Monday at Conference.
There were a lot of standing ovations at Labour conference on Monday. Rachel Reeves got ten but she was in the hall. Angela Rayner got two without even being there. But, keeping focus on current front benchers who actually gave speeches, there was plenty to think about.
They all highlighted the roll-call of government achievements, its investments and promises for the future.
There was passion and vision but also a common theme that vision must be balanced by pragmatism. The need for realism to underpin the realisation of Labour values.
As the Deputy Prime Minister, David Lammy, put it: “Progressives win when they follow the north star of their values and the guard rails of their realism”.
There was consistent recognition that the government has not moved as fast or as far as many would like and that there is much, much more to do. Even that there have been missteps.
As Peter Kyle, the Business Secretary, said: “Government is hard and we have sometimes made it look harder than necessary”. Some might think that was an understatement. He went on to warn that the government “sometimes has to do things that are tough”. Perhaps a warning that there might be more unpopular measures and decisions from the government in the future.
But, like all of his colleagues, his speech was almost entirely positive, passionate and upbeat. Under Labour, he said, Britain was on the march forward again.
Bridget Philipson the Education Secretary delivered a speech bursting with achievements: from 500,000 more children with free school meals to targeted maintenance grants for young people who need them most.
She echoed Rachel Reeves and other colleagues by punching out the government line that Labour members should not let anyone tell them the government does not have vision or Labour values before going on to prove her point by promising that child poverty will be lower at the end of this parliament.
Pat McFadden, the Work and Pensions Secretary, set out a vision in which work would be at the heart of the government’s mission while the pension triple lock would be protected to ensure security for all those of retirement age.
This government would invest in success, promising an opportunity welfare state, not a dependency welfare state, he said.
Like many of his colleagues he attacked Nigel Farage’s threat to expel immigrants with settled status. He said this was not the British way. Peter Kyle said they were welcome here. Wes Streeting the Health Secretary said this was their home. And for David Lammy the threat was just plain racist.
The Deputy Prime Minister is also Justice Secretary and he had a detailed strategy for reforming the justice system with the fastest prison building programme since Victorian times, a promise that prison would focus on turning lives around not punishment, major investment and empowerment of the probation service and the biggest expansion of legal aid in a generation.
His vision was very simply summed up at the end of his speech: “Justice for all!”
Shabana Mahmoud also condemned Farage’s threat saying it was dog-whistle politics.
The new Home Secretary, has one of the toughest jobs in government right now and she accepted that she might not always be popular.
“I may be a tough Home Secretary but let it never be forgotten that I will be a tough Labour Home Secretary, fighting for a vision of this country that is distinctly our own” she said.
The immigration system had been abused under previous governments, she said. Her mission, was “order at our borders, fair migration, safe street”.
Safe streets meant tackling knife crime and shoplifting by reforming and investing in local policing.
Safety, she said, was a prerequisite of the open, tolerant, welcoming nation we want to be.
Liz Kendal, the Science, Technology and Innovation Secretary was concerned about safety too – for her that meant keeping children safe online, while highlighting Reform’s opposition to the online safety bill, and protecting women by making “cyber flashing” a priority offence.
She also announced plans for a women’s tech taskforce to engage women in the AI economy. “Our AI economy shouldn’t be shaped by the tech-bros of silicone valley but our own tech-sisters”.
This was part of a wider vision for major investment in the tech economy and the AI sector that will provide thousands of jobs and opportunities for young people across the country and especially in the north.
Lisa Nandy, the Culture, Media and Sport Secretary outlined a dramatic plan to open up sport for girls across England and Wales. She plans to ensure girls will have equal access to all sporting facilities.
She also announced £150 million for culture funding to English and Welsh cities and £132 million for an Every Child Can programme to fund youth centres, grass roots sport, and the arts “so every child can draw, dance and dream”.
“Every child can” she said, “and under Labour every child will!”
Adam Chadwick – 30/9/25