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Conference, thank you for that welcome.
As Scottish Secretary it’s great to be back here in Liverpool, a place that, as Scots, we know pretty well because we gave this city Hansen, Souness, Robertson, Shankly, Dalglish and David Moyes. You may have heard the rumour that all these speeches are vetted by No. 10. All I can say is someone we know insisted on that last name.
But as Scots we share more than a footballing history with our friends, neighbours and comrades across these isles. For in the dark days of the 1980s, Scottish Labour MPs made up a quarter of the Parliamentary Labour Party. That was a time when Scottish Labour politicians like Smith, Dewar, Brown & Cook kept the flame alive.
Times have been tougher for Scottish Labour over recent years, so I am beyond proud to be one of the 37 Scottish Labour MPs elected at the last general election. We now have some outstanding ministers, MPs, and individuals in our group. And so, from this stage I pay tribute to each and every one of my Scottish Labour colleagues today who stand with, and campaign for, our communities right across Scotland each and every day – thank you for the work that you are doing.
And ours is a Labour government that is already delivering for those communities. In just the last twelve months since we gathered here in Liverpool, our New Deal for Working People has become law – delivering new rights for workers from day one. And to those who ask, ‘why do these new rights matter so much?’ Because conference, just last Thursday the SNP-led Glasgow City Council attempted to fire and rehire more than 20,000 of their employees. This is happening not in 1926, but in 2026.
Conference, the SNP should hang their heads in shame. Fire and rehire is a pernicious policy that is a scandalous way to treat any worker. And so I give you this pledge, in just a matter of months it will have been outlawed by this Labour Government.
And we’re doing more. We’ve raised the minimum wage, delivered a pay rise for 180,000 of the lowest paid Scottish workers and Conference, in the continuing battle against child poverty, we have lifted the two-child cap and so helped 95,000 children right across Scotland. We improve rights, raise pay and drive down child poverty because it’s what we came into politics to do. It’s who we are. It’s what Labour does.
Conference, these changes didn’t happen by chance. They were a choice. Our choice. A Labour choice. A Labour choice to deliver workplace rights. A Labour choice to make work pay. And a Labour choice to back the potential of every child.
Conference, we are the party that finally delivered Keir Hardie’s vision of Scottish Home Rule. Now in Andy Burnham we have a leader, a Prime Minister with just as bold a vision of devolution. Because Andy’s not just an advocate for devolution, he has been a practitioner of it. He has lived it and in Manchester, Andy Burnham delivered growth, tackled homelessness and delivered public control of the buses.
Sadly, in Scotland it has been a very different story. The Scottish Government has hoarded power at the centre with disastrous effects. Too many of our public services gripped by crisis. Too many of our young people denied opportunity. And too many of our elderly denied the peace of mind in their retirement that they deserve.
Our economy under the SNP is failing to deliver prosperity in every region, let alone in every postcode. Let me give you just a couple of examples of that SNP failure.
In March, this Labour Government committed to invest £10m to support the Defence Technical College programme in Scotland. We asked and urged the Scottish Government to match that funding so that Scottish workers would have the skills to benefit from the investments this Government is making in defence.
Match funding from the Scottish Government would mean that Scotland could have, not one, but two DTECs that would benefit young people in both the East and the West of our nation. And six months on? No mention of these colleges in their newly published Programme for Government and then late in the day – not a commitment but simply an offer to talk.
Talking is of course welcome, but the rest of the world isn’t waiting. Indeed, we’re at real risk of Scotland falling behind as DTECs move forward elsewhere across the UK. And Conference, this isn’t the first time that our Government has had to urge action – and provide the leadership – our defence industries need.
Just last year, on this very stage, John Healey had to step in and provide the funding needed to save a specialist welding centre on the Clyde. All because the Scottish National Party in its wisdom, decided that apparently there is something about welding metal to keep our country safe that is morally wrong.
Now Conference, all my life we have been involved in a battle to keep shipbuilding alive on the Clyde and the Firth of Forth. From the UCS sit-in to the campaign for Kvaerner, we’ve battled to save shipbuilding for our nation. Now, thanks to this Labour Government, naval order books in the East and the West are full for years ahead.
But because of this SNP Government there is one vital thing these yards still lack – and that’s trained Scottish workers. One employer has had to hire three hundred welders from abroad because there aren’t enough welders in Scotland. No shame on the employers. No shame on the employees. Shame on the SNP for not giving our workers the chance to prosper.
So Conference, my challenge from this stage to our First Minister, John Swinney is to work with us. Because it’s not John Swinney’s Scotland. It’s not my Scotland. It’s our Scotland. And we must work together for our nation to fulfil its true potential. John Swinney can stand up for our Scottish shipbuilding, or he can simply sit this one out. For goodness’ sake man – for the sake of Scotland – get to your feet.
Conference, we in the Labour party and the Labour movement have always understood that our unity is our strength and that we achieve more working together than we can ever achieve alone. So, Conference, it falls again to us – to the Labour Party – to make the case for solidarity not separation as the best future for our country. For a politics of unity and social justice, and a rejection of the politics of division.
For Conference, we understand that rejecting the rhetoric and the reality of division involves a lot more than words. It’s about delivering change that people can touch, can see and can feel in their daily lives.
And that is what the work of this Labour Government is all about: Building an economy that works for working people. Working to deliver fairness and good growth. Reindustrialising our country and renewing our neighbourhoods. Placing power in the hands of local people and bringing back hope. And so it is my genuine privilege now to introduce you to a man, a leader, who represents hope for Scottish Labour.
Our numbers at Holyrood are smaller than we all wished after the last election but Conference, the talent within that group of Labour MSPs is more than up to the task. That group is now led by a man who doesn’t just speak about Labour values, but who has lived them and indeed lives them every day. Someone who I believe can restore Scottish Labour as the voice of hope again in the Scottish conversation. And restore Scottish Labour to being once again Scotland’s national party.
Conference, I give you my colleague, my comrade, my friend, the new leader of the Scottish Labour, Michael Marra.
READ MORE: Labour Party Conference 2026: Full LabourList events programme, revealed
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