Labour conference live: Pressure on Starmer as he faces union vote to reverse ‘cruel’ winter fuel payments cut
Prime minister facing motion from angry unions to reverse plans to cut winter fuel allowance
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Sir Keir Starmer is coming under pressure from unions to reverse the controversial cut to the winter fuel payments in a vote that could expose a rift within the Labour party.
The non-binding motion by Unite and the Communication Workers Union (CWU) will be debated today during Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool which is expected to receive strong support from unions.
Unite’s general secretary Sharon Graham described the policy as “cruel” and called on the prime minister to admit he made a “misstep”.
The vote calls for means testing of the winter fuel allowance to be reversed and for an end to fiscal rules which prevent borrowing to invest, as well as the introduction of a wealth tax.
The prime minister said in his conference speech on Tuesday that he understood concern over the winter fuel allowance but stressed that stabilising the economy was the first step of a long-term plan, adding: “Every pensioner will be better off with Labour.”
Sir Keir has now left the conference to join world leaders at the United Nations with a promise to deliver “global leadership” as the Middle East teeters on the brink of all-out conflict and the bloody war in Ukraine grinds on.
The Independent’s political team will be reporting live throughout the Labour Party conference in Liverpool.
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PM plans to make country ‘less reliant’ on migration
Starmer is now being asked by Nick Robinson whether the “trade off” of Starmer’s migration policy will make businesses not able to fill roles if they can’t employ foreign workers.
The prime minister insisted he’s “not going to chop your legs off by saying you can’t have the workers you need now”.
He said: “But I’m not going to tolerate this year after year after year.”
Instead, he plans a “skills strategy” that makes the UK “less reliant” on migration.
“And I’m actually convinced that if businesses work with local leaders according to a growth plan that we can achieve that,” he added.
Keir Starmer pressed over ‘past failures on building'
Sir Keir Starmer has been pressed on the BBc’s Today programme over “past fialures” on building policies.
Asked whether people will have to make sacrifices to allow new prisons or electricity pylons being built near their homes, he said: “Obviously I understand people will have their reasons to object, and of course, that should be listened to,” he says.
“But what we can’t have is what we’ve had in the last few years.
“The reason we’re in this mess with prisons - and it’s a very real mess - is because we now don’t have enough prison places for the people who are being sent to prison.
“That’s a basic failure of government, and I’m not prepared to repeat that.”
Starmer convinced pensioners will be ‘better off’ amid unions vote
Sir Keir Starmer has told pensioners they will be better off under Labour despite axing the winter fuel payment for millions of elderly people.
Asked for his message to pensioners who have lost their winter fuel allowance, the prime minister told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “So what I’m saying is this, that economic stability is the number one, most important first step.
“That that will only happen we deal with £22 billion pound black hole that we will. This was not on the books. I could pretend it’s not there, I could walk past it. In my view, that would risk losing control of the economy.
“By tackling it, we can commit to, among other things, the triple lock. Every pensioner will be better off under a Labour government.”
Sir Keir will today face a motion from angry unions to reverse the controversial winter fuel allowance cuts.
Starmer warns Middle East on brink of all out war ahead of UN debut
Sir Keir Starmer has warned that the Middle East is on the brink of all out war ahead of his United Nations debut as prime minister on Wednesday.
It comes as Israel and Hezbollah exchange fire across the Lebanon border, with the UK sending around 700 troops to Cyprus in case an emergency evacuation is required.
Asked on Wednesday morning whether he thinks the Middle East is on the brink of all out war, Sir Keir told the BBC: “I am deeply concerned about it and I have myself put it in those terms, that we are essentially at a brink point and we have to come back from the brink.”
Our political correspondent Millie Cooke has the full story:
Starmer warns Middle East on brink of all out war ahead of UN debut
UK sending around 700 troops to Cyprus for possible emergency evacuation of citizens
Starmer plans to meet with Kamala Harris and Donald Trump before US election
Sir Keir Starmer said he wanted to meet both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump before November’s US presidential election.
The prime minister is in New York for the UN General Assembly and it is unclear whether he will be able to meet the two White House rivals on this trip.
But he told reporters travelling with him: “As far as the candidates are concerned, look, if possible, it would be very good to meet both of them at some stage before the election. We’ll just have to see what’s possible.
“But I’m going for the General Assembly. I don’t doubt that a lot of time is going to be spent on the Middle East and Ukraine”
He said “it will be really important for us to have the conversations with our allies about the situation in both of those areas”.
Starmer heads to UN as Middle East tensions rise and Ukraine war rages
Sir Keir Starmer will make his United Nations debut as prime minister with a promise to deliver “global leadership” as the Middle East teeters on the brink of all-out conflict and the bloody war in Ukraine grinds on.
The prime minister’s two-day visit to New York comes as Israel and Hezbollah exchange fire across the Lebanon border and while Ukraine continues to push for permission to use UK and US-supplied missiles to strike at targets within Russia.
Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky is in the US lobbying for support, although so far US president Joe Biden has resisted calls for American missiles to be targeted at airbases and other facilities in Russia.
Without a shift in the US position, a breakthrough on the issue would appear unlikely in New York.
Sir Keir will use his speech at the UN General Assembly, the annual gathering of leaders, to set out how the UK will step up to play its part, guided by the rule of law, in a world dominated by conflict – notably in the Middle East, Ukraine and Sudan.
In his speech, due to take place on Thursday, he will say: “We are returning the UK to responsible global leadership. This is the moment to reassert fundamental principles and our willingness to defend them. To recommit to the UN, to internationalism, to the rule of law.
“Because I know that this matters to the British people. War, poverty and climate change all rebound on us at home. They make us less secure, they harm our economy, and they create migration flows on an unprecedented scale.
“The British people are safer and more prosperous when we work internationally to solve these problems, instead of merely trying to manage their effects.
“So, the responsible global leadership that we will pursue is undeniably in our self-interest.”
Labour considering ban on smoking outside pubs
Health secretary Wes Streeting has confirmed Labour is considering a ban on smoking outside pubs.
He told Sky News: “We definitely want to see smoking phased out in our country, we committed to that in our manifesto.
“We want to make sure this generation of children are the healthiest generation that ever lived and therefore they will never be able to legally buy cigarettes.
“We are looking at a range of other measures to also help people who are currently smoking to quit, and also to deal with the scourge of second-hand smoke and passive smoking, which is also harmful. We’ll be setting out our proposals on that shortly.”
Asked if he will ban smoking outside pubs, he said: “Look, that’s one of the measures that I’m considering, and I’m up for a national debate on this issue.
“We have got to do two things – reform the health service, but also reform public health, because we might be living longer, but we’re becoming sicker sooner and there is a heavy price being paid for that in our economy, our public finances and in our own health.”
Keir made a slip of the tongue… but it was still a banger of a speech
The PM was so statesmanlike that he even managed to make sausages sound like an extra policy commitment. This was Starmer’s day, writes Joe Murphy:
‘Superman’ Starmer made a slip of the tongue – but it was still a banger of a speech
The PM was so statesmanlike that he even managed to make sausages sound like an extra policy commitment. This was Starmer’s day, writes Joe Murphy
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