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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Haigh promises to bring the “age of privatised chaos” in the rail industry to an end
Louise Haigh has promised to being “the age of privatised chaos” within the railway industry “to an end for good”
The Transport Secretary addressed the Labour Party conference in Liverpool on Monday where she criticised the last 30 years of rail privatisation.
She pledged to bring the railway system back into public ownership “where they have always belonged.”
She said: “30 years of rail privatisation has left us with a system that served no one other than its shareholders. Record delays, record cancellations, crippling strikes holding our country back. passengers an afterthought.
“We are bringing the age of privatised chaos underwritten by public money to an end for good.”
Transport Secretary begins speech
Transport Secretary Louise Haigh has begun her conference speech by saying the UK’s transport system had become a symbol of “national decline” under the Conservative government and pledging to “get Britain moving”
Key points from Rachel Reeves’ speech
- Rachel Reeves promised to take action on “Covid fraudsters” who used the pandemic “to line their own pockets”.
- She also pledged to “write the work of all women back into our economic story” as the first female Chancellor.
- After a pro-Palestine protester interrupted her speech, Ms Reeves told the party conference that “this is a changed Labour Party, a Labour Party that represents working people, not a party of protest”.
- Ms Reeves denounced “the Liz Truss experiment” as she said “any plan for growth without stability leads to ruin” and pledged to “make the choices necessary to secure our public finances and fix the foundations for lasting growth”
- The chancellor also promised physical and practical solutions to growth and she said there will be “shovels in the ground, cranes in the sky, the sounds and the sights of the future arriving,” under the new Labour government.
- The Government is making “an investment in reducing child poverty” as Ms Reeves announced that hundreds of primary school children will receive free breakfast clubs in April, ahead of the national rollout.
Watch: Rachel Reeves embraces Keir Starmer after speech at Labour party conference
Pictured: Chancellor’s speech interrupted by protesters
Ask John Rentoul anything about Labour Party conference – from austerity and sleaze to Sue Gray
The Labour Party conference comes at a pivotal moment, just months after its sweeping election victory in July, writes John Rentoul.
While this should be a time of celebration for Labour’s return to government after more than a decade, the event risks being overshadowed by sleaze allegations — ironically, the same type of scandal Sir Keir Starmer once used against the Conservatives.
Around 20,000 Labour activists, journalists, lobbyists, and public figures are gathering in Liverpool for the party’s first conference in government since 2009 and first post-victory event since 2005.
The Independent’s chief political commentator John Rentoul will be taking your questions on the Labour Party conference:
Ask John Rentoul anything about Labour conference– from winter fuel to Sue Gray
The Independent’s chief political commentator John Rentoul will be taking your questions on the Labour Party conference
Pictured: Reeves hugged by Starmer and her sister after keynote speech
Rachel Reeves ends her speech
The chancellor has concluded her keynote speech declaring that Labour is a “changed party” and vowed to “build Britain”.
Rachel Reeves said: “We changed our party. Let us change our country. This is our moment, our chance to show that politics can make a difference, that Britain’s best days lie ahead.
“Our families, our communities, our country need not look on while the future is built somewhere else.
“That is a Britain we’re building, that is the Britain I believe in. Together, let’s go and build it.”
Nurses reject Rachel Reeves’ 5.5 per cent pay rise
Just as Rachel Reeves wraps up her keynote speech, nurses have announced they reject the government’s pay rise.
The Royal College of Nursing was offered a pay award of a 5.5 per cent increase.
General secretary Nicola Ranger said: “Many will support the new government’s health and care agenda as set out in recent weeks and fully recognise the diagnosis of a failing NHS.
“Working closely with all other professionals, nursing staff are the lifeblood of the service. The government will find our continued support for the reforms key to their success.
“To raise standards and reform the NHS, you need safe numbers of nursing staff and they need to feel valued.
“Nursing staff were asked to consider if, after more than a decade of neglect, they thought the pay award was a fair start.
“This outcome shows their expectations of government are far higher.”
Reeves says ‘bring it on’ as she promises to build ‘a better Britain'
Rachel Reeves has received a standing ovation after declaring that the Labour Government will make work pay.
She said: “If the Conservative Party want a fight about who can be trusted with Britain’s public services for those who use them, then I say bring it on.
“Public services that we can be proud of once again with a Labour Government. That is the Britain that we’re building, that is the Britain that I believe in.”
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