Speech to A-Level Politics Conference

On Monday 30 November Dan addressed the annual A-Level Politics Conference at Westminster Central Hall. The conference was an opportunity for students to hear from a variety of figures from the world of politics. Dan talked about what brought him into politics and some of the great politicla challenges facing their generation.

Here is a copy of his speech..

Students, teachers, ladies and gentlemen – good afternoon, thank you for that welcome, it’s a pleasure to address your conference.

Let me thank David Jones and the organisers for inviting me and for making this event possible.

Today I want to talk about some of the big issues in our public life, and the challenges facing your generation.

But before I do, let me say something about learning.

Albert Einstein once said that ‘education is what is left after you’ve forgotten what you learnt at school…’

When I thought about what I might say to you today, it prompted me to reflect on some of the lessons that have stayed with me from when I was growing up.

So let me begin by telling you some of things that have helped me onto this stage.

First, there are the lessons I learnt from my family.

It was my parents who taught me the value of public service.

I grew up in a home where I watched them go out every day to serve our community.

My mum was a probation officer, my dad was a college lecturer.

And I’ll certainly never forget the lesson they taught me when I was 14 years old, and they left me stranded on a small island…

My Mum and Dad decided that 24 hours alone on an uninhabited island off the west coast of Scotland was just what my brother and I needed…!

They dropped us onto the rocks and left us there.

Alone.

With a tent, and a white bed sheet in case we needed to signal for help.

Looking back however I’m not sure how that was supposed to work in the dark!

But it was an experience that gave me a resolve not to be intimidated by difficult challenges.

Maybe that’s why whilst at Uni my brother and I decided we would have a go at climbing K2 –

I made it halfway up the peak when I realised it perhaps wasn’t the best idea to start climbing the world’s second highest mountain wearing my grandfather’s tweed jacket…

So lesson number two: don’t shy away from ambitious challenges – but a little preparation and forward planning never does any harm…!

A few years later, it was that taste for adventure and passion for public service that took me into the British Army.

It was an experience that took me across the world, and it was the best political apprenticeship I could ever have wished for.

Everyone who serves in politics experiences a moment that made them want to take that leap.

Mine was during the 2005 General Election campaign.

I was on a bunk bed in Afghanistan, listening to the election results coming in over the radio, from the UK’s military headquarters in Kabul.

It was the moment when I first began to think seriously about how I could perhaps make a difference through politics.

When the opportunity arose years later to put myself forward as Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Barnsley Central, I asked people what they thought.

Everyone told me I was mad!

‘You don’t have a hope,’ they said.

‘They’ve always had someone from Barnsley – they’ll never choose an Army Major who isn’t even from Yorkshire.’

I remember I listened to their advice, I nodded sagely, and I ignored them!

On 27 January 2011 I was chosen as Labour’s candidate to be the Member of Parliament for the people of Barnsley Central.

A few weeks later I was elected to represent them in the House of Commons.

So my next lesson, is learn how to take advice.

If you’re sitting here today, wondering if you could ever stand on a stage like this, or serve in that grand building just across the road, hold onto that aspiration.

No matter what.

Never be afraid to ask people what they think –but do what you know to be right. Trust your instincts, and the values you believe in.

When I went for selection, many people asked me how a Major in The Parachute Regiment could possibly be a Labour Party supporter.

Some still ask the same question.

Here’s the answer.

My service in the Army didn’t conflict with my Labour values.

It reinforced them.

Because the most important thing to understand about the army is how close-knit a community it is.

Your regiment brings together people from different backgrounds and different beliefs.

You live together, train together and stick together.

You rely on one another.

You do your bit, knowing that others will do theirs.

You work together – in common cause – to get difficult things done.

That is why I have always believed in the basic principle that we achieve more through shared endeavour than we can alone.

And that is the spirit that is so desperately needed in our politics today.

We face great challenges as a country –and there’s two reasons why I wanted to take the time today to come and discuss them with you.

I was reminded of the first a fortnight ago, when the UK Youth Parliament held its annual debate on the floor of the House of Commons.

Because it’s the one day of the year when Parliament feels very different.

One, the debate is far less noisy and the young people actually listen to what other people have to say.

Two, it looks, and sounds much more like the country it represents.

And three – most importantly - we hear issues discussed that often get drowned out of our national debate.

So you may have come here today hoping to learn from us politicians – but actually there are things we politicians need to learn from you.

Britain still needs a parliament that better reflects Britain as a country.

A parliament that elects as many women as men,

And more ethnic minorities, people with disabilities, and people with experiences from all walks of life.

I’m proud that my party has led the way in this area.

Labour still has more women MPs than the other parties. but none of us can rest on our laurels.

And that’s how we’ll get a better politics; that better reflects our society; with a real voice for your generation.

It’s often said that young people are the future – but you are also our present.

You need to have a say in the important national debates we are having today.

That’s why I believe Votes at 16 is an idea whose time has come.

We saw that during the Scottish referendum.

It works.

So I cannot understand why this Government is opposing giving 16 and 17 year olds the right to vote in the referendum on Britain’s place in Europe.

This decision will shape the Britain we live in for generations to come.

The European Union isn’t perfect, but if we want to create the jobs of the future, safeguard our security, have influence on the world stage, and tackle the big shared challenges we face, then we can only achieve that by working together with other countries.

I understand you’ll be hearing from Alan Duncan in a moment.

My advice? Don’t let him off this stage without explaining why the Conservative Party don’t think you should have a say in the biggest political decision of your lifetime.

It’s the very least you deserve – because it is your future that will be on the ballot paper.

And it links to the second reason why I wanted to be with you today.

It’s best summed up by a dusty old document that I found last year.

It’s a report published by the Labour Party’s youth commission in 1959.

And it said: ‘The impact of change is always felt most of all by the young.’

Our world has changed so much since those words were written six decades ago, but I believe they are as true now as they were then.

Because it’s when we look at the world through the eyes of your generation, that we glimpse some of the most important challenges that we need to grapple with as a nation

We see that for all the phenomenal opportunities there are today, this is still a tough time to be growing up.

Youth unemployment – still too high.

The youngest workers are three times more likely to be unemployed than anyone else – because too few have the skills to succeed in the modern economy.

The younger you are, the more likely you are to be a victim of crime.

More likely to face a struggle to get on the housing ladder.

And we face new health challenges: Obesity, patchy mental health services, and the pressures of living in the Internet age.

And it led me this thought.

70 years ago this building hosted the first meeting of the United Nations General Assembly.

It was a gathering of countries coming together to repair a world that had been shattered by conflict.

The Prime Minister of the day, a great hero of my party, Clement Attlee, welcomed the delegates to ‘this ancient home of liberty and order.’

Britain was a country recovering from the Second World War.

Attlee’s Labour Government rose to that task.

They delivered the NHS, the Welfare State, and ensured that Britain not only won the war, but won the peace.

Their inspiration was the social reformer Sir William Beveridge and his ambition to rid Britain of ‘5 Giant Evils’ that were holding us back:

Want. Idleness. Ignorance. Disease. And Squalor.

If we could ask Beveridge to survey our society today, what giants would he find? What dragons would he tell us to slay?

Let me offer you five thoughts that come to my mind.

Five challenges facing your generation.

First, Inequality.

I want the daughter of a cleaner from Kingstone in my constituency to have the same chances in life as the son of a barrister from Kingston-upon-Thames.

That’s what defines my politics.

But though we have made progress in spreading opportunity, we know we have much further to go.

Only a fraction of students on free school meals make it to the best universities compared to the leading private schools –

often down to obstacles placed in their way before they were even born or started primary school.

And we see the results in our boardrooms, our media, our judiciary - even in the athletes who win gold medals at the Olympic Games.

And it’s young people who are hardest hit by inequalities in Britain today.

Your generation of young people are the first generation in a century to be worse off than the generation before them.

For the first time, people of your age are more likely to live in poverty than your grandparents.

So if you know nothing else about what drives and motivates us as a Labour party today, I ask you to remember this.

If you’ve got dreams and are ready to work hard for them, then Labour will back you – every step of the way.

If there are things holding you back – we’ll be the ones working to clear the way and give you a fair crack of the whip.

And if you succeed, we will cheer you and celebrate your success.

And we won’t give up when there are bumps in the road.

One of the first decisions the Tories took over the summer was to abandon the ambition to eradicate child poverty put in place by the last Labour Government.

Ministers didn’t think the target could be reached. Largely because of decisions they have made. So they dropped it altogether.

But that’s not how we win change.

When Emmeline Pankhurst stood on this stage nearly a century ago, and argued for votes for women, she didn’t give up when some men disagreed with her.

When Keir Hardie called for a fair days pay for a hard day’s work, he didn’t take any notice of the naysayers who said it would cost jobs and never happen.

And neither did the campaigners who came after him. That’s how we got the Minimum Wage.

We make progress as a society when we’re ambitious. When we set our sights on a goal and press on, against the odds.

And that’s what we need to do in the battle against inequality – from education, the engine of social mobility, to using every lever of public policy to level the playing field and build a fairer Britain.

And we need to realise this ambition through our second challenge – building a new economy.

Let me give you an example of what I mean.

I represent a community built on coal.

Barnsley is a town that powered the Industrial Revolution, and kept the lights on through good times and bad.

For generations miners would start work down the pit straight out of school and continue in that job until the day they retired.

Like many of the manufacturing trades that made Britain the workshop of the world.

These industries created jobs that were hard work, but returned a decent wage, paid the bills and provided stable employment.

People in Barnsley are proud of our mining history.

But we know that the future we want for our kids won’t be found underground.

We want to attract the new skilled opportunities in digital and hi-tech industries.

Because the jobs of the past are disappearing –

And having a job is no longer a guarantee against a life in poverty.

Nearly two thirds of children growing up in poverty today are from families whose parents are in work.

And even though more people are working in Britain than ever before, more people are relying on food banks than ever before.

For much of the past century Labour talked about answering these economic questions through common ownership of the means of production, distribution and exchange.

Today, it is common ownership of new technologies that mean you now only need a laptop, a broadband connection and a 3D printer to start your own hi-tech manufacturing business.

That’s how we need to go forward to meeting the challenge of the new economy – in the spirit of entrepreneurism and innovation.

Focusing on skills, life-long learning, and seizing new opportunities – including the green jobs of tomorrow.

And that brings me to my third challenge: Climate Change.

Because when I think about the world I want my kids to grow up in, it’s hard to avoid thinking about what our planet might look like if we don’t tackle the threat of global warming.

And that is thrown into sharp focus today – at the opening of the global climate conference in Paris.

Now there are people who would still deny that climate change is a genuine threat to our future.

Regretfully, some of those voices still exist within the House of Commons.

But the scientific consensus is overwhelming.

Our climate is changing. The causes are man-made. And we are already feeling the effects.

This year is on track to be the hottest year ever recorded.

Last year was the wettest winter Britain has had for almost 250 years.

And 14 of the 15 hottest years on record have occurred since the year 2000.

Now we can either take that as an extraordinary coincidence, or a compelling reason why we need to act, and act now.

And that starts by showing leadership here at home.

David Cameron once promised that his government would be the greenest government ever.

But that rings hollow now as he and George Osborne slash support for renewable energy.

This isn’t just short-sighted – it’s a missed opportunity.

Because if we do this right, reducing our carbon emissions can unlock tremendous opportunities as well as protect us against future dangers.

That’s why the last Labour Government delivered the Climate Change Act – the first legislation to enshrine pledges to reduce our emissions in law anywhere in the world.

So let’s hope progress can be made at Paris conference over the coming weeks.

But whatever happens, it is the duty of our generation to keep climate change on the political agenda in the months and years ahead.

And there’s another reason why it’s important that the climate conference is going ahead.

It’s why my fourth challenge is extremism.

We are all still coming to terms with the horrific atrocities in Paris – and we remember the pain our own country experienced over the summer, when 30 British tourists were murdered on the beaches of Tunisia.

They were strikes against decent people of all colours, creeds, and nationalities.

The same was true of those who lost their lives on 9/11 or on the streets of London on 7/7.

In the days ahead our country will debate how we respond to ISIL and the grave threat they pose to our country from their stronghold in Syria.

But whatever decision Parliament reaches this week, our response to ISIL’s extremism must not stop at the water’s edge.

Because what makes ISIL more formidable than other foes we have faced in the past, is that they are an enemy who have proved themselves capable of reaching across borders, and poisoning the minds of our own citizens.

Think of the three schoolgirls from East London who left their home to join ISIL in Syria earlier this year.

They were lured there by a disturbing ideology totally at odds with the Britain that we believe in.

We need to confront it together

Wherever we find it.

Across the world, and here at home.

Diffusing tensions where they exist, developing greater community cohesion, and driving voices of radicalism out of our neighbourhoods.

Because defending our way of life against this extremism could be the defining test for our generation.

And it brings me to my fifth and final challenge.

It’s one I’ve felt firsthand in the conversations I’ve had with people across the country.

It’s the challenge of cynicism – the fact that many people have lost faith in the idea that politics of any colour can make a difference to their lives.

Now there’s a conventional wisdom that this loss of trust is down to sorry episodes like the parliamentary expenses scandal.

But I believe this loss of faith runs much deeper.

In many ways, cynicism about politics is an entirely rational response to the world we live in.

We live in a complex and rapidly changing world.

A world where people’s livelihoods can be thrown into crisis by property speculators on the other side of the globe;

Where falling steel prices in China can force factory closures in Redcar and Scunthorpe:

Where wages are eroded by new technologies and refugee crises sparked by far-off conflicts.

Is it any wonder why some people feel that our problems have outgrown our politics?

So I don’t see Labour’s fiercest opponents today as only the Tories, UKIP, SNP, or other political parties.

Our challenge is to overcome the disillusionment that is forcing many people to turn to the voices of despair and desperation.

To make those who feel powerless feel powerful in their own lives again – not at the mercy of forces beyond their control.

To show we are equal to the challenges we face in this century.

And your generation has a central part to play in that effort.

In your optimism, your energy and participation in politics, to ensure it reflects your hopes for the future.

Because we know what we can be achieved through politics.

Remember what the last Labour Government achieved, and what it did for our young people.

A million children out of poverty, the Education Maintenance Allowance, more students making it to university than ever before, and so much more.

It’s a reminder of the new possibilities that government can open up to us when we unite in our determination to prove the cynics wrong.

So let me conclude with this thought.

Franklin Roosevelt once said that we cannot always build the future for our youth, but that we can build our young people for the future.

And as I look around this room today, I’m filled with optimism about what we can achieve in years to come.

So thank you for coming today and giving time to politics.

Good luck in your studies over the coming months.

And remember that politics remains the art of the possible,

and that we are only limited today by the reach of our ambitions for a brighter tomorrow.

Let’s work together to make it happen.

Thank you very much.

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