‘Shared endeavour only makes us bolder’: Stephen Kinnock’s Welsh Labour conference speech in full

Diolch yn fawr Conference! Thank you for that very kind introduction. And good afternoon.

It’s great to be back in beautiful Llandudno – with so many familiar and friendly faces from our Welsh Labour family.

 

Now they say the worst time to give a speech at a conference is just after people have had lunch. Whoever said that has never had a speaking slot as we’re just about to kick off in the rugby against the All Blacks… just after lunch.

 

I remember when I was 17 in June 1987. We had just lost a general election and then three days later the All Blacks put 49 points past us in the World Cup semi-final.

 

Now let me tell you, there haven’t been many worse weeks in the Kinnock household.

 

But four days later we beat Australia, with a try in the corner and a conversion from the touchline.

 

Now that is the Welsh spirit that I love so much. We get up. We bounce back. We keep going.

 

And, my goodness, we need that spirit now.

 

Because last May hurt.

 

For the first time in 27 years, Welsh Labour was left out in the cold.

 

And it still hurts.

 

It hurts for the MSs who lost their seats.

 

It hurts for the candidates who knocked on doors for months, come rain or shine.

 

It hurts for the organisers and volunteers who gave weekends and time away from their families.

 

And it hurts for the staff, who did so much, with such dedication, care and expertise.

 

But Conference, let’s never forget that what we built is still standing.

 

Just think of the primary school children who sit down to a free hot lunch every school day.

 

Of the patients who benefits from free prescriptions.

 

Of the care workers now paid the Real Living Wage.

 

That is our work.

 

Those are our Welsh Labour values, made real.

 

That is lives changed and horizons expanded.

 

So to every one of you who made it happen: Diolch. Thank you.

 

 

And as much as we may mourn May, we also have to face up to it, and learn from it.

 

People didn’t walk away from Labour on a whim. Many of them had voted for us for their whole lives. Our neighbours. Our friends.

 

And they told us something. On the doorstep I heard, again and again, they could not see or feel what we were doing for them.

 

That governments in both Cardiff Bay and Westminster felt a long way from their lives.

 

That they were tired of being told things were better, but they could not see it.

 

That it was time for a change.

 

That we lost our direction, so they had lost their faith.

 

We were the UK Government. We were the Welsh Government. We own that.

 

We do not get to argue with what people told us. We get to respond to it.

 

So our message to voters across Wales is simple: we see you, we hear you, and we are ready to change.

 

And we are changing. We have changed leadership in Westminster. We have changed leadership in Wales. And with Andy Burnham and Ken Skates, we have two leaders who know that you will judge us not on what we announce, but on what you experience.

 

And you are seeing that play out already, in real time, as we:

 

Remove VAT from electricity bills.

 

Scrap gas standing charges.

 

Cut heating oil tariffs for 105,000 Welsh households.

 

Offer £100 towards bills for one million Welsh households.

 

Continue to freeze fuel duty.

 

Axe tariffs on over a hundred food products.

 

Provide self-employed fathers with paternity leave.

 

Increase the National Minimum Wage for young people by 3.9%, while 64,000 pensioners in Wales will pay less tax or none at all on their income.

 

And this is before we get to the Everyday Fixes – like ending subscription traps, and protection from rogue builders.

 

So, we’re giving people breathing space.

 

And we are also supporting public services in Wales.

 

We delivered the biggest settlement for Wales since devolution began – with a £6.5 billion increase in additional spending power.

 

And now we’re adding £450 million to that settlement – ensuring real-terms rise through to 2029.

 

Don’t let Plaid Cymru tell you otherwise… they have nowhere to hide when it comes to funding public services – or indeed supporting children with additional learning needs.

The money is there – we made a further £300m available for ALN – and thank you Ken, for your tenacity in ensuring at least some of that money got to the kids who needed it.

 

So, a new approach is possible.

 

But there is so much more to do to root our politics in the everyday lives of Welsh families and communities.

 

I’m speaking to you for the first time as your Secretary of State for Wales.

 

So let me tell you why this matters so much to me.

 

Port Talbot is my home, but I was born in Tredegar.

 

In Tredegar, working people built the Medical Aid Society. They didn’t have much. But they paid in what they could, so that if one of them fell ill, all of them stood behind that person. Nobody was asked to give up who they were. They chose to live and to act in solidarity with one another. And out of that small town came the idea that became our National Health Service, not just in Wales but right across our union of nations.

 

Now, in Port Talbot, on the 30th of September 2024, the last blast furnace went cold, making a transition into a new era of steelmaking – but a transition that has brought fear and trepidation for many. I have stood with families who didn’t know what was coming next, and I have witnessed this community refusing to be broken, completing thousands of courses and qualifications, setting up new businesses, bouncing back.

 

And I have worked with them to make it possible for a new electric arc furnace to rise on that same site.

 

That is the Wales I know. A Wales that has never believed you get strong by standing alone. A Wales that knows we become more ourselves, not less, through the people we stand beside.

 

So these are the values that define my role, because the Secretary of State for Wales has one job above all: to make the Union work for Wales.

 

To be a strong voice for Wales at the cabinet table, whilst also bringing our programme for breathing space and radical change closer to the Welsh people.

 

Now I step into the job at a unique moment, with Plaid leading the Welsh Government. They were not elected because people in Wales want the break-up of the United Kingdom. Most don’t. They were elected because people had stopped believing government – any government – could make things work; or that politicians share their ambitions.

It’s the same frustration that Reform has been feeding on.

 

Now Reform, to be fair, are a party of real ambition. Their former leader here in Wales was so keen to get on, he took bribes to talk up Russia. He’s now serving 10 and a half years. That is what I call commitment.

And they’re certainly ambitious in their fundraising! Record donations, I hear. Such an achievement that the Metropolitan police are very interested to know how they are doing it!

 

But Conference – Wales is a nation of dragons. We are not Putin’s parrots.

 

And Plaid? To their credit, they are not Reform. But let’s not be naïve. One wants Britain to go it alone, and to divide our communities. The other wants Wales to go it alone, and to divide our nations. Different stripes; same danger.

 

That sets us a steep challenge: to continue to win the argument for the Union. Again and again.

 

Welsh Labour is fiercely Welsh and proudly pro-Union. Those two things have always sat together with pride.

 

Because solidarity is at the heart of our union of nations.

 

And solidarity is at the heart of what it means to be Welsh.

 

Just think about what Wales has always been.

 

A nation of solidarity: The miners’ lodges. The chapels and the union branches. People lifting each other up.

 

A nation of builders. Robert Owen of Newtown, the Welsh father of the co-operative movement. The engineers and the steelworkers, and the soldiers, who built Britain and never once thought of themselves as passengers.

 

A nation that looks outward. For more than a hundred years, the Urdd has sent a message of peace and goodwill from Wales to the world. Welsh values have never stopped at our borders.

 

And St David, in his last sermon, gave us the four words we know so well: gwnewch y pethau bychain.  Do the little things. Because little things, done by many hands, become great ones.

 

Being the most Welsh does not mean standing on your own or building the highest walls. It means being truest to what Wales has always been.

 

Solidarity. Contribution. Openness.

 

That is what the Union is, at its best. And it is not an abstraction.

 

It’s a pension that arrives every four weeks.

 

It’s a steelworks that will make steel again.

 

It’s a soldier or a vaccine, when you need one.

 

A consulate to call when you’re in trouble far from home.

 

It’s the Tredegar project at the scale of nations. Four nations putting in what they can and taking out what they need. Each stronger and more powerful because the others stand with it.

 

Now Plaid will tell you that that isn’t true. That the Union has failed Wales. They focus on how government hasn’t worked, and they go from there.

 

Well, their complaint is half right, but their cure is entirely wrong.

 

The answer to a badly run Union is not no Union at all, it’s a Union that works for Wales and for its people.

 

Because making things work is what being progressive means. Being the most progressive party in Wales is not about who writes the most eye-catching manifesto: it is about lives changed.

 

So, it’s up to us to prove the potential and value of the Union to Wales.

 

That’s a hard task when people are questioning the ability of government – any government – to make things work. As Ken put it: hope needs results.

 

Like the steps we have taken to give people breathing space on the cost of living. And when I say we, what I mean is that the people of Wales have no greater advocates than our brilliant Welsh Labour MPs who work tirelessly with our UK Labour Government to bang the drum for Wales and deliver the change that their constituents deserve.

 

And of course when it comes to banging the drum, there’s our drummer-in-chief, Carolyn Harris. It’s great to have you on the platform here.

 

But we also recognise that people want something more from politics; they want a system that works for them.

 

They want transformation.

 

And that is the path that Andy has set out for us.

 

Two new, connected approaches. One about power. The other about growth.

 

And he’s spoken passionately about how the two interact: turbocharge growth and job creation by putting power in the hands of the people who can use it best.

 

Making the Union work for Wales starts with where power sits.

 

Devolution is Labour’s achievement. We campaigned for it. We won it. And for a quarter of a century, we built it.

 

But devolution was never meant to be an end in itself.

 

It was always the means – a vehicle for changing lives.

 

With devolution now moving ahead in England and Scotland, Wales is in danger of becoming the most centralised nation in the UK. As Ken said in Liverpool: “The destination of devolution should not be Cardiff Bay. It should be the people.” He is leading Welsh Labour’s work on where power should sit within Wales – ‘Rewiring Wales’ if you like – and he has my full support.

 

Some will say this is about constitutional arrangements. It is not. It is about what works.

 

Two weeks ago, I was with the Prime Minister as he brought the First Ministers of Scotland and Wales to the table at the National Economic Council. He made a positive, open offer to work with both governments on bringing power closer to people, while being clear it is for devolved governments to decide the shape and structure of how that should work.

 

In Andy’s words: problem solving, not point scoring.

 

I’m pleased to report that the First Minister accepted our invitation, and that we are now setting up a series of collaborative policy sprints with the Welsh Government where deeper devolution could make the biggest difference, covering areas such as:

 

Tackling youth unemployment.

 

Innovation funding that is consistently accessible and targeted at Wales’s strengths.

 

A fairer fiscal framework.

 

Stronger regional infrastructure, and a more joined up industrial policy

 

So, we’ve got off to a good start, and my hope is that Plaid does genuinely share our ambitions to deliver power and prosperity further into Wales.

 

The First Minister will of course continue to set out his asks, and we will treat each one with respect. But our tests are simple: will it make life better for people in Wales? Will it work? Who decides, who pays, and who do you hold to account?

 

Where the answer is yes, we say yes. We will, for instance, continue to deliver on the commitment that we made in our 2024 manifesto to enhance the Welsh Government’s role in youth justice and probation services, to improve the way in which youth justice and probation work by better integrating them with the wrap-around services that are already devolved.

 

So the question isn’t only what powers Wales has. It’s where within Wales those powers should sit.

 

We know trickle-down economics never worked.

 

Well, trickle-down power doesn’t work either.

 

Under this Prime Minister, under this government, power goes where it works.

 

And that is important to how we think about delivering good growth in every Welsh postcode: because where power sits decides where good growth goes.

 

And the key word here is ‘good’.

 

For too long, we’ve built our economy just to make things as cheap as possible, never mind where it’s made or what value it brings to us as a country.

 

But our consumer-centric model is the very definition of a false economy.

 

We were promised a cheap country. And what have we got?

 

Cheap televisions, maybe. Cheap white goods.

 

But not cheap homes. Not cheap childcare. Not cheap energy.

 

And that approach hollowed out the economic foundations of so many communities.

 

Well this UK Labour government will rebuild those foundations: the skills to build, the support to invent, the means to make – in every part of Wales.

 

Good growth built on re-industrialisation, so that opportunity is something you find on your doorstep.

 

You can already see the work that started, under the brilliant Jo Stevens.

 

In Port Talbot, when the blast furnaces went cold, others might have said: that’s just how markets work, you are on your own.

 

But we chose a different path: £500 million to secure the future of Welsh steel, through a new electric arc furnace. £102 million through the Transition Board – nearly two hundred businesses supported, thousands of training courses. So that former steelworker can build a business of his own.

 

And up to £64 million to make Port Talbot the first port in the Celtic Sea ready for floating offshore wind. From the last blast furnace to the first floating wind port.

 

On Anglesey, more than £2.5 billion for Britain’s first small modular reactors at Wylfa – up to three thousand jobs at the peak of construction.

 

So the apprentice on Anglesey can build a new generation of nuclear.

 

On our railways, after years of Tory neglect and incompetence: a plan for seven new stations, twelve thousand jobs, and transformational change for Welsh rail.

 

So the construction trainee can build the stations the Burns Commission has called for.

 

In fourteen communities, Pride in Place investment you will see on your high street.

 

In Newport, a graduate who can see a career in semiconductors.

 

And for young people, a Jobs Guarantee already putting them into work in Carmarthenshire , Caerphilly and the Rhondda, and twelve new Youth Hubs. Because a young person in Caerphilly deserves the same start as a young person anywhere in these nations.

 

And Conference – I come bearing some good news too!
Because I can today announce that just down the road the Bangor University Business School has just had its full business case approved – meaning that £7 million from the North Wales Growth Deal, backed by UK Labour Government funding, is ready to help unlock 90 jobs and 2,500 qualifications for the people of North Wales; supporting around 250 businesses.

 

While universities, like colleges, are a devolved matter and are facing difficult financial challenges, the UK Government is determined to pull all the levers we have in front of us to boost growth and jobs in the sector.

This is solidarity in action: jobs, hope and a future, at a scale that is only possible thanks to the financial firepower of our union of nations.

 

And it’s the best cost-of-living policy there is: well-paid jobs, and cheap home-grown energy.

 

Power close to you, firm economic foundations under your feet – that is the future this Prime Minister and this UK government is working towards for Wales.

 

A Union that works for you by making life easier today, and more hopeful for the future.

 

So this is how I see my job.

 

I will wake up every morning thinking about how to make life better for people in Wales, and I will not stop until it’s done. To champion every place, from the community up, not from the top down.

 

I’m not here for the title. I’m here to do the work. To champion Wales. And to deliver for it.

 

For too long, governments haven’t championed the power of the Union – the fact that we choose to live in solidarity with and for one another.

 

Most people don’t spend much time considering the value the Union brings to Wales, nor that Wales brings to the Union. It is simply the furniture of life. And the consequence is simple: things people cannot see, they cannot value. And the things they cannot value, they will not vote to protect.

 

So my job is to deliver that value – and to show people the difference.

 

I will make sure that Britain knows what Wales puts in. Wales has been adding value to this country for a very long time. From the mines and the steelworks to the reactors that will power Britain from Anglesey, we are the makers, we are builders.

 

And I will work with the government the people of Wales chooses.

 

Now, conference, I will level with you.

 

I am determined to work in partnership with the Welsh Government wherever we can bring benefits to the people of Wales.

 

But make no mistake, co-operation is a two-way street.

 

So where Plaid are putting barriers in the way of Welsh progress on issues related to the responsibilities of the UK Government, I will call these out.

 

And let’s be clear: if you hold a separatist view – the UK government not working well is in your interest. But let’s be real about the stakes: our shared security, jobs, people’s lives.

 

Take our collective security.

 

Defence is rooted in our Welsh DNA. Our contribution to Britain’s security is second to none. 20,000 people work in Wales’ defence industry and all five major MoD suppliers operate here.

 

Yet the Plaid Welsh Government are delaying vital projects.

 

They are yet to fulfil the Welsh Labour Government’s commitment to match-fund a Defence Technical College, which means the project now lags behind the Scottish version. Time wasted means investment stalled and careers delayed. We’re honouring our side of the bargain; it’s time for Plaid to step up and honour theirs.

 

And just as alarmingly, the critical DARC Space Defence project in Pembrokeshire has been called in by the Welsh Government under planning regs – stuck in limbo, despite its geopolitical importance and its local political support. 100 highly skilled jobs on the backburner.

 

Of course we’d all love to live in a world where these projects weren’t needed; but I’m afraid that Plaid’s pacifism will not stop Vladimir Putin!

 

So, I will gladly work with the Welsh Government to improve the lives of the people we are elected to serve, with clear appreciation of the realities we face and the choices we must make. That we are navigating a complex, dangerous world where relationships and solidarity are everything.

 

Given how they lament Brexit, you’d have thought that Plaid would have understood that. And yet they still want to impose it on our beloved Wales. Please make it make sense!

 

Always, my approach will be guided by doing what is best for Wales, by unlocking the potential of the union for Wales.

 

And that idea is vital now, just months away from May, when people across Wales vote for their councils.

 

It is vital because every week we stay quiet, somebody else tells the story of what the Union means for Wales. As a grievance. Or as a threat. If we do not make the case, nobody will make it for us.

 

And here is the good news, Conference. We do not need to win an argument about flags. We need to win an argument about lives. And that is an argument Labour was born to make.

 

These conversations will start small. One doorstep. One street. One town. But, in the spirit of St David’s do the little things, the more they take place, the more they spread – until they reach people we will never meet. And a thousand small acts of solidarity become a movement. That is how this party was built. And that is how it will be rebuilt. By each and every one of us.

 

We lost together in May. We will rebuild together. Because shared endeavour  only makes us bolder. It is how we take hold of our future.

 

The solidarity of the Union multiplies our shared strength. So let us unlock its promise. A stronger Wales. A bolder Wales. A Wales for everyone, and by Everyone.

 

Diolch yn fawr.