Chancellor John Healey used his Labour Conference keynote speech in Liverpool to highlight an apprentice pipe fitter called Ste, who helped build the new Mersey Ferry, and announced a £100m Local Apprenticeships Service led by Mayors.
Speaking at the Exhibition Centre in Liverpool, Mr Healey recounted meeting Ste on Saturday with Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Mayor Steve Rotheram on the first newly-built ferry across the Mersey in 60 years. The £26m Royal Daffodil was built at Birkenhead by apprentices, including 150 at the Cammell Laird yard.
Mr Healey told the audience: "Let me tell you about an apprentice pipe fitter called Ste. I met him on Saturday when I went with Andy Burnham and Mayor Steve Rotheram on the first newly-built ferry across the Mersey in 60 years. Ste helped build it, built here on the Mersey at Birkenhead."
Advice from an apprentice
The Chancellor added: "And I asked him what advice he would give to a younger brother or sister about apprenticeships. And he said: 'Just go for it'. Just go for it, he said, 'because you're earning and learning at the same time. And you can take these skills anywhere in the world.'"
He confirmed Ste was in the audience with other apprentices, saying: "Well Conference I'm happy to say that Ste is here today with some of those other apprentices, 150 at the Cammell Laird yard, that helped build that ferry. Lads, it's great to see you today. Thanks for joining us, and thanks for what you're doing for this great city."
The speech comes against the backdrop of a million young people not in employment, education or training. Mr Healey said the new £100m Local Apprenticeships Service, led by Mayors, would increase opportunities for more young people in more places.
Evocative images of hope
Another powerful moment came when the Chancellor referenced a young man called Sean, based in South Yorkshire, who works in advanced manufacturing on a site that lies on top of the former colliery where his dad was once a miner.
The audience enjoyed hearing the Chancellor label Nigel Farage "Liz Truss with a Bitcoin account." The first standing ovation followed when the Chancellor praised the 'quiet patriotism' of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.
The speech included one big policy announcement, heavily trailed, which will see billions ploughed into the nation's shipyards, including the building of three new floating docks for the Royal Navy's submarine service at HM Naval Base in Clyde and the development of a new marine research vessel.
Setting the scene
Mr Healey, who will deliver his first budget one month after the speech, also recounted how he once had to give his tie to his predecessor and then-boss Gordon Brown before his own party conference speech in 1999. He revealed the Labour titan had signed the tie for him, and it was the one he was wearing today.
The speech was less about policy detail than setting the scene, both ahead of tomorrow's Prime Ministerial address and the huge budget announcement the Chancellor must deliver next month. Both moments will go a long way to determining if the country can have the same type of hope for the future as young Ste from Cammell Laird has in his own.
