Louise Haigh tells TUC Congress Labour government is ‘proudly on the side of working people’
'We're going to put power back into the hands of working people'
First Secretary of State Louise Haigh has told delegates at this year’s TUC Congress in Brighton that the Labour government is ‘proudly on the side of working people’.
Haigh made the comments in a keynote address to the Congress. She was speaking at the event in place of the prime minister, who has cancelled public engagements following the death of his father.
Haigh told delegates: “We know we need to go further and faster to deliver the scale of change the country expects. But never be in any doubt whose side this Labour government are on.
“Whether it was standing up for workers illegally sacked by P&O Ferries, or changing public procurement to create more good jobs here in Britain, we are proudly on the side of working people.
“And Congress, I can promise you now, under this government there will never be any doubt about whose side we are on.”
Later in her speech, Haigh said: “We’re going to put power back into our communities. We’re going to put power back into the workplace. And together, we’re going to put power back into the hands of working people.”
Haigh concluded her speech by saying: “Every single day in government we are campaigning against the vested interests, the forces trying to stop progress; against the unaccountable crypto billionaires living thousands of miles away who think our democracy is up for sale; against the politicians who pretend to be on the side of workers but pocket millions in undeclared donations and speak openly about their plans to strip working people of the very protections they rely on; against the far-right ringleaders marching on our streets in balaclavas seeking to spread fear and division in our communities; against all those who talk down our country and say that things can’t better, that this can’t be done.
“Congress, today we recommit ourselves to our collective endeavour, to turn the page on four decades of lost opportunity, to deliver the change our country is crying out for, and to build a future that the people we represent expect and deserve.”
Chris Jarvis is head of strategy and development at Left Foot Forward
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