Good morning. There were few surprises in Keir Starmer’s wide-ranging conference speech, his first in power.
It was an attempt to inject positivity into the pessimistic and downcast narrative that has defined Labour since the party came to power in July, as he spoke of “a Britain that belongs to you”. But it was not a total break with the story that the prime minister has told so far about the country. “Tough” decisions still have to be made, Starmer said, for long-term economic gains. There is “light at the end of the tunnel” for the country, but there will be a “shared struggle” before we reach better times. There was, he said, no sense in giving people “false hope”.
There was a sense of optimism but it was, at every turn, lowered by Starmer’s innate caution. Change – but with caveats and stipulations (and one odd gaffe).
To get there, the prime minister is pitching “a government of service” to restore trust, arguing that the Conservatives not only left a “financial” and “societal black hole” but also a “political blackhole”. It follows a shift in rhetoric from his chancellor, Rachel Reeves, who is reportedly planning to use next month’s budget to change the way public sector debt is assessed, which could allow billions of pounds more on spending on housing, roads and hospitals to encourage investment and spur on growth.
Today’s newsletter is on the main takeaways of the prime minister’s speech and what it tells us about his plans for the country’s future. That’s right after the headlines.
Five big stories
Middle East | Israel began a third day of strikes in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, hours after Hezbollah confirmed the death of a senior commander, Ibrahim Qubaisi, in an airstrike on Beirut. Israel’s offensive since Monday morning has killed 569 people, including 50 children, and wounded 1,835 in Lebanon, health minister Firass Abiad told Al Jazeera Mubasher TV. Britain is moving 700 troops to Cyprus to be ready for an emergency evacuation of UK citizens from Lebanon, as the prime minister urged those still in the country to leave immediately.
Politics | Three hundred new state nurseries will open in England’s schools by next September, the education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, has promised, as the government hurries to find places before the introduction of free childcare.
China | China has publicly acknowledged for the first time that it successfully launched an intercontinental ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean, in a move likely to raise international concerns about the country’s nuclear buildup.
Environment | Planet-heating pollution doubled the chance of the extreme levels of rain that hammered central Europe in September, a study has found.
US news | Missouri executed Marcellus “Khaliifah” Williams, 55, on death row on Tuesday, despite objections from prosecutors who sought to have his conviction overturned and have supported his claims of innocence. Williams was killed by lethal injection, ending a legal battle that has sparked widespread outrage as the office that originally tried the case suggested he was wrongfully convicted.
In depth: ‘The work of change has begun’
In his speech, Starmer looked ahead more than he has so far in government. As expected, he still squarely laid the blame for the state of the nation on the previous government, emphasising the need to clear away “Tory rot”. However, he also elaborated on how Labour would do so. He is marketing himself “unapologetically” as the “un-populist prime minister” writes Jessica Elgot in her analysis of the speech.
Despite significant pushback, and a dipping favourability rating, Starmer has ultimately stood by the tough messaging. “It will be hard,” he said. “That’s not rhetoric, it’s reality”. Starmer is promising “national renewal”, but stresses that it will take a decade – in other words, two terms – to get there.
So how has he said Labour will fix things?
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What Starmer said
Starmer wanted to make it clear that the government is already one of action and reform. “The work of change has begun”, he said, listing a slew of issues that Labour have already started working on.
The prime minister pointed to planning reform, the junior doctors’ pay deal, renewable energy projects and GB Energy, education reform, the new Border Security Command, renters’ rights and nationalisation of rail as examples of decisive action.
At the same time, Starmer made clear the government is happy to make unpopular decisions, defending controversial cuts to winter fuel payments. He is happy to take the flak, Frances Ryan writes and his “cocky dismissal of a pro-Gaza heckler only reinforced that”.
Starmer claims that by prioritising economic stability, prices will come down, NHS waiting lists will fall and the triple lock will be secured, leaving “every pensioner better off with Labour”. However, the government’s own equality analysis has shown that 780,000 pensioners who need the winter fuel payment will lose out on it when Labour begins means-testing the benefit. The short-term pain in this instance will leave older people in more vulnerable positions.
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The next steps
At the top of the speech, Starmer pledged to introduce the Hillsborough law – a commitment he made while he was in opposition – before the next anniversary of the disaster in April 2025. The new legislation would introduce a legal duty of candour to all public bodies and will also help victims of other national scandals. Starmer also pledged to house all veterans in need, as well as young care leavers and domestic abuse survivors. The policy will mean these groups will be able to apply for social housing in any local authority in the UK for life. A significant chunk of the speech was also dedicated to the arts, a sector that, for years, has faced an acute crisis because of funding cuts.
He also committed to cracking down on knife crime; introducing a real living wage; further devolution; a modern industrial strategy; a 10-year plan for the NHS; a teacher recruitment drive and foundation apprenticeships. There was very little detail on the cost and scope of some of these policies.
All of this is positive, Frances Ryan writes, but she adds that Starmer’s decision to go after “(minuscule) benefit fraud and ‘worklessness’ while benefit rates don’t even cover claimants’ basic needs gave a grim insight into his priorities”.
On immigration, Starmer tried to walk a tightrope. On the one hand, he wanted to maintain the image that he was tough on immigration, promising to cut net migration and Britain’s “economic dependency upon it”. Simultaneously, he tried to veer away from anti-immigrant sentiment, acknowledging the necessity of granting people asylum and strongly condemning the riots that took over many cities over the summer. Nesrine Malik described it as “muddled” but a “welcome head-on engagement” on the issue.
There was little on foreign policy, despite the turmoil unfolding in the Middle East. Starmer called for “restraint and de-escalation at the border” between Israel and Hezbollah and urged “all parties to step back from the brink”.
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A ‘new’ Labour
Throughout the speech, another central theme emerged: the transformation of the Labour party championed by Starmer himself over the last five years. Obliquely referencing the left flank of the party, Starmer said that the change in Labour’s values “are permanent and irreversible”. “Never forget that this opportunity is only here because we changed the party”, he said.
“Some people think that Starmer’s ministry lacks a plan,” Professor Alan Finlayson writes, but “the speech made clear that in Starmer’s ideology a changed Labour party is the programme”.
But the speech was only a small part of reclaiming the narrative: “Away from the media glare, Starmer allies have been quietly keeping the doors sealed shut on Labour’s wardrobe of discontents,” Tom Belger, editor of LabourList writes. “Contentious motions by disgruntled local parties – on the two-child cap, Palestine and trans rights – were snuffed out before they reached the conference floor”.
As conference winds down today and the 20,000 attendees head home, the country will be looking to the October budget to get a more substantial idea of what lies ahead.
What else we’ve been reading
I found Fleur Britten’s account of cleaning up a beach in Ghana – littered with the remains of fast fashion past – totally terrifying. Hannah J Davies, deputy editor, newsletters
This New York magazine profile of Ta-Nehisi Coates shows the radical thinker and author rebuke his cosy “liberal darling” goodwill with a singular righteous confrontation of the American media’s complicity and ignorance of events unfolding in Gaza. Jason Okundaye, assistant editor, newsletters
If you’re struggling to get your 10 (10!) a day, Tim Dowling’s guide to how to tell when fruit and veg is at its best might come in handy. Hannah
EastEnders is a longstanding guilty pleasure, so it was great to read this revealing interview with the show’s veteran star Rudolph Walker, who plays the lovable, rum-swigging Patrick. Jason
From Diddy to Mohamed Al Fayed, Marina Hyde is compelling on the famous men accused of heinous offences, and the enablers who have long propped them up behind the scenes. Hannah
Sport
Football | Manchester City eased past Watford 2-1 in the Carabao Cup, though the victory over the Championship’s eighth-placed side offered scant clues regarding how they may cope without key midfielder Rodri, who was missing for the first time since his serious knee injury. Christopher Nkunku plundered a hat-trick as Chelsea brushed past fourth-tier Barrow 5-0, while a youthful Aston Villa side defeated Wycombe.
Cricket | On a chilly night at Chester-le-Street came an England performance to warm the cockles of the hardy home supporters. It was ended by late rain that swept in but not before captain Harry Brook’s sublime unbeaten 110 helped defeat Australia by 46 runs, clawing one back in a previously one-sided series.
Football | An AFC Wimbledon fan who has raised more than £50,000 for his club after their stadium flooded said the support has been “flabbergasting”. The Cherry Red Records Stadium was hit with flooding and appeared to have a sinkhole in the pitch, after some areas of the country saw more than a month’s worth of rain in 24 hours on Monday.
The front pages
The prime minister’s conference speech dominated front pages on Wednesday, with the Guardian leading with “Keep the faith and Britain will prosper, urges Starmer”. The Financial Times has “Starmer vows to fix Britain”. The Telegraph says “The state will take back control” and the Times reports “Brace for the incoming storm, warns Starmer”. The Mirror goes with “Tough love”.
i says “EU willing to back down on new migration demand for all under-30s”. The Mail leads with “Marines ready for mass evacuation of Lebanon Brits”.
Today in Focus
Hope, finally? Keir Starmer’s first conference in power
Helen Pidd spoke to Labour conference delegates at the Royal Albert docks who explained they were trying to balance a message that there will be tough decisions ahead while celebrating the changes the party had already made.
Cartoon of the day | Martin Rowson
The Upside
A bit of good news to remind you that the world’s not all bad
Joseph Sissens (above) is the Royal Ballet’s new principal dancer, one that the Guardian’s dance critic Lyndsey Winship notes is known for “his fine classical line and perfectly balletic feet” but is equally “one of the most convincing dancers in more modern styles”. Sissens, 26, is one of only six dancers of colour in the company, and one of his new roles is to turn the spotlight on other talent.
He is co-creating a Royal Opera House gala performance called Legacy that celebrates “Black and Brown excellence”, with dancers from the UK and beyond, including New York’s Alvin Ailey company. “I call it a kaleidoscope of love,” he told the Guardian about Legacy, a project he hopes will let its dancers put down “some of the baggage, some of the bricks they might be carrying, and just relax for a second and be themselves”. Lyndsey’s sweeping interview with Sissens also surveys his path to the stage and his work as an activist following the murder of George Floyd. Legacy takes place at Linbury theatre, London, from 29 to 31 October.
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Bored at work?
And finally, the Guardian’s puzzles are here to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow.
