Keir Starmer is on the main stage to deliver his Labour Conference speech. He’ll hit out at Farage (again) and argue that Britain stands at a “fork in the road”. He’ll say his fight against Farage “is a test. A fight for the soul of our country, every bit as big as rebuilding Britain after the war.” Okay…
He will also say that his plan to rebuild Britain will not be “cost-free”. Sigh…
Cabinet members in the front row are holding Union Jack flags. Sky News is reporting Andy Burnham has already left conference…
Starmer says the UK must “oppose racism” in the fight for the “soul of our country”. He then hits out at the “Brexit lies on the side of a bus”…
He claims Farage “doesn’t like Britain” before adding that this is a “great country”. He says you can cut taxes for the few while dismantling the infrastructure for the many…
Starmer defends the “hard choices” Labour made in the last budget, saying that fixing our public finances will be better for growth. He thanks businesses for their “contribution”…
Starmer says: “I think you know what my father did for a living….but then again do you? Do you know the craft and precision involved?” The audience laughs…
Starmer scraps Blair’s target to get 50% of children to university, instead replacing it with an ambition to get two thirds of children either doing apprenticeships or go to university.
The PM says: “Controlling migration is a reasonable goal. But if you throw bricks and smash up property that is thuggery. Free speech is a British value and we have guarded it. But if you incite racism and violence that’s criminal.”
On the upcoming budget, he says “tough decisions will keep on coming” and that “it doesn’t get easier from here”. Winter is coming…
Read his speech in full below:
Continue reading “LIVE: Starmer Gives Labour Conference Speech”
The Israeli Foreign Ministry has slammed Starmer after Labour members voted in favour of a motion calling on the Prime Minister to recognise Israel as committing genocide. As well as urging Starmer to back a full arms embargo…
The Israeli ministry said:
“While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Donald Trump are working tirelessly in Washington to end the war in Gaza, the Labour Party chooses to embrace Hamas and fully adopt its lies, including the fake genocide campaign. The world stands with the US and Israel in their efforts to end the war. Labour stands with Hamas. It is a disgrace for Britain that this is the party in power.”
This comes after Trump said Starmer recognising Palestine is “rewarding Hamas“. Meanwhile, Trump and Netanyahu have agreed on a peace plan in Gaza – which includes Tony Blair. Starmer’s self-styled ‘international statesman’ image fading fast…
The newly-promoted tax minister has suggested the Chancellor will go for tens of billions in new taxes at the upcoming Budget. Do you remember what she said last time?Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury Dan Tomlinson, who has the tax brief in HMT, told a Labour Conference IPPR panel that while he would not name specific upcoming taxes “the past is a good guide to the future” for the Winter Budget.Tomlinson praised Reeves for her decision to raise £40 billion last time round (“make big decisions on taxation”) and said the Treasury’s approach was now to “raise taxes to fund public services.” Last time Reeves promised not to come back for more…Turning to wealth taxation Tomlinson said Labour was “open to having those conversations” and stressed that Labour is already widely taxing wealth by, for example, hiking Inheritance Tax. He played down the prospects an annualised general asset tax but said Labour was committed to “reform” of wealth taxation. For Reeves to pull that lever would be short-sighted to the extreme…
More in Common’s latest poll shows Starmer’s approval rating has hit a new low of -48. Kemi is at -21 and Farage is at -9…
This comes after Ipsos gave Starmer the worst approval rating of any Prime Minister since at least 1977. Meanwhile Starmer is gearing up for his conference speech at 2 p.m. to say that Britain stands at a “fork in the road”. Things can only get bitter…
Freshly-minted Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is using her Labour Conference speech to delcare that migrants will have to prove they are contributing to society to earn the right to remain in the UK. That’s despite Starmer calling Reform’s proposal to change ILR ‘racist’…
Read her speech in full below:
Continue reading “LIVE: Mahmood Sets Out Changes to Indefinite Leave to Remain in Conference Speech”
Education Secretary and deputy labour leader hopeful Bridget Phillipson is up on the main stage at Labour Conference. Expect plenty of talk about ‘free’ breakfast clubs…
Bridget confirmed that maintenance grants will be reintroduced for disadvantaged students in England. Read her speech in full below:
Continue reading “LIVE: Bridget Phillipson Delivers Conference Speech”
Speaking to Sky News off the back of Rachel Reeves’ Air Passenger Duty hike, Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary said:
“Labour is dependent on those Red Wall seats, and yet every move she makes poisons economic growth and damages the UK’s recovery… it’s the Chancellor who stumbles from policy misstep to policy misstep… I think her policy decisions are incredibly stupid.”
