Prime Minister will address the Welsh Labour
conference in North Wales on Saturday, where he will confirm the
£160million Investment Zone in Wrexham and Flintshire will be
going live next year. This will be the first Welsh Labour
Conference the Labour Leader has addressed as Prime Minister,
following his party's historic victory in July.
Committing to drive growth across North Wales, as a core part of
his Labour Government's central mission, the Prime Minister will
confirm that plans for the new Investment Zone are being driven
forward so business and communities across North Wales can start
feeling the benefits next year. This, he will say, will mark
another essential step along the “path of change” Wales voted
for.
The Prime Minister will thank Welsh Labour activists for their
hard work in helping to deliver the astonishing victory which saw
the Labour Party return the UK Government to the service of
working people. He will say that communities in Wales and right
across the UK are ready for an exciting new era, with “Labour
Wales and Labour Britain” pulling in the same direction once more
– once again serving the people of Wales with the “full force of
our union”.
Welsh Labour won 27 out of 32 Parliamentary seats in Wales on 4
July and the Conservatives were wiped out, with no Tory MPs now
left in Wales.
Starmer will acknowledge the huge responsibility the UK Labour
Government now has to deliver for communities across Wales, after
they were so badly let down by the Conservatives for the past 14
years. He will say that he and the party must remain determined
to continue driving forward, putting in the hard yards needed to
bring about a decade of national renewal so that the Welsh
people's “ambition lives up to the change they need in their
lives”. He will also expose the Conservatives' hypocrisy in
response to last month's Budget, which he will say shows “they
haven't listened, they haven't learnt, and they certainly haven't
changed”.
The UK Labour Leader will speak of his pride in working closely
with the 3 Welsh Labour women now leading Wales forwards into the
future alongside his UK Labour Government: First Minister , Secretary of State for Wales
, and Welsh Labour Deputy Leader, .
The Prime Minister will argue that “change must be
nothing less than national renewal”, but must be felt “in the
bones of a nation”. He will say:
“Change can't be a few extra lines on a graph moving in the right
direction. Change can't be a good Labour policy or two delivered
while the broader settlement remains untouched. Change must be
nothing less than national renewal.
“A change felt in the bones of a nation and in the lives and
pockets of working people.
“Public services – reformed and renewed. An economy where growth
benefits the many. A sense of hope restored. Confidence –
returned. A future where, together, we look forward, excited for
the days to come.
“Because together, we look back with pride on the tough decisions
we took to get there.”
Starmer will stress that we must deliver on his 5
national missions for change as he is “convinced they are the
only way to change this nation for the better”. He will
say:
“And it will be hard. People will say: “we should turn back”,
“that's enough”, “take your foot off the accelerator”, “you've
made some tough decisions, it's time to go more softly”.
“In fact, to tell the truth, they've already started. But
conference, you know me by now. So, you know that we will stay
the course. We will stick to our long-term plan – our national
missions for change.
“Because I am convinced they are the only way to change this
nation for the better.”
Speaking just weeks after the Chancellor delivered the first Labour
Budget in 14 years, Starmer will say:
“£21 billion for Wales next year – a record figure. That is the
path of change. £1.7 billion extra through the Barnett Formula –
that is the path of change. More money for Welsh schools and
hospitals, more investment in Welsh potential and pride, £88
million for city and growth deals, £1 billion for aerospace,
benefitting companies like Airbus which I visited yesterday in
Broughton, and a new hydrogen future in Milford Haven.
“More jobs, more growth, more money in the pockets of the Welsh
people.
“Conference - that is the path of change.”
The Prime Minister will go on to discuss the tough
decisions that were necessitated by the “mountain of mess” left
behind by the Conservatives and expose Kemi Badenoch's hypocrisy
in being unable to say how she would pay for measures for
investment in schools and the NHS she claims to support. He will
say:
“So, make no mistake, I will defend our decisions in the Budget
all day long. The Leader of the Opposition admitted in PMQs this
week that she wants all the measures of our Budget – she just
doesn't want to pay for them. The same old Tories: they haven't
listened, they haven't learnt, and they certainly haven't
changed.
“They crashed the economy once. And now we know they would do it
again.”
“I will defend facing up to the harsh light of fiscal reality,
defend tough decisions that were necessary to stablise our
economy, and I will defend protecting the payslips of working
people.
“Fixing the foundations of our economy, asking those with the
broader shoulders to contribute more, so that we finally turn the
page on the era of austerity – once and for all.”
