Labour conference live: Starmer speech to offer ‘light at end of tunnel’ as Reeves considers benefits cut
Keir Starmer will deliver a message of hope to Labour conference
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Sir Keir Starmer will warn he is making tough decisions towards a “new Britain” and cannot offer “false hope” about the challenges ahead.
He will address Labour delegates in Liverpool today at 2pm in his first party conference speech as prime minister.
But after he privately acknowledged that he needs to lift the spirits of the nation, he will say there is “light at the end of this tunnel”.
Sir Keir is expected to announce plans for new legislation in his keynote, including a “Hillsborough Law” which will introduce a legal duty of candour on public bodies and a new Fraud, Error and Debt Bill which will see welfare fraudsters dealt with faster.
The Labourgovernment has recently faced heavy criticism over its winter fuel allowance cut and gifts accepted by ministers.
Rachel Reeves is understood to be considering cuts to the welfare budget as part of her money-saving Budget to spend more on investment.
If the plan goes ahead, the state benefits budget could be reduced by helping more people get back to work which would lower the bill for income-related sickness benefits and universal credit.
The Independent’s political team will be reporting live throughout the Labour Party conference in Liverpool.
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Pubs could be forced to close early as Labour considers crackdown on opening hours
Pubs could be forced to call last orders early under new measures to target harmful drinking.
Public health minister Andrew Gwynne said the government is considering “tightening up the hours of operation” of bars and pubs as part of an attempt to improve health and combat anti-social behaviour.
But Mr Gwynne insisted Labour is “not the fun police” nor “supernanny”, instead saying the measures would be driven by both moral and economic arguments.
Our political correspondent Millie Cooke has the full story:
Pubs could be forced to close early as Labour considers crackdown on opening hours
Sir Chris Whitty warned that 60 per cent of the NHS budget will eventually be spent on preventable diseases if current trends continue
John McDonnell accuses Labour of copying George Osborne’s narrative
Ahead of Sir Keir Starmer’s speech, several prominent MPs are offering their opinions on what has been dubbed as a “really big historic moment”.
First to go is John McDonnell, who had his Labour whip removed for voting to scrap the two-child benefit cap.
The former shadow chancellor, who is now serving as an independent MP, is unimpressed by the narrative of the party and has compared the wording used during the conference by ministers to George Osborne.
He told Radio 4’s Today programme: “I don’t say this lightly, but if you close your eyes and listen to he language being used, it’s almost like George Osborne speaking again in 2010.
“The rhetoric of ‘tough choices, painful decisions’ - it’s literally replica of a speech made by George Osborne.”
Pictured: Labour merchandise on sale at the party conference in Liverpool
Rachel Reeves ‘considering’ cuts to welfare budget
Rachel Reeves is understood to be considering cuts to the welfare budget as part of her money-saving budget to spend more on investment.
If the plan goes ahead, the state benefits budget could be reduced by helping more people get back to work which would lower the bill for income-related sickness benefits and universal credit.
Work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall told the Labour conference at a fringe event the government was planning “really big reforms” of welfare and job centres at the October budget.
And to further fuel speculation, chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster refused to rule out the cuts during his media round on Sky News this morning.
Labour not ruling out future cuts to welfare
During his interview on Sky News, the chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster failed to rule out possible cuts to the welfare budget.
When asked by Kay Burley about the 30 October budget, Pat McFadden said it will be a “good platform for the future of the country”.
But when pressed whether ministers will consider cuts to the welfare budget, he did not address the question.
He said: “She won’t start from that point of view, but she will start by saying that there are too many people on long term sickness benefits.
“What can we do to get people back into work and there is some fraud in the system to which we are going to act on.
“It’s really important that if money is spent on benefits, it goes to those who are genuinely in need of it. And where there’s fraud in the system that we try to root that out.
“That’s two things that we do want to do, to get people back to work and to make sure that money spent in this system goes to those who are genuinely in need of it.”
McFadden: Keir Starmer conference speech ‘really big historic moment’
Pat McFadden is now speaking on Sky News where he has hailed the prime minister’s speech today as a “really big historic moment”.
Sir Keir Starmer is expected to address the Labour Party conference at 2pm to declare there is “light at the end of the tunnel” despite tough times ahead.
The chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster told Sky News: “We have inherited a tough financial situation, but if we can stabilise that then the prospects for the country are very good.
“The prospects for investing in the country, getting the economy moving, for the turning around of public services, getting rebuilding.
“This is the prize that awaits us if we can get through this period and deal with some of the things that we’ve inherited from the last government.
“That’s the essential message at the heart of the prime minister’s speech today.”
Labour to announce replacement for apprenticeship levy
The Labour government is to replace the apprenticeship levy with a reformed growth and skills levy.
The prime minister is expected to say that the new skills levy will offer greater flexibility for employers and learners, including through shorter duration apprenticeships in targeted sectors like construction at the Labour Party’s annual conference today.
Employers groups have been critical of the apprenticeship levy for years and have been calling for it to be reformed.
The new levy will be developed in consultation with employers, training providers and Skills England, the organisation established by the PM and education secretary Bridget Phillipson days after the formation of the Labour government.
Sir Keir Starmer will also announce the development of new, foundation apprenticeships that offer pre-apprenticeship training to young people who are not ready to start a level two or three apprenticeship.
In a speech, he will say: “We’ll get our skills system right. We’ve got to give businesses more flexibility to adapt to real training needs and also unlock the pride, the ambition, the pull of the badge of the shirt that young people feel when building a future, not just for themselves but for their community.
“So we will introduce new foundation apprenticeships, rebalance funding in our training system back to young people, align that with what businesses really need.
“The first step to a youth guarantee that will eradicate inactivity and unemployment for our young people – once and for all.”
McFadden promises ‘good times on the horizon’ if Labour controls public finances
Pat McFadden said that there are “good times on the horizon” if the government gets public finances under control.
Speaking to Times Radio, the chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster said: “We’ll hear from the prime minister today in what is a really big moment for us, the first speech from a Labour PM to Labour conference for 15 years, is that although the fiscal government budget situation is tough, there are good times on the horizon if we get stability right.
“And we have to do that because we know the cost of not doing it, and then we can get the investment going in the country, get the growth going, and that, more than anything generates the money for public services in the future.”
Minister defends downbeat message of financial black hole
Pat McFadden has said trust in government is “really important” as he defended Labour’s downbeat messaging over public finances.
The chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster told Times Radio: “Trust is really important, and I think if you’re candid with people about the situation you’re more likely to get trust.
“If we just came in and said to them, ‘Everything’s going to be fixed overnight, let the good times roll’ and they actually got to the first budget and we said, ‘Actually it’s really difficult’.
“The black hol isn’t something that we made up. We don’t talk about that for fun. These are genuine things that we found under the bonnet after we got elected.”
Pat McFadden vows ‘we’ll try and treat workers fairly’ after nurses reject pay deal
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden is doing this morning media round and has appeared on Times Radio and Sky News.
The cabinet minister said that getting a deal with striking nurses is an “essential step” in fixing public services.
Speaking to Times Radio a day after nurses rejected a deal that included a 5.5% pay rise, Mr McFadden said: “When we came into office we wanted to try and put these industrial disputes behind us and get the public services back to work.
“That doesn’t fix them overnight, but it’s an essential step on that road. So you know, we will do what we can but there’s always competing pressures for public spending.”
He later added: “We’ll try and treat workers fairly, we’ll try and make sure people are properly rewarded.
“But everybody knows there’s not an unlimited amount of public spending.”
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