News / Politics
Rees in devolution call conference speech
Bristol mayor candidate Marvin Rees used a speech at the Labour Party conference to urge his party to support devolution.
He accused David Cameron and George Ferguson of failing on promises to bring new powers to the city following the first mayoral elections in 2012.
“In 2012 Cameron came to Bristol to persuade us to take the mayoral model. He promised new power and money. He hasn’t delivered on that promise.
“Bristol elected an independent mayor who argued that party politics didn’t work. He said he would bang the drum for new powers and new money for Bristol. The current mayor has not delivered on that too.”
Called off stage by the chairwoman for overrunning on his speech, he finished by asking for a “commitment to real devolution” from his colleagues with a “new [local] politics” at its centre.
#Lab15 conference hearing from @MarvinJRees about his plans for Bristol. pic.twitter.com/DR5NdHKgzw
— Darren Jones (@darrenpjones) September 29, 2015
Rees, who lost to Ferguson in the previous mayoral election, began his speech by thanking the conference for spelling his name correctly, recalling a moment of confusion when he was approached by someone who wanted to hand him a CV.
“He looked very disappointed when I had to tell him I wasn’t actually Chuka Umunna,” Rees joked.
He went on to paint a picture of Bristol as a “city which likes to do things differently”, referencing its City of Sanctuary and European Green Capital status.
But he said the truth behind Bristol is that 25 per cent of children in the city grow up in poverty.
“This isn’t to criticise whose people who do well in Bristol,” he said. “It’s to recognise that inequality is important for all of us.”
He added: “As mayor I would want to take these challenges head on.”
Pictures courtesy of the BBC.
is needed now More than ever
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