Labour conference live: Starmer to deliver speech after Cooper says riots an insult to Southport families

Yvette Cooper says Tories and Reform are right-wing wreckers during keynote speech

Protester grabbed by neck and thrown out of Labour party conference in Reeves’ speech

Yvette Cooper has condemned the Southport far-right riots during the summer, describing the violence an “insult to a grieving community”.

The Home secretary blamed the “racism, thuggery and crime” that took place during the disorder on “cracks in the system” caused by 14 years of Tory rule as she addressed day three of the Labour party annual conference in Liverpool.

Ms Cooper also outlined new measures to halve knife crime and domestic violence in her speech.

Sir Keir Starmer will also make his first party conference speech as prime minister later on Tuesday, in which he is expected to warn he is making tough decisions towards a “new Britain” and cannot offer “false hope” about the challenges ahead, but will insist there is “light at the end of this tunnel”.

Sir Keir is also 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.

The Independent’s political team will be reporting live throughout the Labour Party conference in Liverpool.

Key Points

• Cooper says Southport riots insult to grieving community
• Tories and Reform are ‘undermining respect for the rule of law’ - Cooper
• Starmer: There is light at the end of the tunnel but ‘this will be tough’
• Rachel Reeves ‘considering’ cuts to welfare budget
• McDonnell says Labour copying George Osborne with benefits crackdown
• What time is Starmer’s speech today and how to watch?

[24 September 2024 02:30 · Salma Ouaguira]

More young people admitted to hospital for mental health problems – report

More young people in England are reaching “crisis point” and being admitted to hospital for their mental health, a report has said.

There are “significant” geographical disparities in the range of services available to young people, the Education Policy Institute (EPI) added.

A paper from the think tank, funded by charity the Prudence Trust, found that the range of services available does not appear to be related to the number of young people in an area.

It said NHS England data shows the number of young people aged 11 to 25 admitted to hospital for mental health reasons rose by a fifth to around 150,000 between 2017 and 2023.

Admission episodes rose by around a third during the same period, which suggests more young people are “reaching a crisis point and experiencing multiple admissions”, according to the report.

The study investigated the availability of non-specialist mental health services – those delivered outside NHS community mental health settings and inpatient settings – for young people.

These include drop-in services, wellbeing cafes, peer support and youth groups, and services provided through schools.

Researchers found significant geographical variation in the range of non-specialist services available to young people as well as in levels of awareness around the services that exist.

[24 September 2024 02:00 · Salma Ouaguira]

Reeves defends acceptance of £7,500 of clothing donations

Rachel Reeves has defended her acceptance of £7,500 of clothing donations from friend Juliet Rosenfeld.

She told Times Radio: “Juliet and me have been friends for a long time, and she said to me about a year-and-a-half ago ‘I want to help you in the election campaign and the thing I’d really like to do is make sure that for big events and for the campaign trail, you’re smart and well turned out’.

“I really appreciated that, she’s made a big difference to me. That’s not something that I’m going to do in government.”

She added: “I can understand that to a lot of people it looks a bit odd. I get that.”

The chancellor also defended Angela Rayner’s department’s hiring of a taxpayer-funded photographer.

She told Times Radio: “All government departments under all governments have press officers and communications budgets.

“It’s not a personal photographer.”

Chancellor Rachel Reeves takes part in a morning media interview for Times Radio (Peter Byrne/PA Wire)