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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Andrew Sparrow

Keir Starmer says Labour will tackle obstacles holding back housebuilding as protester interrupts conference speech – as it happened

Sir Keir Starmer Pat McFadden United Kingdom John Stevens Britain Unite

Afternoon summary

  • Keir Starmer has firmed up plans to make Labour the party of builders in his speech to the conference. Promising a new generation of new towns, and more building on low-quality green belt land that he dubbed “grey belt”, Starmer said he was determined to “fight the blockers who hold a veto over British aspiration” in housing. In a briefing on the speech, the Labour party said the plan consisted of five elements. It said they were:

A housing recovery plan; a blitz of planning reform to quickly boost housebuilding to buy and rent and deliver the biggest boost to affordable housing in a generation, enhancing local voice on ‘how’ housing is built with communities confident plans will be delivered

The next generation of ‘new towns’; new communities with beautiful homes, green spaces, reliable transport links and bustling high streets

Unleashing mayors; a package of devolution to mayors, with stronger powers over planning and control over housing investment

‘Planning passport’ for urban brownfield development; with a fast track approval and delivery of high-density housing on urban brownfield sites

First dibs for first-time buyers; supporting younger people the first chance at homes in new housing developments with a government-backed mortgage guarantee scheme.

If you are a Conservative voter who despairs of this, if you look in horror at the descent of your party into the murky waters of populism and conspiracy, with no argument for economic change.

If you feel our country needs a party that conserves.

That fights for our union. Our environment. The rule of law.

Family life. The careful bond between this generation and the next.

Then let me tell you: Britain already has one. And you can join it. It’s this Labour party.

Keir Starmer delivering his speech.
Keir Starmer delivering his speech. Photograph: James McCauley/Shutterstock

Updated

Jeremy Corbyn, the former Labour leader, does not seem impressed by his successor’s speech.

As the Labour leadership rolls out the red carpet for climate vandals, arms firms and private healthcare, thousands of us are organising for the bold change this country needs.

We will keep campaigning for social justice and peace.

We are the movement for the many, not the few.

And the SNP has issued its response to Keir Starmer’s speech. This is from its social justice spokesperson, David Linden.

For all the empty rhetoric, Sir Keir Starmer remains wedded to Tory austerity cuts, Brexit and the same damaging Westminster policies that got the UK into this mess.

Families are suffering from the soaring cost of living in the UK and need help right now – but Sir Keir failed to outline a single policy to help households this winter, and his admission the Labour party will continue to impose a hard Tory Brexit will choke off economic growth permanently.

Updated

For the record, this is what Greg Hands, the Conservative party chair, is saying in response to Keir Starmer’s speech.

Once again Sir Keir Starmer showed he would take the easy way out on Britain’s long-term challenges.

On two of the biggest issues facing our country, Labour has nothing to say. Just as Rachel Reeves failed to mention inflation once in her speech, Sir Keir failed to say anything about how he would tackle illegal immigration.

Instead, he committed Labour to more borrowing, which would increase inflation, and reversing Rishi Sunak’s more proportionate approach to net zero, forcing millions of families to pay up to £15,000 to upgrade their homes.

Sir Keir just offers more of the same short-term political decision-making of the last 30 years that has failed Britain – all glitter, no substance. Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives are working to halve inflation, grow the economy, reduce debt, cut waiting lists and stop the boats. And only Rishi Sunak will take the long-term decisions needed to build a brighter future.

Starmer's speech - verdict from commentariat

Here is a selection of what journalists and commentators are saying about Keir Starmer’s speech, on Twitter and elsewhere.

From the Guardian’s Pippa Crerar

The BBC’s Henry Zeffman says Starmer looked particularly confident on the BBC’s live blog.

Praising Tony Blair, vowing reform of the NHS and leading a standing ovation in support of Israel - this was not a leader trying to nudge his party out of its comfort zone, but drawing attention to how far its comfort zone has already moved.

Freddie Hawyard at the New Statesman says Starmer came across as a left Conservative.

He is defining himself through working-class patriotism. This is a party that has gone some way to shedding an indulgence for the extremes of social liberalism. Instead, he offered a “party that conserves. That fights for our union. Our environment. The rule of law. Family life. The careful bond between this generation and the next.” Keir Starmer’s Labour Party wants to “take our streets back”. In many ways, this was a conservative speech.

From Adam Boulton, the former Sky News political editor

From Christopher Hope from GB News

From the New Statesman’s Rachel Wearmouth

From Aaron Bastani from Novara Media

From Philip Webster, the former Times political editor

From Zoë Grünewald from the New Statesman

From Reaction’s Iain Martin

From the Daily Mirror’s Kevin Maguire

From the Sun’s Harry Cole

From the New Statesman’s Ben Walker

And here are verdicts from a Guardian panel, including contributions from Frances Ryan, Zoe Williams, Sahil Dutta, Nels Abbey, Fatima Ibrahim and Tom Belger.

Starmer wins praise from free market Tories for his plan to tackle obstacles that hold back building

Rightwingers on the free market wing of Tory politics like what Keir Starmer said about releasing “grey belt” land for housebuilding.

This is from Kate Andrews, the Spectator economics editor and omnipresent rightwing pundit.

This is from Simon Clarke, the Tory former levelling up secretary.

And this is from Robert Colvile, head of the Centre for Policy Studies thinktank and one of the authors of the 2019 Tory manifesto.

For the record, this is what Starmer said about housing.

So today we launch a new plan to get Britain building again. A signal of our determination to fight the blockers who hold a veto over British aspiration.

No more land-bankers sitting comfortably on brownfield sites while rents in their community rise.

No more councils refusing to develop a local plan because they prefer the back-door deals.

No more inertia in the face of resistance – and there will be resistance from people who say – no, we don’t want Britain’s future here.

My message to them is this. A future must be built. That is the responsibility of a serious government. And if we continually wash our hands of this task – we all end up stuck in a rut. Just like now.

So it’s time to get Britain building again. It’s time to build one and half million new homes across the country ….

Labour is the party that protects our green spaces. No party fights harder for our environment. We created the national parks. Created the green-belt in the first place. I grew up in Surrey.

But where there are clearly ridiculous uses of it, disused car parks, dreary wasteland. Not a green belt. A grey belt. Sometimes within a city’s boundary. Then this cannot be justified as a reason to hold our future back.

We will take this fight on. That’s a Britain built to last.

Updated

Here is some more footage of the protest, from the News Agents podcast.

The person who disrupted Keir Starmer’s speech has been arrested, ITV News reports.

Merseyside police confirms that a 28-year-old man from Surrey has been arrested on suspicion of S39 assault, breach of the peace and causing public nuisance after Keir Starmer’s conference speech was stormed by a protester with glitter

Updated

Yaz Ashmawi, named as the protester who threw glitter on Keir Starmer, is an Extinction Rebellion (XR) activist, but the climate group said the stunt was not organised by them, PA Media reports.

An XR spokesperson said:

We agree with Yaz that true democracy is citizen-led and that our politics needs an update. The greatest crisis we are facing is the climate and nature emergency and it is clear the political system is unable to cope with this.

This is why XR is demanding a UK-wide, independently run citizens’ assembly on the climate and nature emergencies.

Updated

Momentum, the leftwing Labour group set up when Jeremy Corbyn was leader to promote his agenda, said Keir Starmer was not radical enough in his speech. Hilary Schan, Momentum co-chair, said:

Keir Starmer was right to say that, after 13 years of Tory misrule, we need national renewal akin to the post-war Labour government. But by failing to back up this fine rhetoric with cold hard cash, Keir Starmer has fatally undermined his own prospects. You can’t fix a broken country on the cheap …

The tragic reality here is that the Labour leadership is guilty of the very sticking plaster politics it rightly derides.

Momentum wants nationalisation of public services and higher taxes for the rich.

Starmer's speech - snap verdict

There are two ways of approaching a party conference speech: using it as springboard for a big, preferably unexpected policy announcement (or several); or using to make an argument. Rishi Sunak delivered the first sort of speech last week, with mixed results. Keir Starmer’s speech was firmly in the second category.

Newswise, there was nothing in it that had not been briefed overnight (see 8.57am) and even most of the stuff briefed overnight would have been familiar to anyone who has spent time in in the weeds of Labour policy documents. Instead, the speech was going to survive or fail on the strength of its argument and even here Starmer was not really breaking new ground. He has left journalists in the press room scratching their heads. What’s the line?

In one respect, that’s a problem. The speech seemed to go on a bit, and there weren’t many knockout lines. But the Labour party is 15 points or more ahead of the Conservatives, and in practically every area of policy, voters think Labour can be trusted to deliver more than the Tories. Arguably the party does not need a shiny new policy offer.

The Conservatives argue that, while they will never win in a Tory v Labour contest, they have a better chance in a Sunak v Starmer contest because the Labour party is massively more popular than the Conservative party, but Starmer is only slightly more popular than Sunak. So, if they are right, character matters. And it was perhaps in this respect that the speech was most successful.

Starmer often talks about his dad having worked in a factory, but as a middle-class professional with a knighthood, he has struggled to convince people he is working-class. Today there was a much more passionate, authentic working-class edge to what he was saying, and it came out, not just when he talked about empathising with someone who could not afford to go on holiday, but in the two most powerful passages in the speech.

The first was the passage about respect.

I believe this country respects itself. I believe the British people respect each other. And I believe that if people see that respect, see that service in their politics, then they will commit to the mission of national renewal.

Let me put it this way. At some point in your life, many people here will have heard a nagging voice inside, saying no, this isn’t for you. You don’t belong here. You can’t do that. Working-class people certainly hear that voice, trust me. In some ways it’s the hardest class ceiling of all.

But conference, imagine if instead a whole country said: you do belong. Imagine if a whole country said we back your potential. Imagine if a whole country commits, properly, to unlocking the pride you have for your community.

And the second was in the peroration.

We have to be disciplined. Focused. Ready to fight back. And confident, conference, because we have come so far, already.

We’ve dragged this party back to service. We can do the same for politics.

I grew up working-class. I’ve been fighting all my life. And I won’t stop now.

I’ve felt the anxiety of a cost of living crisis before. And until your family can see the way out, I will fight for you.

Many politicians say things like this – but very few do so with the sort of conviction and authenticity that was on display from Starmer today. Voters say they don’t know much about him, but this should shift the dial, for the good.

Starmer was also lucky. He may have felt the pro-PR direct action protest at the start was a disruption, but he responded calmly, with dignity and authority. And whoever persuaded him to take his jacket off did him a favour, because that looked better too.

Overall verdict? Probably not his best speech, but strong enough to cap what has definitely been his best conference.

Updated

Pro-PR group called People Demand Democracy says it organised glitter protest

A group called People Demand Democracy has claimed responsibility for a protest in which Keir Starmer was covered in glitter, PA Media reports. PA says;

The organisation, described as “friends” by Just Stop Oil, is calling for a “a fair, proportional voting system for Westminster elections”, as well as a “legally binding national House of Citizens” to be selected by democratic lottery.

In a press release, the group said:

The people of the UK are more disillusioned by the state of our politics than at any time in living memory – look at the polls. After years of battling over Brexit, lockdown parties, abuse claims, crumbling public services and crashing living standards, people are sick to the back teeth of politicians. And we are furious there is no way to make our voices heard. This has got to change.

We need a democratic alternative that gives the people of the UK a voice to deal with the major challenges of our time: rampant inequality, an escalating climate crisis, political corruption and on. But what do we have instead? A Labour party offering very little in terms of real change.

The group included a quote from the protester, whom it did not name in its press release, saying:

The Labour party has been captured, donors and lobbyists have more control over Keir Starmer than his members. A House of Citizens will force politicians to listen to people, it dismantles their relationships with the rich, it would create meaningful change in our economy and fix inequality. It would address the climate and ecological emergency and transform our country.

It would listen to scientists and communities and unearth consensus, not profit off conflict and division.

Updated

Starmer says they have dragged their party back, and can do the same for their politics.

We’ve dragged this party back to service. We can do the same for politics.

I grew up working class. I’ve been fighting all my life. And I won’t stop now.

I’ve felt the anxiety of a cost of living crisis before. And until your family can see the way out, I will fight for you.

And he ends by saying Labour has a plan for Britain to last.

A plan to turn the page and say, in a cry of defiance to all those who now write our country off: Britain must, Britain can, Britain will get its future back.

And that’s it.

Starmer says the Rutherglen and West Hamilton byelection shows Labour serves the working people of Scotland because it serves the people of Britain.

He says taking on the SNP will involve a fight – they will regroup.

And the Tories are prepared “to scorch the earth just to get at us”.

Wherever you think the line is, they’ve already got plans to cross it.

Starmer says, while Sunak wants to 'row back on our climate misson', he wants to 'speed ahead'

Starmer says people are paying higher bills because the Tories did not build gas storage, did not invest in green energy, and did not fix home insulation.

This is sticking-plaster politics, he says.

He says Labour would turn the page.

Here is the plan for growth, he says.

First, a national wealth fund, ready to invest in infrastructure.

Second, long-term stability for researchers and investment.

Third, a new direction for skills. Labour will set up technical excellence colleges.

And, fourth, a new mindset – recognising the opportunity offered by green jobs.

So when Rishi Sunak says row back on our climate mission, I say speed ahead.

Speed ahead with investment.

Speed ahead with half a million jobs.

Speed ahead with Great British Energy.

The new company, GB Energy, will be set up in Scotland, he says.

Updated

PA Media has more on the fate of the protester.

The protester who stormed the stage as Keir Starmer began his speech shouted “democracy first” as he was removed from the conference venue in Liverpool.

Media had assembled around the rear exit as he was placed in a police van and driven away.

Starmer says Labour will hold out a hand of partnership to business.

It understand that “private enterprise is the only way this country pays its way in the world”.

But Labour will also scrap zero-hour contracts, end fire and rehire and make work pay with a real living wage.

Starmer invites Tories despairing of their party's 'murky' politics to join Labour

Starmer says he has an invitation for Tories who “look in horror at the descent of [their] party into the murky waters of populism and conspiracy, with no argument for economic change”.

He invites them to join Labour.

If you are a Conservative voter who despairs of this, if you look in horror at the descent of your party into the murky waters of populism and conspiracy, with no argument for economic change.

If you feel our country needs a party that conserves.

That fights for our union. Our environment. The rule of law.

Family life. The careful bond between this generation and the next.

Then let me tell you: Britain already has one. And you can join it. It’s this Labour party.

Updated

Starmer says he never expected to hear a modern Conservative PM say 50% of children going to university is a false dream.

My dad felt the disrespect of vocational skills for all his lfie. But the solution is not and never will be levelling down the working class aspiration to go to university.

Updated

Starmer says Labour will protect the green belt. He grew up in Surrey, he says.

But in some places there are “ridiculous uses” to the green belt. It’s “not a green belt, but a grey belt”.

It is justified to build there, he says.

He says the Tories saw the case for levelling up.

But as soon as they won an election, “they turned back”.

And they reverted to trickle-down economics.

Starmer says Labour will build next generation of new towns

Starmer is talking about the obstacles in the way of aspirations, and says it is the restrictive planning system holding back housebuilding.

Conference, we must bulldoze through it.

He says they used to talk about the dream of home ownership. But it is a dream, he says.

He says he is trying hard not to mention the pebble-dashed semi he grew up in (a joke about how often he talks about it). But it meant everything to his family, he says.

He says people will resist Labour’s plans to get more houses built.

Labour wants 1.5m new homes built across the country, he says.

And he wants the National Grid laid more quickly.

And sometimes the old Labour ideas are right for new times, he says. So they will build “the next generation of Labour new towns”.

Updated

Starmer is covering things he would like to stop:

MPs having second jobs.

Bonuses for people putting sewage in the water.

Pensioners freezing, while energy firms make record profits.

Government contract by the back door.

Cleaners being mocked as they scrub off the mess left by people holding illegal parties in Westminster.

Starmer says he wants to restore respect for working people

Starmer says his sister is a care worker. During the pandemic she was working 14-hour shifts just to make ends meet.

But it is more than that. It is respect, he says.

Working people never let each other down.

The British people will commit to the goal of national renewal, he says.

He says working class people regularly have people telling them they cannot do things.

That is the hardest class ceiling at all, he says.

Imagine, if instead a whole country said – you do belong. Imagine if a whole country said we back your potential. Imagine if a whole community commits, properly, to unlocking the pride you have for your community.

Watch: Protester pours glitter over Keir Starmer during Labour conference speech

Starmer says people say the problem is politicians are not honest.

That is not the problem, he says – although for one of them (Boris Johnson), it was the problem, he says.

The problem is people think politicians like Rishi Sunak are only looking after themselves.

Sunak and the other shallow men and women are unable to see what life is like for people.

Starmer says 'prize is huge' if Labour can reform services across public sector

Starmer refers to the plan to pay for more operations, using overtime, to help reduce the backlog.

He says he knows some people don’t like the word reform. But the NHS cannot go on like this.

And what is true of the NHS is true across the board.

We are hear to make the government more dynamic, more joined up, more strategic, focused at all times and without exception on long-term national renewal.

He says he has reformed a public service before.

And if it can be done across the public sector, “the prize is huge”.

Starmer says 7.5m people are waiting for treatment on the NHS.

He describes a football in the Southern League with a choice between paying £15,000 for a private knee operation, or giving up his career. He crowd-funded his operation, and got back to the pitch.

He says this should not have to happen.

The whole point of our NHS is to be the crowd-funded solution for all of us.

Labour will get it back on its feet, he says.

Starmer says changing a country is not like ticking a box. It is not easy.

In 1997 Labour had to rebuild a public realm. In 1964 it had to modernise the economy. In 1945 it had to rebuild Britain after the trauma of collective sacrifice.

And in 2024 the challenge will be to do all three, he says.

Starmer is using the line about the need for politics to “tread lightly on people’s lives”.

He recalls going to the Lake District on holiday over the summer. He was eating fish and chips, his wife a plant burger.

He says he used to go there every year on holiday with his parents.

It was even sunny.

On his first day back, he was in Worthing. In a cafe, a woman said to him, “It’s survival now.” There was no long-term planning.

He says this is what the cost of living crisis means.

He says government needs to be able to give people time to do what they love – football, fishing, or just a quiet time with your family.

We all need that. We all need the ability to look forward – to move forward – free from anxiety. That’s what getting our future back really means.

Starmer dismisses green glitter protester, saying 'protest or power - that's why we changed party'

This is what PM Media has filed about the protester.

A protester has disrupted Keir Starmer’s keynote speech at the Labour conference in Liverpool, shouting “true democracy is citizen-led”.

The man threw glitter over the Labour leader, who pushed the activist away from the microphone with his right arm before security arrived.

The man continued to shout “politics needs an update”, “we demand a people’s house”, “we are in crisis” and “our whole future is in jeopardy” as he was wrestled to the ground.

After being interrupted by a heckler, Starmer opened his speech at Labour party conference by saying: “If he thinks that bothers me he doesn’t know me.

“Protest or power, that is why we changed our party, conference.”

Updated

Starmer is now talking about the attack on Israel.

There is prolonged applause for the line: “Israel must always have the right to defend its people.”

Starmer says his philosophy is “we fix tomorrow’s challenges today”.

And he says the new politics the UK needs can only be offered by a new party. He uses the passage briefed overnight on this. (See 8.57am.)

He says Labour puts country first, party second.

That’s why it stood with Nato, held out its hand to business, ripped antisemitism out by its roots and backed Ukraine.

The speech is getting a lot of applause, but this line goes down especially well. There is a standing ovation.

Updated

Starmer says the fire of change lives on within Labour.

He will answer the question Why Labour? That means:

Higher growth

Safer streets

Cheap British power in your home

More opportunities in your communities

The NHS – off its knees

A Britain with its future back

Starmer says he believes in Britain. He does not just see the sewage, but people standing up to fight to clean water.

He does not just see the crumbling concrete in schools, but the teachers giving children the education they need.

Starmer is contrast Labour’s record with the Tories’.

13 years of things can only get better versus 13 years of things have only got worse.

But what is growing can be repaired, he says.

Ultimately the Tory project will crash against the spirit of the working people in this country and they are the source of my hope.

Updated

Starmer jokes about Rishi Sunak’s use of helicopters. He goes on:

I never thought I would say this, but I’m beginning to see why Liz Truss won.

Starmer starts with football. No more Arsenal, he says. But he offers his symathies to Manchester.

Because I do free sorry for any city that had to host that circus last week.

Starmer says he was not bothered by protest

The TV cut away, so it was hard to see what happened to the protester, but he’s gone.

Starmer has his jacket off. He says:

If he thinks that bothers me, he doesn’t know me.

And he goes on to say it was just as well it was him, because “my wife’s dress is really beautiful”.

Updated

Protester interrupts start of Starmer's speech

Keir Starmer has been interrupted by a protester, who grabbed/hugged him, shouting something like: ‘We demand green justice.’

He was covered with green glitter.

UPDATE: Here is a picture.

Updated

The party is now showing a video of Starmer out and about on visits. Angela Rayner appears too.

And Rachel Reeves.

Tidball says Keir Starmer thinks Britain is a nation of extraordinary people who can achieve extraordinary things.

She says people need Labour as the party of government. And they need leadership that will ensure the potential of the country will be fulfilled.

The proceedings in the hall are starting. Marie Tidball, the Labour candidate for Penistone and Stocksbridge, is introducing Keir Starmer.

From Harriet Harman

From the Herald’s Kathleen Nutt

Keir Starmer and his wife, Victoria, arriving at the conference hall ahead of his speech.
Keir Starmer and his wife, Victoria, arriving at the conference hall ahead of his speech. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

This is from George Grylls from the Times, showing how long the queue is to get into the hall to see Keir Starmer.

Resolution, a campaigning body representing professionals working in the field of family justice, has welcomed Labour’s commitment to consider giving more rights to women in cohabiting couples. (See 10.31am.) Jo Edwards, chair of Resolution’s family law reform group, said:

Cohabiting couples currently have little to no legal protection when they separate, with no safety net in place to protect those left financially vulnerable if their relationship ends. If a couple separates or a cohabiting partner passes away without making a will, it is invariably women who face significant financial difficulty. This is regardless of the level of commitment shown, including the length of their relationship or the birth of children.

Even more worryingly, many believe they do have some legal protection, in the form of a mythical ‘common-law’ status, and only find out too late that this does not exist. The impact of the current legal framework on women and children needs to be looked at urgently, something Resolution has been arguing for many years, and we welcome today’s commitment to reform.

Updated

Delegates queuing to get into the hall for Keir Starmer’s speech at 2pm.
Delegates queuing to get into the hall for Keir Starmer’s speech at 2pm. Photograph: Ian Forsyth/Getty Images

The Scottish Labour party has almost drawn level with the SNP in voting intention for Westminster, new polling suggests.

The Scottish Fabian Society has published polling from YouGov suggesting that in Scotland the SNP is on 33%, and Labour 32% – giving the SNP a one-point lead. The Conservatives are on 20%.

That means Labour is up five points from mid-September, when YouGov had Labour on 27%. And the SNP were on 38%, meaning they are now down five points – and their 11-point lead has almost disappeared.

The polling was carried out last week, concluding on Friday, the day after the Ruthergen and West Hamilton byelection that Labour won from the SNP.

According to the YouGov survey, 17% of people who voted SNP in 2019, and 23% of people who voted for Scottish independence in 2014, are now supporting Labour.

The Scottish Fabians says this polling suggests Labour is on course to win a majority at Westminster.

Updated

Sunak says he is 'very confident' private funding will take HS2 to Euston - but refuses to give absolute guarantee

Rishi Sunak has been doing a media visit this morning. In the past prime ministers have always scaled back their media appearances during the opposition’s party conference, in what was seen as an informal non-aggression pact to ensure party conferences got proper media coverage, but this week Sunak, and the government more widely, have been trying to make news. It is being seen as a sign of how desperate Sunak is to bring down Labour’s lead in the polls.

But it has not been a great success. Yesterday Sunak did a Q&A with workers where they applauded when one man taunted the PM by asking about the mess left by his predecessor.

He also did a BBC interview where he had a difficult time trying to explain why the list of transport projects to be funded by money from the cancellation of HS2 phase two published last week contained so many mistakes.

Today Sunak had another tricky encounter. He told the Tory conference last week that the government would complete HS2 “from Birmingham to Euston”, implying the plan to terminate it at Old Oak Common, six miles from central London, was dead. But that plan is dependent on private funding and today Sunak could not give an absolute promise that the Euston link would go ahead.

Asked if he could promise HS2 would reach Euston, he replied:

We are very confident that we can develop a new version of how Euston will be built, which is releasing funds for the taxpayer which we’ve invested in other transport projects now around the country.

That model that we are using is the one that successfully has been used to develop Battersea, where we attracted private money into the project, saving taxpayers money. That is something we can replicate at Euston.

Asked a second time if he could promise the line would reach Euston, he replied:

This is not just about building a railway station. This is also about creating 10,000 homes for young people in central London, which is going to be fantastic news for them, but also (for) business opportunities as well.

The opportunity here is fantastic to do something different for London, but also releasing billions of pounds of money that can now be invested in transport projects across the country.

Rishi Sunak speaking to the media during a visit to England's football training centre at St George's Park this morning.
Rishi Sunak speaking to the media during a visit to England's football training centre at St George's Park this morning. Photograph: WPA/Getty Images

Lord Mandelson say he wants GB News to keep going – because it is creating divisions in Tory party

Lord Mandelson has said that he wants GB News to continue – because it is creating divisions in the Conservative party.

In an interview with the channel, which employs several Tory MPs as presenters and which features prominently the views of far-right provocateurs and conspiracy theorists, Mandelson said the Conservative party had already split into three factions. He explained:

They’re all like three different parties fighting each other as if they’re already in opposition.

You’ve got the centre-right Conservative party, which you associate with David Cameron, you’ve got the rightwing, which is headed up by Rishi Sunak, and then you’ve got the further right Conservative party, trumpeted and supported by GB News.

I want GB News to keep going. They’re stirring the pot, they’re creating divisions in the Conservative party, undoing the Conservative party and very, very timely it is too.

Peter Mandelson in the conference yesterday.
Peter Mandelson in the conference yesterday. Photograph: Ian Forsyth/Getty Images

Updated

Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, is addressing the conference now. The party has just sent out a news release saying she will be announcing what it calls “a ‘tough love’ youth programme to tackle knife crime, youth violence and address the crisis in young people’s mental health”.

Rajeev Syal and Pippa Crerar have written about that here.

Peter Apps from Inside Housing has posted a good thread on X (formerly Twitter) assessing the viability of Keir Starmer’s plans for new towns. It starts here.

The idea of new towns is exciting and planning rules which could see them acquire land cheaply would be a big move. But there will need to be money coming in to make it work

And here are some of his points.

So many big ‘new town’ type proposals only live in political speeches, and die on contact with the real world. In the Coalition era, there was some sort of new garden town or village announcement every couple of years, and none built

Part of the problem is that if you let the market lead a project like this it will take forever. Often literally. The private housing will be phased and dripped through. Look at how long Ebbsfleet is taking despite HS1 opening 16 years ago

What you need to do is stick in a big mix of housing tenure – including loads of social rent – which aren’t reliant on the private market or developers’ calculations on absorption rates. But that costs money. You’re also going to have to spend a lot on infrastructure.

Updated

Cynicism is a greater threat to Labour at the next election than the Conservative party, Wes Streeting has said. The shadow health secretary said:

The biggest opponent for the Labour party at the next general election is not the Conservative party any more, it’s cynicism. People think things are so broken they wonder if any of us are capable of fixing it.

Wes Streeting (left) at Labour conference this morning.
Wes Streeting (left) at Labour conference this morning. Photograph: Adam Vaughan/EPA

Labour would introduce legal advocates for rape victims, Shabana Mahmood says

Labour will introduce legal advocates for rape victims in every police force area, Shabana Mahmood, the shadow justice secretary, told the conference. She said:

I am proud to announce that a Labour government will introduce legal advocates for the victims of rape in every police force area.

We will do this by redirecting a portion of the funding police and crime commissioners receive for victims’ services.

Today, rape victims are systematically failed.

They wait over two years to go to trial with no one to advocate for them.

And the result?

Over 60% drop their cases and rapists walk free.

Labour’s legal advocates will ensure victims’ rights are upheld.

This would mark the most transformative change to the status of rape victims within the justice system. And I want to thank Vera Baird and Kim McGuinness for all their brilliant work on this in Northumbria.

This proposal would cover England and Wales, where justice policy is decided by Westminster, not devolved.

Shabana Mahmood addressing Labour conference.
Shabana Mahmood addressing Labour conference.
 Photograph: Peter Byrne/PA

Updated

Dale Vince, the Labour donor and green energy entrepreneur, arriving at conference this morning.
Dale Vince, the Labour donor and green energy entrepreneur, arriving at conference this morning. Photograph: Oli Scarff/AFP/Getty Images

Labour would strengthen protection for women from stalkers, says Emily Thornberry

Emily Thornberry, the shadow attorney general, used her speech to the party conference to announce three Labour proposals to strengthen the rights of women.

  • Thornberry said Labour would consider giving more rights to women in cohabiting couples. She explained:

For too long, women in cohabiting couples have been left with no rights when those relationships come to an end. If there is no joint property or parental responsibilities, a man can leave his partner with nothing, especially if he has the means to go to court, and she does not.

It is time we reviewed this issue in England and Wales, as it has been in New Zealand, Scotland and Ireland. No woman should be forced to get married or stay in an unhappy relationship just to avoid ending up on the street.

  • She said women who reported sexual harassment at work should get the same protection as other whistleblowers.

  • She said Labour would strengthen protection for women from stalkers. She said:

For too long, millions of women have had to live life in the shadow of a stalker, afraid to walk out of their door or switch on their computer, and told by the police that no action can be taken until ‘something more serious’ happens.

That is why, in our country, it is 200 times more likely for a woman to be a victim of stalking than it is for her stalker to end up in prison.

It is time we treated stalking with the seriousness it deserves, strengthening the use of stalking protection orders, developing the right for women to know the identity of their online stalkers, and working to end the sick practice of stalkers abusing our court system to bring vexatious claims against their victims.

Because no woman should be forced to wait until she is attacked to get the protection she deserves.

Emily Thornberry addressing conference this morning.
Emily Thornberry addressing conference this morning. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

Updated

How Labour says it would improve community policing

Labour has published fresh details of how the community policy guarantee (see 9.43am) will work.

On community policing

Labour will put an extra 13,000 police officers and PCSOs (police community support officers) on the beat, of whom 10,000 will be new appointments, and 3,000 ringfenced from officers being recruited by the government anyway. Labour suggests the money for this would come from efficiency savings: £370m from getting forces to collaborate more; at least £225m from standardising procurement; and at least £145m from getting forces to share services and specialist functions.

On antisocial behaviour

Labour has already set out plans for respect orders, civil orders for use against people committing antisocial behaviour, that might ban them from city centres. The party also wants to introduce a new version of public space protection order (PSPO), which can be used to ban undesirable activity in certain places. The current version is hard to use; Labour will create an expedited version, which could be introduced more quickly.

On shoplifting

Labour says it would scrap section 176 of the Antisocial Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 which established a new category of shoplifting, designated “low-value shoplifting” - for shoplifting of goods amounting to less than £200 in value. Cases are tried at magistrates courts and defendants can even plead guilty by post. Labour says this led to the offence being deprioritised.

It would also create a new offence of assault of a shop worker, punishable by up to two years in jail. There are similar offences for assaulting a police officer or emergency worker. Ordinary common assault just carries a maximum sentence of six months.

On community involvement in policing

Labour says it would require the police to develop plans for town centre policing, developed after consultation with retailers and residents.

On pride in community policing

Labour says it would create better promotion opportunities for community police officers.

Updated

Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria photographed yesterday outside the conference centre in Liverpool by the River Mersey.
Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria photographed yesterday outside the conference centre in Liverpool by the River Mersey. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA

This is from Sky’s Beth Rigby on Keir Starmer’s speech.

On Starmer, told that after Reeves’ reassurance over economy, his speech designed to paint a ‘picture of hope’ & it ‘emotive rather than a big policy drop’> the word cloud on what Starmer’s about peppered with don’t know and even ‘nothing’. This his chance to hammer home values

Updated

Starmer to propose 'community policing guarantee'

Labour says Keir Starmer will propose a “community policing guarantee” in his conference speech.

Taking the form of a five-point plan, this is a repackaging of ideas already announced by the party, with a bit more detail in some specific areas.

Here is Labour’s summary of the five points.

1 – Police on the beat again

We’ll bring back proper neighbourhood policing by ensuring every part of the country has more local officers and PCSOs, and guaranteed town centre patrols with tougher powers. We’ll give every community a named officer they can get in touch with, so policing gets back to what it’s supposed to do.

2 – Zero tolerance of antisocial behaviour

Getting tough with those who blight our towns, with new powers to ban repeat offenders from town centres and stamp out public drinking and drug use. Every local area will have a dedicated lead focused specifically on tackling antisocial behaviour.

3 – A crackdown on shoplifting and violence
We’ll reverse the Tories’ decision to downgrade the response to shoplifting under £200, making it easier to take action against repeat offenders and ending the farce of offending impunity, and creating a new specific offence of assault against retail workers.

4 – Put communities back at the heart of policing

We will give local people and businesses a say in how their local area and town centre is policed, ensuring the police work with them on deciding priorities.

5 – Make community policing something to be proud of

We will ensure that the path to career progression in policing is through getting to know your community – and ensure all neighbourhood officers are properly trained to be problem-solvers, not just recorders of crime. We will also work with the College of Policing and police chiefs to ensure neighbourhood policing has access to cutting-edge technology and methods, including data analytics and hotspot policing.

Updated

The UK is set to be the slowest growing member of the G7 next year, the IMF is forecasting. But the forecast is based on an assumption about the rate at which UK interest rates will peak which is now seen as too high, Graeme Wearden explains on his business live blog.

In his interview with BBC Breakfast Pat McFadden, the Labour national campaign coordinatory, said that Keir Starmer would be levelling with the public about the challenge at hand in his conference speech this afternoon.

Referring to Starmer talking about the need for a decade in power (see 8.57am), McFadden said:

What he’s doing is he’s setting out realistically that after 13 years of the Conservatives it’s going to take time to turn things round.

He is levelling with the public here. He’s saying we can’t solve everything overnight but what we can do is turn the page and begin a process of national renewal.

He’s assuming nothing. He’s being honest with the people about the time it’s going to take to face up to the challenges the country is facing right now.

Updated

Keir Starmer and his wife, Victoria, having breakfast at Labour conference this morning.
Keir Starmer and his wife, Victoria, having breakfast at Labour conference this morning. Photograph: Ian Forsyth/Getty Images

Updated

Pat McFadden confirms Labour will not implement conference vote in favour of energy renationalisation

A senior Labour figure insisted the party has a “different plan” to one endorsed by delegates at its annual conference where they voted in favour of nationalising energy companies, a move which contradicted the leadership’s approach.

Those on the left hailed a victory after delegates voted for a motion put forward by party’s largest backer, the union Unite, to “reaffirm” the Labour’s commitment to public ownership of railways and the energy industry.

However, Labour’s national campaign co-ordinator Pat McFadden rejected suggestions of any divisions in the party’s approach, saying:

The truth is we have a different plan based on a different vision which is a combination of public and private action.

Labour had already announced plans including proposals for the creation of GB Energy, a publicly-owned clean energy company, but also wanted to “lever in” private investment, he added.

Labour has largely presented a united front at its annual conference in Liverpool, but delegates on Monday voted overwhelmingly in favour of a critical infrastructure motion, proposed by Unite and Aslef, calling for “UK energy to be brought back into public ownership, starting with the National Grid’s electricty and gas networks”.

It also called for HS2 to be built in full – not just to Manchester, but the eastern leg to Leeds too.

Neither of those proposals are Labour policy, and Labour leader Keir Starmer has repeatedly ruled out renationalising energy companies.

But the moment, which is likely to be largely symbolic was relatively low key, with a vote taken at the end of proceedings, and passed on a show of hands.

Pat McFadden checking his watch before an interview this morning.
Pat McFadden checking his watch before an interview this morning. Photograph: Adam Vaughan/EPA

Labour to present plan to allow more building on low-quality green belt land as developing 'grey belt'

Other papers have their own lines on what Keir Starmer will say in his speech.

  • Steven Swinford and Chris Smyth in the Times say that Starmer will “pledge to build Georgian-style townhouses in urban areas and a string of new towns as he sets out plans for a decade in power”. They also say that Starmer will present Labour’s plan to allow more building on parts of the green belt as a move to develop the “grey belt” – a term for the less salubrious bits of the green belt, such as scrubland and car parks. They say:

Labour will run a six-month consultation to identify suitable sites for new towns with potential for high economic growth and “areas with significant unmet housing need”. The Times has previously been told that they could include Cambridge and the M1 corridor around Milton Keynes, with dozens of potential sites being considered.

Developers will be given “planning passports” to build on brownfield land if they meet the new design standards, with a “stronger presumption in favour of permission”. Guidance will specify a focus on “gentle urban development” emulating five-storey townhouses built during the 18th and 19th centuries.

Promising “a big build”, Starmer would also allow low-quality green belt such as scrubland and car parks to be released for development. The party has branded the areas “grey belt” and will specify that half of homes built are to be sold at affordable price.

  • John Stevens in the Daily Mirror says that Starmer will promise a crackdown on shoplifting (an issue on which the Mirror has been campaigning). Stevens says:

The Labour leader will end the scandal that has seen criminals escape proper punishment if goods are worth less than £200. And he will introduce a new law so those who attack shopkeepers face tougher sanctions.

Updated

Starmer to tell Labour conference: 'We are the healers'

Good morning. Keir Starmer started his conference at the weekend by saying he needed not just to explain why the Tories should be voted out, but also to answer the “why Labour?” question. Today, at 2pm, he will seek to deliver the answer. In the age of 24-hour news and social media, big, setpiece speeches can still matter in politics, because they can shape the political and national debate for days, months and even years, and, if it’s any good, this speech should be in that category.

Labour sent out a fairly thorough preview last night and it is worth looking at it in some detail, because it is contains several newsy lines.

  • Starmer will argue that Labour are “the healers … the modernisers … the builders”. He will say:

People are looking to us because they want our wounds to heal and we are the healers. People are looking to us because these challenges require a modern state and we are the modernisers. People are looking to us because they want us to build a new Britain and we are the builders.

He has been going on about Labour being the builders for some time. Promising to be “modernisers” is pure Blair. But “healers”? It does sound a bit New Age and crystally, but it seems to reflect Starmer’s conviction that the mood of the nation is not like it was pre-1997, there is precious little optimism, and people feel much more beaten and broken. As a nation, we probably need a bit of healing.

  • He is aiming for a decade in power. The overnight press release is headlined “Starmer promises to kick off ‘decade of national renewal’, and that has been interpreted as Starmer saying he wants two terms in office. No doubt he does, it would be unwise to read too much into this. With Labour’s lead in the polls as high as it is is, it would sound a bit limp promising just “five years of national renewal”.

  • He says Labour will “turn our backs on never-ending Tory decline with a decade of national renewal” and give the British people the “government they deserve”.

  • He will explain how Labour will revive Britain, the party claims. It says:

The speech will answer the question ‘why Labour?’, explaining how economic growth, safer streets, cheaper homegrown British power, better opportunities, and a rejuvenated NHS will get Britain its future back.

  • He will stress that change won’t be easy. Labour says:

Starmer will warn that the path back from 13 years of Tory decline will be hard. But he will speak with optimism and hope about Britain’s future, saying: ‘What is broken can be repaired, what is ruined can be rebuilt.’

  • He will say that Labour is now a “party of service” and that the days when it focused on gesture politics are long gone. Labour says:

Starmer will tell party conference that the sweeping changes made to the Labour party under his leadership mean it is, ‘a changed Labour party, no longer in thrall to gesture politics, no longer a party of protest … Those days are done. We will never go back.’ Instead, he will say, Labour is now, ‘a party of service … country first, party second’.

  • He will say that the result of the Rutherglen and Hamilton West byelection last week shows that Labour can unite the union. He will say:

There’s nothing more important. The Scottish people are not just looking at us, they’re also looking at Britain. For the first time in a long time we can see a tide that is turning. Four nations that are renewing. Old wounds of division – exploited by the Tories and the SNP – beginning to heal. Let the message from Rutherglen ring out across Britain: Labour serves working people in Scotland because Labour serves working people across all these islands.

  • He will explain why he does not want to put up taxes. The overnight briefing does not mention tax, but it says Starmer will say:

We should never forget that politics should tread lightly on peoples’ lives, that our job is to shoulder the burden for working people – carry the load, not add to it.

My colleagues Pippa Crerar and Peter Walker have more detail, and they report that Starmer will flesh out ideas to give towns and cities more powers, particularly to promote housing. These are ideas that were first proposed in the report from Gordon Brown’s Commission on the UK’s Future, although they were not widely reported because coverage of the report concentrated on the proposal to abolish the House of Lords (ironically, one of the ideas in the document least likely to happen).

Here is the agenda for the day.

9.45am: The conference proceedings start. Emily Thornberry, the shadow attorney general, opens a debate on crime and policing at 9.55am. There are also speeches from Shabana Mahmood, the shadow justice secretary, at 10.05am. and from Yvette Coooper, the shadow home secretary, at 11.10am.

10am: Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, takes part in a Q&A event on the fringe.

Morning: Rishi Sunak is doing a visit in Staffordshire.

11.15am: Jess Phillips, the shadow minister for domestic violence and safeguarding, leads a panel discussion on tackling violence against women and girls.

12.30pm: John McDonnell, the former shadow chancellor, speaks at a ‘“Justice for Palestine” fringe meeting.

2pm: Keir Starmer delivers his keynote speech.

4.05pm: Louise Haigh, the shadow transport secretary, opens a renewed debate on growth. There are also speeches from Oliver Coppard, the South Yorkshire mayor, at 4.10pm and from Steve Reed, the shadow environment secretary, at 4.15pm.

If you want to contact me, do try the “send us a message” feature. You’ll see it just below the byline – on the left of the screen, if you are reading on a laptop or a desktop. This is for people who want to message me directly. I find it very useful when people message to point out errors (even typos – no mistake is too small to correct). Often I find your questions very interesting, too. I can’t promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either in the comments below the line; privately (if you leave an email address and that seems more appropriate); or in the main blog, if I think it is a topic of wide interest.

Updated

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