This was a momentous year for the Labour Party. With the help of SME4Labour, we won a historic General Election victory. So the first thing to say is thank you - for all the meetings you’ve held, the roundtables you’ve hosted, the receptions you’ve organised, and the fundraisers you’ve planned. Thanks to your efforts, we finally have a Labour government that will fix the foundations and get our country back on track. SMEs will be essential to this project. They are the lifeblood of our high streets, a source of employment, a driver of growth across our country, and a proud part of local communities. Your fingerprints are all over this government’s missions, and we’ll continue to work in partnership with you to support SMEs in playing their vital role. Together, we’ll revitalise our high streets. We’ll replace the business rates system to level the playing field with online giants. We’ll unlock finance to make the UK the best place to start-up and scale-up, stamp out late payments to small businesses, and open up competition for public contracts. We’ll cut bills, upskill our work force and boost exports. The work of change has begun. Let’s keep going together.  I hope you have a fantastic evening at this year’s SME4Labour Gala Dinner.   Rt Hon Keir Starmer KC MP  Leader of the Labour Party Prime Minister of the United Kingdom