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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Starmer claims ‘transparency’ is key as it emerges he and Gray accepted more football freebies
If he fails to get a grip on his government, Starmer’s five missions will become impossible
Lammy pressed by delegates on Government’s position on arms exports
David Lammy has been pressed by delegates on the Government’s position on arms exports, which have proven a sticking point within party ranks.
The UK has suspended some export licences to Israel over concerns the country is violating international humanitarian law in Gaza, but some have argued stronger action is needed including a full arms embargo.
Questioned on whether such a measure would be introduced at a Labour Party conference fringe event on Sunday, the Foreign Secretary said: “I don’t think it would be quite right to suspend licences, for example, that the Israelis could use in relation to the Houthis, that Israel may need to use in relation to the challenges it has with other proxies in the area.
“I think that would be a mistake. It would lead to a wider war and an escalation that we here in the UK are committed to stopping, so I’m afraid I disagree with that position.”
Starmer and Gray took football freebie from Boris Johnson’s former aide
Keir Starmer has defended his gift-taking as he took part in two eve-of-conference interviews, insisting that it is transparency that matters.
But the prime minister is facing new questions about a football match he and his controversial chief of staff Sue Gray attended after hospitality was arranged by a former aide to Boris Johnson. Sir Keir was pictured at the game with lobbyist Katie Perrior, who ran Mr Johnson’s publicity campaign when he became mayor of London in 2008.
Mr Johnson has praised Ms Perrior, who runs the PR firm iNHouse, and her business partner Jo Tanner as “the Fortnum and Mason of communications”. He added: “They deliver, and they deliver quality. Without them, I simply would not have been made mayor.”
Political editor David Maddox reports:
Starmer and Gray took football freebie from Boris Johnson’s former aide
Keir Starmer has opened the Labour conference with a defence of his gift-taking but is facing questions about hospitality at another football match
Rayner says she will ‘fix’ Right to Buy scheme and make it a ‘fair system’
Angela Rayner has said she intends to “fix” the Right to Buy scheme and make it a “fair system” for taxpayers and tenants.
Speaking at a Labour conference fringe event in Liverpool, the Deputy Prime Minister suggested that changes had to be made to the scheme to secure “social housing into the future”.
Right to Buy legislation allows tenants renting local authority-owned homes to buy them at a discounted rate.
Ms Rayner said: “Housing is not just about a house, housing is about a home. It’s about people’s social wellbeing, it’s about people’s health, it’s about people’s education, it’s about people’s recreation, it’s about support, it affects every single aspect of a person’s life, so we have to have a whole Government approach to it.
“But this Labour Government is absolutely determined that we will have the biggest wave of social housing of a generation, and we are also going to have to fix the situation in Right to Buy.
“I’ve said that I’ll do a consultation on this, but the changes that they made in 2012 mean that more of our council homes are being sold off and we just can’t replace them.
“So there’s no point in me having the biggest wave in a generation of council homes through one way, and then not being able to replace them as they go out the door the next.
“So we’ve got to have a fair system.
“And, I think if you’ve raised your kids, you’ve lived in the house for decades and you want to buy the house, I think it’s absolutely reasonable and right that people should be given that opportunity.
“But I also believe that we can’t have a situation where taxpayers are funding social housing and actually we can’t replace that social housing because of the discount.
“So I’m starting a conversation on that, to make sure that we fix that end of the scale as well, so that we can make sure we can keep our social housing into the future.”
Watch: Angela Rayner tears up as she opens Labour conference as deputy prime minister
Lammy leaves door open for further sanctions over West Bank violence
David Lammy has insisted imposing a full arms embargo on Israel would be a “mistake” but left the door open to further sanctions over settler violence in the West Bank.
The Foreign Secretary suggested suspending export licences that could be used by Israel against Houthi rebels and other proxies in the region would lead to a “wider war”.
But speaking at a Labour Party conference fringe event on Sunday, he said he was in talks with G7 allies about responding to “deeply” concerning “escalatory behaviour” in the occupied region.
“I’m deeply, deeply worried by the growing violence and settler violence that we see in the West Bank,” Mr Lammy said.
“I’m in discussions with G7 partners, particular European partners on that. I’m not announcing further sanctions today, but that is kept under close review.”
It comes after Israeli president Isaac Herzog earlier on Sunday expressed disappointment in the UK’s changing position towards the country.
Immediate ceasefire required between Israel and Hezbollah, says Lammy
Foreign Secretary David Lammy has said an “immediate ceasefire” is required between Israel and Hezbollah following a “worrying escalation”.
Mr Lammy said the ongoing hostilities are in “nobody’s interest” as he also advised British nationals in Lebanon to “leave now”.
Hezbollah’s deputy leader Naim Kassem, speaking on Sunday, said his group is now in an open-ended battle of reckoning with Israel.
His comments came after a wave of explosions hit pagers and walkie-talkies belonging to Hezbollah members, killing at least 37 people – including two children – and wounding about 3,000.
The attacks are widely believed to have been carried out by Israel, although Israeli president Isaac Herzog said he “rejects out of hand any connection” to the operation against Hezbollah.
Mr Lammy, speaking at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, spoke of the new Government’s response to the Israel-Gaza conflict before turning to Lebanon.
He said: “We have never lost sight of the end goal: an irreversible pathway towards a two-state solution.
“I believe in the right of Israel to be safe and secure. I also believe in the justness of the Palestinian cause.
“It is only once Palestinians and Israelis have the same fundamental rights – sovereignty, security and dignity in their own independent, recognised states – that we can achieve a just and lasting peace for all.
“In recent days, we have seen worrying escalation between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah. This is in nobody’s interest.
“Our message to all parties is clear: we need an immediate ceasefire from both sides so that we can get to a political settlement.”
Lord Alli ‘set to attend Labour conference’ amid donations row
Lord Waheed Alli is reportedly set to attend the Labour conference amid a row about his donations to senior figures in the party.
The Telegraph reported the Labour peer, who has given tens of thousands of pounds worth of clothing to the prime minister and his wife Victoria, was spotted at an event in Liverpool on Saturday night.
Sir Keir recently faced criticism after it emerged he was late to declare a donation from Lord Alli, although there is no suggestion the peer has done anything wrong.
Labour ministers ‘could be referred for potential Gaza war crimes complicity’
Labour Government ministers could be referred to police for potential complicity in war crimes in Gaza, the head of a Palestinian rights group has said.
Tayab Ali is chairman of the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP), an independent organisation of lawyers, politicians and academics who aim to protect the rights of Palestinians through the law.
Mr Ali, who is also head of international law at London law firm Bindmans LLP, told a fringe event at the Labour Party conference that he will add Labour ministers to a list the organisation has already sent to Scotland Yard in relation to arming Israel.
Earlier this year the ICJP handed evidence to Scotland Yard in relation to alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Gaza under applicable UK legislation.
Evidence was provided in relation to senior UK politicians, who have remained anonymous, but Mr Ali said the names of five Conservative former ministers had been supplied.
Labour MP for Brent West Barry Gardiner attended the fringe event and asked the panel about “the ramifications of complicity by the UK Government”.
Mr Ali said their case against the previous government had been based on article 25 of the Rome statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) which outlines individual criminal responsibility for war crimes.
He said: “What’s really important about that? Because when you talk about the ICC, it sounds like a foreign institution, but the Rome statute is incorporated in British law, so it makes it a crime here in the UK to be complicit in the same way.”
Ian Murray says he does not have £150m ‘war chest’
Scottish Secretary Ian Murray has said he does not have a £150 million “war chest” to tackle poverty in Scotland.
Mr Murray dismissed reports that the Scotland Office would be allocated such funds for anti-poverty measures.
Speaking on BBC Scotland’s The Sunday Show, the MP said the Scotland Office has four priorities which he described as growth, green issues, Brand Scotland and poverty.
He was asked whether he would use some of the £150 million reportedly allocated to his office to help pensioners affected by the cut to the winter fuel payment, which the UK Government is withdrawing from millions of pensioner households across the country who are not in receipt of benefits.
Mr Murray dismissed the figure which has been reported in the media, saying it was “made up” and did not come from him.
He said: “I don’t have a £150 million pound war chest.”
He added: “My key priority is to get the process of the Scotland Office being a spending department, to get all those structural funds that was in our manifesto together in terms of making sure that the Scotland Office can spend some money that’s already being spent in Scotland on that growth, green brand and poverty.
“But I don’t have a £150 million war chest.”
Labour faces conference fight over winter fuel as unions push for U-turn
The Labour leadership faces a conference battle over cuts to winter fuel payments as trade unions push for the policy to be reversed.
Delegates to the party’s annual conference in Liverpool are expected to debate Labour’s economic plans on Monday, with the decision to remove winter fuel payments from 10 million pensioners set to feature.
The exact wording of the motion delegates will vote on will be determined on Sunday night, but trade unions Unite and the Communication Workers Union have put forward proposals calling for the policy to be scrapped.
Unite has already unveiled billboards around Liverpool with the slogan “Defend the winter fuel payment” and plans to stage a demonstration outside the conference centre ahead of the debate on Monday.
The union’s general secretary Sharon Graham described the policy as “cruel” and a “mis-step”, while Matt Wrack, the head of the Fire Brigades Union, said it was a “politically inept” decision that would “haunt” the Government for years.
Restricting winter fuel payments to only the poorest pensioners has put the Government at odds with the unions as Chancellor Rachel Reeves attempts to fill what she claims is a £22 billion “black hole” in this year’s budget left by the Conservatives.
But Tory shadow ministers insist there was no “black hole” and the Government is merely preparing the ground for tax rises when Ms Reeves announces her first Budget on 30 October.
Both the Unite and CWU motions include call for the winter fuel payments to be restored to all pensioners, but address wider economic policy as well.
Unite’s motion calls for a wealth tax on the richest 1 per cent of people and other changes to the tax regime that the Government has so far been keen to avoid.
Both unions also called for reform of the Government’s fiscal rules to allow more borrowing to invest in public services and infrastructure, something the Chancellor has also faced pressure to do in order to kickstart economic growth.
But Ms Reeves has been adamant that her fiscal rules are non-negotiable, saying she must demonstrate tight control over the public finances.
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