Labour conference live: Starmer to tell UK there is ‘light at the end of this tunnel’ in keynote speech
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 on Tuesday 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.
It comes a day after chancellor Rachel Reeves was heckled during her own speech and the conference hall heard boos after a winter fuel debate was blocked.
The Independent’s political team will be reporting live throughout the Labour Party conference in Liverpool.
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The Labour donor at the centre of wardrobegate has said being asked about the clothes row is "not very nice".
Asked about the affair by Channel 4 at the Labour Party Conference on Monday, he said: “Please don’t – this is not very nice.”
Three in five voters believe Labour will lose next election
A new poll has revealed that three in five people expect Labour to lose the next general election in 2029.
Less than three months after Sir Keir Starmer’s landslide election, 60 per cent of voters think he will not secure a second mandate.
The poll, conducted by the More in Common think tank, also found more than half of those surveyed do not believe Sir Keir will lead Labour into the next election.
48 per cent of respondents said they believed he would still be prime minister by the next election, while 52 per cent said he will not.
Watch: Reeves outlines Labour ‘tough decisions’ in conference speech
Live: Reeves outlines ‘tough decisions’ Labour face in major party conference speech
Watch live as Rachel Reeves addresses the Labour Party's annual conference in Liverpool on Monday, 23 September.
Two thirds deem MPs accepting event tickets as gifts from donors unacceptable, reveals survey
Two-thirds of British adults think it is unacceptable for MPs to accept tickets to football matches and concert tickets as gifts from donors or companies, a new survey has revealed.
According to the YouGov data collected on Monday, 64 per cent of 4,046 adults polled in the UK deem the practice unacceptable, while almost half (44 per cent) state that it is “completely unacceptable”.
However, the survey did find that one in five (19 per cent) concede it is “somewhat acceptable” and one in 20 (6 per cent) say it is “completely acceptable”.
Meanwhile, YouGov also asked the public for their thoughts on the reason behind why wealthy people make donations to individual politicians, with six in ten (60 per cent) arguing it is an attempt to gain influence, and only six per cent saying they are given because the donors support the politician and their party.
Gary Neville accuses ‘bully’ Premier League of ‘scaremongering’ over regulator
Gary Neville has accused the Premier League of acting like a “bully” and “scaremongering” about the proposed independent football regulator.
The former Manchester United and England star, who has been a strong supporter of an independent regulator, criticised the attitude of England’s top football league as “entitled” and “selfish” during a fringe event at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool.
Mr Neville said on Monday: “We have a Premier League that’s entitled, they feel entitled.
“I’m not going to use the word greedy, but I just have. They are selfish and I can’t understand that way of thinking.
“It’s almost like they’re the big brother that sit there and distribute scraps of food to the little brothers round the table. It’s not what you do when you’re in a family.”
His comments follow claims that English teams could be barred from European competitions such as the Champions League if the new regulator is introduced, due to Uefa rules against state involvement in football governance.
The government has dismissed concerns, stressing that the regulator would be independent and saying it did not expect there to be issues regarding European competitions.
He added: “Their mindset is such of a bully. Their mindset is such that they think they can influence the regulator once the regulator’s introduced and they can get a better deal potentially the other side of the regulator.
“And what they’re applying is their soft power and their influence to try and create scare stories and scaremongering, like we had a couple of weeks ago.”
Labour accused of censoring pro-Palestinian activists at conference
Labour has been accused of censoring pro-Palestinian activists at its party conference after ordering a group to remove the words “genocide” and “apartheid” from the listing for an event about Israel’s war in Gaza.
The party was condemned by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) for refusing to promote its fringe event titled “Justice for Palestine: Confronting genocide and ending apartheid”.
The event has been listed in the brochure as simply “Justice for Palestine”.
Political Correspondent Archie Mitchell reports:
Labour accused of censoring pro-Palestinian activists by banning genocide references
Exclusive: The party has been criticised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) for refusing to promote its fringe event, titled ‘Justice for Palestine: Confronting genocide and ending apartheid’
Watch: Reaction to Rachel Reeves’ speech at Labour Conference 2024
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