Keir Starmer speech live: PM hails changed Labour Party as he tells conference big decisions are not easy
Prime minister also heckled by Gaza protester and defends winter fuel payment cut in address
Your support helps us to tell the story
My recent work focusing on Latino voters in Arizona has shown me how crucial independent journalism is in giving voice to underrepresented communities.
Your support is what allows us to tell these stories, bringing attention to the issues that are often overlooked. Without your contributions, these voices might not be heard.
Every dollar you give helps us continue to shine a light on these critical issues in the run up to the election and beyond
Eric Garcia
Washington Bureau Chief
Sir Keir Starmer has hailed a changed Labour Party as he delivered his first party conference speech as prime minister to a packed hall of delegates in Liverpool.
In a wide-ranging address that lasted over an hour, he covered policies new and old, admitting: “I understand many of the decisions we must take will be unpopular. If they were popular – they’d be easy.”
However, he promised a “light at the end of the tunnel” for Britain.
Sir Keir was met with rapturous applause from delegates – while a lone protester heckled him near the end of his speech, with the “children of Gaza” heard before he was escorted from the venue.
Responding to the heckler, the prime minister said that “this guy has a pass for the 2019 conference”, adding: “While he has been protesting, we have been changing the party.”
Sir Keir also said that pensioners will be better off under Labour despite the party’s controversial cuts to winter fuel payments.
Acknowledging that some may find it hard to “take that on faith” due to the cold weather benefit cut, the PM said: “If this path were popular or easy, we would have walked it already.”
The Independent’s political team will be reporting live throughout the Labour Party conference in Liverpool.
Keir Starmer promises to revive UK as he dismisses ‘silly’ freebies stories
Starmer accused of ‘silencing pensioners’ after blocking winter fuel payments conference vote
What’s going wrong with Labour? Ask John Rentoul anything – from Starmer ‘sleaze’ to winter fuel payments
Protester grabbed by neck and thrown out of Labour conference during Rachel Reeves speech
The knives are out for Starmer’s cabinet secretary. How long can he hold on?
Keir Starmer speech: The calm before the storm
As Sir Keir Starmer prepares to take the stage, a young Labour supporter introduces the prime minister.
He said: “I went to a comprehensive school in a deprived area. When I started it was a good school, by the time I left it was in special measures.
“Not because the teachers didn’t care, they did, it was because the government didn’t care about people like us.”
A video about Sir Keir’s top achievements is shown to the conference ahead of his speech.
Starmer due to address the Labour conference shortly
Sir Keir Starmer is just minutes away from beginning his speech. You can watch it live below:
Live: Starmer promises ‘light at end of the tunnel’ in key Labour conference speech
Watch live as Sir Keir Starmer delivers a speech at the Labour Party conference on Tuesday 24 September.
Pictured: People queue ahead of Keir Starmer’s speech
Union boss warns Labour will have to ‘dig up every street’ to switch to heat pumps
GMB union boss has claimed has claimed the government will have to “dig up every street” in the UK to switch to heat pumps.
Energy secretary Ed Miliband could be introducing heat pump targets in a move to secure “energy independence” for households.
During a fringe event at the Labour conference, general secretary Gary Smith said: “We’re not going to be heating our homes with heat pumps. It’s just not going to happen, folks.
“We’d have to dig up every street and every road in this country and rewire the whole nation. Who’s going to pay for it? It’s not going to happen.
“Electricity is four times the price of gas. People are going to wake up to this reality. We are not putting up an Eiffel Tower style turbine with two and a half thousand tons of concrete every day anytime soon. It’s not going to happen.”
IN FOCUS | Angela Rayner and what the politician’s ‘vanity photographer’ saw
As a row is sparked over whether the deputy prime minister has or hasn’t hired someone to document her working life, Simon Mills takes a look at everyone from Barack Obama to Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage who has done the same and hears how ‘tacky and tawdry’ it can be on the other side of the lens:
Angela Rayner and confessions of politician’s ‘vanity photographer’
As a row is sparked over whether the deputy prime minister has or hasn’t hired someone to document her working life, Simon Mills takes a look at everyone from Barack Obama to Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage who has done the same and hears how ‘tacky and tawdry’ it can be on the other side of the lens
Poll: Majority believe PM wrong to accept gifts from businesses
Three in four people believe it is wrong for the prime minister to accept gifts from businesses or organisations, a poll has found.
An Ipsos study found 75 per cent of Britons believe it is “rarely acceptable” or “never acceptable” for Sir Keir Starmer to accept freebies.
But 15 pert cent feel it is “usually acceptable” and five per cent think it is “always acceptable”.
The survey was carried out in the wake of stories about how Sir Keir and members of the government, including chancellor Rachel Reeves, have accepted donations towards items of clothes.
Savanta experts said the latest poll suggested “a nosedive in support” for the PM.
According to PA, the prime minister and his most senior ministers will no longer accept donations to pay for their clothes.
Sir Keir was among MPs, including Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey, to accept tickets to a Taylor Swift concert at Wembley Stadium from the Football Association.
Community orders need to be ‘trusted more’ by courts, says prisons minister
Community orders should be “trusted more by the courts” as an alternative to jail, the prisons minister has suggested, signalling a potential change in approach to dealing with lower-level crimes.
Lord Timpson said the Labour government was going to carry out a review of sentencing policy “at speed” as he accused his predecessors in the Ministry of Justice of failing to “follow the evidence” about which measures work to curb reoffending.
Speaking at an event on the fringes of the annual party conference in Liverpool, the former chief executive of the Timpson Group said he hoped that his appointment to the role showed Sir Keir Starmer had sent a message that he wanted to “change the system”.
Lord Timpson was the long-time boss of the shoe repair company Timpson, known for recruiting and training prisoners.
He told the audience: “When it comes to the view of the public, which is something that I’m really aware of, because not everybody will have my view on what prison is for, but we need to make sure that everything we do cuts crime, and if it cuts crime and reduces reoffending, then I hope that the public will follow this.
“I’m in this for the long haul and I hope that by putting me in this position, the prime minister has sent the signal that we need to change the system, and I hope to be around long enough to do it.”
Ask John Rentoul anything about Labour Party conference
Sir Keir Starmer’s keynote speech today will be crucial, as it’s his first post-victory address, where he’ll aim to inspire after a rocky start.
Meanwhile, Chancellor Rachel Reeves faced the tough task of selling fiscal discipline – a message that may not sit well with the party’s base and unions.
Ultimately, the conference will be judged on whether it serves as a successful milestone for Labour’s return to power or a missed opportunity to reset after a difficult start in government.
If you have a question on the Labour Party conference, submit it here and our chief political commentator John Rentoul will be on hand later to answer them.
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?
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments