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March 2008

Conference

We meet here at Aviemore for our first Scottish Labour Conference under the new leadership of PM Gordon Brown and Holyrood leader Wendy Alexander.

A leadership rooted in Scottish Labour values.

A team who will build on our achievements with an inspiring vision for the future.

Can I start this morning by recognising  the hard work done by everyone involved in the Scottish Policy Forum. 

For the contributions from all wings of the movement  - constituencies, Trade Unions, the Co-op  Party and Socialist Societies as well as  from individual party members.

And I hope you will all join me in giving particular thanks to Bristow Muldoon who chaired the forum as the party developed its manifesto.  And to Lesley Quinn and her team for all their hard work and support.

There will be lots of opportunities to thank Lesley, but I just want to add my personal thanks for her guidance and support over the years I have known her.

Conference

I’ve been coming to Labour Party Conferences for more years that I want to admit to. I can’t remember a year when I didn’t speak.  This year is perhaps the most difficult journey up to the rostrum.

Most years, reporting on the Policy Forum would be quite straightforward. I would tell you about the number of times we’d met and the work of the various Policy Commissions.  I would talk about the manifesto and how we were taking it forward. There will be no real surprise that I am not doing that this morning.

There’s no getting away from the fact that the months since May of last year have been difficult – that’s maybe an understatement.

We must of course learn from the past. But we can’t dwell on it. Now is the time to pick ourselves up, roll up our sleeves and get on with job in hand.

Take on the arguments and the challenges rather than simply feeling sore about it.

But while we have to be prepared to learn the lessons, and show that we are changing, we cannot forget our achievements. Labour achievements.

Because Labour has changed people’s lives for the better.

The constitutional change that Scotland wanted. Home rule built on Keir Hardie’s vision and legacy. Fought for by many in this hall. Delivered by a Labour government proud to see Scotland walk tall within the UK.

Changes we all came into politics for.

Better education. Improved healthcare.  Safer communities.

Radical reforms like the smoking ban and the complete overhaul of our Justice system.

Nursery places for our children, free bus travel for our pensioners.

Policies built on our fundamental Labour values. Fairness, equality and social justice.

Working with the Co-op Party to establish Co-operative  Development Scotland – the most important boost to the co-operative business model in years. 

Partnership with the unions, focussing on fairness in the workplace – only Labour would have delivered the minimum wage, improved rights to paid holidays and better maternity and paternity rights.

And in the past few weeks, Labour again leading the way in the drive to create more apprenticeships and learning opportunities.

Fighting for a better deal. Standing up for the most disadvantaged and making no apologies for it.

No party has done more for the homeless, for children in care, for the victims of domestic violence. No other party has been on the side of  the former coalfield communities, or  those living with the problems of drug misuse and anti social behaviour.

New schools are continuing to open across Scotland because of Labour policies.

An extra 1500 real police actually delivered by Labour, working alongside community wardens.

Visible and tangible – you can see them and count them. Unlike the empty broken promises of the SNP.

Because while the SNP is patting itself on the back for its budget,  their policies are falling apart at the seams.

Smaller class sizes – policy rubbed out.

Brick by brick school building – policy demolished.

£2000 grant for house buyers – policy shredded.

Student debt not dumped, an energy policy facing two ways, a Futures Trust that won’t work and an unfair local income tax.   

So when you get away from the hype and the spin, the SNP budget reality is that it does nothing for social justice. Instead we are seeing council services cut and the voluntary sector under siege.

So we have a fight on our hands. For our values, for our principles,  for our people.

We need to recognise people’s aspirations for the future. Better housing, improved transport, more jobs and apprenticeships, protection for our environment and facing up to climate change.

If we are honest, perhaps we spent too much time in the lead up to the election dotting the i’s and crossing the T’s on the fine detail of a manifesto, rather than taking our vision and values to the people.

I take my share of the responsibility for that.  But as I said at the outset, it’s time to move on. To make the changes needed to get back on track. To hear what the public are telling us but also to put forward our own vision.

The SNP has no monopoly on patriotism. Labour must be prepared to hear what people are saying on the constitution. The right way to debate and discuss a way forward is through the constitutional commission – cross party, cross border, genuinely open to new ideas rather than the one sided nationalist conversation where they talk to themselves about a predetermined outcome.

I know, we know, that Labour has no automatic right to be elected.

We must show that we are working hard for the people of Scotland.

At Westminster, in Holyrood. In Council Chambers across Scotland.

And on our streets, in our workplaces and community organisations.

Last September Wendy Alexander made it clear that we must renew, reform and reconnect with the people of Scotland.

Over the next few days we will take the next steps on that journey. The shadow cabinet team has worked hard with members of the Scottish Executive to review our past policies and identify areas where we need fresh thinking.

You will have the chance to debate the policy documents they have produced and set a direction for the next twelve months for the Policy Forum to work on. 

This conference is already breaking new ground, finding new ways of bringing together our political values with the expertise of those who work at the front line. 

This weekend you will be asked to approve a reform changing the way the Scottish Policy Forum is elected.  This isn’t just a dull technical change.  Electing one policy forum member for every two constituencies means much closer involvement at local level.  Electing six young members from across Scotland will also bring fresh faces and new ideas. 

Labour needs to listen and Labour will listen. Labour needs your ideas, your enthusiasm and your commitment. To build the policy agenda to win the next election means listening to our membership and then delivering the agenda that Scotland needs.

That work starts this weekend - so when this conference is over, the work will continue.

The Shadow Cabinet will be out and about across Scotland. Working with Policy Forum members and local parties.

Not in inward looking meetings where we only talk to ourselves.

But by being outward looking forward thinking

Engaging with people, hearing their concerns, explaining our vision and values

Remembering what Labour is for and being proud of our values.

Keir Hardie once said that a fighting party will make converts, a lethargic, half hearted party will not hold its own.

I’m proud to represent the area where Keir Hardie lived and worked. I’m proud to have the chance to carry on his legacy. I know that all of you are too. That’s why we must rediscover our campaigning roots, reinvigorate our local parties and reorganise to win.

Team Labour, rooted in Scottish values – together we can fight back and win.