Labour conference live: Reeves defends winter fuel allowance cut while promising ‘no return to austerity’
Reeves says cutting winter fuel allowance to the poorest pensioners was the right decision ahead of keynote speech in Liverpool
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Rachel Reeves has defended the government decision to cut winter fuel allowance to pensioners at the Labour conference in Liverpool.
The chancellor said “it was right to restrict the winter fuel payment to the poorest pensioners”.
She also promised there will not “be a return to austerity” but that “detailed” spending by department will be “negotiated”.
Ms Reeves is set to make a keynote speech to pledge that the government’s autumn Budget statement will be used to “rebuild Britain”, as ministers seek to move from under the shadow of a row about donations.
Speaking on the BBC’s Today programme, she admitted people might “find it odd” that Labour MPs have received clothes as gifts but defended their decision to accept thousands of pounds worth of freebies.
Her speech will come after Sir Keir Starmer vowed Labour would not return to an austerity agenda to deal with public spending pressures.
Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner was the first major speaker on Sunday with an optimistic speech on new rights for workers and renters.
The Independent’s political team will be reporting throughout the week from the Labour Party conference in Liverpool.
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Rachel Reeves to announce investigations into £600m Covid contracts
Rachel Reeves is set to announce an investigation into more than £600m worth of Covid contracts and will pledge to chase down firms who have ripped off the taxpayer.
The chancellor will use her speech at the Labour conference on Monday to announce she has reversed a Conservative approach to “waive” £674m worth of disputed contracts, as her party attempts to re-establish its moral standing during an ongoing row over donations.
She will confirm that a new Covid corruption commissioner will be appointed next month to claw back the money wasted on deals, saying the government will not “turn a blind eye to rip-off artists”.
Read the full story below:
Rachel Reeves to announce investigations into £600m worth of Covid contracts
Chancellor to use speech at Labour conference to pledge reversal of Conservative approach to ‘waive’ £670m worth of disputed contracts
Reeves defends acceptance of £7,500 of clothing donations
Rachel Reeves has defended her acceptance of £7,500 of clothing donations from friend Juliet Rosenfeld.
She told Times Radio: “Juliet and me have been friends for a long time, and she said to me about a year-and-a-half ago ‘I want to help you in the election campaign and the thing I’d really like to do is make sure that for big events and for the campaign trail, you’re smart and well turned out’.
“I really appreciated that, she’s made a big difference to me. That’s not something that I’m going to do in government.”
She added: “I can understand that to a lot of people it looks a bit odd. I get that.”
The chancellor also defended Angela Rayner’s department’s hiring of a taxpayer-funded photographer.
She told Times Radio: “All government departments under all governments have press officers and communications budgets.
“It’s not a personal photographer.”
Chancellor admits ’I’ve never been so optimistic about our country’s future’
Rachel Reeves has admitted she has “never been so optimistic about our country’s future”.
Citing plans to boost investment in Britain, the minister told Sky News: “If we can get this right, then there is no end to what we can achieve as a country.
“That’s what I’m determined to do - to unlock the real potential we have through stability, through reform and then crucially through investment which is a solution to low growth that has bedevilled our economy this last decade or so.”
But there is a “global race on” for the jobs that could take place as a result of investment, she warned.
Ms Reeves added: “There’s a global race on for these jobs, but if we can make the changes, which I’m determined to bring about, I know we can get that investment to Britain, increased living standards and more money in people’s pockets.”
Rachel Reeves says there is ‘no end to what we can achieve’
The chancellor has kicked off a round of broadcast interviews ahead of a major speech today, attempting to turn the page on Labour’s doom and gloom.
The party has been criticised for being overly negative, having repeatedly bemoaned the state of the inheritance left behind by the Conservatives.
But Rachel Reeves is now pointing towards the future rewards of the so-called “tough choices” she is lining up for next month’s budget.
She told Sky her speech would point to “the prize on offer” if she can restore stability to the public finances and reform the economy.
“I’ve never been so optimistic about our country’s future. If we can get this right, then there is no end to what we can achieve as a country, and that’s what I’m determined to do,” Ms Reeves said.
Politicians are paid enough, Rachel Reeves says
Rachel Reeves has insisted politicians are paid enough, despite an ongoing row about ministers repeatedly accepting gifts and freebies worth thousands.
“At a time when we are asking people to make sacrifices and when difficult choices are being made, I am certainly not arguing for higher salaries for politicians,” the chancellor told Sky News.
She said political parties rely on donations to fund election campaigns, with materials such as leaflets and posters paid for using donors’ funds.
But the row over freebies has gone beyond donations, with Sir Keir Starmer, Angela Rayner and Ms Reeves accepting thousands of pounds of donations for clothing - with Sir Keir’s wife also taking gifts to refresh her wardrobe.
Chancellor not ruling out capital gains tax rises
Rachel Reeves has recommitted to Labour’s pledge not to raise income tax and national insurance at the October Budget.
But the chancellor refused to rule out a potential hike in capital gains tax.
Speaking to Sky News, she said: “I’m not going to get into speculation about individual tax changes.
“But our manifesto commitment, which was not to increase taxes on working people, that means income tax, national insurance and VAT rates, but also not to increase corporation tax, to cap it at its current level for the duration of this parliament, those are things we committed to in our manifesto and we’re going to deliver on those manifesto commitments.
“Trust in politics is at an all time low, and that is largely because governments have promised one thing at elections, and then they haven’t followed through.”
Reeves vows to bring ‘growth in public spending'
Asked whether there would be cuts to public services, Rachel Reeves insisted “there will be growth in public spending”.
She told Times Radio: “There’s not going to be austerity under Labour.
“Not only did it do huge damage to our public services, but it also did huge damage to our economy, because it choked off the investment that is needed to grow the economy.
“Now, the commitment that I will make for this Budget is that it will be about protecting living standards, fixing the National Health Service, and then, crucially, about rebuilding Britain.
“Because we can’t keep cutting investment spending, which is what the previous Conservative government did, and that chokes off the private investment that is necessary to grow our economy.
“We need that infrastructure, the housing, the energy infrastructure, the digital infrastructure, the research labs.
“I want them here in Britain, there’s a global race on for some of the jobs and industries of the future, whether it’s in life sciences, low carbon energy or tech.”
There were “loads of reasons to be optimistic” but “investment doesn’t come by chance”, Ms Reeves said.
“We’re going to back the builders, not the blockers, and bring that investment back to Britain,” she added.
Chancellor defends means-test winter fuel payments decision
Chancellor Rachel Reeves has defended her decision to means-test winter fuel payments, highlighting that the increased take-up of pension credit and the retention of the state pension triple lock would protect incomes.
She told Times Radio that the campaign to encourage take-up of pension credit, which means people become eligible for the winter fuel payment, meant “we’re now seeing applications at more than 10,000 a week, they were around 3,000 a week previously”.
Ms Reeves said: “But, also, we’re committed to keeping the triple lock, not just for one year, but for the whole of this parliament.
“Already, the triple lock means that the pension this year is worth £900 more than a year ago, I’ll announce at the Budget probably another increase of around £460 next April, and over the course of this parliament, the new state pension is likely to rise by £1,700.
“So, we are protecting pension incomes through the triple lock, which means that they will go up by the highest of inflation, 2.5 per cent or earnings.”
Thornberry urges Starmer to cut post-Brexit border checks
Emily Thornberry has indicated that she intends to use her powerful new position in the Commons to push Keir Starmer to go further on undoing the harms of Brext.
The newly elected chair of the foreign affairs committee urged Keir Starmer to cut vast amounts of unnecessary checks at the border as part of his planned Brexit EU reset.
There was “no need” for small businesses to give up trading with the European Union because of the friction, she said.
Ms Thornberry, who was snubbed by Starmer for a ministerial position, also said a Labour government in “full cry” could develop a proper trading relationship with the European Union for the first time since the UK left.
Our Whitehall editor Kate Devlin has the full story:
Emily Thornberry urges Keir Starmer to cut ‘unnecessary’ post-Brexit border checks
The new chair of the powerful Commons foreign affairs committee, a surprise omission from the prime minister’s cabinet, said she had a list of improvements she was happy to give the government
Day two of Labour conference
During day two of the Labour conference in Liverpool, the party’s focus will shift to the economy.
Rachel Reeves is expected to deliver a keynote speech on the main stage at midday.
She will insist that “tough decisions” on the public finances are needed to prevent economic ruin and will attempt to persuade her critics that there will be “no return to austerity”.
Also at the top of the agenda today are environment secretary Steve Reed, energy secretary Ed Miliband and Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar.
But before her speech, the chancellor will do the morning media roun - our political team will bring you the latest updates throughout the day from the conference.
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