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
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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 General Assembly 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
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Arise Sir Alan Bates! Post Office campaigner is knighted
Sir Alan Bates, the leading campaigner for subpostmasters in the Post Office Horizon IT scandal, has received his knighthood from Princess Anne at Windsor Castle.
The 70-year-old, of Llandudno in north Wales, is one of more than 550 claimants who have brought legal action against the company, with a public inquiry into what happened in its final stages.
He was recognised in the King’s Birthday Honours in June for his services to justice, having founded the Justice for Subpostmasters Alliance.
More than 700 subpostmasters were prosecuted by the Post Office and given criminal convictions between 1999 and 2015, as Fujitsu’s faulty Horizon IT system made it appear as though money was missing at their branches.
Sir Alan was portrayed by actor Toby Jones in the ITV drama Mr Bates Vs The Post Office, with the four-part mini-series helping to renew attention on the scandal.
PM suggests £20,000 donation was for ‘son to study for GCSEs’
Sir Keir Starmer has suggested he accepted £20,000 in donations for accommodation because his son needed somewhere to revise for his GCSEs while his family home was besieged by journalists during the election campaign.
The prime minister defended his decision to take gifts from Labour peer Lord Alli amid criticism of the arrangement, saying he was “not going to apologise for not doing anything wrong” and the freebies did not “cost the taxpayer a penny”.
But Sir Keir signalled he could continue to accept hospitality from donors, saying that it was a matter of “judgment” for individual MPs whether they receive certain kinds of donations.
In a series of broadcast interviews following his speech to the Labour Party annual conference, he also said the transition to Downing Street had been “really difficult” for his two children, who were previously raised in North London.
Asked about the donations, Sir Keir said that around £20,000 he had declared from Lord Alli for unspecified accommodation was for his teenager to study for exams in a “peaceful” atmosphere while the then-Labour leader was overwhelmed with media attention in the run-up to the election.
“My boy, 16, was in the middle of his GCSEs. I made him a promise, a promise that he would be able to get to his school, do his exams, without being disturbed,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
“We have lots of journalists outside our house where we live and I’m not complaining about that, that’s fine.
“But if you’re a 16-year-old trying to do your GCSEs and it’s your one chance in life – I promised him we would move somewhere, get out of the house and go somewhere where he could be peacefully studying.
“Somebody then offered me accommodation where we could do that. I took that up and it was the right thing to do.”
Labour unveils plan to shut women’s prisons amid overcrowding crisis
Justice secretary Shabana Mahmood has set out plans to slash the number of women going to jail and ultimately close women’s prisons amid an overcrowding crisis.
She unveiled a new body, the women’s justice board, which will have the “ultimate ambition of having fewer women’s prisons” – potentially allowing them to be converted to male or mixed jails.
The prison population in England and Wales hit a record new high a fortnight ago, with 88,521 people behind bars – but there are just 3,440 women in jail.
More than half – 55 per cent – are victims of domestic abuse, while two-thirds have committed non-violent offences. Ministers want to improve services like community support and residential women’s centres to provide an alternative to prison.
Our Whitehall editor Kate Devlin has the full story below:
Justice Secretary unveils plan to shut women’s prisons amid overcrowding crisis
‘Around two-thirds did not commit a violent crime yet are sent to prisons desperate for places’
Starmer: We will listen carefully to Zelensky’s demands for Ukraine military aid
Ukraine’s desire to use western missiles to strike targets in Russia will not be the “sole issue” in Volodymyr Zelensky’s “victory plan”, Sir Keir Starmer said.
The US and UK have so far refused to give Kyiv permission to use the missiles they have supplied against targets in Russia, despite repeated pleas from Mr Zelensky.
The Ukrainian president has said that he is having to fight with his hands tied because he is unable to use the weapons to strike Russian airfields and military facilities which President Vladimir Putin is using to launch deadly air raids, missiles and drones.
Sir Keir is in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, where Mr Zelensky will present his plan for the next stage of the war to his allies.
The prime minister said: “I do think it’s going to take quite a bit of time at the UN General Assembly. And I think that’s really important, because it’s at a critical stage.
“Obviously, President Zelensky has a plan that he wants to walk through with all of us – we knew that was going to happen.
“The support for Ukraine is resolute. We supply quite a lot of capability already under the last government; we’ve increased that under this government – that’s not a criticism of the last government – and we will always listen very carefully to what Ukraine says it needs by way of capability.”
Diane Abbott urges Starmer to ditch winter fuel payment cut following vote
Why can Starmer still axe winter fuel payments after losing key vote?
Labour delegates have voted in favour of a non-binding motion calling to reverse the controversial cut to the winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners.
In an embarrassing blow to prime minister Sir Keir Starmer, he now faces mounting pressure over the policy that has been criticised for being disproportionately harmful to the poorest pensioners.
The motion, tabled by Sharon Graham of the Unite union, was narrowly carried by a show of hands in a rowdy hall at the Labour Party annual conference.
The outcome of the vote will now test Starmer’s ability to manage dissent within the party. Questions remain about whether he will reverse the policy or not:
Why can Starmer still axe winter fuel payments despite losing Labour vote?
The outcome of todays vote will test Starmer’s ability to manage dissent within the party
Escalation in Israel-Hezbollah war ‘deeply troubling’, Swinney says
Scotland’s First Minister has said the escalation of violence in the Israel-Hezbollah war is “deeply troubling” and that any Scots caught up in the “awful conflict” should have safe passage out of Lebanon.
UK citizens are being urged to leave Lebanon as Israel launched an intense series of air strikes earlier this week.
Hezbollah today fired a ballistic missile at Tel Aviv, the first time it has targeted central Israel since the exchanges broke out around Israel’s northern border.
Speaking to journalists, John Swinney said the Scottish government would work with the UK government to ensure any Scots in Lebanon can leave safely.
He said: “I’m deeply concerned about the situation in Lebanon, as I have been about the situation in Gaza for almost a year.”
Mr Swinney added: “The escalation in violence is deeply troubling and the loss of innocent life is unconscionable.
“So, we need to have a solution to the Middle East conflict. We need to have a de-escalation of the conflict.”
Windrush report expected to reveal roots of scandal after delays to publication
The long-awaited publication of a report into the roots of the Windrush scandal is key to reinforcing transparency around government, a campaigner has said.
The Home Office previously refused to publish the Historical Roots Of The Windrush Scandal report after a request under the Freedom of Information Act.
Earlier this month, a First-Tier Tribunal judgment said the department must disclose the report to the requester, but it is understood Labour has decided to go further and is expected to publish the report on the government website soon.
In 2022, the Guardian said that, according to a leaked copy of the document, the report concluded the origins of the “deep-rooted racism of the Windrush scandal” lie in the fact that from 1950 to 1981 “every single piece of immigration or citizenship legislation was designed at least in part to reduce the number of people with black or brown skin who were permitted to live and work in the UK”.
During this year’s election campaign, Labour pledged to offer “a fundamental reset moment for the Windrush generation, with respect and dignity at its very core”.
Party leader Sir Keir Starmer said in June that if elected he would ensure “urgent reform” of the compensation scheme to make it more efficient, a restoration of the Windrush Unit to the Home Office, and a Windrush commissioner “to be the voice of families affected”.
Starmer to deliver speech at the UN General Assembly
Sir Keir Starmer is in the US to attend the UN Security Council and deliver a speech on the conflicts in Palestine, Ukraine and Sudan.
The prime minister’s two-day visit to New York comes as Israel and Hezbollah exchange fire across the Lebanon border and while Ukraine continues to push for permission to use UK and US-supplied missiles to strike at targets within Russia.
Sir Keir will use his speech at 5pm, to set out how the UK will step up to play its part, guided by the rule of law, in a world dominated by conflict.
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