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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Covid corruption commissioner to tackle ‘carnival of fraud'
The chancellor has announced Labour will appoint a Covid corruption commissioner to investigate the “carnival of waste and fraud” that took place during the pandemic during the Conservative government.
She told the conference: “Billions of pounds of public money handed out to friends and donors of the Conservative Party. Billions more defrauded from the taxpayer.”
Rachel Reeves added: “We inherited a recommendation from the previous government that any attempt to reclaim that money should be abandoned. The Tories simply did not care. But Labour will not stand for it.”
“I have put a block on any contract being abandoned or waived until it has been independently assessed by that commissioner.
“I won’t turn a blind eye to rip-off artists and fraudsters, who used a national emergency to line their own pockets.”
Chancellor accuses Tories of promising solutions they could not paid for
Rachel Reeves has accused the Conservative party of promising solutions that “could never be paid for, roads that would never be built”.
She added: “Public transport that would never arrive, hospitals that would never treat a single patient.
“They showed no regarding people and they did not care about the consequences.
“It was made clear to me that failure to act swiftly could undermine the UK’s fiscal position, with implications for public debt, mortgages and prices, and so I took action to make the in-year savings necessary.”
Reeves vows to deliver change but ‘it will be tough'
Rachel Reeves has promised voters to show an “iron discipline” as chancellor.
She said: “Now I know that you are impatient for change. I am too.”
But she warned: “Because of that legacy left by the Conservatives, the road ahead is steeper and harder than expected.
“You don’t need to take my word for it. Figures released only on Friday showed another month of record borrowing, debt at 100 per cent of GDP. That is the inheritance they left in black and white.”
Reeves says voters trusted Labour ‘with their money'
Rachel Reeves said the British public “looked at us, looked at me, and decided Labour could be trusted with their money” at the general election.
The chancellor told party conference: “Why is it that the British people put their trust in us for the first time in five generations?
“We left no stone unturned to show Labour is the party of economic responsibility and the party of working people.”
She said she would not risk playing fast and loose with the public finances – something she accused the previous Tory government of doing.
“I will not take that risk, I will repay the trust that people put in us,” she told delegates.
Reeves pokes fun at Tory leadership race
Rachel Reeves has poked fun at the Tory leadership contest, sarcastically labelling it a “clash of the titans”.
She told the conference: “Never forget what the Conservatives did years ago today... They cut taxes for the richest, they crushed the economy, sent mortgages spiralling.
“They do not care, and they have learned nothing.”
Reeves: 'I am here today because I worked hard’
Rachel Reeves has told the Labour conference she is part of trailblazing women who “worked hard”.
Before being interrupted by a protester, she said: “I am here today because I worked hard. Yes, most of all, I’m here because of the efforts of those who went before me, trailblazing women.
“Jenny Lee, Barbara Castle, our friend and our inspiration. Harriet Harman. And I’m here because of thousands of women, many of you in the hall today, broke down barriers and defeated low expectations to pave the way for the rest of us.
“I am a Labour chancellor because of that collective endeavour. I am the first woman chancellor because of that collective endeavour.
“And that collective endeavour does not stop here. It falls to me and to our generation of Labour women to follow in the footsteps of those who went before us, to write the work of all women back into our economic story.
“To show our daughters and our granddaughters that they need place no ceiling on their ambitions. That is the Britain we’re building. That is the Britain I believe in.”
Rachel Reeves interrupted by protester
The chancellor has been interrupted by a pro-Palestine protester who shouted: “And we are still selling arms to Israel!”
In response, Rachel Reeves said Labour is “not a party of protest” after her speech was derailed by a heckler in the audience.
“This is a changed Labour Party, a Labour Party that represents working people, not a party of protest,” the Chancellor said.
‘A promise fulfilled'
Rachel Reeves has said: “In this hall one year ago I stated my intention that the next time I addressed you, I would do so as the first ever female chancellor of the Exchequer. Today, conference, you can consider that a promise fulfilled.
“[For] 800 years, the post of chancellor of the Exchequer has existed, every one a man. On 5 July we made history.
“Every woman watching this will know no matter how high you climb, how hard you work, how qualified you are, there will always be moments when you are reminded some people still do not believe women can get the job done.
“Millions of women in our party, in our trade unions and in every walk of life, beat back those doubts.”
Rachel Reeves: ‘I’m ready to deliver after 14 wasted years’
The chancellor has been received with a standing ovation before thanking the crowd in Liverpool.
She said: “Conference, thank you. This time last year, I stood on this stage and I made a commitment. I promised that we would get Britain building again, repair our NHS and power growth in every part of Britain.
“Today, after 14 wasted years, I stand here as your chancellor of the exchequer, ready to deliver on that commitment.”
She added: “Labour is back in the service of communities we never should have lost in our port, coal, steel and mills towns... And Labour is back in Scotland too.”
Watch live: Rachel Reeves outlines ‘tough decisions’ Labour face in major party conference speech
Live: Reeves outlines ‘tough decisions’ Labour face in major party conference speech
Watch live as Rachel Reeves addresses the Labour Party's annual conference in Liverpool on Monday, 23 September.
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