Labour conference live: Rachel Reeves stands by winter fuel allowance cut as nurses reject 5.5% pay rise
Nurses pay deal rejection raises fears of further strikes across NHS
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Nurses across the country have rejected Rachel Reeves’ offer of a 5.5 per cent pay rise – just as the chancellor was delivering her keynote conference speech.
The announcement by the Royal College of Nursing came as Ms Reeves addressed Labour activists in Liverpool.
Sir Keir Starmer’s government has faced heavy criticism over its winter fuel allowance cut and gifts accepted by ministers.
The chancellor’s message is that there will be “no return” to austerity at her first budget on 30 October in a move to “rebuild Britain”.
She also defended her decision to scrap the winter fuel allowance, blaming the unpopular cut on the economic inheritance left by the last Conservative government. Earlier, boos were heard in the hall as a debate on the cut was pushed back from today to Wednesday, the final morning of the conference.
Minutes into the speech, a protester shouted out and was removed from the hall.
The Independent’s political team will be reporting live throughout the Labour Party conference in Liverpool.
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Rachel Reeves announces free school breakfast clubs from April
Rachel Reeves has announced hundreds of schools will host free breakfast clubs from April as she doubled down on her controversial decision to abolish winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners.
The chancellor said the move would ease child poverty, after accusations she will force some less well-off pensioners to choose between heating and eating.
Ms Reeves has warned of more difficult choices ahead before next month’s Budget, but it is understood ministers will not scrap the council tax discount claimed by single people.
Our Whitehall editor Kate Devlin has the full story:
Reeves announces school breakfast clubs in months as she doubles down on fuel cuts
Labour chancellor was heckled about the sale of arms to Israel as she made her speech to her party’s annual conference in Liverpool
Haigh: ‘Labour ripping up the very roots of Thatcherism’
The transport secretary has said Labour is “ripping up the very roots of Thatcherism” during its time in power.
Louise Haigh told the conference: “Because of what we achieved together, we are not just cleaning up the mess of the last 14 years, we are ripping up the very roots of Thatcherism that have undermined and run down our transport system for decades.
“Privatisation of our transport is not pragmatism. It hasn’t spurred innovation. It hasn’t made things better. It belongs to a past that failed.”
Downing Street’s decision to allow Ukraine to fire Storm Shadow ‘unchanged’
The “position” on whether Ukraine would be given permission to fire Storm Shadow weapons in Russia “remains unchanged”, the prime minister’s deputy official spokeswoman has said.
“We remain in constant contact with the Ukrainians and will always listen to their position,” she said.
“As you can expect at UNGA (UN General Assembly), we will be focused on a number of issues, that includes ongoing support for Ukraine in their defence against Russia’s aggression, but also a ceasefire in Gaza and a de-escalation of tensions in Lebanon amongst others.”
On Storm Shadow, she added: “When it comes to that our position remains unchanged.
“I think as the PM said following his trip to Washington just last week, our ongoing discussions on Ukraine are not about one specific bit of military equipment.
“They are broader discussions about strategy and about how we support Ukraine during what is a crucial period over the next few months and as we enter winter.”
Cleverly: 'Nobody can take this chancellor or this government seriously’
James Cleverly has attacked Rachel Reeves following her keynote speech at the Labour Party conference.
He accused the chancellor of setting out the “wrong” priorities and increasing more taxes.
The former home secretary said: “Nobody can take this chancellor or this government seriously.
“Their priorities are all wrong. They talk about taking tough decisions, but capitulate in union negotiations.
“They will tax more and more to spend more and more. Labour aren’t taking the tough decisions, they’re making the wrong decisions.
“We can all see that they cannot be trusted with the public finances, or the economy.”
SKETCH | Reeves smiled through the storms in Liverpool (or was it a grimace?)
Austerity? Free frocks and specs? Snatching winter fuel from shivering pensioners? Dismal polls and facing a conference defeat on the latter? The chancellor grinned and bore it, observes Joe Murphy:
Rachel Reeves smiled through the storms in Liverpool (or was it a grimace?)
Austerity? Free frocks and specs? Snatching winter fuel from shivering pensioners? Dismal polls and facing a conference defeat on the latter? The chancellor grinned and bore it, observes Joe Murphy
Pictured: Activists project ‘suspend all arms to Israel’ during Labour conference
Ed Miliband pledges to lift renters out of fuel poverty
Energy secretary Ed Miliband has pledged to lift more than a million renters out of fuel poverty as part of the government’s plans to boost energy efficiency standards by 2030.
Labour’s warm homes plan aims to make properties across the country cheaper to run by installing new insulation and rolling out solar panels on rooftops.
Mr Miliband said Labour intends to go “further and faster” than its manifesto pledge by raising standards in the social housing sector, in addition to the private rented sector.
Ahead of his speech at the Labour conference in Liverpool, he said: “We all know that the poorest people in our country often live in cold, draughty homes.
“It is a Tory legacy. It is a Tory scandal. It is a Tory outrage. This government will not tolerate this injustice and we will end it.
“And because being Labour means we raise our sights to tackle injustice, we will go further and faster than promised in our manifesto, ensuring every rented home reaches decent standards of energy efficiency.
“Warmer homes, lower bills, over one million people lifted out of fuel poverty. That’s the difference a Labour government makes.”
The government has committed to consulting tenants on its warm homes plan by the end of this year.
Pictured: Pensioners and union activists protest cut to winter fuel payment at Labour conference
What is austerity – and why is Rachel Reeves accused of bringing it back?
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.
“We must deal with the Tory legacy and that means tough decisions. But we won’t let that dim our ambition for Britain.”
Last week, critics inside Labour reportedly accused the chancellor of “reheated” 2010 tactics, with one union insider telling The i that a “return to austerity” would not be welcomed.
Read the full article below:
What is austerity – and why is Rachel Reeves accused of bringing it back?
The chancellor stared down her critics at her first conference speech in power – but do they have a point?
Analysis: Smiling Reeves signals what change really means for Labour - it’s generational
The Independent’s political editor David Maddox writes:
Rachel Reeves was all about change in her speech today. The stories of her battles with Winston Churchill’s grade 2 listed urinal in the chancellor’s private toilet mean that nobody has escaped the realisation she is Britain’s first female chancellor. And the recognition in her speech at conference today produced one of the loudest cheers.
But change is not just about breaking glass ceilings for Reeves. Her enormous - maybe slightly forced - smile on stage showed that she at least recognises that after weeks of gloom, talk of spending cuts and tax rises, and a £22 billion black hole, she needed to inject some hope and optimism in the discourse.
But that hope was not forthcoming for the 10 million pensioners who are set to lose their winter fuel allowance.
“I will not duck the tough decisions,” she said in the most unapologetic way imaginable.
But, as she noted, government is about choices and one of her announcements was a timing for free school breakfast clubs, a move aimed at helping working parents and their children.
It is more than a signal. Since the King’s Speech Labour has made it clear it wants a generational shift in government priorities. Ms Reeves confirmed that today.
All eyes will now be on her Budget on 30 October.
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