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It is great to be here in Labour Nottingham.

First of all I want to thank the Association of Labour Councillors and the LGA Labour group for coming together for this Conference.

I’d like to thank Jim McMahon for the introduction, Simon Henig and Hillary Benn for all of their work.

And I want to thank all of you for being here.

I want to briefly talk to you today about what we are fighting for in this election and about how we change the country.

There is a big choice at this election: about how we are governed and who we are governed for.

This election is not just a choice between parties, but between two competing visions of the country.

The Tories have their idea: choose to give priority to those at the top and let the wealth trickle down to everyone else.

It has failed.

Working people are £1600 a year worse off.

The worst record on living standards since the 1920s.

Apprenticeships for young people falling.

An NHS going backwards.

Promises on the deficit broken.

Now the scary thing is they call that a success.

It is not, it is a failure.

It is failing the British people.

And it will keep failing the British people.

My idea is different: it is based on the idea that when working people succeed Britain succeeds.

And so we have a different plan.

And I want you to talk to you today about that plan.

And you know, that plan is based on the idea of fair rules for all throughout our society.

When you are working every day in your communities to deliver services, you are being let down by a government that operates one rule for those at the top and another rule for everyone else.

Today, we have a government planning real cuts in spending on schools but one that only postures—and does not act over the scandal of tax avoidance.

Let me say to the Prime Minister: it’s not pro-business to defend tax avoidance.

Britain is losing billions of pounds in lost revenue that could be invested in our future.

It is costing everyone who pays their fair share of taxes, including millions of British businesses.

Businesses and working people who pay their taxes, do the right thing and play by the rules are affronted by tax avoidance.

And they are fed up with a government that has failed to act.

If you want a clear example of this, then you just need to look at tax havens.

Over 18 months ago David Cameron promised to shine a light on tax havens linked to the UK.

But the light hasn’t come on.

Their affairs are still shrouded in darkness.

Today I am serving notice on these tax havens.

They will have six months from the day the next Labour government takes office.

Six months to open up their books and put their house in order.

If they do not do so, they will be put on a blacklist and face sanction.

The current Conservative leadership have become the political wing of offshore hedge funds.

Unlike them, we will not stand by.

We will ensure a country where everyone plays by the rules, from top to bottom.

And we need to do so much more to restore the basic bargain of our country.

And you are essential to that work.

In every area, I see Labour in local government leading the way and being at the heart of the next Labour government’s work.

We need to reward the hard work of all working people, not just those who get the six figure bonuses.

This is a value we understand in the name of our party. But it is a value that is not honoured in Britain today.

So we will raise the minimum wage to over £8 an hour, more than average earnings over a Parliament.

We will end the scandal of exploitative zero hours contracts.

And we will support the Living Wage – something Labour councils up and down the country have pioneered, becoming Living Wage employers.

And just as Brent announced that they will give business rates relief to local employers who pay a Living Wage, so too, we will give tax breaks for companies who pay a Living Wage.

But we also know that part of what we must do is ensure that great businesses can create good jobs at decent wages.

And you are essential to that.

At the heart of a Labour Governments first Spending Review will be the devolution of £30 billion of funding to county and city regions – over three times as much as the current government.

Local communities will get control of their economic development and infrastructure spending – including housing, transport, skills and business support.

We will make sure local communities have the power to integrate transport services with infrastructure and growth plans by giving them the same sort of transport powers London has.

And we will ensure a fairer distribution of central government grants and provide long-term settlements to councils so they can plan ahead and reinvest savings.

Now there is a debate about devolution, our plans and the Tories.

Let me just tell you the differences:

Ours is radical not timid in resources.

Ours is driven by local people, not by top down diktat in models of governance.

Ours is comprehensive across Britain, devolving power to every city and county region, not just some, while theirs is piecemeal.

And one other thing: ours is based on the right values for the country not the wrong ideology.

George Osborne claims now to be the friend of the North:

Funding cuts up to sixteen times more severe for some of the poorest parts of our country, including in the North of England.

And now he wants to go back to the 1930s in public spending as a share of national income.

That means they are not even half way through the cuts.

Just think what that would mean for your community.

For meals on wheels, for social care, for youth services, for all local government services.

He is no friend of Local Government.

His plan is a clear and present danger to the people who live in your community.

We cannot let it happen.

We must not let it happen.

We will not let it happen.

Our plan is also built on the idea that our prosperity now and in the future depends on the skills, talents and opportunities of all our young people.

So a Labour government will have proper vocational education and apprenticeships for our young people.

We will get young people back to work with our Jobs Guarantee.

Taxing the bank bonuses to get jobs for the young.

And we will build on the work of Labour councils like Nottingham, Leicester, Birmingham and Haringey whose Jobs Funds have got hundreds of local young people back to work.

And we’ll build homes again for young people to buy and stop private landlords ripping them off.

Another thing Labour councils are leading on – with over five times as many social homes built in Labour authorities as in Tory ones.

Labour taking action where Tories stand by.

And we won’t just build a better economy but better public services, on which working people rely.

Again you are crucial to this.

Its time there was proper local accountability for local services.

Policing, education, health.

And we will turn our health service around.

With a £2.5 billion time to care fund to support more midwives, care workers, doctors and nurses.

Not for the NHS to stand still but integrating the NHS, social care and mental health as never before.

And an NHS with the right values; cooperation, care, compassion, not privatization, fragmentation. And that is why we will repeal the Health and Social Care Act.

And we will do all these things, with every penny that we spend paid for and funded, not from extra borrowing.

We will bring the deficit down every single year, until the books are balanced.

We’ll get rid of wasteful spending and make sure the richest pay their fair share.

And you know it won’t be easy.

There will be reductions in spending outside protected areas.

And we will learn from the decisions you have made, doing more with less.

Let me just say this in conclusion:

As I go round the country talking to people about this election, I know people don’t believe this is as good as it gets for Britain.

I know they are yearning for a different direction for Britain.

And that is what we offer:

If you want our young people back to work, vote Labour

If you want an £8 minimum wage, vote Labour.

If you want to devolve power to local people, vote Labour.

If you want to rescue the NHS, vote Labour.

If you want a more equal, more just, more fair society, vote Labour.

So in 88 days let’s make sure Britain has a Labour government.

And Labour Councils up and down Britain.

Because that is how we will change this country.

So let’s make it happen.

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