Battle to win back Labour heartlands

I WAS proud to make my first conference- season Labour leader’s speech yesterday in Doncaster – the first in Yorkshire since Harold Wilson’s in 1967.

I know Doncaster well, my wife’s mum grew up here, and I promised local people during an online ‘ Call Keir’ meeting that I would be back in person.

I came with a promise to those who turned away from Labour in recent years: we will earn your trust. We will support your family. And whether it’s your job, your hard- earned money or your security, we will never go into another election without your trust on the issues that matter to you.

Today I want to speak directly to those in Yorkshire whose support we lost last year. Never again will this party take you for granted.

We had a devastating result at last year’s election. Our job now is to listen to the clear message sent by people in seats like Don Valley, Wakefield and Dewsbury. And we will act upon that message.

I love my country. And I want it to be the best it possibly can be. A country with opportunity and security in every town and region. The best country to grow up in and the best country to grow old in. That should be our ambition.

But the reality is that young people have been badly let down by this Government – both before and during the pandemic.

The gap between the best and worstoff families is only set to widen. And my fear is that this will leave a lasting legacy for a generation of children, scarring their life chances.

I believe this should be a national mission.

The Prime Minister should be putting in place a national strategy to close the education gap, enforced by an independent body like the Children’s Commissioner.

It is the Government’s duty to fix the damage caused by the exam results fiasco and the failing testing system – which means children continue to miss out on schooling.

Because if levelling up is to mean anything, it must mean closing the education gap and making sure no child is held back.

I know a Labour government could close that gap. And I want to lead that government. But I know that to do that, we need to rebuild trust.

That’s why in the last few months

I have visited every region and nation of the UK, both physically and virtually.

I’ve spoken to people across Yorkshire, met with teachers in Wakefield and leaders of locked- down councils in Bradford, Calderdale and Kirklees.

What I’ve heard is that this Tory government is holding Yorkshire back. A decade of decline in transport, increasingly low- paid, insecure work and lack of investment in our NHS and schools.

A proud manufacturing sector under grave threat from the pandemic, and from Ministers’ refusal to think creatively and replace the furlough scheme with targeted support.

We’ve been warning about the threat to jobs after the furlough scheme for months, just as we’ve been warning that the testing system was at risk of collapse. Yet just when we needed leadership, the country got serial incompetence.

I know that Labour has a mountain to climb to win power and change our country for the better. But we are climbing it. From my conversations in Yorkshire I know more and more people can see we’ve changed.

And they are listening to what we have to say.

Never again will we give the impression that we take you or the things you care about for granted. So take another look. Give us another hearing. The Labour Party is under new leadership and we will not let you down.

If levelling up is to mean anything, it must mean closing the education gap and making sure no child is held back.