Sir Keir Starmer will warn he is making tough decisions towards a “new Britain” and cannot offer “false hope” about the challenges ahead.
He will address Labour delegates in Liverpool on Tuesday in his first party conference speech as prime minister.
But after he privately acknowledged that he needs to lift the spirits of the nation, he will say there is “light at the end of this tunnel”.
Sir Keir is expected to announce plans for new legislation in his keynote, including a “Hillsborough Law” which will introduce a legal duty of candour on public bodies and a new Fraud, Error and Debt Bill which will see welfare fraudsters dealt with faster.
The Labour government has recently faced heavy criticism over its winter fuel allowance cut and gifts accepted by ministers.
It comes a day after chancellor Rachel Reeves was heckled during her own speech and the conference hall heard boos after a winter fuel debate was blocked.
The Independent’s political team will be reporting live throughout the Labour Party conference in Liverpool.
Key Points
- Keir Starmer promises to revive UK as he dismisses ‘silly’ freebies stories
- Nurses reject Rachel Reeves’ 5.5 per cent pay rise during speech
- The Climate Resistance claims responsibility for pro-Palestine protester
- Reeves speech interrupted by pro-Palestine protester
- Reeves announces Covid corruption commissioner to tackle ‘carnival of fraud’
- Chancellor defends decision to means test winter fuel payment
Keir Starmer promises to revive UK as he dismisses ‘silly’ freebies stories
23:09
Barney Davis
Sir Keir Starmer will tell an “exhausted Britain” that the tough decisions he is taking for the short term are the first steps towards national renewal and higher living standards.
The prime minister will give one of the most important speeches of his political career on Tuesday as he addresses Labour delegates at the party conference in Liverpool.
Our political editor David Maddox reports:
Reeves refuses to guarantee HS2 will reach central London
23:00
Salma Ouaguira
Rachel Reeves has refused to rule out ending HS2 at Old Oak Common rather than Euston, in central London.
The chancellor was asked whether, after Rishi Sunak cut the Birmingham to Manchester leg of the high speed rail project, she could guarantee it would continue as planned.
But she told LBC it was a “decision we will have to set out in the budget” next month.
“I will look at all those proposals,” Ms Reeves said, leaving open the prospect it could be cut further.
Defence secretary: ‘Gamers, your country needs you’
22:30
Salma Ouaguira
John Healey has set out his plans to “fix the Tory recruitment crisis” in the UK military.
The minister said he plans to “scrap 100 outdated policies that block people from joining” the Armed Forces.
He told the conference: “You hear some people say that young people today don’t want to serve their country.
“I know this is wrong. Over the last 10 years more than a million applied to join the forces but three in four gave up – just gave up on the process because it takes months and it’s tied up in red tape.
“Today I’m announcing the first steps to start to fix the Tory recruitment crisis.”
Mr Healey also set out plans to provide people with new training starting dates and called gamers and coders to join the military.
He added: “Second, I’m setting new targets for the forces to reject or make a conditional offer within 10 days, and to give people a training start date within 30 days.
“And third, I’m setting up a new direct route for cyber military recruits. Because if you’re a top gamer or a coder, your country needs you.”
What is austerity – and is Rachel Reeves ‘returning’ to it?
22:00
Salma Ouaguira
Rachel Reeves has promised that there will be “no return to austerity” at the Labour conference in Brighton, responding to critics who have compared her to previous Conservative governments.
Speaking at the party’s first conference in power for 14 years, Ms Reeves said: “Conservative austerity was a destructive choice for our public services – and for investment and growth too.
Ms Reeves’ latest speech could be seen as a direct response to the critics, but it is unlikely to put a stop to the comparisons. Here’s everything you need to know about austerity and the criticisms Labour faces:
Rachel Reeves to announce investigations into £600m Covid contracts
21:30
Salma Ouaguira
Rachel Reeves is set to announce an investigation into more than £600m worth of Covid contracts and will pledge to chase down firms who have ripped off the taxpayer.
The chancellor will use her speech at the Labour conference on Monday to announce she has reversed a Conservative approach to “waive” £674m worth of disputed contracts, as her party attempts to re-establish its moral standing during an ongoing row over donations.
She will confirm that a new Covid corruption commissioner will be appointed next month to claw back the money wasted on deals, saying the government will not “turn a blind eye to rip-off artists”.
Read the full story below:
Thornberry challenges Starmer to cut post-Brexit border checks
21:00
Salma Ouaguira
Emily Thornberry has indicated that she intends to use her powerful new position in the Commons to push Keir Starmer to go further on undoing the harms of Brexit.
The newly elected chair of the foreign affairs committee urged Keir Starmer to cut vast amounts of unnecessary checks at the border as part of his planned Brexit EU reset.
There was “no need” for small businesses to give up trading with the European Union because of the friction, she said.
Our Whitehall editor Kate Devlin has the full story:
Labour MP urges pro-Palestine protesters to keep marching as battle intensifies
20:36
Tara Cobham
A Labour MP has urged pro-Palestine protesters to continue marching, as she was heckled at the Labour conference.
Bell Ribeiro-Addy told a fringe event called Justice for Palestine that “the conflict is intensifying, so our political lobbying must intensify as a result”.
During her speech in Liverpool, a heckler called on the MP for Clapham and Brixton Hill to resign from Labour, before accusing the party of being “racist”.
On Monday, Ms Ribeiro-Addy said: “We represent the majority, both the global majority, and the clear majority in this country – the question is how to turn that majority into action and into a change of policy.
“The conflict is intensifying, so our political lobbying must intensify as a result.
“All the marches and the lobbying must continue, all the local meetings must continue, so must the letter writing, take to your local radio station phone-in, write to your local newspaper, canvas outside your local supermarket on a Saturday morning.”
Intervening, the heckler shouted: “And resign from the Labour Party, resign.”
This was met with shouts of “shut up” and “nonsense” from other members of the audience.
Ms Riberio-Addy continued: “Horrific things have been happening since 1948, and unfortunately even this phase of the conflict looks like it will be a prolonged one. So we have to be prepared for both an intense struggle and a prolonged one.”
Later in the session, the heckler shouted: “The Labour Party is a racist party.”
Speakers at the event also called on the Labour Government to do more to protect Palestinians and ban arms sales to Israel.
Reeves defends Angela Rayner in row over ‘vanity photographer’
20:30
Salma Ouaguira
Rachel Reeves has defended Angela Rayner in a row over the deputy prime minister reportedly hiring a vanity photographer to publicise her work.
The chancellor said it is normal for government departments to have communications budgets and stressed the photographer would not just promote Ms Rayner, but the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) as a whole.
On Monday morning she told Times Radio: “All government departments under all governments have press officers and communications budgets. It’s not a personal photographer. It’s to promote the campaigning work of governments.”
Our political correspondent Archie Mitchell has the full story:
Chancellor not ruling out capital gains tax rises
20:00
Salma Ouaguira
Rachel Reeves has recommitted to Labour’s pledge not to raise income tax and national insurance at the October Budget.
But the chancellor refused to rule out a potential hike in capital gains tax.
Speaking to Sky News, she said: “I’m not going to get into speculation about individual tax changes.
“But our manifesto commitment, which was not to increase taxes on working people, that means income tax, national insurance and VAT rates, but also not to increase corporation tax, to cap it at its current level for the duration of this parliament, those are things we committed to in our manifesto and we’re going to deliver on those manifesto commitments.
“Trust in politics is at an all time low, and that is largely because governments have promised one thing at elections, and then they haven’t followed through.”
SNP MP slams Labour’s acceptance of free gifts ‘totally indefensible'
19:30
Salma Ouaguira
An SNP MP has described Sir Keir Starmer and his top team’s acceptance of thousands of pounds worth of free gifts including clothing from Labour donor Lord Alli as “totally indefensible”.
Angus and Perthshire Glens MP Dave Doogan told BBC Radio Scotland’s Good Morning Scotland programme: “I think I, like most other ordinary people from ordinary backgrounds, are aghast at the naivety of UK Government ministers leaving themselves open to whatever the donors of these gifts expect in return.
“If something looks too good to be true, then it probably is. Everybody knows that.
“I think we need to ask ourselves why the most senior members of the UK Government are naively walking into gifts for this and gifts for that totalling £800,000, and thinking that there is no strings attached. Of course there are strings attached. It’s such a bad look.”
He added: “Let’s be really clear, Angela Rayner in particular, and Keir Starmer especially – these are not poor people.
“If Keir Starmer wanted £2,500 worth of glasses, he could have easily bought them. But he didn’t. He took it off somebody who was offering it to him, and that’s not the world that the rest of us walk in.
“People up and down these islands who voted Labour will be thinking to themselves, ‘I think I’ve backed the wrong horse here’, especially in Scotland when 37 Labour MPs are dutifully lining up to defend the actions of the prime minister which are actually totally indefensible.”
What is the Labour gifts row?
19:00
Salma Ouaguira
Keir Starmer has defended his gift-taking as he took part in two eve-of-conference interviews, insisting that it is transparency that matters.
But the prime minister is facing new questions about a football match he and his controversial chief of staff Sue Gray attended after hospitality was arranged by Spurs.
He was also pictured at the game with lobbyist Katie Perrior, who ran Boris Johnson’s publicity campaign when he became mayor of London in 2008.
Read the full story below:
Starmer says he’s a ‘leaner-in’ who doesn’t want to keep AI at ‘arms length'
18:35
Tara Cobham
Sir Keir Starmer said he was a “leaner-in” who does not want to keep artificial technology (AI) at “arms length”.
Speaking at a business event at Labour’s annual conference, the Prime Minister said: “AI is obviously a big game-changer, you can already see the potential but we’re still in the foothills…
“But do you lean in and say that this is a great opportunity or do you lean out and say woah, this is a bit risky. I’m a leaner-in.”
He added: “The first thing is to lean into it and say it’s an incredible set of opportunities, not to keep it at arms length.”
Employer concerns about workers’ rights package ‘addressed and understood’, says Reeves
18:34
Tara Cobham
Employer concerns about the Labour Government’s workers’ rights package have been “addressed and understood,” Rachel Reeves has said amid speculation over whether the legislation could be watered down.
The Chancellor indicated the Government does not want to make it harder for companies to hire temporary workers or students with its Employment Rights Bill.
She told a business event at the annual Labour conference in Liverpool: “We’ll be publishing more details in the next couple of weeks, but I hope that you see that your concerns have been addressed and understood.”
Reeves ‘hopes’ era of strike action is over after nurses reject pay offer
18:30
Tara Cobham
Rachel Reeves acknowledged that nurses have rejected the Government’s pay offer but said “my understanding is that is advisory I very much hope there will not be industrial action going forward in our health service”.
Asked whether she believed the era of strike action was over, the Chancellor told a business event at the Labour Party conference: “We accepted the recommendations of the independent pay review bodies… that was important to bring to an end the industrial disputes.
“It was the right decision, in the national interest, also to address recruitment and retention challenges.
“You may have seen the nurses have voted today against the settlement… but my understanding is that is advisory and I very much hope there will not be industrial action going forward in our health service.”
Ms Reeves said that many public sector workers were disappointed and “rightly so” that their wages have fallen behind the cost of living, but insisted the new Government was “listening” and “willing to work with them”.
“We hope, and through our actions we want to bring an end to those industrial disputes that have been so disruptive both to the people who use our public services and for the wider economy.”
Reeves: Donations for clothes were ‘very beneficial’ during election campaign
18:30
Salma Ouaguira
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said that donations for clothes were “very beneficial” to her during the election campaign.
She told ITV’s Good Morning Britain that “an old friend” of hers wanted to offer support.
“The way that she wanted to support was to help me buy clothes for the campaign trail and for big events and I was very grateful for that support,” Ms Reeves added.
She told the programme: “We declared it in the proper way and we asked the registrar the best way to record it and we did it in the way that was asked of us.
“I never planned to continue this in government but it was something that was very beneficial to me during the campaign.”
Streeting jokes if he keeps saying how proud he is of chancellor it would pay off at budget
18:28
Tara Cobham
Wes Streeting joked at a fringe event that if he kept saying how proud he was of Chancellor Rachel Reeves, it would pay off at the Budget.
Having said repeatedly he was “proud” of Rachel Reeves’s decisions on pay settlements, he told a Labour conference fringe event: “I’m also sure, by the way, if I keep on saying how proud I am of the Chancellor that will be worthwhile in the coming Budget.”
Streeting denies government made strategic error by emphasising determination to end strikes
18:27
Tara Cobham
Wes Streeting denied that the Government had made a strategic error by emphasising its determination to end strikes, following the rejection of a pay offer by the Royal College of Nursing.
The Health Secretary told a fringe meeting at the Labour Party conference: “I thought the Chancellor was absolutely right after the election to, firstly, recognise the enormous price that we were paying as taxpayers and as patients for industrial action in the NHS and the abysmal failure of the last government to negotiate effectively to end these disputes.”
Adding he was “proud” that the Chancellor “acted quickly to resolve that dispute”, he said he could understand why nurses “feel strongly about pay and also the conditions they are working in.”
Mr Streeting said: “I think the nursing profession know that they have now in a Labour Government a team that they can be proud to be part of and work with to do something truly remarkable, which is to take the NHS from the worst crisis in its history, get it back on its feet and make it fit for the future.”
Home ownership is ‘not right option’ for some people, Reeves says
18:26
Tara Cobham
Home ownership is “not the right option” for some people, Rachel Reeves has said.
The Chancellor said the Government’s commitment to banning no-fault evictions was to ensure there is greater security across all sectors.
Ms Reeves said: “For some people owning your own home is not the right option and we need a private rental sector… that’s why we’ve committed to banning no-fault evictions.”
She said “in all sectors we need greater security”.
Business secretary defends government’s workers’ rights package
18:25
Tara Cobham
Jonathan Reynolds has defended the government’s workers’ rights package, saying it was “not dictating to businesses” or “forcing things on people if they don’t want them”.
Appearing at the Labour Party annual conferences business day, the Business Secretary fielded questions on the balance between employee and employer protections.
“This is the floor rising,” Mr Reynolds said.
“It’s not dictating to businesses, it’s not forcing things on people if they don’t want them.”
Labour donor at centre of wardrobegate says being asked about clothes row ‘is not very nice’
18:21
Tara Cobham
The Labour donor at the centre of wardrobegate has said being asked about the clothes row is "not very nice".
Asked about the affair by Channel 4 at the Labour Party Conference on Monday, he said: “Please don’t – this is not very nice.”
NEW: Lord Ali just walked nonchalantly through conference passing Bridget Phillipson who didn’t acknowledge him. A friend of his told me he wouldn’t be bothered by the media storm but as I tried to ask him about the donations he said “please don’t - this is not very nice”
— Serena Barker-Singh (@serenabarksing) September 23, 2024
Three in five voters believe Labour will lose next election
18:00
Salma Ouaguira
A new poll has revealed that three in five people expect Labour to lose the next general election in 2029.
Less than three months after Sir Keir Starmer’s landslide election, 60 per cent of voters think he will not secure a second mandate.
The poll, conducted by the More in Common think tank, also found more than half of those surveyed do not believe Sir Keir will lead Labour into the next election.
48 per cent of respondents said they believed he would still be prime minister by the next election, while 52 per cent said he will not.
Watch: Reeves outlines Labour ‘tough decisions’ in conference speech
17:30
Salma Ouaguira
Two thirds deem MPs accepting event tickets as gifts from donors unacceptable, reveals survey
17:13
Tara Cobham
Two-thirds of British adults think it is unacceptable for MPs to accept tickets to football matches and concert tickets as gifts from donors or companies, a new survey has revealed.
According to the YouGov data collected on Monday, 64 per cent of 4,046 adults polled in the UK deem the practice unacceptable, while almost half (44 per cent) state that it is “completely unacceptable”.
However, the survey did find that one in five (19 per cent) concede it is “somewhat acceptable” and one in 20 (6 per cent) say it is “completely acceptable”.
Meanwhile, YouGov also asked the public for their thoughts on the reason behind why wealthy people make donations to individual politicians, with six in ten (60 per cent) arguing it is an attempt to gain influence, and only six per cent saying they are given because the donors support the politician and their party.
Gary Neville accuses ‘bully’ Premier League of ‘scaremongering’ over regulator
17:00
Salma Ouaguira
Gary Neville has accused the Premier League of acting like a “bully” and “scaremongering” about the proposed independent football regulator.
The former Manchester United and England star, who has been a strong supporter of an independent regulator, criticised the attitude of England’s top football league as “entitled” and “selfish” during a fringe event at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool.
Mr Neville said on Monday: “We have a Premier League that’s entitled, they feel entitled.
“I’m not going to use the word greedy, but I just have. They are selfish and I can’t understand that way of thinking.
“It’s almost like they’re the big brother that sit there and distribute scraps of food to the little brothers round the table. It’s not what you do when you’re in a family.”
His comments follow claims that English teams could be barred from European competitions such as the Champions League if the new regulator is introduced, due to Uefa rules against state involvement in football governance.
The government has dismissed concerns, stressing that the regulator would be independent and saying it did not expect there to be issues regarding European competitions.
He added: “Their mindset is such of a bully. Their mindset is such that they think they can influence the regulator once the regulator’s introduced and they can get a better deal potentially the other side of the regulator.
“And what they’re applying is their soft power and their influence to try and create scare stories and scaremongering, like we had a couple of weeks ago.”
Labour accused of censoring pro-Palestinian activists at conference
16:57
Tara Cobham
Labour has been accused of censoring pro-Palestinian activists at its party conference after ordering a group to remove the words “genocide” and “apartheid” from the listing for an event about Israel’s war in Gaza.
The party was condemned by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) for refusing to promote its fringe event titled “Justice for Palestine: Confronting genocide and ending apartheid”.
The event has been listed in the brochure as simply “Justice for Palestine”.
Political Correspondent Archie Mitchell reports:
Watch: Reaction to Rachel Reeves’ speech at Labour Conference 2024
16:55
Tara Cobham
In pictures: Reeves’ speech disrupted by heckler as she sets out approach to economy
16:30
Salma Ouaguira
Ed Miliband announces plans to increase energy efficiency standards
16:05
Salma Ouaguira
The energy secretary has announced plans to raise the minimum energy efficiency starndards of privately rented and social homes to reduce costs.
“It is a Tory legacy. It is a Tory scandal. It is a Tory outrage,” he declares in his speech during the Labour Party conference. “This government will not tolerate this injustice, and we will end it.”
Announcing new minimum energy efficiency standards, Mr Miliband added: “Warmer homes, lower bills, over one million people lifted out of fuel poverty. That’s the difference a Labour government makes.”
Migrant Channel crossings top 25,000 for year so far
16:00
Salma Ouaguira
More than 25,000 people have arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel so far this year.
Home Office figures show 717 people made the journey in 13 boats on Sunday, taking the provisional total for 2024 to date to 25,052.
This is the third highest number of arrivals recorded on a single day this year, after 882 on June 18 and 801 on September 14.
It also means 1,424 Channel crossings took place this weekend, after another 707 people arrived on Saturday in 11 boats.
The total for the year so far is up four per cent on this time last year (23,996) but 21 per cent lower than the same period in 2022 (31,686).
Crossings continued for a third day in a row on Monday, amid overcast and windy weather conditions at sea.
Miliband says Labour has won argument on climate policy
15:57
Salma Ouaguira
Ed Miliband has said Labour has “won the argument” on policies to tackle climate change.
During his speech at the Labour conference, he said: “At the election there was an argument about our country’s future.
“The Tories and their friends on the right said we should turn away from climate action and clean energy. We said no, and we won the argument.
“And I’ll tell you why. Because the British people know our mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower is the way to put energy policy back in the serve of working people.
“Social justice, economic justice, climate justice. That’s the mission of this Labour government.”
Welsh first minister: ‘Time to give hope to voters across Britain'
15:54
Salma Ouaguira
Welsh First Minister Eluned Morgan has declared it is time to “give hope” to voters across Britain.
She told the conference: “With Welsh Labour governments in Cardiff and Westminster, we have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to build a fairer, greener and more prosperous future for everyone.
“Let’s seize this moment, let’s work tirelessly to deliver the change that people deserve. Let’s give hope not just to Wales but for Britain, to all who believe in the power of progressive politics to transform lives.”
Exclusive: Cabinet ministers tell Starmer he must remove top civil servant to regain authority
15:50
Salma Ouaguira
Sir Keir Starmer is being urged by several cabinet ministers to sack the top civil servant in Whitehall immediately and stamp his authority on the new Labour government.
Knives are out for cabinet secretary Simon Case, who has been accused of undermining the prime minister and being responsible for briefings against his chief of staff Sue Gray. One exasperated cabinet minister said: “He [Case] has got to go now.”
Mr Case has denied any inappropriate behaviour and has been put in charge of investigating how damaging leaks at No 10 occurred, including the news that Ms Gray’s salary eclipses the PM’s.
Our political editor David Maddox has the full story:
No 10 suggests single-person council tax discount will not be axed
15:45
Salma Ouaguira
Downing Street has suggested that the Treasury will not scrap the single-person council tax.
It comes after it emerged the government was considering axing the discount in a move to fill the £22bn fiscal black hole.
During PMQs earlier this month, Keir Starmer refused to rule out the discount being axed.
Asked whether the report was correct, a Downing Street spokesperson said: “I would not steer you away from those reports.”
Union boss questions public contracts for Amazon amid ‘union-busting’ concerns
15:40
Salma Ouaguira
Amazon should be at risk of losing taxpayer-funded contracts if it fails to “treat workers with respect”, according to a union boss.
GMB general secretary Gary Smith accused the online giant of using “despicable” tactics to stop workers at its Coventry site of unionising and questioned how it could be right for the company to receive more than £1 billion in public contracts in the last year.
In July, the GMB announced that Amazon workers in Coventry had voted by 49.5% in favour of union recognition – falling just short of the required majority.
Amazon responded by saying it places “enormous value on engaging directly with our employees” and said it has “always worked hard to listen to them, act on their feedback, and invest heavily in great pay, benefits and skills development”.
Mr Smith said the ambition for the new Labour government has to be “higher than just cleaning up the Tory mess”, adding its “huge procurement powers will be critical”.
He told Labour Party conference in Liverpool: “GMB members have been fighting to get union recognition at Amazon in Coventry.
“The tactics used by this company to try and union-bust have been despicable and our members will keep up the fight, but government has to step up too.
“In the last year, Amazon received over £1 billion in public contracts and how can that be right when they do everything possible to stop their workers unionising?
“Our Labour Government needs to be clear with Amazon: if you want to keep trousering hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayers’ cash, they need to treat workers with respect.”
Pictured: Lord of the Rings and Star Wars actor Andy Serkis at Labour conference
15:30
Salma Ouaguira
Pensioners stage protest against winter fuel cuts at Labour conference
15:26
Salma Ouaguira
Pensioners staged a protest outside Labour’s annual conference on Monday to criticise the government’s controversial plans to cut winter fuel allowance.
Retired members of the Unite union held up banners reading: “Freeze profits not people”, and “Defend the winter fuel payment”.
Unite has criticised a decision to switch a debate on the winter fuel allowance from today to the final day of the conference on Wednesday.
Unite will call for the decision to be reversed and expects strong support from other unions.
Unite member and branch secretary for Manchester Retired Members Bill Moores, said: “I’m worried about the pensioners who desperately need the Winter Fuel Allowance but will only just be missing out. They will have to make the decision between heating their home or eating.”
Unite member John McPherson from Manchester “There are too many people who need the Winter Fuel Allowance – you can’t just take it off them like that. When Keir Starmer said we need to make tough choices, they should tax his freebies instead.
“These politicians are living in luxury, and we aren’t. The government needs to remember that there are 13 million pensioners, and we have a vote – and we will use it.”
Pictured: Shabana Mahmood arrives at Labour party conference
15:26
Salma Ouaguira
Teaching unions welcome Rachel Reeves’ breakfast club plans
15:20
Salma Ouaguira
Patrick Roach, general secretary of teaching union NASUWT said Rachel Reeves’ breakfast club announcement was “an important step forward in tackling childhood hunger”.
He said: “Pledging this money for the start of a rollout of breakfast clubs in primary schools is welcome and will start to make a real difference for all children
“It is undeniable that schools are working hard to pick up the pieces of rising levels of child poverty, caused by the worst cost-of-living crisis in half a century.
“We know that when children are not hungry they have improved attendance, behaviour, and an increased capacity to learn.
“This announcement is an important step forward in tackling childhood hunger which is blighting education.
“We want to see a future where no child is hungry, where all children are ready to learn and where schools are supported fully to deliver the very best education for children.”
Rayner: ‘Rachel Reeves speech shows Labour optimistic and serious about the task ahead'
15:18
Salma Ouaguira
Angela Rayner said Rachel Reeves’s speech had shown the government was both “optimistic and serious about the task ahead”.
The Deputy Prime Minister said the Labour administration was “under no illusion about the task ahead of us” but confident it could “fix the foundations.”
Speaking at Labour’s largest ever business day at its annual conference in Liverpool, she said speeches by Ms Reeves and Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds had been “optimistic and I think serious about the task ahead, but also what this woman wants to do to enable Britain to thrive and grow the economy so we can pay for our public services.”
“When business thrives the whole economy does,” Ms Rayner said.
Starmer accused of ‘silencing pensioners’ after blocking winter fuel payments conference vote
15:10
Salma Ouaguira
Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of silencing the voices of pensioners by blocking a vote on the government’s decision to scrap winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners.
The prime minister is facing a furious backlash from unions after kicking a key vote on the plans to Wednesday - the last day of conference known as the graveyard slot. Unite, Labour’s biggest union backer, said the party was blocking debate on the cuts and descending into “austerity mark 2”.
“When this becomes widely known there will be real anger among everyday people. Real Anger,” general secretary Sharon Graham added.
Our political correspondent Archie Mitchell has the full story:
Sarwar: ‘We delivered a political earthquake in Scotland'
15:05
Andre LangloisOuaguira
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, who is now up delivering his speech, has said his party caused a political earthquake in Scotland during the general election.
He told the audience: “What a year it has been. In the 12 months since we last met, we no longer have a Tory government, we now have the fewest Tory MPs in modern political history, we have the SNP beaten in Scotland and we now have a UK Labour government that has started the journey for change.
“We have, crucially, for the first time in 14 years a Labour prime minister. A prime minister that understands Scotland, cares about Scotland and is determined to deliver for Scotland. And for the first time ever, we have a female chancellor in Rachel Reeves who made a fantastic speech earlier today and made clear there will be no return to austerity with a Labour government.
“And in Scotland we delivered a political earthquake, with a record swing to Scottish Labour. Our share of the vote went up 16 per cent, meaning we now have not one Scottish Labour MP, we now have 37 Scottish Labour MPs putting Scotland at the heart of a Labour government.”
Transport secretary hails Labour ‘greatest force for social change'
14:59
S
