Early evening summary
Keir Starmer has said Labour would get rid of the Rwanda deportation policy even if it appeared to be working at the time of the next election. (See 9.29am.)
Labour pro-Europeans have failed in a bid to get the conference to debate Brexit. (See 3.44pm.)
Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, has said Labour will come down on the vaping industry “like a ton of bricks” to stop it selling and marketing its products if the government has not acted by the time of the general election. He also said that Labour will whips its MPs to vote in favour of Rishi Sunak’s plan to gradually raise the age at which people can buy cigarettes, so that younger generations can never buy them. (See 5.51pm and 5.55pm.)
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Viner ends with a quickfire round
Liverpool or Everton? Liverpool, Streeting says.
Barbie or Oppenheimer? – Barbie.
Noel Edmonds or Richard Littlejohn? They are both from Ilford, where Streeting is MP. He says he likes Noel’s House Party.
Kiss a Tory or kiss a lefty? – Why choose?
Tequila shots or white win spritzer? Tequila.
Suella Braverman or Liz Truss? The deep blue sea, says Streeting.
Arsenal winning the league for the first time since 2004 or Labour winning the election? A Labour government.
And that’s it.
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Streeting says anti-vaxx sentiment is “incredibly dangerous” and “we’ve got to take it on”.
Referring to the risk of a measles epidemic, he says that should not be happening. But there is a danger, he says, because vaccination rates have fallen.
He says he was alarmed to hear conspiracy theories being aired at the Tory conference.
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Q: Are you firmly committed to Martha’s law?
Streeting says he was really moved by Merope Mills’ courage, and by the campaign she launched. He is backing the plan, he says. He says if a senior journalist like Mills can’t get a hearing from doctors, what hope is there for anyone else.
Martha’s law will be a guarantee that parents will never be ignored again.
He says Labour is absolutely committed to this. And the government says it is going to implement it, he says.
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The next questioner says she was concerned by the plan to get more operations done by having NHS staff do more overtime in the evenings and at weekends. There is no shortage of overtime already in the NHS, she says.
Streeting says he is furious about the way Rishi Sunak has blamed NHS staff for what is going on.
But he thinks some NHS will be willing to work overtime if they know they have a government on their side.
The real risk is not that doctors go on strike again, he says. The risk is that they will leave the NHS for good.
Streeting says way some people are treated by public services 'makes my blood boil'
Streeting is now taking questions from the floor.
Q: What would you do about addressing health inequalities among people with learning disabilities and autism. One study said 49% of deaths of people with learning disabilities are preventable; for the mainstream population, the figure is 22%.
Streeting says his niece is autistic. He says her family got her diagnosed at four, and he knows from his casework how hard it is to get a diagnosis that young.
He says he is not sentimental about the NHS because his family have always had to rely on public services. In many cases, people have very bad experiences of public services.
Listening to how constituents have been dealt with by housing, or by social services, or trying to get an EHCP, sometimes “it makes my blood boil”, he says. He says it is not just a matter of resources; it is also a matter of culture.
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Q: What is your relationship to the north as a southerner?
Streeting says, when he goes to the north, he says he is an Essex MP, not a London MP. That is because so many people dislike London, he says (half-jokingly).
Labour wants to win power to give it away, he says.
In the past the Labour party has traditionally been divided between the devolutionists and the centralisers.
But now the whole of the shadow cabinet supports the devolution agenda, he says.
Viner asks about Streeting’s working-class background.
Streeting says he was really glad to hear Keir Starmer talk about smashing the “class ceiling”. The last Labour government did not address this enough, he says.
He says this not about class war. It is about extending opportunity.
Every child from every background should have opportunities, he says.
Starmer’s dad was a toolmaker, and his mum was a nurse, Streeting says. He says he personally thought he had a difficult upbringing, but Angela Rayner’s background was much harder. Bridget Phillipson, the shadow education secretary, comes from a working-class background. He says it is no coincidence that Labour will address class, with people like this around the table.
He says this is very different from the cabinet. They are out of touch, he says.
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Viner turns to Streeting’s recent memoir.
Q: You have written about being treated for cancer during Covid. Did that experience affect your view of Partygate?
Streeting says he never felt more lonely than when he went into hospital alone for treatment.
To see people partying in Downing Street, and laughing about it, was a real kick in the teeth, he says. He says the Tories should never be forgiven for that.
That gets a strong round of applause.
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Streeting says he's not sure NHS would survive another five years of Tory government
Streeting says he worries the Tories have “beaten the hope” out of people. That is the message he has picked up at byelection campaigns. People are angry. But they are not convinced politicians can make a difference.
That is why it is important for Labour to explain how it can make a difference, he says.
He says he had a meeting recently with teachers from his constituency, and three of them broke down in tears.
Labour has to give people their hope back, he says.
He says he has thought about this a lot. If there is one abiding image from the Tory conference, it is the party “literally dancing to the tune of Nigel Farage”.
If the Tories win again, he is not sure they will remain committed to the idea of the NHS, he says.
He says you can see evidence of that in reports that Sunak is considering charging people for missing GP appointments. (Sunak proposed that last year, during the Tory leadership contest. He dropped the plan when he became PM, but it was recently reported that he may revive it.) He goes on:
I’m genuinely not sure that the NHS can survive another five years of Tory government.
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Asked about measures to restrict the consumption of junk food, Streeting says he is wary of measures that would increase costs for people. He says he would prefer to look at other public health measures.
Streeting says Labour will whip its MPs to vote in favour of Sunak's ban on sale of cigarettes to future generations
Streeting says Rishi Sunak announced plans stop the next generation smoking. But he says Sunak did not credit the New Zealand Labour party, which implemented this first.
Sunak is offering a free vote to Tory MPs, he says. And Liz Truss says she will vote against.
But Streeting says Labour will come to Sunak’s rescue. It will whip its MPs to vote in favour of the gradual ban (gradual because the age at which people can buy cigarettes will rise by one year every year, so children 14 or younger today will never be allowed to buy them).
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Streeting says Labour will come down on vaping industry 'like ton of bricks' if it does not tackle sales to children
Q: What would you do that would make a difference on prevention?
Streeting turns to vaping. He says a generation of children has been addicted to nicotine.
He says children are turning up to school distracted.
Until Labour put this on the agenda, the government was not moving.
The government should ban the marketing and sale of vaping to children. And he says if the government does not act before the election, Labour will come down on the industry “like a ton of bricks” after the election.
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Streeting says it is important to be honest about state of NHS, which is 'not envy of world'
Q: Do you really think you will be able to improve the NHS significantly, given the state it is in?
Streeting says he has tried to shake off some of the “rose-tinted sentimentality” around the NHS. That is not because he does not believe in it, he says. It is because he wants to be realistic.
It is “not the envy of the world”.
He says there is a paradox. It is the closest thing we have to a national religion, he says. (He apologises “to the leader of my church, the archbishop of Canterbury.) But he says it has flaws. It is important to be honest.
Why do other countries have better health services? He says some commentators claim it cannot carry on as a free service. That is crap, he says.
The reason why other health services get better outcomes is they pick up illnesses more quickly, they have more equipment, and they run a preventative health service, not a sickness service, which is what the NHS is.
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Wes Streeting tells Guardian fringe Labour under Starmer will always remain committed to two-state solution
Katharine Viner, the Guardian’s editor-in-chief, is now interviewing Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, at a fringe at the conference.
Viner starts with Israel:
Q: Is it time to give up on the two-state solution?
Streeting says he would not want to give up on that, because it seems the only viable solution – two free, independent states for two peoples.
He says he has spent time in Israel and Palestine. For all the ups and downs – and what we have seen today may be the darkest day for the state of Israel – there are Israelis and Palestinians who still see the two-state solution as the only one possible.
He says he has spoken up against the occupation. But what we have seen over the past 24 hours isn’t resistance; it is terrorism. And he says he has been appalled to see people celebrating that in the UK. Where is the humanity?
Q: Is there any sign of de-escalation?
No, says Streeting.
He says we should ask what we would do in that situation. Israel has a right to defend itself. In the UK we have experienced terrorism. Streeting says he remembers the impact of IRA terrorism in London, and 7/7 – he had friends on a bus in the vicinity – and the attack at Westminster that killed PC Keith Palmer.
He says, under Keir Starmer, Labour will remain committed to the two-state solution.
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Dodds says Labour to force parties to publish anonymised data on diversity of parliamentary candidates
Anneliese Dodds, the Labour party chair and shadow secretary for women and equalities, used her speech to confirm that Labour will force “every political party to publish data on the diversity of candidates for parliamentary elections in the UK, Scotland and Wales”.
The move was first announced yesterday, and Labour will do it by enacting section 106 of the Equality Act, which has not been implemented. The information published will be anonymised.
Dodds said this would make parliament more diverse.
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Labour shadow ministers 'petrified' of taking supportive stand on immigration, lawyer claims
An immigration lawyer targeted by an inaccurate dossier sent to right-leaning newspapers has criticised Labour’s leadership, including Keir Starmer, for failing to offer her personal support because they are “petrified” of provoking criticism over immigration issues.
Jacqueline McKenzie, the head of immigration at Leigh Day and a partner at the firm, told a Labour fringe meeting at the party’s annual conference that she had received much more support from Tory MPs than Labour MPs after Conservative party HQ had sent a briefing to the Daily Telegraph, the Daily Mail, the Sun and the Daily Express that was intended to whip up ill-feeling towards her.
She told delegates:
I actually got more messages of support from Tory MPs than I got from Labour. I didn’t get anything from our leader.
I get hate mail, Twitter has been a nightmare, I’ve had somebody outside my house. It has been awful.
She said she had received messages of support from Anneliese Dodds, the shadow secretary of state for women and equalities, and the MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy. She went on:
[ Starmer] could have sent me a little note. David Lammy [the shadow foreign secretary] who calls on me all the time for information on Windrush and stuff could have sent me a little private note. But he didn’t. They are too petrified, and the polls are not showing they need to be as petrified. Let’s be brave, let’s open our hearts and our homes, possibly, and our country to people.
McKenzie was speaking alongside Stephen Kinnock, the shadow immigfratiion minister, at a fringe meeting on immigration.
David Lammy, the shadow foreign secretary, has told a fringe meeting that it’s not possible to get married again without even going on a date, when asked about a future Labour government’s approach to the European Union.
Europe has been potentially one of the most awkward topics at conference for the Labour leadership, who will have been sighing with relief after an attempt to put forward a motion committing a Keir Starmer-led government to forging closer ties with the EU was not selected in a ballot as one of the 12 topics that will be the subject of a priority motions debate. (See 3.44pm.)
Lammy told a fringe meeting organised by Politico:
We have had a very very bitter divorce with the European Union, which went on for years and years. You could argue that it only came to an end with the Windsor Framework.
No one in this room would suggest in all seriousness that you can have a divorce and get married again without even going on a debate.
He said the “starting point” for a Labour government would be to get back to being the strong partners that Britain and other European states had always been.
Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, will be interviewed at a fringe event by the Guardian’s editor-in-chief, Katharine Viner, at 5.30pm. If you are not at the conference, you can watch it online here.
This Sunday, the Guardian's editor-in-chief @KathViner will join the shadow health and social care secretary @wesstreeting at this year's Labour conference party to discuss Labour's vision and plans for the country.
— The Guardian (@guardian) October 6, 2023
Join this free online event here: https://t.co/yppQt6WiQW pic.twitter.com/Fy8fLNJ3J8
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Michael Shanks, the newly elected Labour MP, has told the party’s annual conference that his byelection victory last Thursday was built on two years of work to make Scottish Labour electable again.
He said voters were listening to the party for the first time in a decade, because Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, had transformed the party’s electability and Ian Murray, until last week the sole Labour MP in Scotland, had put in “an incredibly tough shift”.
Speaking for the first time at conference since winning 58% of the vote in the Rutherglen and Hamilton West byelection, he told a Labour Friends of Scotland fringe meeting:
We had no idea we would get anywhere near the swing that we ended up with. [People] were listening to us for the first time in a very, very long time. And if you’ve chapped doors in Scotland over the past 10 years, really, it’s not always been a very warm reception. And that changed. Hugely.
I mean, we’d be walking down the street with people peeping horns and the reaction of Scottish Labour activists was to sort of duck and cover, but actually it was thumbs up for the first time in a very, very long time.
And I think that’s really a shot in the arm for the Scottish Labour party that not only did we win our byelection, but people all across Scotland are listening to us again and want to be persuaded by our message. And it is a message of change.
[I] think we really need to recognise the leadership of an Anas Sarwar because the Scottish Labour party before he took on the mantle of leadership was not in a place where people could put their faith in us and this byelection was not won in the six months that we’ve been fighting it, it was won in the two years of really, really hard work to build back to a place where people can trust the Scottish Labour party.
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David Lammy, the shadow foreign secretary, has said told a fringe meeting at the conference that he stands “with the people of Israel in their tremendous fight”. He said:
It’s been hugely important to be clear that Israel has a right to self-defence and to defend itself against terrorism.
But he also said he would like any response to the attack by Hamas “to be targeted, to be proportionate, and to be within international law”.
Asked whether Hamas should be described as terrorists, Lammy replied to applause:
I’m a parliamentarian. I hope one day to have the privilege of being foreign secretary. I don’t mince my words. I’m a lawyer by training. It’s a proscribed terrorist organisation.
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Labour close to overtaking SNP in voting intention for Scottish parliament, poll suggests
Scottish Labour has edged much closer to the Scottish National party in voting for the devolved Holyrood parliament, according to a fresh Panelbase poll, leading to predictions Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, could form a minority government in Edinburgh.
The poll for the Sunday Times puts Scottish Labour on 32% in constituency seats for the Scottish parliament, three points behind the SNP on 35%, in the first published since Labour’s “seismic” victory in the Rutherglen and Hamilton West byelection on Thursday.
Conducted between 2 and 5 October, in the days preceding the Rutherglen result, Panelbase’s poll also found Labour edging slightly ahead on the regional vote, at 30% to the SNP on 29%.
Although the next Holyrood election is not due until 2026, the Sunday Times quoted Sir John Curtice calculating Labour would thus win 42 seats against 43 for the SNP. It reports that if the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats swung behind Labour, Sarwar could form a minority government, edging out the SNP, even if the pro-independence Scottish Greens won the 15 seats the model forecasts.
The poll also found Labour would struggle to overtake the SNP in Westminster seats, if the general election were held now. It puts the SNP on 37% and Labour on 33%, figures which could translate into 26 seats for the SNP and 22 for Labour.
Those data underscore Labour’s caution about over-stating the significance of the 20% swing it enjoyed in Rutherglen and Hamilton West, when Michael Shanks won nearly 59% of the vote on a low turnout. Crudely, that swing would translate into 40 Westminster seats in Scotland; Scottish Labour sources believe that is an overestimate. They believe the party is now in contention in about 28 Scottish seats.
Braverman's immigration speech reflected xenophobic views of some voters, says Stephen Kinnock
Labour’s shadow immigration minister has said that part of the UK’s electorate have “xenophobic” views.
Speaking at a fringe event at the conference, Stephen Kinnock criticised remarks made by Suella Braverman, the home secretary, in various speeches she has made in recent weeks. He told a Hope Not Hate panel:
It was a new low – I say that resignedly, as we’ve seen many, many new lows.
We ain’t seen nothing yet. They will stop at nothing to divide our communities and find issues that they think will fire up their base. Their policies on asylum and immigration are being driven entirely by Machiavellian policies.
There are segments of the electorate that have very progressive views on immigration, there are segments of the electorate who want a controlled and compassionate approach … I’m afraid there is a segment of the electorate which, I’m afraid, is xenophobic and has a view on immigration that is essentially reflected in what Suella Braverman said.
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Labour could extend criminal sanctions for polluting bosses beyond water companies, Steve Reed suggests
Shadow environment secretary Steve Reed has proposed tougher sanctions for CEOs of repeatedly polluting companies, making them personally criminally liable for the pollution they cause.
When asked at an event hosted by think tank Onward whether he would extrapolate Labour’s policy of criminalising water company bosses to all polluting companies, Reed said:
I think that is what you need. Where you’ve got such widespread law breaking, which is what’s going on there, I think you have to take action of that kind and I see this as fundamentally very pro-business as well.
It’s very pro-business because, you know, good decent businesses, the vast majority of businesses operate within the legal regulatory framework. That’s the level playing field that makes business and the economy work properly.
If you get some businesses that can get away with breaking the law, or making additional profits that way, then you haven’t got a level playing field. So it supports business by stopping businesses that are breaking the law from having that advantage.
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Shadow enviroment secretary Steve Reed has been doing his first discussion at Labour conference and he dismissed the claim made by Claire Coutinho at Conservative conference last week about Labour planning a meat tax as “fake news”.
He also said that Jacob Rees Mogg’s comments about hormone-injected beef are great for Labour’s election chances: “They should put that on a poster: ‘Hormone-injected beef – vote Conservative.”
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Labour pro-Europeans suffer defeat as conference fails to vote for debate on Brexit
Neil Kinnock and Alastair Campbell have lost. (See 12.35pm.) Brexit has not been chosen as one of the 12 topics that will be the subject of a priority motions debate. The leadership did not want a debate on UK-EU relations, which would have led to a vote on a modest strengthening of links with Brussels, and the Labour pro-Europeans who were lobbying for a debate did not have the clout to out-vote activists voting for topics more palatable to Labour HQ.
Although a better relationship with the EU is official party policy, Keir Starmer is wary of doing or saying anything that will allow the Tories to claim he wants to reverse Brexit.
The six topics chosen for debate by the constituency Labour parties are: Ethics and integrity in politics; NHS fit for the future; Energy; Ukraine; Defence;and Violence against women and girls.
And the six topics chosen by the unions are: Critical infrastructure; Industrial strategy, education and skills; Social care workforce; Challenges facing retail and the high street; New Deal for working people; and Technology and AI in the workplace.
Delegates voted during the day in a ballot that closed at 2.30pm and the results were announced to the conference later. In the hall officials did not reveal how many votes the 12 “winning” topics received, and how many votes there were for the other 37 topics.
Just as Jeremy Corbyn is no longer allowed to stand again as a Labour MP, this vote is also an indication of who much the party has changed in recent years. Only five years ago Starmer, then shadow Brexit secretary, was wildly applauded when he gave a speech backing a second referendum on Brexit, with remain an option.
Many Labour activists are still strongly pro-remain. But they seem to favour winning the election even more.
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15% of Londoners do not have ID needed to vote in elections, survey suggests
About 15% of Londoners do not have suitable ID to vote in elections, according to research by London Labour, PA Media reports. PA says:
Young people and those from minority ethnic backgrounds are also five also times more likely to be turned away from polling stations, according to a new Electoral Commission report.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan called for an end to the ID system, branding it a “cynical assault” on voters’ rights in response to the findings.
Polling by Opinium commissioned by London Labour showed 20% of people aged between 18 and 34 do not have the required ID, compared with 12% in the 35-49 bracket and 13% of 50 to 64-year-olds.
Separately, research by the Electoral Commission looking at the 2023 May local elections across England found 1% of non-voters did not cast a ballot because they went to a polling station without valid ID. But this rose to 5% among 18 to 24-year-olds and those from minority ethnic backgrounds.
Commenting on the London Labour research, Khan said:
People across London and the UK face crucially important elections next year. As things stand there’s a real possibility that thousands of voters will be turned away from polling stations through no fault of their own, which could affect the outcome.
The evidence is clear that it will be young people, ethnic minorities and those from poorer communities who will be affected most by this cynical assault on voting rights.
We simply can’t have a situation where thousands of people are locked out of the political process.
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'Is there single thing in Britain that is better after 13 years of Tories?' – Pat McFadden scorns government's record
As national campaign coordinator, Pat McFadden is in charge of the messaging that the party will use when it campaigns in the general election. In his speech to the conference, he did not say anything newsworthy, but he did summarise crisply and eloquently the case the party can make. Here are some extracts.
McFadden scorned the Conservatives’ record in office. He asked:
Is there a single thing in Britain that is better after 13 years of the Tories?
Not the health service.
Not the transport system.
Not people’s living standards.
Not our standing in the world.
They haven’t made things better. They have taken the country backwards.
He ridiculed the notion that the Conservatives could be the party of change.
And now their plan is to admit this. To say that the Conservatives have messed up the country, but pretend the answer is five more years of the Conservatives.
“The Tories have failed so give us a fifth term in office.”
That’s their call to the nation.
The big claim is they are a force for change.
But cancelling stuff isn’t change.
It’s just cancelling stuff.
Michael Gove, the levelling up secretary (who is always fond of an intellectual challenge), sought to answer the ‘What’s got better under the Tories?’ question in his speech to the Conservative conference last week.
McFadden said Rishi Sunak was too weak to transform his party. He said:
The prime minister is not the antidote to the chaos.
He is a product of the chaos.
He is only there because of it.
The country didn’t elect him.
The Tory party didn’t even elect him.
He had a choice when he became leader.
To change his party or to follow it. He chose to follow it.
He said Labour should learn from past victories. He said:
What do we learn from our past victories?
Look beyond our own ranks. Reach out to those who have not always agreed with us, who have voted for different parties in recent years.
Combine the promise of the hope that inspires us with the discipline of tough decisions that is our inescapable responsibility.
And above all, fight for a better tomorrow not a better yesterday.
McFadden, who worked for Tony Blair when he was PM, seemed to be referencing primarily 1997, 2001 and 2005 when he spoke of past victories.
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Unison leader rejects claims Starmer being too timid
Unite and Unison are the two biggest unions in the country, and in the Labour party, but they don’t always see eye to eye. Unite strongly backed Jeremy Corbyn under its previous general secretary, Len McCluskey, and his successor, Sharon Graham, has been arguing that Keir Starmer should be more “bold” (by which she means leftwing). See 12.02pm.
Christina McAnea, the Unison general secretary, does not agree. Asked on Times Radio if Starmer was being too timid, she replied:
I don’t think he’s been timid. I think Keir’s got a laser focus on trying to win the next election. And quite frankly, I’m glad that we’ve got someone who’s got that laser focus in the Labour party.
I think if you read the Labour party manifesto, there’s lots of good stuff in it.
Does it go as far as the unions would like? Probably not. But then Keir Starmer is not out to just please the unions. He’s got to convince the country that he can run the government and that they’re a sensible party that will look after everyone and that it’s in our interest to get him elected.
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Tory conference prompted surge in number of people applying to join Labour, party treasurer says
Labour has said it recruited 1,000 new members during the week of the Conservative conference, PA Media reports. PA says:
Party treasurer Mike Payne said membership fees continue to be the primary source of income, and raise approximately £16m.
He said the membership stands at around 380,000, which is “slightly lower” than the number reported for 2021 although membership income levels were “higher than anticipated”.
Payne said it is “not unusual for membership numbers to fluctuate throughout election cycles”, telling the conference: “Due to the turbulence in the government over the summer and autumn, and given the positive vision for Britain and the policy agenda set out by [Keir Starmer], we have seen a surge in new members into the party.”
He added: “During the Tory conference we recruited 1,000 members in a week.”
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This is from Polly Neate, the chief executive of the housing charity Shelter, on what Angela Rayner announced about housing. (See 12.24pm.)
Angela Rayner is completely right to say that social housing isn’t just a “nice to have”, it’s a fundamental foundation on which community and a healthy society are built. Social homes transform people’s lives for the better, and we need to build a lot more of them.
Decisive action to address the housing emergency is long overdue. Labour and all parties should put social housing at the heart of their mission, with a commitment to build 90,000 social rent homes a year to clear housing waiting lists and stem rising homelessness. Getting tough on developers and more powers for councils need to be matched by a serious investment in social housebuilding to truly give everyone the chance of a stable, genuinely affordable home.
And these are from Vicky Spratt, the journalist and housing campaigner.
Rayner says Labour will give first-time buyers “first dibs” & introduce a mortgage guarantee scheme for those without family wealth. Something like this is def needed BUT to avoid Help to Buy-style inflation, demand-side support has to come with a serious housing supply increase
Rayner says Labour will give first-time buyers “first dibs” & introduce a mortgage guarantee scheme for those without family wealth. Something like this is def needed BUT to avoid Help to Buy-style inflation, demand-side support has to come with a serious housing supply increase
— Vicky Spratt (@Victoria_Spratt) October 8, 2023
If Labour win the next election they will inherit the worst iteration of the housing crisis created by policy (and a lack thereof) since the 1980s as well as inflation and a recession – getting homes and keeping the housing market going built will be a big challenge
If Labour win the next election they will inherit the worst iteration of the housing crisis created by policy (and a lack thereof) since the 1980s as well as inflation and a recession - getting homes and keeping the housing market going built will be a big challenge
— Vicky Spratt (@Victoria_Spratt) October 8, 2023
But – at least Labour are talking about their plan which, weirdly, even the Housing Secretary didn’t do much of in his speech at Tory conference last week … Having a shadow Housing Secretary like Rayner who can speak personally about the importance of social housing is powerful
But - at least Labour are talking about their plan which, weirdly, even the Housing Secretary didn’t do much of in his speech at Tory conference last week … Having a shadow Housing Secretary like Rayner who can speak personally about the importance of social housing is powerful
— Vicky Spratt (@Victoria_Spratt) October 8, 2023
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My colleague Aletha Adu says Jeremy Corbyn never intended to attend the CND fringe meeting where he was listed as a speaker and where journalists were told he did not show up because he did not have a pass. (See 1.25pm.) But he is speaking at the World Transformed, the unofficial leftwing festival taking place in parallel, in Liverpool but outside the conference venue.
Sources close to Corbyn tell me that he wasn’t planning to attend the CND event which was inside the secure zone.
He hasn’t applied for a conference pass, and isn’t even in Liverpool yet … but is on his way for an event outside the zone
Sources close to Corbyn tell me that he wasn’t planning to attend the CND event which was inside the secure zone.
— Aletha Adu (@alethaadu) October 8, 2023
He hasn’t applied for a conference pass, and isn’t even in Liverpool yet… but is on his way for an event outside the zone https://t.co/t623KMYw5t
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Labour will pay price if it assumes victory guaranteed, general secretary David Evans tells members
There is one MRP poll out today suggesting Labour is on course for a majorty of 190. In his speech to the conference this morning, David Evans, the party’s general secretary, told delegates that they shouldn’t be complacent and that the Tories still posed a threat. Here are the main points he made.
Evans said Labour would pay the price if it assumed victory was guaranteed. He said:
I know we all read the polls – it’s hard not to. But remember the words of the late Shimon Peres – opinion polls are like perfume. Nice to smell, dangerous to swallow. We’re not swallowing any polls. Our priority is not just to persuade, but to turn support into action, poll leads into votes …
A reminder that even though the Tories have given up governing, they haven’t given up campaigning. If we give them an opportunity, we will pay the price. And we should always remember that in the 123 years since Keir Hardie – the original Keir – founded our party we’ve been in power for just 30.
He said Labour had to learn a lesson from the defeat in the Uxbridge and South Ruislip byelection. He said:
I want to mention another name. Danny Beales. Our candidate in Uxbridge and South Ruislip. A great candidate. Not in parliament. We came up short for him by 495 votes. The Conservatives beat us.
This was painful. But pain is useful. It tells you something isn’t right and needs to be fixed. You ignore it at your peril.
Evans did not say what the lesson of the byelection was, but it has been obvious what conclusion Keir Starmer drew from what he has been saying about Ulez (the ultra-low emission zone, which he blames for the defeat). In his Observer interview today Starmer says:
I’m going to bombproof every single policy as we go forward. If that means that there are tweaks along the way, but they’re the right tweaks, it means it’s deliverable, then that’s what we will do.
Evans said that he was launching a Win ’24 sticker initiative to show how much support there was for a Labour victory. He explained:
One first step will be a Win ’24 sticker you’ll receive. Put this in your car or porch. It will signal to others in your area that they are part of a growing number who want us to win in ’24.
At first you will see just a smattering, but this will spread as our campaign builds and grows into an unstoppable movement. More people speaking to voters. More donations in cash and kind. More volunteers. The Tories won’t know what has hit them. And it won’t just be our victory, it will be the British people’s victory. Voting Labour to take their country back.
So, conference, remember how you felt at 10pm on the 12 December 2019, that fateful clang of big ben before the exit poll results. I give you my word that we hear that clang of Big Ben again we will have done everything we can.
He announced that Labour is creating a leadership academy named after Margaret McDonagh, the former general secretary who died this year. Tony Blair and Keir Starmer were among those who paid tribute to her in a video shown to delegates.
Updated
Talking of Jeremy Corbyn, he was due to speak at a fringe meeting at the conference but did not appear. Apparently he did not have a pass.
This is from my colleague Ben Quinn.
Most of the media just left a CND fringe event at Labour conference when it emerged that Jeremy Corbyn wouldn’t be speaking (as billed) after all
Kate Hudson of CND says it was because he didn’t have a pass / suggests not because he was blocked
Most of the media just left a CND fringe event at Labour conference when it emerged that Jeremy Corbyn wouldn't be speaking (as billed) after all
— Ben Quinn (@BenQuinn75) October 8, 2023
Kate Hudson of CND says it was because he didn't have a pass / suggests not because he was blocked
The Sun’s Noa Hoffman says Corbyn never applied for one.
CONFIRMED: Jeremy Corbyn never applied for a Labour conference pass and therefor cannot enter the conference secure zone
CONFIRMED: Jeremy Corbyn never applied for a Labour conference pass and therefor cannot enter the conference secure zone
— Noa Hoffman (@hoffman_noa) October 8, 2023
And this is from Christopher Hope from GB News.
Someone’s missing. Where’s Jeremy Corbyn? #labourconference23 pic.twitter.com/gFT1vgO1If
— Christopher Hope📝 (@christopherhope) October 8, 2023
Updated
It is hard to avoid the union jack in Liverpool. Even if Nigel Farage had been in charge of the decor, it is hard to imagine it could have been used more. Most parties are keen to be seen as patriotic, but in part this is also part of an ongoing effort to draw a line under the Jeremy Corbyn era, which is something the Tories won’t let Keir Starmer forget. In his conference speech last week Rishi Sunak referred to Corbyn’s views on Nato and nuclear deterrence, and Starmer’s support for him, adding: “You can never trust Labour with our country’s security.”
In the press room at the conference officials have just been handing out examples of the redesigned party card, which is big on the red, white and blue. The back of the large, in large type, carries the words “Putting the country first”. The Blair-era clause four is there too, in much smaller type.
Labour unveils new membership card design https://t.co/1jbxBb7tyd pic.twitter.com/nh704abpuy
— Calgie (@christiancalgie) October 8, 2023
Updated
And Robert Jenrick, the immigration minister, has also criticised Keir Starmer for saying he would get rid of the Rwanda policy even if it were working. (See 10.04am.)
Q: Would you scrap the Rwanda policy even if it works?
Starmer: Yes.
Proof, if it were needed, that Labour don’t even want to stop the boats.
They are ideologically opposed to border controls. Their solution is to force British communities to tolerate this flagrant criminality.
Q:Would you scrap the Rwanda policy even if it works?
— Robert Jenrick (@RobertJenrick) October 8, 2023
Starmer: Yes.
Proof, if it were needed, that Labour don’t even want to stop the boats.
They are ideologically opposed to border controls. Their solution is to force British communities to tolerate this flagrant criminality. https://t.co/bsOZenlhin
Updated
Following Keir Starmer’s pledge this morning to scrap the Rwanda scheme even if the courts give it the go ahead (see 10.04am), a government source said he was “another human rights lawyer” failing to work in the UK’s interests. They said:
Now we have the truth – Sir Keir doesn’t care about stopping the boats at all. He’d cancel our Rwanda deterrent even when it’s up and working just because it doesn’t fit with his political ideology.
Instead he plans to go cap in hand to Brussels to beg for an EU quota scheme to potentially allow hundreds of thousands more migrants into our country.
He’s just another human rights lawyer from north London who puts party interests before the British people.
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Neil Kinnock and Alastair Campbell urge Labour delegates to vote for debate on Brexit
The former Labour leader Neil Kinnock has joined campaigners urging delegates at the party conference to back a motion calling for a future government led by Keir Starmer to negotiate a closer EU-UK relationship.
The motion from the Labour Movement for Europe, which calls for the party to make commitments including negotiating a visa system with the EU, is among those being put to a ballot today on whether they can go to a vote and debate on the conference floor in Liverpool this week.
Kinnock said in a video message posed online:
Everyone knows that Brexit has inflicted, is inflicting, terrible costs and losses on our economy and it has diminished our country internationally. Obviously Labour wants to change that bleak reality and part of doing that should involve discussing it at our conference.
So please vote with the Labour movement in Europe and others in giving priority for debate to the European motion.
Supporters of Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, have been canvassing delegates to vote for different motions to be debated on the conference floor.
@labour4europe Honorary President and former Labour Party Leader Neil Kinnock is urging all delegates to make sure Europe is on the agenda and vote for the European motion in the priorities ballot at #Labourconference23 tomorrow, Sunday 8th pic.twitter.com/nGnEWIW44c
— Labour Movement for Europe 🌹 🇪🇺 (@labour4europe) October 7, 2023
Alastair Campbell, the former Labour communications and strategy chief, also backed the motion in a video posed by the Labour Movement for Europe, in which he called for a “proper debate” on Brexit. He said:
This is the week Labour can show they are very very different to the Tories on so many fronts.
Today @campbellclaret is urging delegates at labour conference to use the opportunity to show we are serious about tackling the damage Brexit is doing to our economy and our country - please vote for Europe in the priority ballot and share this post pic.twitter.com/r1zVdda2Zg
— Labour Movement for Europe 🌹 🇪🇺 (@labour4europe) October 8, 2023
Delegates will vote this afternoon for the topics that will be debate. There are 49 topics on the list, and 12 will be chosen.
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Rayner accuses Tories of taking 'sledgehammer to foundations on which good life can be built'
Angela Rayner, the deputy Labour leader, used her speech to restate Labour’s intention to deliver “the biggest boost in affordable and social housing for a generation”. She said this would include council housing.
The Tories look down on people living in social housing.
Well I say, let’s stare right back.
And never be ashamed.
A council house changed my life.
And so here’s what Labour is going to do.
We’ll start by salvaging the system that the Tories have taken a sledgehammer to.
Where the Tories have snatched billions from affordable housing, Labour will unlock government grants to deliver new homes by making the affordable homes programme more flexible so that every penny gets out the door to build the homes people need.
And by working with the local leaders – who know their areas best – we’ll use these funds more effectively.
Rayner also said secure, affordable housing was one of what she described as the foundations of a good life. Under the Conservatives, these were crumbling, she said.
Rishi Sunak and his party have taken a sledgehammer to the foundations on which a good life can be built.
And now the simple things in life are crumbling.
A decent job.
A secure, affordable home.
And a strong community.
Simple things this government has snatched away from working people.
Conference, we can’t go on like this any longer. The Tories are not only talking Britain down. They’ve dragged us down. And they’re holding us back.
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Angela Rayner started her speech with a series of jokes about Tory MPs. Here are some of the better ones.
Then there was the home secretary, sacked as a threat to national security. The same home secretary, reappointed the next week.
I think they call that “time served”. Apparently she believes in the rehabilitation of offenders after all.
Now we have the prime minister refusing to hand over his WhatsApp messages.
I assume Jacob Rees-Mogg has also refused to hand over his carrier pigeon.
Throughout all of it, the prime minister simply can’t stand up for the country against his party.
Apparently he’s planning another reshuffle. Maybe that’s why he thinks we were offering him seven different bins for different kinds of rubbish …
The prime minister’s speech didn’t even mention “housing” once. No doubt that’s because his housing policy is the same as his new smoking policy – increase the price year on year, so eventually no one can buy!
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Mandelson says Unite leader right to say Labour must be bold – but 'not bold and stupid'
In an interview with the Observer, Sharon Graham, the leftwing Unite general secretary, says Labour must be bolder. She says:
I know that it’s an unpopular thing to say at the moment, because everybody feels we should just batten down the hatches. The problem with that is that they [Labour] can afford to be bolder – and I don’t think they can afford not to be.
There’s one thing to get in [ie win the election] and [another to be] literally carried in – carried through those gates because you’re going to make the change that we need. I don’t want apathy to be the winner of this. It’s got to count.
Peter Mandelson, the arch-Blairite who is about as far on one wing of the Labour party as Graham is on the other, told Sky News this morning that the Unite leader was right about the need for bold policies. But that did not mean being “bold and stupid”, he said, in a reference to some of the left’s nationalisation demands. He said:
I agree with Sharon Graham. I agree that we need more than policy tweaks and we need more than small twists in the policy dial.
Yes, I’m happy to be bold, but not bold and stupid.
I’m going to be campaigning for a Labour government that’s going to invest in home insulation, that will create energy, security and efficiency in people’s homes.
I’m going to be campaigning for a Labour government that’s going to get British workers building electric vehicles.
I’m going to be campaigning for a Labour government that’s going to get steel workers making green steel, not passing £96bn worth of public funds to the shareholders in BP and other energy companies.
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Angela Rayner addresses Labour conference
At the Labour conference Angela Rayner, the deputy leader, is addressing the conference now. Shadow cabinet ministers have been told this year to keep the attacks on the Conservatives to a minimum, and focus more on what Labour would do in office, but the deputy leader’s speech at conference is always expected to be a carnival of Tory-bashing and Rayner is obliging very successfully.
I will post the highlights when I see the full text.
As Chloe Chaplain from the i, the hall is packed – which is not normally the case at conference on a Sunday morning.
Labour conference hall absolutely rammed for Angela Rayner’s speech - people being turned away at the door
Labour conference hall absolutely rammed for Angela Rayner’s speech - people being turned away at the door pic.twitter.com/8gvzDfUGzg
— Chloe Chaplain (@ChaplainChloe) October 8, 2023
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It is a hard job writing up polling these days for the pro-Tory Mail on Sunday, but they are a resourceful bunch over there and not easily deterred. Today’s write-up of a Deltapoll survey is headlined on Rishi Sunak being trusted on “a woman is a woman”. That’s a line he used in his conference speech, and the story says the polling shows 35% of respondents agree that a woman is best defined as a human with female biology, while only 14% say a trans woman for a woman. The story describes this as a boost for a Tory attack line, which is arguably true.
The sub-heading to the story also says the poll shows that Keir Starmer is seen as “Mr Flip Flop”, another Tory attack line, because of his U-turns. Also true – up to a point.
But, as the story concedes a bit further down, Sunak is also seen as a flip flopper.
And the actual figures show that, on this measure, Sunak is seen as far worse than Starmer. Fifty-three per cent of people say he “changes his mind and flip flops”, while only 32% says he “sticks to the decisions he has made”.
For Starmer, 42% have him as as a flip flopper, and 37% say he sticks to the decisions he makes.
The poll also suggests that 35% trust Starmer to protect the rights of women and girls, while only 25% say the same of Sunak – which rather undermines the point made in the headline.
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Starmer says increasing growth will be 'the central mission of incoming Labour government'
Here are the main points from Keir Starmer’s interview with Victoria Derbyshire on the BBC.
Starmer said increasing growth was “the central mission of the incoming Labour government”. When it was put to him that getting the highest sustained growth in the G7 was one of Labour’s five missions, Starmer said it was more important than that. He said:
It is the central one. It is not just one of them. It is the central mission of the incoming Labour government.
He said he was confident he could increase economic growth because he had “a strategic plan”. Asked why he could be confident, he replied:
I’m confident because we’ve got a strategic plan. I’m confident because I’ve listened to businesses who say to me these are the impediments in my way. I’ve said to businesses, look at infrastructure, how long would it take you, for example, to build a windfarm? I’m told about two years physically, but about 13 years before we actually get any power out of it.
That means we got to go at pace to deal with the planning that sits in the way of it, go at pace to deal with the grid, which is far too slow.
So my confidence comes, not from coming on here and simply asserting it … but because of months and years of careful conversations with those that will be delivering this.
He said Labour would get rid of the Rwanda deportation plan, even if it appeared to be working by the time of the election, because it was the “wrong policy”. (See 10.04am.)
He said he thought doctors would be willing to do more paid overtime to clear the hospital operation backlog, saying they were “up for this because they know that bringing down the waiting list will reduce the pressure on them in the long run”. He was referring to a Labour plan announced this morning for 2m more operations or appointments in its first year. (See 8.55am.)
He brushed aside the findings of a word cloud exercise showing that “Nothing” was the reply given most often when people were asked what word they associated with him. (See 10.17am.) Shown the picture, he replied: “I’ve had a lot worse thrown at me in my life”. He also said people knowing little about him showed why the conference was so important.
He condemned the attack on Israel. Asked for a reaction, he said:
This is an appalling attack on Israel, a terrorist attack, for which there is no justification. The perpetrators of this have deliberately pushed back the prospect of peace agreements.
Starmer also said he spoke to the leader of the Israeli Labour party, Merav Michaeli, last night. He continued:
As we were on the phone the siren went off and she had to go down into her shelter, taking her papers with her. So it’s an appalling act of terrorism, it needs to be called out across the world.
Updated
Here is a cleaner version of the Keir Starmer word cloud shown on the BBC. It is more positive than the one for Rishi Sunak, which was dominated by the word “Rich”, or phrases containing it.
word cloud of Keir Starmer comes up with “Nothing” pic.twitter.com/QlPIOe55Ed
— Jim Pickard 🐋 (@PickardJE) October 8, 2023
Is being associated with the word “Nothing” better than being associated with the word “Rich”? Not if people are saying the word nothing to mean worthless, but almost certainly people were responding like this to signal they did not have any view of Starmer because they did not know anything about him. Other answers – “Don’t know”, “Not sure”, “No idea” – confirm this.
Of the prominent words on the chart, “Himself” is probably the most damning. But some of the other main response are either factual (“Labour”) or moderately positive. “People” implies that people think Starmer is on the side of people, and “Working class” implies they think either Starmer is working class, or stands up for the working class. Focus groups suggest a lot of people think Starmer is privileged because he has a knighthood, but perhaps Starmer’s endless references to his father working in a factory, and his mother being a nurse, are cutting through.
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Why Starmer said he would abolish Rwanda policy even if it were working
Labour has consistently opposed the government’s plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda, but generally it is done so on practical rather than moral grounds. Today, Keir Starmer continued to insist it was impractical, but he also said he would reverse it even if it were working – which sounded like a firming up of his position.
Victoria Derbyshire asked:
If the supreme court rules [the policy] is legal, and flights to Rwanda begin to take off, and the numbers crossing the Channel on small boats decline – ie, so it’s working – would you still reverse it?
Starmer replied:
Yes. It is the wrong policy. It’s hugely expensive. It’s a tiny number, a tiny number, of individuals who would go to Rwanda. And the real problem is at source.
What was interesting about this is that the obvious, and easy, answer for Starmer would have been to say that the policy won’t work. Politicians often refuse to answer hypothetical questions, and Derbyshire’s question included no less than three hypotheticals. But Starmer did not take evasive route out, and instead answered the question directly.
When Derbyshire said that promising to reverse the policy even if it were working did not sound very pragmatic, Starmer said he wanted to say “pragmatically” what he would do about this issue. He went on:
Nobody wants to see these crossings across the Channel. They will only stop if we smash the criminal gangs who are running this vile trade.
Now, before I was a politician, I was director of public prosecutions for five years. And that meant I worked with other countries coordinating a plan to smash terrorist gangs, to smash gangs that were people smuggling.
Those boats that are being used now are being made to order, they’re being transported across by gangs to the northern coast of France, and people [are] making millions of pounds, putting people in that boat. We have to break. I’m convinced we can.
You don’t start by what are you going to do at the end of the process when you’ve failed to control your borders. You start by controlling your borders.
Starmer also criticised the government for processing only 1% of small boat asylum claims from last year. He ended by saying.
As a pragmatist. I want a pragmatic plan that is actually going to fix this problem, not rhetoric, which has got this government absolutely nowhere.
In the past, Starmer has been criticised for refusing to say that Labour would repeal the Illegal Migration Act, which incorporates the Rwanda plan and gives it extra legal backing. But by willing to say today he would scrap the Rwanda policy even if it were working, he is being more robust.
That’s probably a sign of confidence. Previously some Labour strategists feared this was a Tory issue. But, as he demonstrated with the announcement of a new line on small boats during a visit to Europol last month, Starmer increasingly seems to view this as Labour territory.
Updated
Derbyshire ends by asking Starmer to name one thing about Rishi Sunak he admires. Last week, Laura Kuenssberg asked Sunak to say something positive about Starmer (without getting much of an answer).
Starmer says he appreciates that fact that, on the day he became PM, Sunak called Starmer and they agreed that, although they would criticise each other on policy, on matters of national security and terrorism they would stand together.
Updated
Derbyshire presents Starmer with a word cloud showing what voters make of him.
“Nothing” seems to be the most prominent reaction. Other words that have come up often are “Don’t know”, “Not sure”, and “Himself”.
Starmer says he has been called worse.
Updated
Starmer says he would get rid of Rwanda deportation plan, even if it were working, because it's 'wrong policy'
Q: You oppose the Rwanda policy because you don’t think it will work. If the supreme court rules it is legal, and deportations start and it is seen to be working, would you still reverse it.
Yes, says Starmer. He says it is the wrong policy. It is very expensive, and it only affect only a small number of people. And the policy does not deal with the problem at source.
He says he wants to smash the people smuggling gangs at source. He is convinced this can happen. You don’t start at the end of the process, he says. People would be shocked to know that only 1% of people who arrived last year have had their claims processed.
Starmer says he is dealing with this “as a pragmatist”. The government is only interested in rhetoric, he says.
Updated
Q: And what about social housing?
Starmer says Labour would insist on more through use of section 106 notices to ensure developers have to build affordable housing.
Angela Rayner spoke in more detail about these plans in a Guardian interview published yesterday.
Starmer says Labour would make the section 106 guidance “clearer, stronger, more robust”.
In some places this is working very well, Starmer says. He says it just needs to work well everywhere.
Updated
Q: How many homes do you want to build?
Starmer says he wants to build 1.5m over five years.
Q: The Centre for Cities says 442,000 homes are needed every year.
Starmer says that is not “a million miles” from what Labour is proposing. The government has got rid of targets. Labour would have targets, and it would reform planning laws.
Q: Is the target 300,000 homes a year?
Starmer says he is saying 1.5m over five years.
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Starmer says he is confident Labour can generate more growth because his plans to achieve it realistic
Q: Under your plans, if there is no growth, there will be no extra money for public services?
Starmer says he is confident he can generate more growth.He says investors say they will invest in the UK if the conditions are right. At the moment there is too much uncertainty.
Derbyshire says without growth there will be no extra money for public service.
Starmer says he is confident he will get the growth. She asks again, and he gives the same answer. He says generating more growth is central to his plan for government.
Starmer says it can take two years, physically, to build an onshore windfarm, but 13 years to do it allowing for getting planning permission. He would speed this up.
He says he is confident about being able to generate growth because he has had conversations with the experts who have told him what needs to be done.
Updated
Starmer is now talking about the plan for extra operations announced today. (See 8.55am)
Q: Will you have to change doctors’ contracts?
No, says Starmer.
Q: Will they get paid more in the private sector?
Probably, says Starmer.
Q: So why would they stop that and work for less in the NHS at weekends.
Starmer says doctors in the NHS want to bring down waiting lists. Labour has talked to them. It is not going to impose this scheme. It will be voluntary, he says.
Having 7.7 million people on the waiting list, as there are in NHS England, is unprecedented, he says.
Updated
Starmer calls attack on Israel 'an appalling act of terrorism'
Keir Starmer is being interviewed by Victoria Derbyshire, who is standing in for Laura Kuenssberg, on the BBC.
Starmer starts by condemning the attack on Israel, which he says is “an appalling act of terrorism”.
He says Israel has every right to defend itself, and that the perpetrators have pushed back the prospects for peace talks.
“Israel has every right to defend herself”
— BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) October 8, 2023
Labour leader Keir Starmer says the “perpetrators of [the attack on Israel] have deliberately pushed back the prospect of peace agreements”#BBCLauraK https://t.co/XWf5EU0E9K pic.twitter.com/Ry1fcvocyG
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Streeting says Conservative party has been taken over by 'cranks, crackpots and conspiracy theorists'
Using a line that he deployed in an interview with the Times yesterday, Wes Streeting told Trevor Phillips that the Conservative party had been taken over by “cranks, crackpots and conspiracy theorists”.
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Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, is being interviewed by Trevor Phillips on Sky News. When it was put to him that NHS staff were already feeling overworked, and he was asked why they would want to do more overtime, as Labour’s plan assumes (see 8.55am), Streeting said staff would not have to do overtime if they did not want to, and that they would be paid fairly for the work they did.
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Labour says it would fund 2m extra hospital operations and appointments in first year, with £1.1bn raised from non-doms
This morning, Labour is setting out plans to fund an extra 2m hospital operations, scan and appointments in its first year in office by funding more overtime. Keir Starmer has been talking about the plans in an interview with the Sunday Mirror, and the party has just issued a news release with more details. It says:
The plan will enable the NHS to provide an extra 2 million operations, scans, and appointments in the first year. Labour is pledging to invest an extra £1.1bn to provide NHS staff overtime to work evening and weekend shifts, so procedures can be carried out.
Labour’s plan will see neighbouring hospitals pooling their staff and using shared waiting lists, so they are working more efficiently together and making the best use of available capacity. Patients will be given the choice to travel to a nearby hospital to get treated on an evening or weekend, rather than wait longer …
The funding will be enough to make sure that every integrated care system can run a weekend or out of hours service equivalent to 100% of weekday activity for day case elective surgery, outpatient clinics and diagnostic investigations for 52 weeks of the year.
A Labour government will allocate the funding to integrated care boards, and set clear expectations of increased activity to ensure return on investment. The funding will be to pay staff overtime rates to work evenings and/or weekends and to increase hours at short notice through NHS staff bank networks.
Labour says there are several trusts where hospitals are pooling staff so they can plough through the operations backlog with extra working in the evenings or at weekends. As one example, it says the Northern Care Alliance NHS trust has introduced “super Saturday” weekend lists to carry out hip and knee replacements.
The party says the £1.1bn for this initiative will come from the revenue raised by abolishing non-dom status (estimated to be worth more than £3bn).
Last year, Labour said it would double the number of medical school places funded from the non-dom revenue. But, in an interesting example of how government plans provide the baseline for the government, Labour says that now that the government has introduced its own NHS long-term workforce plan, which it claims is funded under government spending plans, that non-dom revenue is now available for spending on other things (like the plan announced today).
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Starmer says party conference an opportunity to give voters an answer to the ‘why Labour?’ question
Good morning. The Conservative party conference provided the nation with several blessings – an insight into factional infighting, and a glimpse of where the Tories are heading after the general election, a decision about HS2, a test for whether Rishi Sunak can present himself as a change candidate (answer – no), but what it didn’t provide was any boost for the party in the polls. The Labour conference formally opens in Liverpool today and Keir Starmer will be hoping that his event proves more successful.
The conventional wisdom is that Starmer has brilliantly persuaded the public that Labour has changed from the Corbyn years, and that he has made the case that the Conservatives do not deserve another term in office, but that he has not yet shown why voters should be enthusiastic about Labour. Parties do best when candidates and their supporters can convincingly answer the “I’m voting X because …” question in a clear, compelling sentence. In an interview with Andrew Rawnsley and Toby Helm for the Observer, Starmer says that his mission this week is to address that. He says:
This is the conference we wanted at this stage of the journey and this is where we intend to answer that question ‘Why Labour?’ with confidence and a coherent plan.
We’ll hear more from him on this shortly, when he gives the traditional pre-conference long sit-down interview to the BBC.
Here is the agenda for the day.
8.30am: Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, is interviewed on Sky’s Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips.
9am: Keir Starmer is interviewed on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme.
11.10am: The formal conference proceedings opens. At 11.25am Angela Rayner, the deputy leader, will speak. There will also be speeches from David Evans, the general secretary, at 11.45am and Anneliese Dodd, the party chair, at 12.15pm. Delegates will debate party reports.
12pm: Speakers at lunchtime fringe meetings include Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, on innovation in the NHS; Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, at an event with Labour candidates; David Lammy, the shadow foreign secretary, on lessons from abroad for progressives; and Jeremy Corbyn, the former leader, on Labour’s spending priorities.
2pm: Pat McFadden, the national campaign coordinator, speaks in the conference hall during a session on winning the next election.
4pm: Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, speaks at an in conversation fringe event.
5.30pm: Streeting is interviewed by Katharine Viner, the Guardian’s editor-in-chief, at a fringe meeting.
5.30pm: John McDonnell, the former shadow chancellor, and other leftwingers speak at a fringe meeting on “socialist solutions to the Tory crisis”.
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
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