In full: Ed Balls’ speech at the Labour Party Annual Conference 2012

ED BALLS MP, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor, said today at the Labour Party Annual Conference:

Conference, we meet here in Manchester, two years on from our

leadership election, a contest held in the shadow of a General

Election defeat.

And we all know what’s supposed to happen when political parties lose

elections: acrimony and division, the party turning in on itself, out

of touch with the views of the country.

Well Conference, two years on, in this generation, we have bucked that

trend. I can’t remember our party ever being so united, so determined

to win back the trust of the people.

And with our economy in recession, and the unfairness and incompetence

of this Tory-led coalition now laid bare, let us show we are the

people to rebuild Britain, strong and fair for the future.

And Conference, making the case for change, setting the agenda - on

reform of our media, and banks, responsibility in our economy from top

to bottom; showing the strength of purpose and moral

conviction which won him the job and which will get him to Downing

Street; Conference, let us pay tribute to my friend, our leader,

Britain’s next Prime Minister, Ed Miliband.

Conference, I am proud to serve in Ed’s Shadow Cabinet - now with more

than 40 per cent women, the first time that has ever happened in

British politics.

And what a contrast to David Cameron’s Cabinet: where the men get the

jobs, the women get the sack and only the chaps get the knighthoods.

Let me ask you this: what does it take to get sacked from David

Cameron’s Cabinet?

Swear at a police officer and call him a ‘pleb’? And you’re defended

to the hilt.

Get caught red-handed texting market sensitive information to News

International? You get promoted.

Flat-line the economy and deliver the most unfair and shambolic Budget

in living memory? And you stay in post - more than that, you’re

allowed to do it part-time.

Do all those things and David Cameron will let you keep your job. But

not if you’re a woman.

Conference, what kind of Prime Minister thinks it’s fair to sack a 54

year old woman from his Cabinet because she’s ‘too old’ - and then

give the job to a 56 year old man instead?

Let me tell you: a Prime Minister who only appoints five women in the

first place, sacks three of them, demotes the other two - and then

attacks the Labour leadership for not being ‘butch’ enough.

Butch? Butch? Whatever did he mean? And if David Cameron is butch,

where does that leave George Osborne?

Perhaps this is why George Osborne will never be sacked. A Prime

Minister and a Chancellor destined to go down fighting together. And

this time, let’s see them riding off into the sun-set. Butch

Cameron and the flat-line kid.

And Conference, doesn’t it feel good to be back here in Manchester?

Or, should I say, to be back here in Labour Manchester: four Labour

MPs, three world class universities, two world-beating football teams,

one Labour Council. And not a single Tory Councillor in this

whole city - not a single one.

Let us pledge today to keep it that way, and elect the brilliant Lucy

Powell as Manchester’s first ever Labour woman MP.

And let me say too, I can think of no-one better to be Manchester’s

first ever Police and Crime Commissioner than the wise and highly

respected Tony Lloyd.

And Conference, at a time of such tragedy for policing in this city,

our whole country remembers two brave officers who lost their lives

doing their duty, and we pay tribute to all those public

servants up and down the country - police officers, fire-fighters, our

armed forces - who every day put their lives on the line to keep us

safe.

And Conference, as we rightly praise the success of London 2012, let’s

not forget it was Manchester’s hosting of the 2002 Commonwealth Games

which showed the way, proving that Britain was ready to

stage the biggest international sporting events.

So Conference, we salute Graham Stringer and Sir Richard Leese as we

salute all those people who brought the Olympics to London, and made

them such a success - Tony Blair and Prince William, Ken

Livingstone and Gordon Brown, Lord Coe and Boris Johnson, too many

others to mention.

But let us remember that none of them would have been able to play

their part if not for the one person who made it all possible.

Conference, please join me in thanking Dame Tessa Jowell.

Conference, it was Tessa’s officials who told her it would be a

disaster to bid for the 2012 Games. It would cost too much, the

stadiums would never be ready, London’s transport wouldn’t cope,

the security would be a nightmare.

Tessa could have listened to all those concerns, but she didn’t. She

persevered. We won the bid. And the rest is now part of our national

history.

And Conference, this is the lesson we all should learn. With wise

leadership and long-term vision and a strong partnership between

government and citizens, business, trade unions and the voluntary