The Prime Minister needs to get a grip of Universal Credit roll-out and reverse cuts to the work allowance - Abrahams

Debbie Abrahams MP, Labour’s Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, commenting on new DWP guidance on Universal Credit that shows people paid four weekly will see their award drop dramatically when two pay packets are paid in a one month period said:

“This is yet another problem in the Government’s disastrous roll out of Universal Credit. The DWP admits there is a problem but have done nothing to properly address the concerns I and others have raised with them.

“I am extremely concerned that those on the lowest incomes, who already manage on a tight budget suddenly won’t be able to pay their rent or their bills, and could be driven into the hands of payday lenders. The DWP state people on four weekly, predictable pay will need to reapply for Universal Credit – a complete waste of taxpayers’ money, never mind the time and effort for claimants.

“Theresa May says she wants to help the people who are struggling to get by, but the way Universal Credit is designed creates problems not solves them. The Prime Minister should get a grip of Universal Credit roll-out, look at the myriad problems in implementation and immediately U-turn on the Tories’ cuts to the work allowance.“

Ends 

Note to Editors

1.      DWP guidance is at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-different-earning-patterns-and-your-payments

2.      In July the Public Accounts Committee heard of a case of someone in Cornwall who was paid four weekly. He was suddenly informed in April that he would receive no universal credit for that month because in March he had exceeded the earnings limit. He apparently had no warning that that would happen and had not budgeted sufficiently, so he had to use a credit card to pay for food and basic necessities that month and cancel all his direct debits.

Please can you look at PIP. it has been a disasterous process for my son with ADHD and ODD. I am now £800 a month down with no way of finding that loss to meet my childrens basic. Food banks will be a reality for me now. PIP assessments do not assess children with conditions on the ADHD/Aspergers/Autistic spectrum and they are slipping through the net leaving families like myself in hardship. This must be addressed

Women must be at the forefront of unifying our party - Angela Rayner MP

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Women must be at the forefront of unifying our party - Angela Rayner MP

Angela Rayner MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Women and Equalities, speaking at Labour Women’s Conference said:

Thank you, Harriet for that wonderful introduction.

Conference, it is an honour to be here today at the annual Labour Party Women’s conference, speaking to such a diverse crowd of politically active and engaged women.

I want to thank all the women on the stage, and those backstage, in the front row, and you all at the back there, for everything you do for our Party and our movement. And I want to say a special thanks to my mum who is also sitting here today at her very first conference.

You are all our community leaders, running the food banks, providing the childcare, sitting in the council meetings, campaigning for our NHS, fighting for decent pensions, struggling for equality in the workplace, running the household budget and running our hospitals.

All this and so much more.

Our Party has never been very good at saying thank you. So I want to say a sincere thank you to you all today.

Conference, in 2015, I was proud to make history as the first ever women elected as a Member of Parliament for Ashton-under-Lyne.

It took just 183 years and an all-women’s shortlist for us to achieve that breakthrough in my constituency.

But we have more work to do right across the country to get more female Labour MPs, more female Labour councillors and even more female Labour Mayors.

So that’s my first challenge to you all today for the future: get out there, let’s see who amongst you can become the first Labour woman to become a directly elected Mayor.  More female Labour leaders in local government, more female MPs, more female Mayors.

Like this hall today, my constituency is filled with inspirational women who inspire and motivate me every day. I want to give a special mention to the amazing women in my home towns of Tameside and Oldham. They are strong and mighty northern women.

One inspiration is our very own Dame Margaret Beckett MP, who was born in Ashton and cut her Labour teeth in the local CLP. God knows what it was like in those days, Margaret.

But since then, Margaret has become our first ever female Deputy Leader and the longest serving female MP in the House of Commons.

It is to women like Margaret that we owe a huge debt. For blazing the trail, for showing the way, for inspiring all of us women who follow, to reach ever higher. 

That’s why I am proud to announce that Margaret’s home town of Ashton will be celebrating all of her achievements with the launch of our Dame Margaret Beckett Prize for Public Speaking for teenage girls. 

Encouraging our young women, giving them confidence, spurring on our young women to become involved in politics and the life of our communities.

Inspiring us on - something Margaret has spent her whole life doing.

This leads me back to my mum and why I wanted her to be here today. My mum inspires me and I’d like to tell you all why.

My mum was born on the largest council estate in Europe and was one of twelve children. They lived in poverty. And when I say poverty I mean poverty in every sense.

She cannot to this day read or write and was bullied at school.

They barely survived let alone lived on what money the family had.

My mum never felt loved and didn’t know how to love, hugs, cuddles and any signs of affection just wasn’t the norm.

Throughout her life she has faced hardship and struggle. She tried her best to be a good mum and I know that now. I haven’t always given her an easy ride.

It’s fair to say my upbringing was only marginally better than my mum’s. Mainly because of the interventions by the state and the advancement of equal rights in Britain.

My mum would be the first to admit she didn’t know how to love us kids or how to care for us. Let’s face it she didn’t have the right role models or upbringing herself.

But you know what, she taught me that we have to keep fighting and improving the system. We have to break down the barriers that exist still to this day for many woman in our country and across the globe. She taught me through her own struggles that I was just as good as everyone else and to stand tall and be proud of who I am.

Speaking personally, this has been a bit of a whirlwind year for me.

I went from being a humble new backbench MP, fighting on behalf of my constituents, to the Whips office, then Shadow Pensions Minister, helping to champion the cause of the inspiring WASPI campaigners, and now the Shadow Secretary of State for Education, Women and Equalities.

You could not make it up.

I have a lot of people to thank. They know who they are. But I want to thank most of all my partner and my three children for the love, devotion and, occasionally, even the problems they have brought me. They are my rock. Without them I am nothing.

Throughout my journey they have kept my feet on the ground as a proud, working class mum, who also happens to be a Labour MP.

But I am an MP for a purpose. To change society for the better, striving for equality and justice for everyone, with all my heart.

Having my background and upbringing I know something about equality of opportunity.

And when it is missing.

It is missing today in every walk of our lives.

I have only ten minutes to speak and I’ve used up half already. I cannot do justice to the many crimes and struggles woman still face today across the UK and globally. I am sure you will be discussing some of these challenges and possible solutions during the workshops today.

Gender inequality affects us all. It affects our whole family and our society. We can never give up or stop fighting.

We stand on the shoulders of giants.

Giants like my mum who survived the abuse she has suffered and help break the cycle.

Giants like Margaret and Harriet that have blazed the trail for us in parliament.

Giants like the woman in this room and across the world that continue to fight and won’t accept injustice and misogyny.

That same misogyny now rears its ugly head on social media. It is awful, hate-filled and cannot be tolerated. I condemn all abuse, harassment and intimidation unequivocally. On and offline.

Campaigns, such as ‘Reclaim the Internet’ are helping women to fight back.  

Because these trolls want women to be seen and not heard, to keep quiet and know our place. 

Well, they know what they can do with that.

Conference, today we have a female Prime Minister in 10 Downing Street. The second female Prime Minister of our country. I congratulate Theresa May.

But I cannot celebrate her arrival.

Nor can I allow our own failures to go unnoticed. The Conservative Party, the party of privilege and inequality, has stolen a march on Labour. Britain’s greatest ever force for equality and emancipation.

Our Party of votes for women, of equal pay,the Sex Discrimination Act, the Race Relations Act, gay marriage and equal rights for the LGBT community. The Party of all-women short lists. The Party, where, down the road in Manchester, more than 50 per cent of our councillors are now women.

This is our proud legacy.

But conference, we need to continue the fight.  Because we still have a long way to go before women can achieve true gender equality in our society and in our very own Party.

That is my second challenge to our movement we, the women, must show the way for Labour in the future. Women must be at the heart of our Labour movement. And it is up to you, in this conference, to make that happen. No-one else is going to do it.

Conference, none of us are fooled by Theresa May’s one nation spin, and all her empty rhetoric about a meritocracy.

She has been at the heart of a failing Tory Government for the past six years.

Labour is now looking to the future. We have a new Leader, with a renewed mandate. And I congratulate Jeremy on his historic victory.

Our members have spoken and we must now hear them. 

We are Her Majesty’s Opposition. We have serious work to do.

So our Labour family must now come together and move forward as one Labour.

Because we all know that families sometimes fall out. Often, there are faults on all sides.  

But in my experience, it is the women who invariably bring families back together.

That is my third challenge to this conference.

Bring back our Labour family.

And conference, it is us women who must be at the forefront of unifying our divided party. We have the unique skills and experience which can help bring our Labour family together.

Our passion, our energy and our knowledge must ensure that we hold the Tory Government to account. Every single day of the week.

Otherwise, the families who most rely on us to get on in life, will never forgive us if we let them down now.

We cannot turn inward again, while the Tories bring back grammar schools, destroy our hard-won rights in Europe, close down thousands of nursery schools, and privatise what remains of our public services.

Conference, I know what poverty feels like, I felt it as a child. My parents were lucky, they were supported by the safety net of a welfare state created by a Labour Government.  Labour has been there for my family, cradle to grave, time and time again.

But that very same welfare state is now facing an ideological attack from this Tory Government.

Under the cloak of Theresa May’s warm words about One Nation and meritocracy, they are intent on turning the clock back even further.

Worsening inequality. More food banks. Profit-driven privatised public services. Tax cuts for the richest. A bonfire of worker’s rights, whether they are male or female.

Life is becoming harder for the majority of people. And it will be women and children, who will be hurt the most.

Our mothers. Our sisters. Our daughters.

We have a moral, political, and historic obligation to work together on behalf of working people.

It is our new mission.

We are one Party.

One family.

One Labour.

Now it is up to us to bring it together.

ENDS

Theresa May has never won a general election and our task now is to make sure she never does - Iain McNicol

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Theresa May has never won a general election and our task now is to make sure she never does - Iain McNicol 

Iain McNicol, General Secretary of the Labour Party, speaking at Labour Party Conference 2016, said:

Thank you, conference.

Firstly, let me congratulate Jeremy on his victory in the Leadership Contest and commiserations to Owen.

Jeremy it was an impressive and decisive win.

As ever, it is a great privilege and pleasure to give my annual report to conference as your General Secretary.

Isn’t it great to be here in Liverpool?

A wonderful modern European city, proud of its past, and looking confidently to the future.

A Labour city, with a progressive Labour council led by Joe Anderson.

And a fantastic Labour candidate for next year’s metro Mayoral elections - Steve Rotheram.

Steve, I know you will be a brilliant Labour candidate and a fantastic Mayor.

And of course good luck to Andy Burnham in Greater Manchester, and Sion Simon in the West Midlands.

Labour candidates, Labour values.

We wish you all the best for the campaigns ahead.

Millions of people have voted in elections across the UK since last we met.

In Scotland, the result was devastating for Labour, losing seats not only to the SNP, but also to the Tories, and coming third.

We have so much to do to regain the trust of the people of Scotland.

But Kezia has started the fight back.

In Wales, our share of the vote dropped, but we held on.

I’m delighted Carwyn Jones remains as First Minister.

In the council elections, Labour suffered a net loss of Councillors, but we won more seats than the Tories, and won the elections in terms of share of the vote.

And let’s celebrate a great mayoral success.  Labour’s candidate Marvin Rees, winning Bristol.

Conference, there have been four parliamentary by-elections since we last met, in seats previously held by Labour MPs.

I’m pleased to say we won in each of those four seats.

We welcome Gill Furness in Sheffield Brightside, Jim McMahon in Oldham West and Royton, and Chris Elmore in Ogmore.

And that brings me to the fourth by-election this year.

Conference we should be delighted to welcome Rosena Allin-Khan, the new MP for Tooting.

Right up until her election Rosena was a doctor in A&E, at St Georges Hospital where my kids were born.

And why was there a by-election in Tooting?

Well, we all know the reason - because the MP for Tooting, who’s dad apparently was a bus driver, went and got himself a new job.

It’s a big role, with huge responsibilities and he’s making a great job of it.

Conference, let’s celebrate the success of Sadiq Khan as Labour Mayor of London.

You know, there was a moment when I almost felt sorry for Zac Goldsmith.

Almost, but not quite.

All that money, all that privilege, yet Zac couldn’t buy his way into City Hall.

And a Tory campaign tinged with xenophobia, racism and hate.

The Tory campaign was a disgrace, and deserved to lose.

I’m so proud of London - modern, diverse, multicultural - a city that said no to hate and division.

Four by-elections. Four Labour wins. Four new Members of the PLP.

And there’s one member of the PLP on our minds more than most this week, and that’s Jo Cox.

Jo was doing the job she loved, serving the people she loved, in the place she loved.

Jo was murdered because of what she represented.

She spoke to us of unity, of hope, of a vision of a better world.

And she was taken from us by bigotry, ignorance and hate.

The outpouring of grief since her death, shaped by the quiet dignity of her husband Brendon and her family, reminds us that love will always triumph over hate.

Today I am pleased to announce “The Jo Cox Women in Leadership Programme”, a brand new mentoring scheme delivered in partnership with the fantastic Labour Women’s Network.

Over the next five years we will train over 600 future women leaders on our biggest ever mentoring and development programme.

Jo was a true champion of women in leadership roles and international feminism and this programme will create a generation of women who can continue Jo’s fight in local government, parliament, and in our communities.

A fitting tribute to Jo’s life and work.

On Friday, the members in Batley and Spen selected our Labour candidate for the by-election on 20 October, Tracey Brabin.

I am delighted that Tracey will be our candidate, and we wish her all the best.

And let’s reflect a moment on what it means to have a Labour MP.

It means a hard-working champion for the community.

It means Labour values of compassion, tolerance and justice.

It means relentless surgeries and case-work.

It means endless work on the doorsteps and street corners and town squares.

It means women and men drawn from the communities they serve.

Hard-working Labour champions, winning seats for Labour, and denying Tories, and SNP and Lib Dems an extra seat in Parliament.

That’s the PLP - Labour through and through, and deserving our whole-hearted gratitude and support.

Let me report now on our finances as a Party.

For the past five years, I’ve focussed on getting the Party’s finances back into shape.

It has been tough.

Those historic debts totalled almost twenty five million pounds in 2006, but, after years of living with that burden, I am delighted to report that at the end of last year we repaid the remainder.

Becoming debt free coincided with a surge in membership.  The money the new members will add to our funds helps put the Party in its strongest financial position for generations.

We have paid back the loans, we have paid off our debt to the banks.

The Labour Party is debt free.

I want to say something about the people who work for the Labour Party.

We expect a huge amount from them.

They work weekends and evenings. They drop everything to fight by-elections or local elections. They put this Party conference together year after year. They are some of the brightest and the best our movement has.

I value them, I respect them, and I stand in solidarity with them whenever they come under attack.

And so should this conference, because without them, our movement would be weaker.

We all owe a massive debt of gratitude to the Party staff and I know they would also want me to pass on their thanks for the support they have had from the NEC and chair, Paddy Lillis.

Let me turn now to the biggest event of the year, if not the decade: the referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union.

Labour ran a strong campaign under Alan Johnson.

Alan and his campaigners made the arguments about jobs, trade and investment in every corner of Britain. Alan deserves our gratitude for the campaign he fought and led.

But it wasn’t enough.

UKIP’s arguments won and that’s a very bitter pill to swallow.

So we, as a Party, need to learn the lessons from the Brexit vote, and listen to what people are telling us about their communities, their nations and their sense of security.

My call to the Labour movement is this: it must be a process shaped by Labour as much as Theresa May.

It must not be the excuse to throw away decades of accumulated rights and protections for British workers.

Never forget what Labour has done for British workers, and always be proud of our achievements.

Maternity/Paternity rights, a national minimum wage, Sure Start Centres, the right to join a union, the NHS.

There will always be those Tories who want to write off the Labour years, and pretend no good came from them.

Let’s make sure none of us ever falls into that Tory trap.

Labour was created for a very specific purpose, explicit from the very start.

And that purpose is stated in black and white in our constitution.

‘To organise and maintain in Parliament and in the country a political Labour Party and ‘The Party shall bring together members and supporters who share its values.’

That’s our Labour Party.

A Party founded to win elections and form governments.

To make our values real through practical change.

It’s a powerful idea and I’ve not heard a better one.

As Jeremy said yesterday:

‘No purpose is superior to the cause of winning elections and delivering change.’

And exercising power and making choices, just like our Labour councillors, police commissioners, and Mayors do day in, day out, week in, week out.

Finally, Conference, let us look to the future.

We have come through the leadership contest.

Alongside our Deputy Leader Tom Watson, I know Jeremy will now take the fight to the Tories in the coming months.

We are on a General Election alert and we must be ready.

This is a Party now with over half a million members, united in our desire to defeat the Tories.

This is a terrible Tory government, split over Europe, tacking to the right on every issue, in dispute with junior doctors, and out of step with modern Britain.

They’re even talking about bringing back grammar schools, a uniquely divisive, and demonstrably unsuccessful policy.

And they think they can talk like this, because Labour is too busy talking to itself.

Well no more.

So we will step up our opposition in Parliament.

We will campaign on the doorsteps, with our many new members at the forefront of the door-knocking, leafleting, and community organising.

And we will reconnect with the voters we’ve lost in recent years, and reach out to new ones.

That’s the job of Jeremy.

It’s the job of Tom.

It’s the job of the PLP and councillors.

It’s the job of the Unions.

It’s the job of everyone sitting here in Liverpool.

It’s the job of everyone with a Party card.

It’s the job of all of us.

Theresa May has never won a general election, and our task now, as a strong, confident and united Labour Party, is to make sure she never does.

Thank you.

ENDS

We are facing the biggest housing crisis in a generation and the Tories have no answers - Teresa Pearce MP

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Teresa Pearce MP, Shadow Housing Minister, speaking at Labour Party Conference 2016, said:

Conference, it is an honour to stand here as the Shadow Housing Minister and with a temporary wider brief including Communities and Local Government.

It’s a huge portfolio so forgive me for the ground that I will not cover this afternoon.

But first I want to say to Labour councillors up and down the country, thank you.

New and demanding responsibilities have been transferred to local government, but without the funds to deliver.

But in Labour run councils you are making a difference and I am proud of the ingenuity you have shown in the face of difficult choices, finding new solutions, demonstrating just what Labour can do in power.

Councils like Derbyshire that has established a development company to build homes on some of its land for key workers. The council will provide the mortgages too.

Just one example of many displayed by our Councils who are a vital source of Labour representation, and an increasing inspiration on policy.

Innovating, forward looking, credible policy, that is Labour in power in local government.

And next year we have important Mayoral elections, including Steve Rotheram here in Merseyside. Both Marvin in Bristol and Sadiq in London have hit the ground running and one of the biggest issues they face is the housing crisis.

If anyone wants to know where the Government’s housing priorities lie, it’s there for all to see in The Housing and Planning Act.

A divisive, aggressive, flawed Act, which includes an all-out attack on social housing.

It will lead to the loss of affordable homes.

It fails to help those in the private rented sector.

It fails to offer genuine help to those trying to get on the property ladder.

And it totally fails to help the ever increasing numbers of people up and down the country facing homelessness.

In truth, there’s little of any merit in this Tory Government’s plans for housing.

They’ve slashed housing benefit payments to young people under 35, failed to build social housing, allowed private sector rents to rocket and forced millions into low paid, insecure employment; making owner occupation impossible.

Is it any wonder then that 40 per cent of adults under 34 are still living with their parents and still the Housing Benefit bill continues to balloon.

It is currently running at £25 billion every year because millions are still forced into the private sector as there is no alternative.

It makes no economic sense whatsoever.

This is not just a crisis for those who are homeless or those who are living in overcrowded slums. It’s a crisis for all of us.

The housing crisis is not just about bricks and mortar. It’s about people and their life chances.

Without a stable home, education and health are affected, and family cohesion can be shattered.

It’s about the children under 10 who have already been in three primary schools, and the teachers who are struggling to deal with classroom churn every month.

It’s about the GPs who cannot build patient relationships because patients in their thousands move on and off the register each year as they shift from one private rented home to another.

It’s about the children who grow up disaffected, unable to build the roots and childhood friendships that are vital to self-esteem.

It’s about the isolation of the elderly who have spent their whole lives in a street that now has numerous “houses of multiple occupancy” in it and they no longer know their neighbours.

And then there are all the families struggling to meet next month’s mortgage payments.

Those who are living in fear of losing a job or being sick.

Losing your job shouldn’t mean losing your home, but for many families it does.

MP and councillor surgeries are full of families who they tell us they are living in damp, overcrowded conditions.

They tell us their accommodation is making their children ill.

They tell us that, for all this, they pay extortionate rent.

They tell us that they fear eviction.

They tell us that they are desperate.

And they are.

We are facing the biggest housing crisis in a generation and the Tories have no answers other than building starter homes for the few.

So what would a Labour Housing and Planning Act look like?

We would remove the shackles from local government so they could build the homes of all tenures and infrastructure their communities need.

Labour will commit to building over a million new homes over the next Parliament with half social housing, and invest in the construction skills to tackle the skills shortage and train up a generation.

And through our National Investment Bank and regional development banks, we’ll also provide the necessary infrastructure.

In the private rented sector end of tenancy is a rising cause of homelessness, so we would change the rules on tenancies where a three year lease becomes the norm.

Setting up not-for-profit lettings agencies to promote longer-term, stable tenancies for responsible tenants and good landlords.

Introduce a national standard to ensure private rented properties are fit to live in.

We would reverse the Government’s ‘Pay-to-Stay’ policy and, following the examples set by Wales and Scotland, we will suspend the Right to Buy. The right to buy can only make sense in a time of surplus, in a time of shortage it makes no sense at all.

The difference between us and the Tories is they think housing is about property but we know it’s about homes and life chances.

And we must now all work together to secure a Labour Government so that we can transform our country and improve the lives of the people we seek to serve.    

ENDS

Labour will embrace the Circular Economy - Rachael Maskell MP

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Labour will embrace the Circular Economy - Rachael Maskell MP

Rachael Maskell MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, speaking at Labour Party Conference 2016, said:

Economic certainty and security forms the bedrock of delivering food security and a strong agricultural and fishing sector.

Since 23 June, we’ve learnt that the Government made no analysis of the depth of its relationship with the EU, had no understanding of the capacity needed to re-negotiate hundreds of regulations protecting our food safety and wider environment, and has no plan for the future of the sector which employs three point nine million people and where 75 per cent of our food exports go to the EU.

A Government totally irresponsible, totally reckless, totally inept.

Since, we have seen nothing more than warm words and dithering. They’re not a think tank, or a policy forum, but meant to be a Government leading our nation.

The sector needs answers now. While the Government may not understand strategic business planning, the agricultural and food sectors do. Crucially, how we trade will determine if rural Britain thrives or survives.

Labour will work with the food and agricultural sector to underpin trade with the right financial drivers to grow production, while protecting our natural world.

Labour will back British Farming – plough to plate.

Ready now to revive rural communities, revive coastal communities, revive urban communities and revive our nation from the wreckage this Government has created.

Labour’s ambition to revive urban communities starts by reconnecting urban to rural Britain.

Not only do we want to see city farms, environment centres and schemes like Edible York in my constituency where communities grow veg on street corners together, but ensure everyone can access the countryside.

That’s why Labour Governments created our National Parks and the ‘right to roam’.

With Labour, schools will take children out to get to know the wonders of rural life and through social prescribing, we’ll use the environment to help improve people’s health.

Labour will clean our air, develop clean and renewable energy sources, manufacture clean transport, plant millions of trees and we will introduce emission zones for major towns and cities to end the invisible smog which is killing 50,000 people a year.

Unlike the Government, Labour will embrace the Circular Economy – reducing our consumption, recycling and generating energy from our waste, not turning it over to landfill. We all have our part to play in Labour’s recycling revolution.

We also have a poor relationship with food – where it comes from, what we eat, how much it really costs to produce, how much we need, how much we waste. A quarter of adults are overweight or obese, families put £470 per year of food straight into the bin.

We will change that relationship with education and labelling, better health interventions and a new food framework.

And this is how Labour will revive rural communities. Rural Britain is aging fast. We need people to work the land and in food production.

Labour will expose all to the opportunities of rural life in high skilled farming jobs, technology, science and research, as well as the unbeatable privilege and yet skilled work of rearing stock and growing crops.

Labour will protect rural communities by ensuring long term settlements hit the right balance between farming and environmental measures – not segregating these agendas, but integrating them, and never forgetting the smaller producers. We will defend and extend environmental protections but will not compromise production.

And we will ensure that all the risks in food production doesn’t fall on farmers, with Labour the Grocery Code Adjudicator will have extended powers to provide protections right through the food production chain.

Today, I give a clear commitment to farmers and food manufacturers. Under Labour the workforce you have recruited, invested in and trained from the EU will have the right to stay and keep their jobs, giving you security, giving them security and giving their children security.

We will also establish a new Agricultural Sector Council, to underpin all issues of employment standards, including wages, across the sector.

Labour will revive rural communities through digitalisation, reaching all with broadband and mobile coverage so businesses are no longer restricted to urban settings, and a mobile workforce can relocate.

And Labour will revive rural communities by addressing the rural transport crisis, building the homes that local people need with better rural policing and public services.

At the front of many of our minds: floods. I know the harm and cost that flooding brings. Hundreds of residents and businesses in my constituency were devastated when Storm Eva struck. Many are still recovering.

We will not stand by when it comes to climate change. Labour will do everything we can to reverse the impact on the world stage and here at home.

Unlike the Government, we’ll be getting on with implementing whole river catchment management. Farmers, residents and businesses deserve better.

And while on floods, yes the Fire and Rescue Service will have a statutory duty to deal with flooding.

And the same goes to revive coastal communities.

I grew up in a coastal, semi-rural community and I know the importance of fishing to local economies.

Through ensuring our fish stock is sustainable and through maritime regeneration, we will secure a fair distribution of quotas to revive fishing communities.

We need to harness the natural resources of the sea and coast.

As an island nation, Labour will develop tidal power generation, adding this to further renewable energy.

As a country, we have forgotten the wealth that living by the coast brings us.

Governments have let coastal communities fade.

No longer. Labour will put you back on the map again.

Oh, and another community that needs Labour: badgers.

When every shred of evidence says bovine TB will be beaten with better testing, vaccination, better biosecurity and animal husbandry.

A Government that ignores scientists, academics, its own experts and many farmers too and instead turns its frustration on a badger, is giving false hope.

Labour will end the badger cull and prioritise ending bovine TB.

Animal welfare is at the heart of what we all care about, whether our wildlife, domestically, commercially or internationally, protecting endangered species.

With Labour launching our consultation on animal welfare, we want you to shape our policy for the future.

But whether animals, birds or our plant life, Labour will work to ensure that our whole biodiversity system thrives again.

For too long Government has made its starting point rules and regulations. Labour’s starting place is people, communities and our amazing natural world.

Labour has listened and learnt, and Labour is now the Party with a fresh vision to revive our rural, coastal and urban communities.

Labour now the Party for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

ENDS