, who alone saw a teenage boy who wasn’t beyond help, but frightened and falling apart after the death of a parent.

This is what the Tories took from a generation. The lifeline, the relationship, the magic connection that helped all of those young people go on and live the lives they deserved. Imagine the difference that one person made. And then imagine that times 1000.

That is why I can tell you, starting today, we are going to fund and recruit 1000 youth workers, the biggest investment in youth work in a generation.

And we won’t stop there.

We will rebuild youth services, bring back youth work, and ensure every young person in this country, has someone who cares. No young person forgotten. No young person written off. We will reclaim youth and conference this is Labour in action. Because we are a brilliant country. In fashion, film, TV, art, music and sport we light up the world.

And everyone must have a part in it.

So that people can believe in their country again, and be proud of it. We will step up for a generation that needs us.

We will dare to dream, and never rest until we have transformed this country into a place, where every young person has the chance to live the lives they deserve.

No more standing by, no more looking away. Because of you, the lives of children whose names we’ll never know, and who we never meet, will be changed forever. Because we dared to dream and we chose to act. It is what, in their own way, every Labour Government in history has done.

We’ve done it before. And conference it is thanks to you the 4th ever Labour Government in history is going to do it again.

Thank you.

Become a friend of LabourList and join our community. Our friends support our vital non-factional work and get access to exclusive content and events. 

Subscribe here to our daily newsletter roundup of Labour news, analysis and comment– and follow us on TikTok, Bluesky, WhatsApp, X and Facebook. You can also write to our editor to share your thoughts on our stories and share your own. The best letters are published every Sunday.

• • SHARE: If you have anything to share that we should be looking into or publishing about this story – or any other topic involving Labour– contact us (strictly anonymously if you wish) at [email protected].
  • SUBSCRIBE: Sign up to LabourList’s morning email here for the best briefing on everything Labour, every weekday morning.
  • BECOME A FRIEND: If you enjoyed this, why not consider becoming a Friend of LabourList? Help sustain our journalism, and of course Friends do get benefits…
  • PARTNER: If you or your organisation might be interested in partnering with us on sponsored events or projects, email [email protected].
  • ADVERTISE: If your organisation would like to advertise or run sponsored pieces on LabourList‘s daily newsletter or website, contact our exclusive ad partners Total Politics at [email protected].