Keir Starmer – 2023 Speech at Unite Policy Conference

The speech made by Keir Starmer, the Leader of the Opposition, in Brighton on 13 July 2023.

Thank you David and thank you conference.

It’s a privilege to address you at such a pivotal moment for our country.

And let me start by thanking the General Secretary and the Executive Council for inviting me here today, the first female General Secretary of Britain’s biggest private sector union.

And look, when she speaks to me, when she speaks to the Government, when she speaks to anyone, Sharon never stops fighting for this union, and that’s right.

She has a mandate to fight for your jobs, pay and conditions and she’s made it very clear, that’s what she’ll judge me on, as well.

That’s how it should be, I respect that, and I respect the relationship that Sharon and I have.

We have different roles, different jobs, different ways of fighting for working people – party and movement.

But our shared interest is, as it has always been, the economic security of working people.

That’s our purpose and that’s my political project. To square up to an increasingly volatile world.

A world where revolutions in climate change, in technology, in the materials we need for prosperity, all ask new questions and through that – to steer my party and this country towards that purpose – a Britain once again, built for and by the solidarity of working people.

It won’t be easy. It won’t be quick. And, just as in 1945, there’s no magic wand that can wave away the need for economic stability – the rock that any successful Labour project must be built upon. But mark my words, there is an opportunity here, a chance to tilt the direction of this country – firmly and decisively – towards working people.

Win the battle of ideas, not just next year, but for a generation.

But look there is one key word there, “win”.

That’s my job and I make no apologies for pursuing it. Labour’s Clause One is my ultimate duty. We’re nothing without power.

Look at our country now. The stagnation, the economic pain, the cuts to public services, attacks on working people and this movement – legislation that hits to the very core of trade unions and their ability to organise, your democratic rights.

Hard-won, over centuries, by the great men and women of this movement, including the important TUC victory in court this morning.

So I can stand here today and say, we will repeal that legislation.

And mark my words, we will.

But that, that is the prize of power. In this era, when the winds of change are blowing so fiercely as they were in the early 1980s, then make no mistake that prize is priceless.

So we will stay focused. We will stay disciplined and keep our eyes fixed firmly on the future. We will replace the chaos of Tory drift with the stability of Labour leadership.

The tools remain the same.

One – dynamic government – unafraid to intervene on behalf of businesses and working people.

Two – a strong trade union movement that can reshape the rules which govern working peoples’ lives.

But also – three, higher economic growth – don’t forget that. Don’t surrender it to right-wing politics.

Yes, we must always be clear who growth serves, but we must never accept that there is a trade-off between growth and security at work.

Between higher productivity and respect for working people.

That’s a Tory trap and let me tell you, the British people get it.

The Tory idea that it’s only the privileged few that can grow our economy, people aren’t going to take that anymore. They know – it’s the cleaners, carers, technicians, warehouse workers, scientists, builders, ambulance drivers, engineers, farm workers, retail and hospitality.

Who is growth for, where does it come from?

The answer, the only answer, the Labour answer, is working people.

Seriously, you can’t grow the economy sustainably with low wages.

You can’t do it with insecure jobs and bad work and you can’t do it with a stand-aside state that doesn’t fight for the future.

The evidence is all around us, the wreckage of the past thirteen years. A period where the average British family is now £8,800 poorer than in other advanced economies.

Economies like France, Germany and the Netherlands. Economies that have better collective bargaining, have stronger workers’ rights, and have a fairer share of wealth across their country.

It’s common sense.

Nobody does their best work if they’re wracked with fear about the future, if their contract gives them no protection to stand up for their rights at work, or if there’s no safety net to support them in times of sickness and poor health.

That’s why we’ll ban zero hour contracts.

Strengthen parental rights and rights to flexible working.

Better protections for pregnant women.

Close the ethnicity pay gaps.

Fundamental rights from day one.

Statutory sick pay for all.

No more one-side flexibility.

No more fire and rehire.

And look – this new deal for working people, our deal. It’s not just about individual rights.

It’s not just about the fairer rules that a Labour government can set.

No, the history of this country – of democracy around the world – shows you also need strong trade unions.

That the prosperity of working people, the economic security, the foundation for their aspirations, and their hopes of getting on – all this goes hand-in-hand with worker power.

So I will never be ashamed to say it. I say it to businesses, I say it to the country: to make work pay, this country needs strong trade unions.

Now, I know that news about the pay review body recommendations will be in the minds of many public sector workers today, but those recommendations will of course be subject to negotiations and I don’t think it’s helpful for me to wade into that.

But I will say this, if the next Labour Government cannot break the suffocating hold low wages have on our economy and years of wage stagnation, then yes, we will have failed.

That’s also why our policy of fair pay agreements for every adult social care worker is so important.

Fair pay agreements across the country. A country that doesn’t respect care work, can’t call itself a caring country.

But I also say again: be clear about the argument, be clear about the evidence.

Our new deal is for security, yes. For social justice, absolutely. But also for growth – higher living standards for all.

For years, working people have been told that good pay, fair work and dignity are barriers to growth.

No more.

A reformed labour market where we finally make work pay – that is part of my mission on growth.

A new way forward for this country and an argument that is winning.

Trust me – the dismissal of industrial strategy, the contempt for dynamic government, the complacency that says only the market decides which industries matter for this country – those ideas are finished.

They can’t cope with a world where other countries simply don’t behave in the way market dogma expects.

The world now knows that global supply chains can be weaponised by tyrants, that a sticking plaster approach to public investment will only cost us more in the long-run, and that for working class communities – trickle-down economics means power trickles-up and jobs trickle-out.

The Tories are burying their heads to this – of course they are. They’re standing still, stubbornly clinging on to a mind-set of the past, as the opportunities of the future – the jobs of the future – slip through our fingers.

But look, most businesses get this. They can see the country before them as well as we can, and they see we need a new approach.

They’re ready for partnership – and my Labour Party will welcome them. It’s a partnership where, as you would expect, priorities will be contested, debated, negotiated but also where we can come together: worker and business; politics and people; four nations in a union, all committed to that higher purpose, to serve the working people of this country and build, together, a new architecture that delivers on their interests in three distinct ways.

One – with new investments like in clean British energy, including carbon capture.

This isn’t just about economic security now, it isn’t just about energy security, this is the security of the future.

Cheaper bills, not just now, but for the long-term, new jobs tomorrow and protection for jobs today.

I went to the steelworks in Scunthorpe a few weeks ago, spoke to the workforce there – your reps – some of them here today.

And they told me, in no uncertain terms, they want clean energy. They’ve got the customers, they just need the technology and a government that stands alongside them.

That’s why we need number two – new institutions.

A new Industrial Council – a permanent part of the landscape, an embodiment of that partnership.

And alongside it – Great British Energy, a new publicly owned company that will turn British power into British jobs and a new National Wealth Fund that can crowd-in private investment alongside the public.

Make sure that the projects that are critical for jobs and growth: the battery giga-factories; the ports that can finally handle large off-shore wind parts; and yes – the clean steel plants, get the money and stability they need.

And look – where we invest, we will give the British people a stake.

You know, some people talk about deindustrialisation as if it’s in the past – but it’s still happening before our eyes.

Look at British Volt. Look at what is happening to our automotive industry.

We’ve got to get on this pitch, get round the table on rules of origin, invest in the giga-factories we need and pull together a clear plan for the future of steel in this country – now.

I don’t suppose they’re listening, but if they are, I can tell the Government exactly what the main points should be.

It’s British energy, British jobs, British investment and a return for the British people.

And number three – alongside new investment and new institutions, we also need new incentives, because be under no illusions, the race is on for the jobs of the future and the pace is unforgiving.

America is leading the way with the Inflation Reduction Act, but our other competitors are gearing up, as well.

So – with all the investments we plan to make in clean energy, we will set new rules.

We will make sure our plans deliver jobs as well as investment: good jobs, well-paid jobs, union jobs, we will make sure of that.

But we will also create a new incentive, a direct response to the quickening pace the world is setting on the jobs of the future, a British Jobs Bonus that will take the procurement tools at our disposal, and use them to make sure our investments in clean energy also create new jobs and supply chains in our industrial heartlands.

This can be a new foundation for British prosperity – that’s our commitment – a down-payment on our shared purpose.

The first steps on the road to jobs, to security, to good work, dignity and through that – to hope.

We have to win, of course we do, but I know that my job is also to restore hope in Britain, if it once again is able to serve working people.

That’s what we’re fighting for.

A Britain with its future back.

United, moving forward, standing tall, that delivers security, backs aspiration, higher living standards for all and commits, truly commits, to the interests of working people.

Thank you.