IN FULL: Wes Streeting backs Andy Burnham to win by-election and warns of the dangers of Reform UK

Added: 2026-05-18

[00:00:01]Yeah, let me take those um in turn. Um look, firstly um what would I say to voters who like Andy Burnham? Vote for him. Uh vote for him in Makerfield uh especially. Um but look, I'm throughout what I hope will be a good naturatured contest focus on ideas. I'm not going to talk down um people in the party who are my friends and colleagues. Um I think Andy Burnham um has great strengths. I think he's been a strong mayor of Greater Manchester. I've enjoyed working with him as the health secretary. He's my immediate Labor predecessor. Um the tragedy is there was such an enormous gap between the two of us and we don't want to create another enormous gap between um between Labor uh office holders. We've got to make sure um that we deliver the change that people wanted to see. Uh that we go into the next election with an equally bold and ambitious plan. and that as we go into the next election and to the point of hearts and minds, what do we want people to feel when they're going into the ballot box ultimately, we want them to feel like Britain is moving in the right direction? We want them to feel that they've started to see things improving.

[00:01:09]Whether that's NHS waiting list falling, whether that's the provision at their local school, whether it's feeling a bit better off in their pockets, those things are hard in the current backdrop.

[00:01:18]Um, nothing grinds my gears more than when we see um record falls in NHS waiting lists um at a pace we haven't seen since 2008 and people say it's really easy. It has not felt like that for the last two years. Change is hard and if it's not hard it's probably not worth doing. Um to the second point, Rachel's question there about technology.

[00:01:39]I think this issue of the impact on the labor market is one of the biggest challenges of our time. And this is why labor is the answer to the big challenge of that time. Whether it's the just transition needed in this technological revolution, whether it's the just transition that's needed from fossil fuels to clean power, whether it is a just transition from the old world to the new world that we're going to be living in, Labor has always by definition at its best had its eyes on the interests of the working man and woman, the the the many, not just the privileged few. And if we don't shape these revolutions in the right way, then we will see more power, more wealth, more opportunity hoarded. We need to make sure they're available to everyone.

[00:02:25]This is our responsibility. This is our answer. And in answer to one of the Guardian columnists today who said, we I want to hear in this contest like what what what's the point of Labor? Why is Labor the answer versus maybe other progressive parties or even um if you're a floating voter, a party on the right?

[00:02:42]Well, this is why it is about fairness, equity, justice, and making sure that as the world changes that that the majority are benefiting, that there's opportunity for and security for everyone, not just a privileged few. And um the final point, hearts and minds. Look, um I'm proud of what I've delivered as health and social care secretary um in the last couple of years. And the hardest part of this week has been the wrench of leaving a job I absolutely loved when I really believe we were making progress. I'm really proud of it. Um I'm not going to pretend that amidst my many achievements um a love with the BMA was among them.

[00:03:19][laughter] Um I uh I'm I'm I'm not sure um who will be pleased not to be in the room most with the other uh in the resident doctor's dispute. Um but just to say that um you know we I think the challenge we've had with the BMA more than anything else is the recognition that with something as large as the health service but applies more broadly to society as a whole.

[00:03:53]There are choices and tradeoffs. We inherited a country that's in an enormous mess. the challenges in some ways are getting harder not easier because of the war in Iran. And the way you make progress, the way you improve things, um, especially in the NHS, but applies to other challenges, is through a rising tide that lifts all ships, improving the whole system. And actually what I had to do often as health secretary was try and stop being dragged off course in one direction by one particular um pressure group or um interest over another because if I had just prioritized doctors over nurses for example that would be unfair and impractical. If I'd if I just focused on improving GPS and let NHS waiting list rise we wouldn't have we still wouldn't be fixing the NHS. So you do have to be honest about choices and trade-offs. And I felt that what what went wrong with the BMA was an unrealism that having had a 28.9% pay rise that the government could afford to do much more more quickly for them when frankly we hadn't uh moved as quickly or indeed as generously for many many NHS workers who at the height of their career earnings will never be paid as much as the lowest doctor. So in government you can't just say yes. Sometimes you have to say no.

[00:05:10]And I think that going back to my Ilford North leaflets, you may not always agree with me, but you'll always know where I stand. And here's the final thing I'd say on the subject of Ilford North, which has been a matter of much speculation since the last general election. Uh, at the last general election, I did my bit for the party and the country, and I went around campaigning all over the place to make sure that we got the majority that we needed. and we had a very difficult um election in my own backyard with the Gaza independents and they came for me uh uh the other week with a very personal campaign that was directed at me and was effectively the warm-up for the for the next general election and I'm delighted to report that despite the terrible results we saw across the rest of the country in Ilford North the net loss of counselors was three started with 22 two. I lost three in total, four to the independents, one to reform, and I gained two from the Tories. I know how to win. I know how to win whether our opponents position themselves to our right or whe whether they position themselves to our left. And my warning to the party is don't get dragged off by the siren voices who say to win the next general election we need to try and outreform reform or out green the Greens. We will win the next general election by being Labor. That's how we work. [applause] [applause] Thank you. We'll take another round just here in the blue blazer.

[00:06:59]Thank you. Louisa Dolommore from the good growth foundation. You spoke about how we can challenge the politics of reform and we saw last week in the surge of the Greens and reform that populists are banging on our door.

[00:07:15]But we know from our research the one thing that unites those voters is financial insecurity. And we also know that the impact of financial insecurity that they feel is that they've had their choices taken away from them. So you know we talk a lot about how hard voters have had it and that's absolutely true.

[00:07:36]But we also have to talk about how we can give people agency back in their lives so they once again feel like if they work hard they'll get on. so that they once again feel like the choices they make will shape the future that they have. So my question to you would be how can we give people back choice and agency in their lives. Thank you.

[00:07:54]>> Yeah, just here in the green.

[00:08:03]>> Thanks Ben. Um so we've obviously seen quite a few more hyperny parties win in London. We have to deliver 1.5 million homes. not just for us but for our future. How are we going to do that when now it's going to be even harder and local plans are being are going under more scrutiny.

[00:08:23]>> Yeah. And finally just here at the front the blue tie.

[00:08:32]>> Hi. Thank you. Um you I think everyone in this room really appreciated what you had to say about Europe. as a young person, it is incredibly difficult to have that opportunity taken from us to be part of that union. Um, just on the logistics, would you commit to having sort of planning a second referendum in our 28 manifesto? How would you want to go about that? Thank you.

[00:08:54]>> Yeah, let me take them in reverse order.

[00:08:56]Look, um, first of all, I think we need to be ambitious in charting out a new special relationship with the European Union, and we should go into into discussions with our friends in Brussels and across other EU member states with that with that body language in mind, with that ambition and with that intention. We do have to respect the fact that we left the European Union through a democratic choice um that took place not just in the referendum, but in the elections that followed. So, we will need to in future manifestos seek a new mandate. Um, I'm not proposing that we um break the manifesto that we stood on at the last general election because frankly uh trust in politics and politicians is in even shorter supply than money in our country. Last time I checked, we're a little bit more unpopular than traffic wardens and estate agents. So, I don't think that people will thank us if we break our promises. But we should be ambitious in building what the future could look like and set that out to voters in our manifesto at the next general election.

[00:10:00]Um and then to the other two questions are linked in a way because they both speak to vested interests and they both speak to a fundamental question in politics about how power is exercised and in whose interests. So um one of the things that I was proud of with our agenda in health was it wasn't just about improving the service and improving um the morale of staff. It was fundamentally about giving more power, more ease, more convenience, more choice and control to patients. Power to the patient. And I want to see that running through our our public service reform agenda like a golden thread. Um, we can't deliver public services without brilliant public servants and we need to invest in them, their leadership, their training. We need to give them more agency. I'm also in favor of freedom to the front line. But the Labor Party should never forget that there are always producer interests and user interests. We should always be on the side of the user. Fundamentally, public services are there to serve the public, not the providers. [applause] Which brings me to the question on housing which I will have a lot to say about I suspect during the course of this campaign. Um Chris Curtis is here somewhere. There where is he?

[00:11:23]>> He's at the back.

[00:11:24]>> There he is. He's at the back. Um you would have heard him earlier today.

[00:11:29]He's always doing his stuff on growth and yimism. And frankly, if every council in the country was building homes as quickly as Milton Kees, we wouldn't have a problem meeting our housing targets. But we wouldn't. Uh but we we're not and and we wouldn't meet our housing targets if we carry on like this. So I think we do need to think seriously about how we can build more homes more quickly and not just affordable homes in inverted commas, genuinely affordable homes and social housing, good quality social housing.

[00:12:04]But we will only be able to do that if we take on some vested interests. And look, I I love the natural environment as much as anyone. I really do. But the species I'm most worried about in this country at the moment are children live living in moldy bed and breakfast.

[00:12:23]They're the people I'm most worried about [applause] and and [applause] we've also got to live a big infrastructure in this country and we got to go a lot more quickly. I think you know I've been a member of the government for the last couple of years.

[00:12:41]I served in opposition on the front bench the whole time. Um, I'm proud of so much of what we've done. I don't want people to be under any illusions about that. But sometimes, if I could kind of sum up the challenge in one word, it's like dosage. It's like we're doing a lot of the right things, but loads and loads of of of little right things. And actually, we need to just pick a few big things and get them right. And if we're not building homes for the next generation, then we're failing the next generation.

[00:13:10][applause] >> [applause] >> Yeah. Where's um powerful speech? You might have wanted to make that speech for some time, I sense. How do we avoid the public thinking that we can have annual leadership contests? How do we avoid people thinking that the prime minister can just be replaced if they just go out and send a message to number 10? That's why a number of us lost last week. We want to see a premier who can actually govern for a decent period of time with a party and an electorate which is happy. Whether it's you or somebody who wants to stand in Makerfield, how do we get that message over to the public that this is an election to actually guarantee years as a premier and not just waiting for another media campaign and social media campaign and local election setback which takes us back to zero. Thank you very much.

[00:14:11]>> Thank you.

[00:14:13][applause] >> I'll do just here on the side top.

[00:14:20]>> Hi. What a really good speech. Oh, should I stand up? Um, I just was wondering about a question about the prime minister and if he was to step down and set out a timetable, how do you think should he be a part of your cabinet or should he be a backbencher?

[00:14:35]How would you want K to dignit dignifiedly step back and what role could he play in in anyone's future government?

[00:14:44]>> And I will take the final question.

[00:14:50]Um yes, just here in the denim.

[00:14:58]Um there is a world where we might not win Makerfield and this like we're waiting for best players on the pitch which I'm still a bit skeptical of with Andy. Um how what do we do if that that world happens? Like what's who pulling the starting gun effectively?

[00:15:25]Let me let me uh take them in take them in take them in reverse order. I think um look first of all um we've got to be in it to win it in Makerfield. I I know there'll be differences of opinion about whether it was right for Josh Simons to vacate the seat in the way that he did.

[00:15:43]It's a hell of a risk. Uh but I honestly think that if anyone can win that bi-election, Andy Burnham can. Uh, and I'll be out there doornocking day after day to help get him elected. I hope all of you will, too. Um, I love a bi-election. I wish we didn't have so many of them. Um, and I'll be proud to campaign for Andy Bernham.

[00:16:11]As to um, K Starmmer, I'm I'm not going to speculate on his future. I I would just say um whatever the disagreements that I have and however strongly I felt about those disagreements, the extent I had to leave his government and call for change in leadership, I wouldn't want anyone to think for a moment that I do not think he has many remarkable qualities that he is someone of enormous decency and someone that I respect on a great many levels. And whatever the coming weeks and months hold, we should never forget that at the last general election, he led us to victory that in 2019 people thought was impossible. And I really mean that quite sincerely. [applause] And the final question, where was the final question? You have to remind me of the final question. Oh, and that's Neil's question. What? Look, I I do think that we operate in a hostile media environment. Um I do think we want to avoid um changing your prime minister becoming uh an annual or an every other year sport in this country. I don't think it is a good thing and that is why I've genuinely wrestled before um saying what I've said and I wish that there had been a different way.

[00:17:42]I think the way that we ensure stability, the way in which we build greater trust and and confidence in our politics, the way in which Labor can win the next general election is by having vision, having direction, having a clear plan, having a strong and united team, drawing on the best people we've got across our different traditions, our best ideas, making better use of the entire parliamentary party, making better use of our leaders in local government, making better use of our party activists, making better use of our partners in the trade unions who anchor us in the workplace. We have got so many strengths. We can be better than this. There are many things that we've done in the last couple of the years that I'm proud of and you're proud of.

[00:18:36]The tragedy is to the average voter, they can list our mistakes far more readily than they can list our achievements. So, we've got one shot at this. We have to get it right. The stakes are high, but the opportunity is enormous. We said we'd change this country. We still can. We said we would build a fairer future for Britain. We still can. We know we have to unite progressives and smash reform. We still can and we will. Thank you. [applause] [applause] Delegates, please stay in your seats. We have the last and final set of breakout sessions. If you would like to start making your way to those sessions, uh in this room we have the it's complicated the UK EU relationship in Bonhub more unites us than divides us and in Ivory helping the 1 million opportunities for all. Thank you.