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Labour Party conference 2026 - a look back · Insights from the Edge

• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: Hello and welcome back to Insights on the Edge.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: I'm James Gordon, Senior Policy Advisor at the Edge Foundation.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: In today's episodes, we're going to be taking stock of what happened at Labour Party Conference 2026, including policy announcements and the mood more generally, and what this all means for education and skills.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: Now, while the Prime Minister's speech might have made the headlines in the news, there are also no shortage of developments discussed in the education space, from devolution to new vocational qualifications as well as a millburn review of needs.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: I'm joined by two seller guests in the form of Simon Parkinson, General Secretary of the Workers' Educational Association, also known as the WEA, and Fiona Bardell, Senior Public Affairs Officer at the Association of Colleges.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: So let's start with the general mood at conference, which took place roughly 100 days after new Prime Minister entered office.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: Simon, should we start with you?
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: What was your overall impression of the mood at conference this year?
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_01: It was a busy conference.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_01: It felt busy.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_01: We had all types of weather as well, sunshine, and then got caught in one torrential downpour.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_01: But I thought the overall mood of conference was positive.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_01: I think it was forward-looking, certainly in all the sessions that I was involved with.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_01: And then, yeah, I think it was it was rounded off by quite a powerful speech by the Prime Minister.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_01: But I guess we'll we'll touch on that later.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_01: Over to you, Fiona.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: So how did you perceive the mood and how did it compare to previous years?
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_02: So I think definitely, Simon, I agree with you.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_02: It felt a lot busier than it had in previous years and it was more positive.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_02: It was, dare I say, vibier than it has been the last two years.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_02: It felt refreshed.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_02: But it felt like the conference they maybe should have had two years ago, back in 2024, after a big election win, it didn't feel like a kind of middle of parliamentary term conference.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_02: The power of Burnham's kind of vision there, I think, is the is the key aspect of it.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_02: But it did seem that the party was more cohesive, confident, as you say, Simon, forward-looking.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_02: Last year's atmosphere was felt a lot more tense.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_02: There was a lot of leadership speculation with Andy Burnham, then he left conference early, lots of factional kind of behind-the-scenes gossip going on.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_02: This year seemed like a massive 180 degrees with kind of more conversation being focused on the vision.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_02: But in my opinion, I was loving the hope, but I really wanted also a bit more detail as well.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: As you say, it's amazing to think that it was just this time last year when Andy Burnham made that swift exit before the then Prime Minister Keir Starmer's speech.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, it's amazing to see the mood more buoyant this year.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: Speaking of the Prime Minister himself, uh Andy Burnham gave his first conference speech as Labour leader, in which he set out his economic diagnosis and a bold vision for the country, including beyond the next general election.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: So Fiona, what did she make of the new Prime Minister speech, both in general and from an educational skills perspective?
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_02: It was really clear in his speech that he was putting an empathy and hope back on the political agenda.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_02: And it was really refreshing to see such raw emotion coming coming from a Prime Minister on a political stage, you know, but also on a much more personal level.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_02: It also felt like a man who was kind of grieving the loss of his father and wanted to make changes to a care system that had so much impact on his life.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_02: You know, Burnham, I think, really utilized the opportunity well to try and attack the politically kind of dangerous territory of the Triple Lock by introducing the National Care Service.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_02: But from an education and skills perspective, his speech itself was a little bit light.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_02: But also considering the plethora of announcements that have come through both that conference and in the previous weeks and months, you know, I was, I have to admit, I was somewhat relieved that there wasn't a sneaky announcement in there.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_02: But as always, really great to hear the fact that he's still talking about kind of parity of steam of technical and academic education.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_02: You know, we are seeing kind of the direction of travel he wants to go in there.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_02: So, you know, while of course I would have loved extra funding, overall I really think the speech was a good one.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_00: So, Simon, from a lifelong learning perspective, what did you make of the Prime Minister speech?
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, no, absolutely.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: I think I just said earlier, I thought I found it quite powerful.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it resonated for me both professionally and personally.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I've worked in the social care sector, worked for Royal Mencat Society for 19 years.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_01: So you, you know, you the talk of the National Care Service was welcome.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_01: And then that personal element that came across, I thought, from the Prime Minister, anybody that's had a family member accessing the care system, you know, dying within the care system, and I think connected with it personally.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_01: So it worked for me at both a professional level and a personal level.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_01: Fiona's already touched on it.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_01: The the word hope was the word of the conference, really.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_01: It was the word of the speech.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_01: It was in big letters everywhere, everywhere you look to conference.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_01: And I I actually am all right with that.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_01: I think that's right.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_01: I think rebuilding hope is critical for us.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_01: And the other big sort of takeaway through through the Prime Minister's speech was raising working class aspirations.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_01: And instead of said working class aspirations a dozen or so times.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_01: And that that really resonated for us as well at the WEA.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_01: And I think we recorded a sort of video on our socials just after the speech as well.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_01: We see that every single day in our work at the WEA.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_01: There is not a lack of aspiration or a lack of talent in our communities, in the communities we support.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_01: You know, there's just a ton of barriers in the way.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_01: So our job is to try and remove some of those barriers.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_01: So when the Prime Minister talks about, I almost heard him talk about that golden age, you know, post the Second World War, all the way through the 50s, 60s, and 70s, you know, and I think that's right.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_01: And he talks about rebuilding social security alongside economic security and national security.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_01: If you do look at that period of time, I don't think it's a coincidence that that was the golden age of community-based adult learning, lifelong learning as well.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_01: Because it is so key to raising those aspirations and releasing that talent.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_01: So we'll be playing with that.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_01: We don't want to look back all the time.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_01: We don't want to keep, you know, um harking back to, oh, it was great in the 70s.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_01: But actually, there's something about us trying to replicate that in the 21st century.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_01: We are going to raise the aspirations of these communities.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_01: And many of them used to be called left behind communities.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_01: Actually, we talk to people in those communities and they feel kept behind, not left behind.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_01: They feel there was a deliberate set of policies that actually adversely affected them.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_01: So, how do we get them together?
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_01: How do we bring those communities together?
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_01: 88% of our learners tell us they met somebody that they wouldn't normally meet unless it was for a WEA class.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_01: So let's build that hope, let's raise those aspirations and let's get our communities much more cohesive as we go forward.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_01: That's what I took from the Prime Minister's speech in terms of like one learning.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think it was a rallying cry to everyone who works in education, really.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: That message, as you mentioned, around talent in every postcode, but not having the opportunity to access, access the same opportunities as as many others really came through for many.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: And uh there's a real opportunity to kind of build on that in some of our messaging going forward.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: Uh the conference was relatively night on new policy announcements, perhaps something that's unsurprising given we've got the autumn budget, as well as the Millburn review on NEETs.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: Simon, from your perspective, were there any interesting new policies announced?
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, there was one that stood out for us, and that was in John Healy, the Chancellor's speech on Tuesday.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_01: He talked about relaunching and refunding the Union Learn Fund.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_01: So for listeners that that might not know that, this was a fund that was in place up until 2021 and was cut by Garden Williamson, who was then the Conservative Education Minister.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um and it had been going many, many years.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_01: And we've been a big partner at the WEA, we'd been a big partner in delivering that.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_01: And it was wider than just training trade union members to be trade union officials.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_01: There were big elements of that so that they could represent their members and drive that representation in the workplace.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_01: We were using Union Learn Fund to do community-based learning, to put those essential skills around digital math literacy.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_01: There was a big, big sort of programme behind it.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_01: And actually, it was much more than an ideological standpoint of the Union Learning Fund.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_01: It actually had real benefits, you know, economic benefits.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_01: I think it was the University of Exeter at the time estimated that for every pound spent on the Union Learning Fund, it created£12.87 return in economic benefits for learners and employers.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_01: And actually, because learners progressed in their careers as part of the union learning fund work that they were involved with, for every pound spent, it actually brought£3.60 back into the exchequer as well.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_01: So there's always been this view of, you know, was it just cut because of a political ideology and anti-unions?
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_01: But actually, there's a there's a much stronger economic case.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_01: And I really hope that we can we can rebuild that.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_01: I'm sure we can.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_01: You know, and working with Sean Elliott and Paul Novak at the TUC, it'll be interesting to see where we can take that.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_01: So really welcomed, good first step, I think, in terms of repairing some of the damage that we felt to the the finances of adult learning.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, let's watch this space and see see what impact it can have.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: Fantastic.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, definitely a step in the right direction on adult learning and reversing some of those cards we've seen in recent years.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_00: How about Fiona?
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: Was there any new policy announcements or policy details shared that you might have picked up from minister speeches or even on the fringes?
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_02: No, definitely.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, firstly, I'd just like to echo kind of what Simon said about union learn.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_02: So, as part of the inquiry on adult education that the APPG on FE and lifelong learning is undertaking, that AOC provides a secretariat to, we heard directly from, you know, some of the unions about the impact of the lack of this fund has had.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_02: And, you know, millions of adults have missed out on kind of training and upskilling opportunities.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_02: So really great to kind of have that first step.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_02: Although I think in the Chancellor's upcoming budget, we'd really like to see a bit more investment into adult education.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_02: But otherwise, the Chancellor also made an announcement on local apprenticeships, uh, a local apprenticeship service.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_02: So this will be led by mayors, it's targeted at young people, and there will be teams working with employers and providers, and there's an extra hundred million of funding to that as well.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm never going to complain about extra funding into the sector and more active targeted support for young people.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_02: But I'm really also looking forward to hearing a bit more detail on this, especially where the capacity of some of the local MSAs need to be built up and also ensuring that this isn't another layer of bureaucracy for colleges and providers, you know, and that we can share some of the best practices from colleges like Wigan and Lee, Bever College Group, UCS group that do really great, amazing stuff in this area to work with their local kind of MSAs to really make that policy work.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_02: Additionally, you know, a lot of the country still isn't covered by kind of strategic authorities.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_02: So will they have access to something similar?
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_02: Will they have access to some of this kind of£100 million fund?
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_02: While we always definitely support local decision making and devolution where possible, ensuring that young people and adults have equal access to opportunities no matter where they live, I think is equally important.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_02: And I think more generally, though, with some of the kind of policy announcements we've been hearing in in recent kind of weeks and months, on the face of it, they do they do sound really positive.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I'm not trying to be overly negative here, but you know, whether or not they will meet or help some of the problems that the very complicated apprenticeship service is kind of facing in terms of demand from students and also kind of whether they can find enough employers who are already, we're asking a lot for employers already.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_02: So if we can meet that demand and if they can solve these problems, it's really kind of yet to be answered.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_02: So I do look forward to seeing how that develops.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_01: And James, may I may I just build on something for the owner because she's right about the apprenticeship support and that being driven.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we know the devolution, you know, they're gonna complete the map and they're gonna do it at a rate of not.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_01: So some of this might go away, but I said it was overwhelmingly positive, the the mood at conference.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_01: Just after that speech was made, I was in the exhibition centre and bumped into the the leader of uh of a Metropolitan Borough Council, quite a big borough council that was not in a devolved region, who was very, very unhappy.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, you know, and what was said to me was, what do I tell my young people?
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_01: Just because we've not got a mayor, they can't access this funding.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_01: So there's there's little bits like that.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_01: I think Fiona's right to point that out that you know we'll just have to be careful on.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_01: But their answer will be, well, we're accelerating devolution, so so that'll be fine.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_01: And and just on the last little bit back to Union Learning Fund, it was making me smile because both um Fiona and AOC and us as a WEA would be working up our manifesto asks, if you like, and we've both got reports coming out.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that a common recommendation from both reports was a re-establishment of the Union Learning Fund.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_01: So it's it's stolen our thunder a little bit, both of them.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_02: It definitely has a little bit, yeah.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_01: But I'll take that, I'll save that for an early, you know, the early starting into it.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, so when when our reports come out, yeah, you can you we can tick that one off um straight away.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: Let's go back to drawing boards, update that direction.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not doing that.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_00: No, it's great to hear.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_00: And I know that's that's a concern that's shared widely.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_00: Uh it was just earlier today we saw a piece in the press about the fact there's 28 million adults that live outside male areas, so uh we can't forget about them in this debate as well.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_00: So we're while we saw plenty of action on the main stage, and we've spoken about some of the major announcements that have come from the Chancellor and other ministers in that main hall.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: There's also a packed fringe agenda at these events that seem to just grow every year.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_00: I think this year I counted around 20 events on the needs crisis alone.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_00: So Fiona, we know that lots of changes already in motion in the further education sector.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_00: For example, with the devolution of 16 to 19 budgets and post-16 qualifications reform.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_00: What were some of your takeaways on the fringe events you attended?
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_02: The sheer number of panels about devolution, youth unemployment, kind of NEETs was absolutely staggering.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_02: I think Alan Milvin probably had the busiest conference diary out of everybody.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_02: I did go to a few sessions on skills in post-16.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_02: AOC did host a session on um with the new statesman on adult education that really highlighted the fact that it's essential not just for economic growth, but also social mobility, community cohesion and well-being.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_02: But I was also at another kind of skill session, um, which was held by the Purpose Coalition, where Jackie Smith was speaking and she really highlighted the kind of partnership element on devolution.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_02: And most importantly, it was really great to hear her say from a college perspective that with devolution, they don't necessarily want to add on another element of bureaucracy, another layer.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_02: She doesn't want to see the kind of responsibility of leaders in FE diluted, you know, empower being rooted in local places.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_02: But in terms of other fringes, I always use conference to kind of go and explore and see what other fringes are doing.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_02: It's a great way to find new partners, it's a great way to learn something new and to also kind of join the dots to see how they're doing skills or whether, you know, there's a partnership to be made there.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_02: It is really clear to me, at least, that that FE and skills are being talked about more than ever before.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_02: You know, even when I raised FE and skills in a panel on clean jobs, a number of them had engagement, engaged with their local college, which was fabulous to see.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_02: As AOCO over the last few years, we have supported a number of college leaders kind of in attending conferences, and now that's just grown.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_02: Colleges are hosting their own sessions, more col there are more college leaders on panels, and that's been great to see overall.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely packed.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_00: Since you could have been at five events at one time on skills, it felt like.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_00: And Simon, I know we bumped into each other a few times at various fringe events.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I know that WEA also sponsored its own fringe event this year.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_00: What were things that stood out for you from the fringe events you attended?
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we worked with Ruskin College um to host a French event on Sunday lunchtime, actually, which was is quite early, I think, in the conference programme.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_01: And we were outside the secure zone as well.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_01: So we were thinking, ooh, how will it?
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_01: It was busy, the room was full.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_01: So we were pleased with that.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_01: Jackie Smith as the skills minister attended as well.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_01: And we um we had Sean Elliott from TUC, so this was before the announcement about Union Learn Fund.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_01: So Sean didn't give any spoilers, so that that was interesting.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_01: And we had Emily Abbott from Intergenerational England as well on on the panel, and it really got us off to a good start, and it got me thinking through the rest of the sort of thing sessions that I attended, and I'll pick up on some of the points that Fiona made.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_01: Because what what we find at the WEA and we've been to a number of conferences, you're right, over the last few years there's been a you know a really high focus and priority given to the million young people not earning our learning, and that's right.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I I understand why the bind gets a lot of attention.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_01: But there are a similar number of over 50s not earning all learning, you know, in the in the economy as well.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_01: So what we sometimes have to do is all the talk about young people, and then my opening sentence usually as a contribution is, and can we talk about adults as well?
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_01: But actually, I find myself doing that less this conference than I have in previous conferences.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_01: So you you've you've highlighted how many fringe sessions um included in their title, not in education, employment, or training.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_01: I won't call it neat because there's nothing neat about it.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm I'm going for the full title every time, or not earning or learning for me.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_01: But there was a number that had lifelong learning in the title as well.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, so it was great.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_01: So I did a comment panel with with City and Gills, and the three, we had Vioner Aldridge from Skills England, uh, Seaman Mahotra was on that panel as well, and both of them mentioned adults and lifelong learning before it got to me.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_01: I was the final speaker.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_01: So I was almost joking with the audience that nothing else to add, really, they've stolen stolen all that funders.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_01: So that was that was quite good.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_01: Emily um Abbott from Intergenerational England had really made me think about this.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_01: Employers tell us all the time that it's those essential human skills that are missing, as much as technical skills.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_01: So critical thinking, empathy, communication, teamwork.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_01: And if that's the skills that are missing in in those young people, if that's missing in their parents and their grandparents as well, because there's been a lack of investment, then actually, will you solve the crisis for young people without addressing the skills shortage and crisis for adults?
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_01: So I think there is a really big intergenerational sort of dynamic to this, and that's something that we're we're gonna keep exploring.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_01: I managed to get a couple of questions at panel sessions testing that and tended to get a warm response back.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, I think there's something about just separating this based on your age is not that helpful, I don't think.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_00: Fiona, uh, did you leave Liverpool feeling more optimistic or more pessimistic for education policy in the months ahead?
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not gonna say I'm a complete cynic or or pessimist, so cautiously optimistic, I think is probably the right words.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_02: I left feeling that really glad there's a vision, but as a government two years past election, even with a new prime minister, I wanted a bit more detail.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_02: Like Salmon says, like I'm I'm really interested in that.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, great, but how?
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_02: You know, where is kind of where is the detail here?
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_02: In my opinion, this was a conference and vision that that really should have been, you know, brought about two years earlier.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_02: I am really relieved that we have a PM in number 10 who does understand technical education and adult education, has experience of that through his work uh at Greater Manchester.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_02: And it is clear through the devolution of the 16 to 19 budget and also kind of the creation of vocational GCSEs that there is a really clear set of direction of travel that he wants to go in.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_02: And also it's really great to have some continuity with Jackie Smith still being the minister who's brilliant and Pat McBadden at DWP.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_02: You know, we're expecting Morgan in the autumn.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_02: The timing of it, I think, is really important.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_02: So if it's before the budget, hopefully you'll you'll have that fully funded in the budget.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_02: But if it's after, that may then roll into the spending review, which is next year.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I think it's really clear that any of the spending commitments are long-term and sustainable in regards to kind of the Milbourne, any Milburn recommendations.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_02: I think kind of short-term program funding, while having its place, you know, isn't really the case here.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_02: I think it needs more of a long-term kind of approach.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_02: Fantastic.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_00: And that brings us nicely to the end of the episodes.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_00: Well, thank you both for sharing your reflections from Labour Party Conference 2026.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_00: We'll be back again soon for another episode of Insights from the Edge.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_02: This podcast was produced by the Edge Foundation.