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 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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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
Reeves: We are removing barriers for business
Rachel Reeves is addressing a fringe event at the Labour conference on how her party plans to grow the economy.
The chancellor has told attendees at the IPPR reception that Labour’s early moves to remove barriers for businesses will have the longest-lasting impact, including lifting the moratorium on onshore wind farms.
She is being joined by Heather Boushey, Member of the Council of Economic Advisers at The White House.
Watch: Reaction to Keir Starmer’s Labour conference speech
Sir Keir Starmer speech in full as PM addresses Labour Party conference
Sir Keir Starmer has delivered his first Labour conference speech as prime minister as he vowed to “return this great nation to the service of working people”.
Speaking as he faced criticism over his acceptance of gifts and hospitality, and his new government warned of hard times ahead with cuts to pensioners’ winter fuel allowance, Sir Keir insisted to delegates in Liverpool that there was a “light at the end of the tunnel” for Britain.
Sir Keir was met with rapturous applause from delegates on Tuesday afternoon. Although a lone protester near the end of his speech shouting “children of Gaza” was escorted from the venue.
You can read the PM’s conference speech in full here:
Sir Keir Starmer speech in full as PM addresses Labour Party conference
Starmer insists there is ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ as he defends pensioners’ winter fuel cuts
Starmer is ‘the new George Osborne’, says John McDonnell
Sir Keir Starmer has become a “replica of George Osborne” by refusing to “end austerity”, former Labour shadow chancellor John McDonnell said on Tuesday.
Mr McDonnell criticised the prime minister after reports that he will use his speech to the Labour conference to warn of “tough decisions” facing the government.
The MP for Hayes and Harlington, who was stripped of the Labour whip after rebelling against the government to call for the removal of the two-child benefit cap, said: “I don’t say this lightly but if you close your eyes and listen to the language being used it is almost like George Osborne speaking again in 2010”.
Our political correspondent Millie Cooke has the full story:
Starmer is ‘the new George Osborne’ says John McDonnell
Former Labour shadow chancellor attacks plan to curb welfare fraud and says the prime minister is becoming a ‘replica’ of the former Tory chancellor
Starmer: Training system funding to be ‘rebalanced’ to aid the young gain skills
The Prime Minister has announced that funding for the training system will be “rebalanced” to help young people gain skills.
He told Labour’s annual conference that foundation apprenticeships will be launched as the first step to a “youth guarantee”.
He said: “We’ve got to give businesses more flexibility to adapt to real training needs. Rebalancing funding in our training system back to young people.”
There will be a new growth and skills levy which will replace the existing apprenticeship levy and include new foundation apprenticeships.
The new apprenticeships will give young people a route in to careers in critical sectors, enabling them to earn a wage whilst developing skills.
The Government said the new levy will allow funding for shorter apprenticeships, giving learners and employers greater flexibility over their training than under the existing system – where apprenticeships must run for at least 12 months.
To fund this, employers are being asked to rebalance their funding which will involve businesses funding more of their level 7 apprenticeships – equivalent to a master’s degree and often accessed by older or already well qualified employees – outside of the levy.
Student who protested at Starmer’s speech lambasts lack of action on Gaza
The 18-year-old student who protested against the prime minister’s speech at the Labour Party conference said he was moved to act by Sir Keir Starmer’s “sickening” lack of action in the Middle East.
Daniel Riley was a delegate and Labour Party member who was not acting on behalf of an organisation or protest group, but said the Labour leader was expressing “empty platitudes” when he called for a ceasefire in Gaza.
The new Labour Government has suspended about 30 out of a total of 350 arms export licences to Israel, amid concerns they could be used in violation of international humanitarian law in the Gaza conflict.
But protesters have lined the exterior of the conference centre in Liverpool with signs accusing the Government of being “complicit in genocide”.
Mr Riley told reporters after he was released by security: “Every day we’re still sending British bombs and British bullets that are being used in Lebanon and in Gaza right now, and the prime minister, he could stop that, he could stop that right now, but he doesn’t. And he says that he wants things to stop, but he won’t lift a finger to actually stop it.”
Asked if he had planned to disrupt the leader’s speech, Mr Riley said: “No, I was a delegate, I’m a Labour Party member, I hoped I’d be one for life but I suspect not now.
“What’s happened, and just the complete failure of Keir Starmer and the Labour Party to address it, it’s just completely sickening.”
Listening to the prime minister’s speech, Mr Riley said: “I was just angry, I mean at myself I guess for not saying anything at the time, but again, like I say, just for him coming out to say he wanted a ceasefire, but not taking any of the actions. And I was just angry, in the end, I decided I would do it.”
When asked to clarify what he shouted during the speech, because of the ensuing noise from delegates that drowned out his criticism, Mr Riley said: “Not really sure myself, to be honest. Just saying that while he was talking about providing opportunities for children, children in Gaza and children in Lebanon are having British bombs and bullets rain down on them because he won’t lift a finger to stop them.”
Justice secretary says she wants to reduce number of women going into prison
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said she wants to reduce the number of women going into prison, adding the “ultimate ambition” is to have fewer women’s prisons.
Ms Mahmood said prison “isn’t working” for women, telling the Labour Party conference in Liverpool: “Rather than encouraging rehabilitation, prison forces women into a life of crime.”
Ms Mahmood highlighted a 2007 review related to women and the criminal justice system, adding: “It was clear then and it’s clear now that if we change how we treat women in prison, we cut crime, we keep families together and we end the harm that passes from one generation to the next.
“For that reason I am today announcing that this Government will launch a new body – the Women’s Justice Board.
“It’s goal will be clear: to reduce the number of women going into prison with the ultimate ambition of having fewer women’s prisons.”
GB Energy announcement welcomed as Starmer urged to ‘accelerate’ action
The announcement of GB Energy being based in Aberdeen has been welcomed, as ministers were urged to “accelerate” the creation of the agency.
Responding to the news, Scotland’s acting Energy Secretary Gillian Martin welcomed the announcement, adding: “We will now press the UK Government to make sure that this announcement brings real decision-making to Aberdeen and adds value to the great work already taking place in the energy transition.
“More widely, we are working closely with the UK Government as it establishes the GBE team and we would encourage them to accelerate the establishment of the new organisation so that investment in projects in Scotland can be taken forward without delay.”
Also speaking after the speech, GB Energy chair Juergen Maier CBE, said the headquarters will act as a “starting point” for the newly-formed firm.
“We will use this base to rapidly scale up this publicly owned, operationally independent company and start to engage with investors and communities and build supply chains across the UK,” he added.
Within minutes, the Aberdeen and Grampian Chamber of Commerce, which had been campaigning for the agency to come to the region, hailed the “fantastic news” which it said will “secure the north-east’s status as a global energy capital for many decades to come”.
Its chief executive Russell Borthwick added: “However, we do not need to kill off one industry to grow another – in fact, the opposite is true, as one cannot exist without the other.
“We therefore urge the UK Government to use next month’s Budget to restore confidence in the North Sea to protect the jobs, supply chain and energy production we need to ensure a just transition.”
Stuart Payne – the chief executive of the North Sea Transition Authority (NSTA) – said he was “absolutely delighted” with the news, adding: “The city was at the absolute heart of the UK’s energy story for the last 60 years, and can do the same for the next 60 – the energy transition will be accelerated and enabled by a world class workforce, a passion for tackling the hardest technical challenges, and a very warm welcome awaits our new colleagues.”
Sir Ian Wood, a well known oil and gas billionaire and the chair of Aberdeen’s Energy Transition Zone (ETZ), urged the sector to work with ministers to shape the agency.
And David Whitehouse, the chief executive of Offshore Energies UK, said it was important where the organisation was located, “but what really matters is what it does”, as he urged GB Energy to listen to “expert people across our sector, backing our supply chains and safeguarding the jobs of thousands of skilled workers across the UK”.
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