I AM very proud to be speaking today as the outgoing president of the Trades Union Congress, representing 5.5 million workers.

And it gives me great pleasure to say that I am the first TUC president to address this conference under a Labour government in 15 years.

The last time that happened, in 2009, Gordon Brown was the prime minister, David James was keeping goal for England, and, most iconically, Lady Gaga had just made her first arrival into the UK Top 10.

A lot has changed since then. In my industry, the fire and rescue service, we have lost one in five firefighter jobs, and dozens of fire stations and control centres.

999 emergency response times are slower than ever before. Our public services have been cut to the bone. Wages have still not recovered. We face a housing crisis, dire inequality, and we have seen horrific riots on the streets.

Conference, the trade union movement is the backbone of the Labour Party. We are not charities or NGOs, but democratic bodies run by and for workers themselves. Before I was elected into a full-time role, I was a front-line firefighter in east London for more than 20 years.

I want to give you one example of what unions do. The Covid crisis showed once again without doubt that this country, indeed this world, does not move if not for workers.

Let’s remember the terrible figures: more than 200,000 people tragically lost their lives, in part due to the sheer incompetence of this government, the lack of planning and preparation — and the wrecking of public services — we must never forget those we lost.

During that pandemic, we saw ordinary people do extraordinary things. Workers grew the food. Workers transported food. Workers sold the food. And, of course, workers delivered our amazing public services.

Workers got this country through that crisis, and workers should never have to pay for crises.

And many people got even richer during this period via dodgy Covid contracts and “VIP lanes.” It should be them that pay for the crises.

That’s why unions make no apologies that we wish to deliver the New Deal for Working people in full and without delay.

It will be a shift of power away from capital to labour and is an opportunity to rebuild our movement.

Whether you’re a delegate or Cabinet minister, the New Deal for Working People is the jewel in the crown of the manifesto — make no apology for it, campaign and ensure we deliver it. That is the story of our movement, repeated down the years.

And through 14 years of Tory rule, unions have been the anchor that has fought to defend the interests of working-class people in this country. We have marched together, we have been on strike together and built alliances together.

Most people spend a huge proportion of their lives working. But so many spend their working life being badly paid, exploited, abused or put in danger.

At TUC Congress this year, we discussed at length the opportunities we now have to change this situation under a Labour government.

It was also a huge honour to welcome a range of international speakers. They included Husam Zomlot, the Palestinian ambassador, who spoke bravely and eloquently about the massacre that has been inflicted on the people of Gaza in the period since Hamas’s horrific attacks on October 7 last year.

I reiterate the call from Congress for an immediate and permanent ceasefire, the release of hostages and a just settlement, including a two-state solution and a free and independent Palestine.

Conference, the New Deal for Working People, delivered in full, has the power to improve the lives of millions of people. But it can only be the start.

The richest 350 families in Britain have a collective wealth of £795 billion. That is the equivalent of the GDP of Poland.

So, some people have done very well over the past 14 years. Our duty as a movement — and Labour’s duty in government — is to offer hope. That means investment in new, secure, unionised jobs, decent homes and good-quality public services.

We saw the effects of despair and lack of hope this summer, when riots were fuelled by racist and far-right narratives. They were fed by years of Tory scapegoating of migrants and refugees. Our message is that we stand together — that we are united regardless of our differences.

Our enemies don’t sail the channel in flimsy boats. They travel the world by private jet, and they play financial games with our futures and with the future of our planet.

If we are divided, we will always lose. But if we stand together, the cause of labour is the hope of the world.

Conference, together, as the labour movement — let us offer people hope.

Thank you very much.