Labour conference live: Why Starmer speech will offer ‘light at end of tunnel’ as fresh benefit cuts row looms
Keir Starmer to deliver key Labour conference speech as plan for crackdown on benefit fraud raises concerns
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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 Labour government 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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Starmer accused of ‘silencing pensioners’ after blocking winter fuel payments conference vote
Protester grabbed by neck and thrown out of Labour conference during Rachel Reeves speech
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.”
Pictured: Keir Starmer rehearses his keynote speech
Starmer: There is light at the end of the tunnel but ‘this will be tough’
Sir Keir Starmer will tell Britons there is “light at the end of this tunnel” but they must first join a “shared struggle” through tough short-term pressures.
The prime minister will give one of the most important speeches of his political career today as he addresses Labour delegates at the party conference in Liverpool.
Sir Keir will say he wants to “build a new Britain” with faster economic growth, shorter hospital waiting lists and safer streets.
But he will warn there are no easy answers and he could not offer “false hope” about the challenges ahead.
It comes as sources close to him admit he urgently needs to project a longer-term vision of hope and optimism after a first 10 weeks in power characterised by gloom and despair over the state of the finances and problems facing the country.
The PM is understood to blame the summer riots for preventing him from having enough time to properly consider his long-term vision in the immediate wake of the election.
He will also attempt to set out his positive vision of “national renewal” but the speech comes against a backdrop of anger within the Labour movement about the decision to means-test winter fuel payments, stripping them from millions of pensioners.
Other measures promised by Sir Keir in his speech will include:
- A crackdown on benefit fraudsters aimed at saving £1.6 billion over five years.
- A commitment to reduce net migration by training Britons to fill vacancies in the jobs market rather than allowing employers to rely on overseas labour.
- A promise to introduce a Hillsborough Law requiring a duty of candour for public officials.
Ban on zombie-style knives and machetes to come into force
The number machetes, swords or zombie knives on the streets has nearly doubled in five years, police figures suggest.
Data obtained by the BBC under the Freedom of Information Act showed that in 2023 the three types of weapons were mentioned in more than 14,000 crimes recorded by 32 police forces in England and Wales.
In 2019, 7,159 offences were recorded as involving large blades. The figure rose to 14,195 in 2023.
Nearly 10,000 of the 2023 offences involved machetes, double the number from five years before, the broadcaster reported.
On Tuesday a ban on owning zombie-style knives and machetes comes into force, following a four-week amnesty scheme where owners have been encouraged to hand the weapons into police, local authorities or knife crime charities.
The ban is part of efforts to reduce knife crime, with campaigners including actor Idris Elba pushing for the large blades to be outlawed.
The government has additional plans to ban ninja swords.
Who is Lord Waheed Alli? The Labour donor embroiled in Starmer gifts row
Labour’s biggest donor Lord Waheed Alli has found himself at the centre of a political row over the acceptance of gifts and hospitality by senior MPs in the party.
In the first controversy to hit Sir Keir Starmer’s new government, questions have been raised over Lord Alli – the business executive who has donated some £700,000 to the party over the past two decades – being handed a Downing Street pass.
In a row dubbed “passes for glasses”, it has emerged that Lord Alli had gifted the Sir Keir eyewear and work clothing worth £18,000, clothes for his wife Lady Victoria Starmer, and a £10,000 donation to the PM’s chief of staff Sue Gray’s son Liam Conlon’s campaign to become a Labour MP.
Read the full article below:
Who is Lord Waheed Alli? The Labour donor embroiled in Starmer gifts row
Lord Alli was first appointed to Lords by Tony Blair in 1998 and fought to repeal Thatcher’s notorious Section 28 laws
Watch: Labour defence minister urges gamers to sign up to military
Watch: Labour’s defence minister urges gamers to sign up to military
Watch as defence secretary John Healey addressed the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool on Monday, 23 September, as he urged gamers to sign up to the military.
Exclusive: Cabinet ministers tell Starmer he must remove top civil servant now
Sir Keir Starmer is being urged by several cabinet ministers to sack the top civil servant in Whitehall immediately and stamp his authority on the new Labour government.
Knives are out for cabinet secretary Simon Case, who has been accused of undermining the prime minister and being responsible for briefings against his chief of staff Sue Gray.
Our political editor David Maddox has the full story:
Cabinet ministers tell Starmer he must remove top civil servant to regain authority
Exclusive: Ministers have lost patience with the UK’s top civil servant Simon Case and one accused him of ‘poisoning the well of government’ with off-record briefings
Watch: Protester grabbed by neck and thrown out of Labour conference
Protester grabbed by neck and thrown out of Labour conference during Reeves speech
A protester who heckled Rachel Reeves during her Labour Party conference speech was grabbed by the neck and hauled out of the venue on Monday, 23 September. The heckler shouted about the sale of arms to Israel before security removed him from the hall. “I thought we were voting for change Rachel, climate breakdown is on our doorstep,” the protester shouted as delegates drowned out his words. Ms Reeves responded that Labour “represents working people, not a party of protest.”
In pictures: Day 2 of Labour Party conference
Wes Streeting jokes Sue Gray ‘shot JFK’ and ‘no one should earn more than the PM’
Wes Streeting has joked that Sir Keir Starmer’s embattled senior aide Sue Gray had “shot JFK” and “no one should earn more than the prime minister” amid a row over her salary.
The health secretary made light of suggestions of mounting acrimony at the heart of government as he spoke at an event on the sidelines of the Labour Party conference in Liverpool.
Speaking to a crowd at the gathering hosted by think tank Labour Together, Mr Streeting: “I want to welcome the BBC’s conviction that no one should be paid more than the prime minister, that no one should receive hospitality, and that we should judge performance on social media mentions.
“Be careful what we wish for, comrades.”
Our political correspondent Archie Mitchell has the full story:
Wes Streeting jokes Sue Gray ‘shot JFK’ and ‘no one should earn more than the PM’
The health secretary joked about Sue Gray’s influence amid repeated negative press briefings about Sir Keir Starmer’s chief of staff
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