UK politics live: Starmer pays back £6,000 in gifts amid donations row as Lord Alli faces interest probe
Prime minister ‘covering cost of six Taylor Swift tickets, four races tickest and designer clothing deal’ for his wife
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Sir Keir Starmer has paid back more than £6,000 worth of gifts and hospitality he received since the election, after the row over ministerial donations, it’s been revealed.
The prime minister is covering the cost of six Taylor Swift tickets, four tickets to the races and a clothing rental agreement with a high-end designer favoured by his wife, Lady Victoria Starmer.
A No 10 spokesperson said: “The prime minister has commissioned a new set of principles on gifts and hospitality to be published as part of the updated ministerial code. Ahead of the publication of the new code, the prime minister has paid for several entries on his own register. This will appear in the next register of members’ interests.”
Labour peer Lord Waheed Alli is under investigation over alleged non-registration of interests that could lead to a possible breach of the members’ code of conduct.
The fashion mogul, who has been at the centre of the row over donations accepted by Sir Keir Starmer, is being probed by the Lords’ commissioner.
Meanwhile, James Cleverly issued an apology to Tory members following the party’s brutal election defeat in July, urging the party to avoid complacency, warning against “wallowing in self-pity”.
Watch: Tory leadership hopefuls Kemi Badenoch and Tom Tugendhat address party conference
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Keir Starmer in Brussels to meet Ursula von der Leyen
Sir Keir Starmer has just arrived to Brussels to meet president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.
In a joint statement ahead of their meeting, Ms von der Leyen said that she is “very glad” to meet the prime minister again after their bilateral at the UN last week.
Both leaders “strongly condemned” Iran’s retaliatory attack on Israel last night and said that the “spiral of violence is threatening the lives of innocent civilians”.
Adding to her statement, Sir Keir declared that the UK stands with Israel and its “right to defend itself”.
Labour slams ‘dangerous and reckless ideas’ from Tory candidates
The Labour Party has reacted to the speeches made by the Tory leadership candidates.
Commons leader Lucy Powell described the Conservative Party conference as “chaotic and divisive mess” and claimed the four rivals “played a part in the chaos and decline over the last 14 years”.
She added: “They have learnt nothing from their abysmal defeat at the general election.
“From attacking maternity pay or the minimum wage, to criticising our armed forces - these are dangerous and reckless ideas, from Tory leadership contenders who are out of touch with what matters to the British people.”
Watch live: Starmer speaks from Brussels in bid to reset Britain’s relationship with the EU
Live: Starmer speaks from Brussels in bid to reset Britain’s relationship with the EU
Watch live as Sir Keir Starmer speaks in Brussels on Wednesday, 2 October, to kick off his bid to reset Britain’s relationship with the European Union.
Conservative Party conference comes to an end
Kemi Badenoch has now concluded her speech.
All four candidates are on stage together taking applause from the Conservative members of the audience.
The Tory conference is now ending with a rendition of the national anthem.
‘Time to start renewal right now'
Ending her speech, Kemi Badenoch said: “After we have picked and unpicked the damage done by the Labour government, my vision for beyond 2030 is this - for Britain to be a country where people can find a shared identity, four nations but one United Kingdom.
“A country where being a British citizen means more than just having a British passport. A country where people can be committed to each other, irrespective of their religion or what they look like. A Britain that its friends with its neighbours but will always proudly protect its national interests.
“A Britain at ease with itself, a Britain that believes in itself. And that sort of Britain can only come about because of renewed Conservative principles. And the time to start that renewal is right now.”
Badenoch vows review of the state
Directly appealing to voting members, Kemi Badenoch said: “If I become leader we will immediately begin a once-in-a-generation undertaking, the sort of project not attempted since the days of Keith Joseph in the 1970s.
“A comprehensive plan to reprogramme the British state, to reboot the British economy, a new blueprint for the great machine of our country. One that goes far beyond our relationship with the EU or the ECHR. A new plan that considers every aspect of what the state does and why it does it.
“A plan built on the principles and priorities of our nation. A plan that looks at our international agreements, at the Human Rights Act, the Equality Act, at judicial review, at judicial activism, at the Bank of England, at the Treasury, at the devolution, at quangos, and at the health service.”
Badenoch vows to make Keir Starmer sweat as the new opposition
The Tory leadership candidate has promised to make the prime minister “sweat” if she becomes the new face of the opposition in parliament.
She vowed to “make Angie uncomfortable, to make Rachel wriggle, and make Starmer sweat”.
Looks ahead to 2030, the shadow secretary claimed it will be the “first full year we’ll have in government” - and claims the party can make the 2030s a “golden decade of renewal and growth”.
Badenoch: Stealthy poisoning of our society needs to stop
Kemi Badenoch has told the conference that the “stealthy poisoning of our society needs to stop”.
She said: “Unlike the Left, we know right from wrong but we allowed ourselves to be bowed by aggressive identity politics, by Treasury rules that were written by Gordon Brown and a legal system written by Tony Blair.
“You may think Blair and Brown were defeated in 2010 but the truth is the Left never left. It’s time to make a change. Ministers need to be able to make decisions that aren’t endlessly challenged in the courts. If the law says the government can’t deport a foreign child abuser, the law is an ass.”
Ms Badenoch claimed that it was time for “a change” on immigration, adding: “We are going to rewrite the rules of the game.”
On trans issues...
The Tory leadership hopeful has now shifted to trans issues and defended her track record.
When she was women and equalities minister she promised to redefine the legal definition of the term “sex” to mean biological sex and not “redefined meanings of the word”.
Reflecting on her time as minister, she added: “For too long, government stayed silent as women were sacked for saying that a man cannot be a woman.
“I fought for them while Labour called them bigots, and it wasn’t until the SNP put a sex offender in a women’s prison that they understood the fight I was leading. We won that battle.”
Badenoch calls for fight against socialism
Kemi Badenoch has said she has been fighting socialism and identity politics all her life.
She told the conference the country, like the 1970s, is facing a battle of ideas “against the left and its desire for ever greater social and economic control”.
The shadow secretary added: “It is socialism returned socialism in a suit. But you can give it a new label. You can sneak it in. You can promote class warfare under the banner of equality.
“You can take freedom and choice away from families by telling them that Ofsted inspection reports are unfair.
“If you call communism, environmentalism, you can close down businesses, block the roads and stop people going to work.”
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