Labour conference live: Pressure on Starmer as he faces union vote to reverse ‘cruel’ winter fuel payments cut
Prime minister hit by motion from angry unions to reverse plans to cut winter fuel allowance
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Sir Keir Starmer is facing a vote from unions and Labour members to reverse the controversial cut to the winter fuel payments.
The non-binding motion will be debated today during Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool which is expected to receive strong support from unions.
Unite and the Communication Workers Union (CWU) will put forward the motion. General secretary Sharon Graham described the policy as “cruel” and has 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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UK nationals told to leave Lebanon immediately as 700 troops sent to Cyprus
Starmer promises to ‘rise above challenges’ to deliver new Britain
Sir Keir Starmer said people must “face the storm” in order to make a “Britain built to last” as he warned of further tough decisions to turn the country around.
In his first Labour Party conference speech as prime minister, Sir Keir set out plans to “clear out the Tory rot”, with a new era of political leadership creating a country “renewed by respect and service”.
In a speech briefly disrupted by a pro-Palestine heckler, he said the “wounds of trust” left by the Conservatives needed to be healed as he acknowledged that addressing that legacy would require unpopular decisions.
“If they were popular, they’d be easy.
“But the cost of filling that black hole in our public finances, that will be shared fairly,” he told activists in Liverpool.
“We will get the welfare bill down because we will tackle long-term sickness and support people back to work.
“We will make every penny work for you because we will root out waste and go after tax avoiders. There will be no stone left unturned.”
But there would be “no return to Tory austerity”, he said.
Everything that was announced in Keir Starmer’s Labour conference speech
Sir Keir Starmer’s address to the 2024 Labour Party Conference saw him promise to rebuild Britain “brick by brick” after fourteen years of Tory government, telling conference delegates his government will create a “Britain that belongs to you”.
But what exactly was announced? We look at the key developments from the prime minister’s speech below:
Everything that was announced in Starmer’s Labour conference speech
From a Hillsborough law to new legislation to tackle benefit fraud, what exactly was announced in Sir Keir Starmer’s speech to the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool?
Starmer calls for Israel and Hezbollah to ‘pull back from the brink’
Sir Keir Starmer has called for parties in the Middle East to “pull back from the brink” and for a ceasefire in Gaza amid rising tensions between Hezbollah and Israel.
The prime minister told the Labour Party conference: “This is a time when great forces demand a decisive government prepared to face the future. We can see that again in the Middle East today.
“So I call again for restraint and de-escalation at the border between Lebanon and Israel. Again, all parties to pull back from the brink.
“I call again for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the return of… the hostages, and a recommitment to the two-state solution, a recognised Palestinian state alongside a safe and secure Israel.
“And that’s the message I will take to the UN General Assembly when I travel there later today, alongside our steadfast support for Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression.”
Labour has faced pressure to suspend arms export licences to Israel after a UK assessment found there was a “clear risk certain military exports to Israel might be used in violations of international humanitarian law”.
The government suspended around 30 licences from a total of approximately 350 earlier this month.
During Sir Keir’s speech, a protester shouted “children of Gaza” from the crowd.
The prime minister replied: “While he’s been protesting, we’ve been changing the party. That’s why we’ve got a Labour government.”
Veterans, care leavers and domestic abuse victims will be housed, Starmer vows
Veterans, young care leavers and victims of domestic abuse will be given a “guaranteed roof over their head”, Sir Keir Starmer has promised.
The Prime Minister pledged that “homes will be there for heroes” as he vowed to “house all veterans in housing need”.
He also said young care leavers and victims of domestic abuse “will have the security they deserve”, as he addressed issues around current requirements to have a local connection in order to get housing support in many areas.
The changes will mean all three groups will be exempt from local connection or residency tests which most councils have in place to determine who can qualify for social housing.
Speaking at the Labour conference on Tuesday, Sir Keir said: “We have started the hard yards of planning reform, because we are facing up to decisions ignored for years, and because we are introducing new planning passports that will turbo-charge housebuilding in our inner cities, we can make the very same guarantee for other people at risk of homelessness.
“Young care leavers, victims of domestic abuse. They will have the security they deserve. They will have a guaranteed roof over their head. Because Britain belongs to them.”
The PM referred to homelessness among veterans as “another injustice hiding in plain sight on our streets”.
There were 2,270 households owed a homelessness duty with a member that previously served in the Armed Forces in the year to March, according to Government figures. This was up by a quarter, from 1,820 households in the year to March 2019.
Sir Keir said: “In every town and city in this country. People who were prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice for our nation, who put their lives on the line to protect us all, but who will not have a safe place to sleep tonight.
“We cannot stand by and let this happen anymore. And so today, I can announce that this Government will respect that service. We will repay those who served us and house all veterans in housing need. Homes will be there for heroes.”
Watch: Underestimate Sue Gray at your peril, Angela Rayner warns ‘entitled men’
Underestimate Sue Gray at your peril, Angela Rayner warns ‘entitled men’
Angela Rayner warned against "entitled men" underestimating Sue Gray as she spoke to Andrew Marr during Labour's annual conference on Tuesday, 24 September. The deputy prime minister's comments came amid a row about Sir Keir Starmer's chief of staff and her salary being larger than his. When asked if criticism against Ms Gray comes from "entitled men who've been to a certain kind of school" who are unhappy at her being at the core of power, Ms Rayner responded: "Underestimate your peril."
In pictures: Keir Starmer Labour party conference speech
Union boss says Starmer offers ‘positive vision' for workers
Gary Smith, GMB general secretary, said: “I genuinely believe Keir Starmer and his government get working people and the need to bring back opportunities.
“He offered a positive vision of the future and a country we can be proud of. The Tories left our carers wearing bin bags as PPE. Keir Starmer shows under Labour they will get the respect they deserve.
“GMB members will be very encouraged by what they just heard. There is so much to be hopeful about.”
Parliament has already backed proposed cuts to winter fuel allowance, chancellor says
Parliament has already backed proposed changes to the winter fuel allowance, the Chancellor has said ahead of an expected vote on the policy at the Labour Party conference.
Rachel Reeves told a fringe event at the conference: “Conference will vote on that motion which I think includes fiscal rules, a wealth tax and the winter fuel payment.
“But Parliament has already voted on this a couple of weeks ago and there was overwhelming support for restricting winter fuel payments to just those pensioners on pension credit.
“I think the reason why, in the end, MPs did vote that way is because of a recognition that the triple lock will protect pensioner incomes.”
Ms Reeves also said the new Government’s actions to promote uptake of pension credit had seen 13,000 people had applied for pension credit in the past week – a “sharp increase” on the number in the same period last year.
She said: “Because of the actions this Labour Government is taking, the poorest pensioners will not only keep their winter fuel payment but are likely to get hundreds of pounds extra every year through getting the pension credit which the previous Tory government, although they are now saying they care about pensioner poverty, made no effort to boost the take-up of pension credit.”
Yes, ‘Superman’ Starmer made a slip of the tongue – but it didn’t take away from a banger of a speech
The “return of the sausages” was not in Labour’s manifesto, but somehow in the excitement of his first conference speech as prime minister, Keir Starmer made it an extra policy commitment.
Did he really just say that? Yes, he somehow managed to garble the word “hostages” during a heavy passage about the Middle East. But it simply didn’t matter because this was “Superman” Starmer’s day – the day his cantankerous and impossible party finally conceded that, yes, all things considered, it loved its leader.
The thing about Labour is you can never take the hall for granted. And despite a summer of winter fuel discontent, briefing wars and now a scandal over his £16,200 clothing freebies (how does a man whose suits look identical run up such a high bill?), the cheers of 5 July echoed again.
Read more here:
‘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
EXCLUSIVE | Crackdown over taxpayer-funded university courses for top executives
Keir Starmer has announced a crackdown on the use of taxpayers’ money for university courses for top executives - in a victory for an Independent campaign.
Ministers were under pressure to act after this publication revealed that more than £1bn of taxpayers’ money was being used to fund masters-level courses for top executives.
Now in a shake-up of the apprenticeship levy the prime minister is announcing a shake-up to restrict its use for postgraduate courses.
Our Whitehall editor Kate Devlin has the full story:
Crackdown after fury over taxpayer-funded MBA university courses for top executives
Exclusive: The Independent revealed abuse of the apprenticeship levy scheme meant to help young workers at the start of their careers
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