Harriet spoke to the South West Labour Party Conference on Saturday 28 February 2009.

Full text of speech

I’m delighted to be here in Bristol with the Labour Team in the South West. 

Labour’s team here -  your MPs and Ministers, your Member of the European Parliament and councillors, trade unionists and party activists, Phil and party staff –  you all have an important place in today’s Labour Party and play a vital role in taking Labour values forward in a region which spans areas which have strong Labour support as well as where it is much less strong- and where you have to fight against the menace of the Lib Dems and the BNP as well as the Tories.
 
Today, we meet in difficult times for jobs and for families in this region.  The global financial crisis has hit hard in this region – not just in the financial services sector but to those businesses big and small that have been hit by the squeeze on credit.

But you all know that the Government will not stand by and let people suffer.  Because we know that those who are hit hardest are those who can least afford it – people who work hard but still worry about how they will make ends meet, pensioners worried about their fuel bills and people who struggle to pay their mortgage at the best of times.

And above all we are working to take any and every step we can to protect jobs.  Ours is and always has been a trading economy – one in 10 of the jobs in this country depend on our trade with Europe.  All the economies of the world – including ours -  are now interconnected.  Which is why Gordon Brown and Alasdair Darling are working internationally to put together a solution that will ensure that the world economy gets back on track and starts to grow once more. And that’s what the London Summit which Gordon will host, and Obama will attend, is all about.

As well as protecting people from the present global economic crisis – we need to build our economy for the future.  And that means jobs and job opportunities for everyone.  The right to work is at the heart of what Labour has always stood for. We will never say unemployment is a price worth paying.  And the right to skills and qualifications is what Labour has always stood for – and that is even more important as more and more jobs demand skills and qualifications.  And we will use public investment to build the infrastructure that we need to take the country forward.  So we will be stepping up public investment in capital projects like schools, hospitals, transport and regeneration across the South West. We will not be cutting them back.  That’s what the Tories say they would do and that would be disastrous.  For jobs now and for prosperity in the future.  So I will be working with you over the next weeks to challenge each and every Tory MP and Tory Council candidate – do they support Labour’s plans for investment in their community or do they back David Cameron’s plan for cuts?

And I am in no doubt – and this was highlighted for me particularly when I went with Ben Bradshaw to a brilliant conference Labour organised in St Austell, that Labour in the South West is working through your MPs, councillors and MEP and Trade Unions to ensure that we do everything we can to protect people in these difficult times but also to build the region’s economy for the future.

So I want you – and everyone in the party – to be confident and determined.  We are confident that we are taking all the measures that need to be taken.  We are determined that whatever it takes we will do it.  And we need to counter the lies that the Tories are trying to put around.  And keep on explaining what has caused this credit crunch and what we are doing about it.

We need to tell people that when we came into government in 1997 public debt was 43% of our national wealth.  As well as rebuilding hospitals and schools, we paid off debt year by year till it was down to 37% of GDP.  And so we are in a position – as we must – to let public borrowing rise to protect our economy in this unprecedented economic storm.  Not allowing debt to rise now would make it much worse later.

And we have made plans to pay back the debt – as we must.  And our plans are that those who have most should pay most and that’s why we’ve said that on income over £150,000 there will be a new top rate of tax of 45%.

We are determined not only to build a strong economy for the future but to have a fairer and more equal society.  So we will press on to meet our target to end child poverty and in April we will bring in new rights for flexible work for parents and we will bring in to parliament a tough new Equality Bill.

We don’t have to choose between a strong economy and fairness – we must have both.

And that includes fairness in the financial services sector.  No one can be in any doubt now -  with Sir Fred Goodwin trying to grab £650,000 a year from a bank that is now being propped up by public money – that there is something rotten in the remuneration system of the banks and finance companies.  Men paying themselves millions of £s of bonuses and pensions each – while at the same time saying that they didn’t know what was going on. 

Half the employees in the finance sector are women.  Yet the men are paid 40% more than the women employees. I’ve set up an enquiry by the Equality Commission to look into the financial services industry.  The discretionary bonus and pension system is a license for unfairness and discrimination.  And is anyone any more going to justify a system which allows for the old boys network to fall back on a financial cushion of millions of pounds while helping cause the problems which makes others struggle.

The Financial Services Authority, which Gordon Brown set up, is also conducting a review into bonuses.  Because they will need to stop the bonus system encouraging those at the top taking risks with everyone else’s money.    But following the Treasury Select Committee Enquiry,  the Equality Commission and the FSA reviews we will clearly need to take things further.


The great task for all of us in the Party in 2009 will be the elections on June 4th.  These are important county council elections – for Gloucestershire, Dorset, Somerset, and Devon, Wiltshire, Cornwall and Bristol and for our European parliament candidates. And on June 4th every voter in every part of the region will have a vote in the European elections.  Our Euro representation is particularly important here in the South West where there are many areas with no Labour MPs or councillors but where our MEP keeps the flag flying for Labour values.  When I was in St Austell I picked up the local paper and there was Glen Ford calling for an enquiry into a fire and the local party advertising a bring and buy sale.  Labour campaigning is important throughout the region even where we don’t have an MP!

These elections  will show Labour’s team working at local, national and European level – to deliver for people the jobs and living standards that they deserve and peaceful safe communities in which to live and a sustainable future
for the environment.

And we are saying that these elections are not about the institutions,  not about county hall or the European parliament – they are about our great team of Labour candidates -  Labour as a team at local, national and European level doing everything they can to protect people and build for a strong and fair future for this region.

We have to do everything we can to get everyone to vote.  Everyone will have a vote – and every vote will count.  If you are in a “safe” labour area – we need all the votes from your area to be added up for our MEP candidates.  If you are in a marginal seat – we need know you need a vigorous campaign – not just for our MEP and council votes  - but as a curtain raiser for the next general election.  And I want to pay tribute to how hard all of you work in campaigning in support of the region’s MPs.  I know whether its for Ben, for Jim, for all your MPs members from surrounding areas pile in to help out.  So when I was at the Gloucester annual dinner there were members from Cheltenham and many other places outside Gloucester all supporting Parmjit.

And June 4th  has to be an every vote counts election as now is the time for us to draw a line in the sand against the advance of the hatred, racism and division of the BNP.  There is no prospect of  a strong economic future and the jobs we need for everyone if we turn away from the rest of the world.  And there is no prospect of peace in our communities if there is racism and division. And BNP websites, newsletters and speeches strike fear into the Black and Asian community.  We must all stand up against them.   But we not only have to challenge their lies - but also, by our local campaigning, by our presence on the doorstep and in the local community, show people that we understand and share their concerns and that we are on their side.

I don’t think any of us, anymore, believe that you can just ignore the BNP – deny them the oxygen of publicity – and they will “go away”.  I know from when I was down in Plymouth last year there was concern about the BNP in this region. The evidence is clear – including here in the South West – that where you take them on with local campaigning and a confident challenge – they are beaten back and that’s what we must do everywhere they are standing. 

I’m delighted that there is a big spotlight on Labour in the South West today.  The Prime Minister has been out and about on a visit today and the National Policy Forum is taking place just down the road.  I am proud of Labour’s team in the South West and I want to thank you for your hard work and your commitment to Labour’s values and say that if we believe that our progressive val