His party, the brexit plan, and on several measures, including increasing taxes for the wealthy and eliminating College Tuition fees. [applause] [applause] thank you. If i can Bring Congress to order, please. Conference to order please. Wanted to become conference chair secretly. Thank you so much for that wonderful welcome. This incredible feeling and spirit, unity, love, affection we have here this week. Thank you. Lets make sure the whole country is infected with the same thing. [applause] a united party, advancing in every part of britain. Winning the confidence of millions of our fellow citizens. Sending out our ideas and plans for our country our countrys future. It is already inspired people of all ages and all backgrounds united in this party. Its a real privilege to be speaking here in brighton. Has a long not only history of hosting conferences, but also of inspirational labor activists. It was over a century ago that here in brighton, that a teenaged shop worker had enough. Of the terrible conditions facing her and her workmates. She risked the sack to join the shop workers union, after learning about it in a newspaper used to wrap up fish and chips, and was so effective at standing up for women shop workers, she became assistant general secretary before the age of 30. [applause] younger women paving the way. In that role she seconded the historic resolution at the trades Union Congress of 1899 to set up the Labour Representation Committee so that working people would finally have representation in parliament. The Labour Representation Committee became the labour party and it was this woman, Margaret Bondfield who later become a labour mp. And in 1929, [applause] and in 1929, the first ever woman to join the british cabinet from a brighton drapery to downing street. Margaret bondfields story is a reminder of the decisive role women have played in the labour party from its foundation, and that labour and and that party and government will close the gender wage gap. [applause] we will introduce mandatory equal pay auditorium and give the equality human rights can commission the funding it needs to drive through the change. [applause] labour has always been about making change, working together all, thats up for what we are in the labour party. [applause] conference, against all predictions in june we won the largest increase in the labour vote since 1945. And achieved labours best vote for a generation. Its a result which has put the tories on notice and labour on the threshold of power. [applause] yes, we didnt do quite well enough and we remain in opposition for now, but we have become a governmentinwaiting. Our outstanding Shadow Cabinet Team here today. And our message thank you for all you do, and the work youve done. [applause] great colleagues around the table taking our party and country forward. Our message to the whole country could not be clearer. Labor is ready. Inequality,kle ready to rebuild our nhs, ready to give opportunity to young people, dignity, and security to older people. Ready to invest in our economy and meet the challenges of Climate Change and automation, ready to put peace and justice at the heart of foreign policy. And ready to build a new and progressive relationship with europe. [applause] we are ready, and the tories are clearly not. Theyre certainly not strong and theyre definitely not stable. There hanging on their fingertips. This government does have one thing we like. They have tracked down the magic money tree. It has been put to use, when it was needed to keep theresa may in downing street, it was given a good shake. And lo and behold now we know the price of power its about £100m for each democratic unionist mp. During the Election Campaign, theresa may told voters they faced the threat of a coalition now that are showing us just exactly how that works. Usnow they are just showing how that works. And i dont just mean the Prime Ministers desperate deal with the dup. Shes got a coalition of chaos around her own cabinet table Phillip Hammond and liam fox, Boris Johnson and david davis. At each others throats, squabbling and plotting, manoeuvring to bundle the Prime Minister out of number ten and take her place at the first opportunity. Instead of getting to grips with the momentous issues facing our country. [applause] but this coalition of chaos is no joke. Just look at their record since the conservatives have been in office; the longest fall in peoples pay since record began. Homelessness doubled , look around the streets of brighton and every other city, you see the effects of it. Nhs waiting lists lengthening. School class sizes growing and teachers leaving. Over 4 million children now in poverty 20,000 Police Officers and 11,000 firefighters cut. More people in work and in poverty than ever before. Condemned by the United Nations for violating the rights of disabled people. Thats not strong and stable. Its callous and calculating. [applause] because the tories calculated that making life worse for millions in the name of austerity would pay for hefty tax handouts to the rich and powerful. Conference, your efforts in the Election Campaign stopped the tories in their tracks. The election result has already delivered one tory uturn after another over some of their most damaging policies. The cruel dementia tax was scrapped within three days of being announced. Plans to bring back grammar schools have been ditched. The threat to the pensions triple lock abandoned. [applause] withdrawal of winter fuel payments dumped. The pledge to bring back fox hunting was eventually dropped, as well. I say to the Prime Minister, you are very generous, youre welcome. I think we can find a commons majority for all of that. This is a weak and divided government with no purpose beyond clinging to power. It is labour that is now setting the agenda and winning the arguments for a new common sense about the direction our country should take. [applause] most pencils come from one mom and dad, they come from my family, they come from the community i live in and im proud to represent it. [applause] they are my roots, the ground everything that i do. Conference, there were two stars of our Election Campaign. The first was our manifesto that of our membersas and trade unionists and the hopes and aspirations of their communities and workplaces all over the country. And we were clear about how we would pay for it by asking the richest and the largest corporations to start paying their fair share. [applause] not simply to redistribute within a system that isnt delivering for most people but to transform that system. So we set out not only how we would protect Public Services but how we would rebuild and invest in our economy, with a publiclyowned engine of Sustainable Growth, driven by national and regional investment banks, to generate good jobs and prosperity in every region and nation. [applause] our manifesto is the program of a Progressive Socialist Party that has rediscovered his roots and purposes, bucking the trend across europe. The other side of the star of that campaign was you. Supporters inur the trade unions, our doorstep and social media campaigners. Young people sharing messages and stories on social media, hundreds of thousands organising online and on the ground to outplay the tories big money machine. [applause] is it any wonder that here today in brighton, you represent the Largest Political Party in western europe . It was nearly 600,000 members alongside 3 million affiliated trade unionists brimming with , enthusiasm and confidence in the potential of our people. You are the future. And let me say straight away. Im awed and humbled by everything you have done, along with hundreds of thousands of others across the country, to take us to where we are today. I have never been more proud to be your elected leader. [applause] our Election Campaign gave people strength, it brought millions to the electoral register, it inspired millions to vote for the first time. Unity,as the partys bringing generations and immunity together, rather than picking young and old against each other, which is what they did. We will never squeeze one generation to support another, people when together. [applause] the result of our campaign confounded every expert and skeptic. I see John Mcdonnell said the grey beards had got it all wrong. Im not sure thats entirely fair. We wiped out the tory majority, winning support in every social and age group and gaining seats in every region and nation of the country. So please, theresa may take another walking holiday and make another impetuous decision. [applause] the Labour Campaign machine is primed and ready to roll. Of course, there were some who didnt come out of the election too well. Im thinking of some of our more traditional media friends. They ran the campaign they always do under orders from their tax exile owners to trash labour at every turn. [applause] the day before the election one paper devoted fourteen pages to the day before the election one attacking the labour party. And our vote went up nearly 10 . [applause] never have so many trees died in vain. The british people saw right through it. So this is a message to the daily mails editor next time, please could you make it 28 pages . [applause] but theres a serious message too, the campaign by the tories and their loyal media was nasty and personal. It fuelled abuse online and no one was the target of that more than diane have it. Diane abbott. She has a [applause] [singing happy birthday] [applause] she has a decadeslong record of campaigning for social justice and has suffered intolerable misogynistic and racist abuse. Faced with such an overwhelmingly hostile press and an army of social media trolls,its even more important that we stand. [applause] yes we will disagree, but there can never be any excuse for any of the use of anybody by ,nybody, we are not having it we are not allowing it. [applause] thank you for that. We settle our differences with democratic votes and unite around those decisions and go forward. That is the labour party, here this week, and out in the communities every week diverse, welcoming, democratic and ready to serve our country. [applause] there is no bigger test in politics right now than brexit, an incredibly important and complex process, that cannot be reduced to repeating fairy stories from the side of a bus or waiting 15 months to state the obvious. As democratic socialists, we accept and respect the referendum result, but respect for a democratic decision does not mean giving a green light to a recklesss tory brexit agenda. That would plunge britain into a trumpstyle racetothebottom in rights and corporate taxes. We are not going to be passive spectators to a hopelessly inept negotiating team putting at risk peoples jobs, rights and Living Standards. [applause] a team more interested in posturing for personal advantage than in getting the best deal for the country. To be fair, theresa mays speech in florence last week did unite the cabinet. For a few hours at least. Her plane had barely touched down at heathrow before the divisions broke out again. Never has the National Interest been so illserved on such a vital issue. If there were no other reason for the tories to go their selfinterested brexit bungling would be reason enough. So i so i have a simple message to the cabinet for britains sake pull yourself together or make way. [applause] one thing needs to be made clear straight away. The three million eu citizens currently living and working in britain are welcome here. [applause] they have been left under a cloud of insecurity by this government when their future could have been settled months ago. So theresa may, give them the full guarantees they deserve today. If you dont, we will. [applause] since the referendum result our brexit team has focused above all on our Economic Future. That future is now under real threat. A powerful faction in the conservative leadership sees brexit as their chance to create a tax haven on the shores of europe. A lowwage, low tax deregulated playground for the hedge funds and speculators. A few at the top would do very nicely, no question. But Manufacturing Industries would go to the wall taking skilled jobs with them our tax base would crumble our Public Services would be slashed still further. We are now less than 18 months away from leaving the european union. And so far, the tory trio leading the talks have got nowhere and agreed next to nothing. This ragtag cabinet spends more time negotiating with each otheo than they do with the european union. A cliffedge brexit is at risk of becoming a reality. That is why labour has made clear that britain should stay within the basic terms of the Single Market and a Customs Union for a limited transition. Least thats at theresa may has belatedly accepted that. But beyond that transition, our task is a different one. It is to unite everyone in our country around a progressive vision of what britain could be, but with a government that stands for the many, not the few. [applause] labour is the only party that can bring together those who voted leave and those who backed remain and unite the country for a future beyond brexi. What beyond brexit. [applause] what matters in the brexit negotiations is to achieve a settlement that delivers jobs, rights and decent Living Standards. Conference, the real divide over brexit could not be. A shambolic tory brexit driving down standards. Or a labour brexit that puts jobs first a brexit for the many, one that guarantees unimpeded access to the Single Market and establishes a new cooperative relationship with the eu. A brexit that uses powers returned from brussels to support a new industrial strategy to upgrade our economy in every region and nation. One that puts our economy first not fake immigration targets that fan the flames of fear. We will never follow the tories into the gutter of blaming migrants for the ills of society. [applause] it isnt migrants who drive down wages and conditions but the worst bosses in collusion with a conservative government that never misses a chance to attack trade unions and weaken peoples rights at work. Labour will take action to stop employers driving down pay and conditions not pander to , scapegoating or racism. [applause] our issue is too important to be left to the conservatives. We will hold theresa mays squabbling ministers to account every step of the way in these talks. And, with our brexit team of keir starmer, Emily Thornberry and Barry Gardiner thank you. [applause] they are literally standing ready to take over when this government halls. When they fell to negotiate a new with relationship with europe that works for all. Out to help create a europe for many for the future, thats our goal. The truth is that under the , tories britains future is at risk whatever the outcome of the brexit process. Our economy no longer delivers secure housing secure wellpaid jobs or rising , Living Standards. There is a new common sense emerging about how the country should be run. Thats what we fought for in the election and thats whats , needed to replace the broken model forged by Margaret Thatcher many years ago. And ten years after the Global Financial crash the tories still believe in the same dogmatic mantra deregulate, privatise ,cut taxes for the wealthy, weaken rights at work, delivering profits for a few, and debt for many. Nothing has changed. Its as if were stuck in a political and economic time work. Timewarp. As the Financial Times put it last month our Financial System still looks a lot like the precrisis one and the capitalist system still faces a crisis of legitimacy, stemming from the crash. Now is the time that government took a more active role in [applause] ng our economy. Now now is the time that corporate boardrooms were held accountable for their actions. And now is the time that we developed a new model of management to replace the failed dogmas of neoliberalism. [applause] that is why labour is looking not just to repair the damage done by austerity, but to transform our economy with a new and dynamic role for the Public Sector particularly where the private sector has evidently failed. [applause] take the water industry. Of the nine Water Companies in england six are now owned by , private equity or foreign sovereign wealth funds. Their profits are handed out in dividends to shareholders while the infrastructure crumbles the infrastructure kumble infrastructure crumbles. The Companies Pay little or nothing in tax and executive pay has soared as the service deteriorates. That is why we are committed to take back our utilities into Public Ownership. [applause] to put them at the service of our people and our economy and stop the public being ripped off. Of course, there is much more that needs to be done. Our National Investment bank and the Transformation Fund will be harnessed to mobilise Public Investment to create wealth and go