Keir Starmer UN Speech - LIVE: PM tells Israel ‘no more excuses’ and calls on Hamas to ‘let the hostages go’

Keir Starmer delivers speech at the UN as Labour members expose rift in party over winter fuel payment cuts

Union members stage protest ahead of Labour winter fuel allowance debate at the party conference in Liverpool

Sir Keir Starmer has delivered his first speech as prime minister to world leaders at the United Nations in the US after leaving the Labour Party conference.

He used his address to the UN Security Council to promise that his government will deliver “global leadership” as the Middle East teeters on the brink of all-out conflict and the bloody war in Ukraine grinds on.

On a tough week after calling for the return of “sausages” in Gaza during a conference gaffe, Sir Keir has been defeated in a vote to reverse the cut to the winter fuel payments.

The non-binding motion, named An Economy for the Future and tabled by Sharon Graham of the Unite union and the Communication Workers Union (CWU), was passed by a show of hands in a rowdy hall at the Labour Party annual conference.

In a show of defiance, Unite’s general secretary Sharon Graham called Labour members to rebel against the policy as she shouted: “This is not what people voted for.”

The motion called for means testing of the winter fuel allowance to be scrapped and for an end to fiscal rules which prevent borrowing to invest, as well as the introduction of a wealth tax.e

Key Points

• Russia treating own citizens as ‘bits of meat to fling into grinder’, says Starmer in UN speech
• Sir Keir demands a ceasefire in Gaza and release of hostages
• Tories: Starmer lost support of his paymasters
• Wes Streeting warns against ‘killing NHS with kindness’

[26 September 2024 02:30 · Salma Ouaguira]

Full story: Unions win non-binding vote to reverse winter fuel cut

Delegates at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool have voted to reverse the government’s controversial cut to winter fuel payments, in a blow to Sir Keir Starmer.

While motions at the party conference are non-binding, and the government is not required to respond to them, the vote highlights major division within the party over the controversial policy.

In July, Rachel Reeves announced that older people not in receipt of pension credits or other means-tested benefits will no longer receive winter fuel payments from this year onwards.

The decision came as part of a series of spending cuts to address a black hole in the public finances left by the previous Conservative government announced in July by the chancellor.

You can read the full story below:

[26 September 2024 02:00 · Salma Ouaguira]

Keir made a slip of the tongue… but it was still a banger of a speech

The PM was so statesmanlike that he even managed to make sausages sound like an extra policy commitment. This was Starmer’s day, writes Joe Murphy:

[26 September 2024 01:30 · Salma Ouaguira]

Labour considering ban on smoking outside pubs

Health secretary Wes Streeting has confirmed Labour is considering a ban on smoking outside pubs.

He told Sky News: “We definitely want to see smoking phased out in our country, we committed to that in our manifesto.

“We want to make sure this generation of children are the healthiest generation that ever lived and therefore they will never be able to legally buy cigarettes.

“We are looking at a range of other measures to also help people who are currently smoking to quit, and also to deal with the scourge of second-hand smoke and passive smoking, which is also harmful. We’ll be setting out our proposals on that shortly.”

Asked if he will ban smoking outside pubs, he said: “Look, that’s one of the measures that I’m considering, and I’m up for a national debate on this issue.

“We have got to do two things – reform the health service, but also reform public health, because we might be living longer, but we’re becoming sicker sooner and there is a heavy price being paid for that in our economy, our public finances and in our own health.”

[26 September 2024 01:00 · Salma Ouaguira]

Streeting calls for national debate about smoking outside pubs

The health secretary has called for a “national debate” about the prospect of banning smoking outside pubs.

A restriction is being considered by the government as part of a range of measures which will be set out shortly, Wes Streeting said.

Ministers are examining what can be done to help smokers quit and to “deal with the scourge of second hand smoke and passive smoke,” he said.

“We definitely want to see smoking phased out in our country, we committed to that in our manifesto,” Mr Streeting told Sky News.

“We want to make sure this generation of children are the healthiest generation that ever lived and therefore they will never be able to legally buy cigarettes.

“We are looking at a range of other measures to also help people who are currently smoking to quit and also to deal with the scourge of second-hand smoke and passive smoking, which is also harmful. We’ll be setting out our proposals on that shortly.”

[26 September 2024 00:30 · Salma Ouaguira]

What was announced in Starmer’s Labour conference speech?

Sir Keir Starmer’s address to the 2024 Labour Party Conference saw him promise to rebuild Britain “brick by brick” after fourteen years of Tory government, telling conference delegates his government will create a “Britain that belongs to you”.

But what exactly was announced? We look at the key developments from the prime minister’s speech below.

[26 September 2024 00:00 · Salma Ouaguira]

Watch: Starmer mistakenly calls for ‘return of the sausages’

[25 September 2024 23:59 · Barney Davis]

Sir Keir Starmer says he wants to “reset” the UK’s relationship with the EU.

Sir Keir Starmer will visit Brussels as he steps up efforts to “reset” the UK’s relationship with the European Union.

The Prime Minister wants to repair the damage caused by years of Brexit wrangling in an effort to boost trade and security co-operation.

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen revealed that Sir Keir would visit Brussels next week after the pair met in New York.

Sir Keir has met a string of EU leaders since taking office and has spoken about his “ambitious” plans for a new relationship.

Sir Keir said: “I want to reset our relationship with the EU and make Brexit work for the British people.”

He said he was “looking forward to visiting Brussels next week to start discussions” with the commission president.

[25 September 2024 23:30 · Salma Ouaguira]

Michael Gove to be new Spectator editor

Former Conservative cabinet minister Michael Gove has been appointed as the new editor of The Spectator.

Mr Gove, who stepped down from parliament at the general election, will become the magazine’s new editor at the start of next month, and is “perfectly suited to the role”, according to Freddie Sayers, publisher of The Spectator and the chief executive of new owner OQS.

Mr Gove – who served in the governments of David Cameron, Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak – was a journalist before he became an MP.

His will take up the job after final approval from Acoba, the Advisory Committee on Business Appointments.

The position is currently held by Fraser Nelson, who will step down “after 15 incredibly successful years”, Mr Sayers said in a message posted on X.

Mr Nelson will “continue to write for The Spectator and will become Associate Editor”, Mr Sayers said.

Earlier this month, it was confirmed that the magazine had been bought by GB-News backer Sir Paul Marshall for £100 million.

(Lucy North/PA Wire)

[25 September 2024 23:00 · Salma Ouaguira]

Streeting: NHS waiting lists will be 'demonstrably lower’

NHS waiting lists will be “demonstrably lower” by the next general election, health secretary Wes Streeting has said.

He told Sky News: “By the next general election, waiting lists will be demonstrably lower because I know that’s how I will be judged, how the Prime Minister will be judged, how the government will be judged – people will judge us by our actions, not just our words ultimately.

“Look at what I did as the Health and Social Care Secretary within my first weeks in office: I took action to implement the junk food ad ban targeted kids; took action to employ 1,000 more GPs onto the front lines because they found themselves bizarrely unemployed at the same time as patients are unable to find a GP, so that’s making a real impact as those GPs get onto the front line and, of course, took action within three weeks to do something the Conservatives failed to do in 18 months, which was to end the junior doctors dispute.”

It comes as the UK and Welsh governments are to collaborate to ensure access to everything from operations to dentists.

More than seven million people are currently waiting for treatment and Mr Streeting previously said that waiting lists need to be “millions lower” in the next five years.

(EPA)

[25 September 2024 22:57 · Barney Davis]

Labour MP explains £1.2million donation was for sister dying from brain tumour

Labour MP Siobhain McDonagh has explained that a £1.2 million donation from top party donor Waheed Alli was for her dying sister.

Replying to a post accusing Mr Alli of wanting MPs in his debt, she posted on X: “Waheed Alli was my sister’s best friend for 25years. Tragically she was diagnosed with a Glioblastoma Brain Tumour in Nov 2021 & died on June 24th 2023.

“He took every step of her last terrible journey with her. Lending me money to buy a house with ground floor bed and bathroom.

“The loan will be repaid on gaining probate on Margaret’s Estate. It has been properly registered and Waheed wanted nothing other than his best friend being comfortable in the last months of her life.”

In the first controversy to hit Sir Keir Starmer’s new government, questions have been raised over Lord Alli – the business executive who has donated some £700,000 to the party over the past two decades – being handed a Downing Street pass.

In a row dubbed “passes for glasses”, it has emerged that Lord Alli had gifted the Sir Keir eyewear and work clothing worth £18,000, clothes for his wife Lady Victoria Starmer, and a £10,000 donation to the PM’s chief of staff Sue Gray’s son Liam Conlon’s campaign to become a Labour MP.