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Owen Smith MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Wales, in a speech to Labour’s Annual Conference 2014 in Manchester, said:

Good morning Conference,

What a pleasure and a privilege to open conference today with our Welsh report.

On Friday, the Prime Minister said that he wants to put Wales at the heart of our national conversation about the future of Britain.

Well conference, as we all know Labour is woven through the very fabric of Wales. We are the true Welsh party - yesterday, today and tomorrow.

So if you’re listening, Mr Cameron, pin your ears back, and listen to what Wales has to say.

Because our Wales wants an economy and a politics that provides jobs and security; decent wages and homes; strong and publicly owned public services;
workplaces free of fear with proper rights and representation; a powerful, accountable Welsh Assembly and an equally powerful voice for Wales at Westminster.

And I don’t know about the Tories, but I don’t think that’s not too much to ask.

In fact, in Labour we believe government must work to provide those things for everyone in Britain.

That belief is what took me, and so many of us from Wales, to Scotland last week to campaign for a No vote and to witness Scotland reject the option to go-it-alone and choose instead to stand with us, shoulder to shoulder in the collective fight for our children’s future.

Conference, what a wonderful, hopeful, Labour day that was.

Let us be clear:

We didn’t campaign to deny the Scottish people a chance to run their own affairs - but to urge them to do so within the family and framework of the Union.

Because for Labour, the Union is not a dusty constitutional artefact.

It’s a living, breathing means to an end allowing us to pool risks and share rewards between us all.

The Union is an embodiment of our Labour values:

Our faith in solidarity.

Our belief in working, organising and sticking together.

Our truth, that the socialist values of our Labour landscape can never be overwritten by mere lines on a map

So we asked the question last week, and the answer came back loud and clear,
a majority of Scots agree we are better together, and from Wales l want us to send them a message today that we are grateful to them, grateful that they chose to stick by us.

And they should know that we will stick by them.

We will never play the nationalists’ game of divide and rule, nor allow the Tories to set our countries against one another in a dog eat dog race to the bottom.

But we can’t deny, conference, that there was another message for us from Scotland.

One I heard on the doorstep in South Lanarkshire, but one that you could hear today in Southampton or South Wales:

People want change.

They want an economy that works for them, as hard as they work for it.

They want a politics they can believe in once more and they want shot of this elitist, divisive, out of touch Tory Government.

Now it’s not often that I quote David Cameron but not even I can deny that he does turn a nice phrase.

And he can sometimes capture the mood.

So, in a final splurge of the Better Together spirit, I want to agree with him:

The people of Scotland really do want to give the ‘effing Tories’ a good kicking.

That was a rare, treasured moment of sincerity from our Prime Minister.

The PR mask slipped momentarily.

And so with reciprocal honesty I want to reassure him that the Welsh are next in line our hob-nails tied tight, with the toe caps gleaming.

Ready to boot them out of Wales - from Aberconwy and Cardiff North, from the Vale Of Glamorgan and Carmarthen West.

And while we’re at it, let’s not forget the 'effing Liberals’ and 'effing Plaid’ -
Let’s make sure we hoof them out of Cardiff Central, Arfon and Dinefwr too.

But conference, It’s got to be business before pleasure.

Before May we must redouble our efforts to convince people Labour has heard their demand for change

We’ve got to tell the do them that Labour will build the homes we need, ban zero-hours contracts, cut energy bills and protect our NHS.

We will rebuild and rebalance our economy and we’ll make work pay - with a national wage of at least £8 pounds an hour.

Don’t let anyone tell you that won’t make a difference to people’s lives in Wales. It will.

And let me show you how.

Conference, a few weeks ago, the eyes of the world were on Wales when we hosted the NATO summit in Newport.

It was a fantastic advert for our country, its beauty and its modernity.

It was a moment of pride for many of us, not least for the majestic way in which Carwyn managed to snub David Cameron in front of a TV audience of millions. But it was also a moment to reflect on the shameful inequalities of our world and our country.

The Summit was held in one of Wales most expensive hotels, where the poshest room costs £2,000 a night - but one which pays its casual staff just £5 an hour.

You’d have to work for two and a half months at that rate to lay your head on the pillow in the presidential suite.

Conference, it’s a small but telling story - and it should not be acceptable to us.

In 2014, in one of the richest countries on earth, that gulf in wealth and opportunity is a scar and a slur on Britain.

And testament to why we need a Labour Government.

In Wales, we are lucky, we’ve already got one.

Putting people back to work with Jobs Growth Wales.

Standing up for blacklisted workers, in a powerful partnership with our brothers and sisters in the Trade Union movement.

Fighting for farm workers too, refusing to bow to Tory demands that we cut them adrift - defending their right to a decent days pay right up to the Supreme Court where Carwyn’s government struck a blow for workers rights, for democracy and equality.

A Devolved Welsh Labour government protecting our people.

But conference, it’s not just in Wales where people need protection.

That’s why we must empower England too - through its cities and regions.

Giving them a chance to build the local institutions and leadership that can defend their communities when the Tories next come knocking at the door.

Because though devolution is not an end in itself - but it can be a means to an end.

A means to revitalise faith in politics.

And protect the gains we make when Labour Governments secure progress.

So instead of some tawdry trick to buy off backbench critics with the back of a fag packet, back room Balkanisation of Parliament and a purge of Welsh, Scottish and Irish influence.

David Cameron should heed the words of Carwyn Jones & Ed Miliband and call a Constitutional Convention to forge a new Union for Britain.

Because we’re not going to stand by and let Cameron short-change the Scots or deny power to the people of this city and others across England.

And I’m certainly not going to stand by and let this, or any other Tory Prime Minister, silence Welsh voices at Westminster.

Finally, conference - there’s a confession I have to make to you today - it’s a big one - and it’s not just on my behalf - but also for Carwyn.

The truth is - much to my shame neither I or Carwyn have yet done the infamous Ice Bucket Challenge.

But we can bring that to an end today. Backstage I’ve got two buckets, full to the brim - with our names on them.

So here in front of witnesses I nominate Carwyn Jones - we can do it today - or back in Wales.

But one way or another it’s going to be damp!

Conference, I give you - dry for the moment at least - our First Minister of Wales, my great friend, Carwyn Jones.

Ends