The Labour Party Annual Conference 2023
Best for Britain Reception fuelled by the British Kebab Awards
🗓 Date: Monday, 9 October 2023
⏳ Time: 18:00
📍Location: Thomas Steers Lounge, Hilton Liverpool City Centre, 3 Thomas Steers Way, Liverpool L1 8LW
SME4Labour Reception Best for Britain Reception fuelled by the British Kebab Awards with Naomi Smith, Best for Britain; Hilary Benn MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Northern Ireland; Nick Thomas-Symonds MP, Shadow Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office); Miatta Fahnbulleh, Labour PPC; Camberwell and Peckham, Steve Rotheram, Metro Mayor of Liverpool City Region and Paul Drechsler CBE, Chairman, International Chambers of Commerce UK.
The reception highlighted the importance of the business and politics working together. With the economy being broken under the current conservative government, a government led by the Labour Party was encouraged to rectify the economic depression which has also affected SMEs. Dreadful Brexit negotiation tactics were also highlighted as a key reason for the state of the economy.
A trusted partner in the international scope was also a stated reason for why the country needed a Labour government. With the ongoing crisis in Ukraine and the Middle East, the UK more than ever requires a more dynamic internationalist policy, which the Labour Party has been invested in, as opposed to a more isolated country under the Conservative Party. Best for Britain, a civil society campaign initially founded in 2017 to stop Brexit, has since 2021, encouraged greater internationalism rather than an immediate push to rejoin the European Union. This also works hand in hand with the Labour Party’s policy if it wins the next general election, with a stronger commitment to a multilateral foreign policy.
The reception also mentioned how the ruling Conservative Party tore the country apart with “division and bigotry”, with the party aiming to show that neighbouring countries in the European Union were enemies of the United Kingdom, whilst the attendees of the reception further reminded that the country is still part of Europe.
