The Labour Party conference was set upon a backdrop of stern and cold impressions from the cabinet, on issues such as the economy, education, transportation and crucially community safety. Keir Starmer’s approach, therefore, was hinted at one of hope, change, mission-led and most importantly, renewal. Seeking to establish themselves as a rejection of ‘easy answers,’ they were, therefore, under a huge amount of pressure to announce policies that help alleviate some of the public’s biggest anxieties. This conference, the first from a governing labour party since more than 10 years ago, gave clues as to how they intend to govern, namely what they will prioritise, and what they will not. The following are some of the key highlights from the conference that we at Resolve have highlighted.

Hollie Ridley, Labour General Secretary on Hate Crime

The first day of the conference on Sunday was mostly beset by the donations scandal, a whirlwind for the incumbent government, however within this and the debate with the winter fuel payments, there are important highlights that show the direction of community safety with Labour. (hate crime section) In the morning of the conference, Hollie Ridley, was endorsed as Labour’s new general secretary. Her speech was important, as it highlighted the struggle with hate crime and the far right that followed Labour this year, and what their attitude now is. Ridley spoke about her upbringing and stated that she was inspired to join Labour to campaign against the far right. She mentioned:

“As a working class girl born in 1987, I was never supposed to be on this stage. It wasn’t in the script.

At school, like so many girls from my communities like mine [she’s from Dagenham], some told me to lower my expectations, that politics wasn’t for people like me.

But when Nick Griffin [the BNP leader] descended on my hometown, I knew that I had to roll up my sleeves and get stuck in. That was the very first time I went door knocking.

I was not prepared to let the far right sow hatred and division in my community.

Doing nothing was not an option. The far right filled vacuums. They exploited fear. But the local party worked hard to show local residents that politics could be a force for good, that their vote could make a difference, and when they finally sent the BNP packing, I was hooked.”

The threat, however, was also mentioned by Ridley as being tangible, stating ‘The threat of the far right that got me involved is as real now as it was then’. Many communities were beset by terrifying and inexcusable hate crime following the Southport murders, what Ridley mentions is the idea that the far right ‘filled vacuums’ and ‘exploited fear’. Communities are safest when we look to be proactive about concerns, work with local agencies, and avoid any vacuums are being filled. This is a promising and optimistic guarantee that hate crime will be tackled not only seriously, but also with a partnership approach focusing on communities who feel left behind.

Devolution Promises

Angela Rayner took the stage on the opening day, one of the most prominent steps she took was to announce, ‘the next step in our devolution revolution.’ New devolution of responsibilities was announced, focusing on the idea of ‘changing the future of the north of England so northerners will no longer be dictated to from Whitehall. Metro mayors are the takeaway form this speech, and how they will be used in the coming years. A news release about the devolution deals can be found here, however here is an extract that outlines of the key elements and what is means:

“Mayors will be elected in Greater Lincolnshire and Hull & East Yorkshire – the last part of Yorkshire to be covered by a devolution deal – in May 2025 and will have control over transport, housing, skills, and investment to shape the future of their area.

For Devon & Torbay and Lancashire, combined county authorities will be established in early 2025 handed the responsibility for adult education. Ministers are encouraging local leaders to deepen these devolution deals and take strides towards mayoral devolution as a gold standard …”

Further devolution means greater local control on things such as housing to deliver change, this means perhaps (further information on the effects of devolution here) notably, this means that instead of having to chase ‘multiple different funding programmes’ through a bidding model of money from different departments, which WMCA (insert) mayor Andy Street has referred to as a ‘begging bowl culture’. It also means that combined authorities, like has been done in Greater Manchester, can challenge decisions by central government if they believe it is inconsistent with the strategic direction.

Devolution is one of the key political processes of this new government, and it is being proposed as an antidote for a heavily centralized government, which is often criticised as not being targeted enough for local communities, particularly those who feel ‘left behind.’ It is important to keep a view on what this devolution means in practice, and how it affects partnership working going forward, particularly in affordable, social housing. These ideas are supported by other groups, such as the Institute for Government (IfG), who reiterates that these devolution promises are in line with recent IfG recommendations.

Kwajo Tweneboa and Richard Walker with Laura Kuenssberg

Laura Kuenssberg’s analysis of the first day featured some extremely relevant and poignant takeaways, namely from Kwajo Tweneboa, a social housing campaigner and Iceland CEO Richard Walker. Kwajo analysed and criticized Rayner’s approach to housing and decreed that while some of Rayner’s commitments were promising, he claimed it was unfortunate that there was no mention of Right to Buy, which he believes stands in the way of replenishing social housing stock, referring to it as ‘filling a leaky bucket’. He also remarked that ‘The government talks about fixing the foundation – that starts with social housing,’ we at Resolve know how important social housing is, and there are many challenges facing the sector, and social housing should be on the political agenda. Iceland’s chief executive, Richard Walker, also made a striking point on the shoplifting and violence ‘epidemic’ plaguing many of our businesses on the high street, affecting workers up and down the country. Walker reiterated other talks on making an assault on a shop worker a stand-alone defence, and mentioned the Information Commissioner’s Office, as he can not currently share data on known shoplifters with colleagues in private channels. Both guest show some of the great challenges we face, but also what is being set in the public agenda. Issues around housing, with a focus in social housing, and a reiterated importance on violence at work, are both topics we wholeheartedly support and wait to hear from those in and around the sector.

Yvette Cooper’s speech as Home Secretary

Yvette Cooper’s speech was the most notable takeaway for community safety from the conference. Cooper’s speech opened with an acknowledgment from Pooja Kanda, whose 16-year-old son Ronan was stabbed to death in a case of mistaken identity. A shocking and disturbing case, in which Pooja in now using to help better the lives of other young people in this country, which also sets the tone for how Labour feel about the impact of worsening community safety across the UK. One of the concerning problems identified, was the ease in which the offender purchased the ninja sword and machete. She stated that ‘There was no duty or care taken by anyone involved,’ she therefore promised to help introduce ‘Ronan’s Law’ to outlaw the sale of ‘ninja swords.

Cooper, in response reiterated the commitment from Government to introduce new legislation. This legislation, the Crime and Policing Bill, would close a loophole on the sales of ninja and samurai swords, and would also jail tech executives if these banned weapons were sold on their platforms. According to ONS figures, there were ‘more than 50,000 incidents of knife crime recorded in 2023-2024 which was an increase of 4% on the previous year.

There was also a fervent commitment to hold strong against the rise of the far right, and to combat growing hate crime in the UK. It was stated that it was a ‘disgrace’ that police officers were attacked, the very same who came to help those affected from the horrific murder of the girls in Southport. It was also clear that the ‘protests’ were not so, but crime, and that to label it as such was important in tackling the problem. It was also made clear, that to tackle the growing problem of hate crime, which staying silent on issues such as immigration and other issues felt strongly by these communities was not helping, but it was helping flame the anger felt by some. And lastly, it was clear, that we cannot get ‘social justice’ without ‘justice.’

Anti-social behaviour was also mentioned and was a key theme of Cooper’s speech. The most notable, was the plan to introduce legislation that will bring ‘respect orders’ into effect, designed to ban persistent anti-social offenders from town centres. This accompanied a speech that used rhetoric often utilised by more authoritarian, right-wing figures, that of ‘taking back our streets’ however, this was not used to demonise but to however, reaffirm the importance of feeling safe in your local community and the corroding impact anti-social behaviour can have. This also accompanied new laws that deal with violence against shop workers, a commitment that we must ‘work against fear.’

Following prominent cases of violence against women and girls, it was clear that this was to be on Labour’s agenda for this year’s conference. Cooper reaffirmed this, remarking that violence against women and girls will be treated as a national emergency. Rhetoric that helps to try to establish Labour’s position as the party of security, law, and order. This will be accompanied by a tangible commitment for domestic abuse specialists to be present in 999 call centres, aiming to tackle this growing problem in a multi-pronged strategy.

She ended the speech with a clear message, that Labour is attempting to offer the ‘Politics of Hope’ in contrast to the ‘Politics of Fear.’

There is much to be content with regarding miss Cooper’s speech. It was steadfast in its commitment to the most vulnerable, and followed real tangible offers of security for those working and living everyday in communities up and down the community. Policy wise, the commitment to make purchasing ‘zombie’ or ‘ninja’ swords online is welcomed to safeguard our young people, included a reaffirmation of the importance of community policing and domestic abuse specialists in 999 cases. Respect orders are also welcomed; however, we do welcome further analysis on how this will be implemented and who will be targeted.

Rhetoric wise, this was a speech that was not wavering and marked a transition in treating community safety with the seriousness it deserves. ‘Take back our streets’ is the monicker that everyone working in community safety sees as a sign of a determined and serious governance, we wait to see the effects of these proposals and will continue to follow with interest.

A promising agenda for community safety

These are just some of the most pertinent points from the conference; It has been some time since the conference, but the proposals promised will be watched with keen interest. Under an atmosphere of despair, of growing violence, fear and exploitation, there was a clear desire for change, and a clear focus on getting there with authority. If there is anything to take away from the Labour conference this year, it is that community safety is firmly on the government’s agenda, and they believe it is key to delivering the promise of growth, prosperity, and change. It is our duty as those who work in community safety to help guide policy and direction.