Follow along for live updates…
15:12: Speech over.
15:07: Labour Rejoin klaxon. Burnham says he’ll organise a summit with the EU to explore “different” options for the UK’s relationship with Brussels.
15:01: Burnham wells up as he pays tribute to his late father Roy.
14:56: Announces a national commission on electoral reform. Says Labour will contest the next election with a manifesto promise to change the electoral system.
14:43: Burnham says he’ll scrap the Triple Lock in 2030. “The state pension will continue to rise every year at least by prices or 2.5 per cent. And it will hold its value relative to earnings over time so that pensioners will always share in the rising prosperity of the nation.”
14:41: Says his “National Care Service” will be “fully-funded” and won’t be through borrowing. Massive tax rises guaranteed for the next Labour manifesto…
14:30: Announces “Great British Grid”:
“We will be pragmatic in relation to the North Sea…
“For the first time we will have a national energy plan, and we will bring back local democratic control through a stronger role for mayors and local leaders. But we must go further…
“Today, I can announce our plan for Great British Grid, a new branch of Great British Energy, a publicly-owned company that will challenge private sector operators.”
14:25: Says he will repeal Thatcher’s “ideological ban” of public ownership of water companies.
14:20: Burnham says he will remove the right to buy for new council houses and blames the policy for housing shortages.
14:15: “The British right like to talk about ‘take back control’. Never let them forget they’re the ones who gave it away.”
14:13: “Hope comes from honesty… it comes from saying the things that politicians usually avoid.”
14:09: “For the historic victory he achieved for us, I am here to say ‘thank you Keir'”. That’s all he has to say about his immediate predecessor. Now moving on.
14:05: Burnham onstage. “Today we draw a line on a decade of division.”
14:00: Burnham about to take to the stage. Watch along…
13:46: The mood music at the Fabian LabourList viewing party could be better. Nearly a quarter already want to go home. One attendee told Guido “I made sure to vote no”.
Burnham up in 15 minutes on the main stage…
11am: Rayner on Burnham starting a “conversation” about the Triple Lock:
“I think he’s absolutely right to start the conversation. It’s brave.
“We’ve got a Prime Minister who said I am okay with burning through all my political capital to the point where it might finish me off, on the basis of my legacy will be something better and different.”
10:15am: Burnham will deliver his speech without a lectern. Although the autocue will still be fully operational…
8:49am: Welcome back to Guido’s Live Blog of Labour Conference. Andy Burnham’s speech is set for 2pm. There are rumours he’ll signal the end of the Triple Lock. Lucy Powell has just said on the airwaves that it’s safe… for this Parliament.
Click below to read the Live Blog for Monday.
16:07: They’ve now run out of draft lager at the outside bar in the Labour Conference secure zone. An emergency if ever there was one…
15:28: Burnham on Rayner vs Mahmood immigration split: “It just reflects that there’s a consultation… what we’ve got to do is strike the right balance.”
15:10: Burnham on defence: “I’ll set out tomorrow how we’ll change things to make the necessary investment in defence”. Points out he ‘inherited’ a defence investment plan with a shortfall.
15:07: Burnham doubles down on his social security / national security word salad. Just now on LBC:
“It can’t be a case of choosing between social security – and I use that phrase in the old fashioned sense – and national security. Resilience is built from the ground up. If we have lots of young people out of work, they may be at risk of being involved in things that might harm security at a local level, or national security, if people are trying to manipulate the country… so you’ve got to see these things together.”
Right…
13:01: Labour MP Richard Burgon tells a UCU fringe event that “pouring ever more money into weapons means less for higher standards of living“. And upping defence spending would “take key resources from other national security [issues]” including pandemics and climate…
12.31: Healey insists he won’t allow the benefits bill to explode (delegates cheer as instructed by the NEC), and announces a £100m apprenticeship service. Bookmark for later…
“Our social security system must always be there for those who can never work. But for everyone else, benefits should be a bridge to work, to wider participation, to a better life, not a trap that people can’t escape.
“And Conference, it is simply not progressive to allow a bigger and a bigger benefits bill and a system which offers an income but doesn’t offer a future.
“So once again, as a Labour Government it falls to us. And this is more than just an economic must, it’s a moral duty. And I refuse to write off a million young people like the Tories have done.”
12:21: A Labour National Executive Committee member accidentally texts instructions to “clap as hard as you can” for Healey’s mention of welfare policy to a group chat which includes political hacks.
11:25: Miliband calls for “a stronger, deeper partnership with the European Union” in his conference address. It’s only Monday and they’re already playing the greatest hits…
11:21: John Healey is up at 12pm. Watch here…
10:41: Streeting attacks lefties who oppose a boost in defence spending. While claiming ‘the right’ wants to make people ‘poorer’ by slashing welfare spending to pay for it:
“Now I know that more spending on defence comes with choices and trade-offs. But our critics on the right need to understand that you don’t make your country stronger by making our people poorer.
“And I also have to say directly to some our critics on the left: you are not defending our public services by attacking investment in our national defences.”
10.36: One seasoned lobbyist estimates there were more people at Reform Conference than here at Labour.
10.31: Guido is on the ground in Liverpool. Bad news for anyone hoping to grab Andy Burnham merch from the Labour Shop – it’s almost all sold out. There’s one Burnham tea towel left if anyone wants it (£12.50)…
Mail commentator Dan Hodges – who was kind to Burnham during the Makerfield campaign – now concludes: “The truth is Andy Burnham doesn’t have a 10 year plan. He’s barely got a 10 week plan.“
