Jonathan Reynolds Speech at Labour Party Conference 2024

Conference,

I stand here before you today,

proud to be your Secretary of State for Business and Trade.

Proud to be a part of the most working class Cabinet in British history.

And proud of the pro-business, pro worker platform that was fundamental to our success at the election but which will be even more fundamental to our success in Government.

No-one should be in any doubt, we campaigned as a pro-business party and we will govern as a pro-business party.

Because we know that we cannot deliver for the British people, unless we turn around the low investment, low productivity, low growth economy which we have inherited.

And we cannot do that, unless we work in partnership with business to bring about the change we need.

And my ask of all of you, is not just to support that agenda, but to actively stand with me and this Labour Government, as we work day and night, to again give people the work, and the wages and the prosperity, and the living standards that everyone in Britain needs, and everyone in Britain deserves.

Because Conference, the task is urgent.

What I found, when I walked through the door of my Department on the 5 July was a mess left by Conservative ministers - who had simply ceased to govern.

Just like the Downing Street parties they threw, they expected someone else to come in and clear up after them

The Conservative overspending - that £22bn black hole in the Treasury reserve - put at risk things that could not be more important to the British people: money for the steel industry, compensation for postmasters. 

And vital decisions, on everything from shipbuilding to automotive, simply not taken.

They were deferred, they were left for us to deal with.

If people ask me for an example, of what a pro-worker, and pro-business agenda looks like:

I point out to them that over the last decade the unions in this room have actually fought harder for British industry, than the Conservative Party did!

Nowhere have we seen that more, than in steel.

I'd like to thank Community, and GMB, and Unite, for working with me to improve the deal for the workforce at Port Talbot.

I'll always be the first to say, I wish we could have done even more.

But I can tell you working together with the unions we have done more for steel in two months, than the Conservative Party did in 14 years.

I am always aware, of just how consequential the decisions I make are,

That they touch the lives of a great many people.

And understanding that, is what being a Government of service is all about.

And we have already begun the work to deliver that change.

Implementing our plan for small business: where previous governments talked about ending late payments - we have taken the action needed to ensure companies pay on time

And we aren't just tackling issues like business rates, but removing the wider barriers that speak to the heart of local economies.

Making our high streets safe and vibrant once again including new measures to stop violence against shop workers and turning around derelict town centres.

It means delivering on our Industrial Strategy, so we win a great share of investment in the UK of the industries that will contribute the most to our future growth.

It means having a trade strategy, that resets our relationship with the EU whilst also building new trade opportunities around the world.

And conference, alongside those things, we cannot deliver change without delivering our New Deal for Working People.

Now Conference, you may have seen, the Conservative Party, they don't like our plan to make work pay.

And while it is ironic to hear the same people who have been asleep on the job for the last 14 years complain about other people's working patterns.

Didn't we hear the same arguments against the Minimum Wage?

So when they stand up in a few years' time trying to claim credit for the work the Labour movement did to advance the rights of working people: don't you let them forget what side of history they were on.

Because we know when it comes to the Conservative Party the British public have already availed themselves of the right to switch off.

Conference, I will always make the case that many businesses in Britain model fantastic best practice, and they invest in their workforce, whether it's offering shared parental leave, or support for carers.

And we are going to make Britain more competitive and more investible.

But our mission is not just for growth, but for growth that everybody benefits from.

So Conference, I put it to you:

Where a person has worked, a regular number of hours for some time, they should have the right to a contract that reflects those hours.

And where a person has worked somewhere for two years, they do deserve protection from being unfairly dismissed.

And that most of all, where a person goes out to work, not only do they deserve to be fairly paid for that work. But what every business also needs, are customers who have some money in their pocket, some spending power, and that means, over time, moving towards a Britain where everyone earns a real living wage.

Conference, the task ahead of us is a big one.

It will be difficult at times.

No one else can change this country.

So I say let's accept the challenge and get on with the job.

And if you feel, the same drive, the same passion, the same energy, and most of all, the same hope, that I feel, everyday, as your Secretary of State I am telling you we can build a Britain, not just of good work and good wages, but of dignity, respect, and opportunity.

The Britain that we have always believed in, the Britain we have always strived to build,

Conference, together, for the first time in years, our pro-business, pro worker government gives us the chance to do exactly that.

And I promise, as your Secretary of State, I will work every single moment I have.

to make that happen.

Thank you Conference.