Keir Starmer claims keeping winter fuel payments could have sparked Liz Truss-style meltdown on markets and warns UK faces taking more asylum seekers – as he begs Brits to be ‘patient’ with his ‘painful choices’ in Labour conference speech
Keir Starmer suggested keeping winter fuel payments in place could have sparked a Liz Truss-style meltdown on markets as he launched a bid to reboot his fledgling premiership today.
The PM acknowledged fury at the decision to strip the benefit from 10million pensioners – but said he could not ‘risk’ showing the world ‘as the Tories did that this country does not fund its policies properly’.
Watched by wife Victoria at Labour conference in Liverpool, he appealed for Brits to be ‘patient’ and stick with his ‘painful choices’ rather than go down the ‘road to nowhere’.
Attempting to strike a more positive tone after criticism of doom-laden pronouncements, Sir Keir told the gathering in Liverpool the country can find the ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ if the right course is set now.
But he warned there were no ‘easy answers’, he would not get ‘everything right’, and the task would be ‘hard’ – blaming the Tories for problems ranging from the stretched finances to full jails, and pleading with restive Labour supporters to take ‘pride’ in what they were achieving.
He said ‘choices’ would include accepting more building of pylons and prisons, and recognising that some Channel migrants would be granted asylum – although he stressed he wanted to tackle the smuggling gangs and bring down legal immigration over time.
‘This is a long-term project, I’ve never pretended otherwise. But conference make no mistake, the work of change has begun,’ he said. ‘We’re only just getting started.’
Ahead of a showdown vote on winter fuel with unions tomorrow, Sir Keir told the hall that there would be ‘no return to Tory austerity’ and he would ‘protect working people’.
‘If you can’t take that on faith, perhaps because you’re concerned about the winter fuel allowance, then I get that,’ he said. ‘But the risk of showing to the world – as the Tories did, that this country does not fund its policies properly… that is a risk we can never take again.’
He argued that ‘every pensioner will be better off with Labour’ after the triple lock increase to the state pension.
At one point Sir Keir was heckled from the audience – as happened to Rachel Reeves yesterday – quipping that the culprit ‘had a pass to the 2019 conference’.
Announcements in the speech included:
- GB Energy will be based in the ‘Granite City’ of Aberdeen;
- A crackdown on benefit fraudsters will aim to save £1.6billion over five years.
- A vow to reduce net migration by training Britons to fill vacancies in the jobs market rather than allowing employers to rely on overseas labour;
- A promise to introduce a Hillsborough Law requiring a duty of candour for public officials;
- The government will provide homes for ‘all veterans in housing need’.
Keir Starmer launched a bid to reboot his fledgling premiership today as he begged Brits to stick with his ‘painful choices’ rather than go down the ‘road to nowhere’
Sir Keir embraced his wife after delivering his hour-long speech to the party faithful this afternoon
Lady Victoria seemed impressed with her husband’s speech to the Labour conference
Watched by wife Victoria, Sir Keir told the gathering in Liverpool the country can find the ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ if the right course is set now
Sir Keir was the latest Cabinet minister to fall victim to heckling from the conference floor
Shadow Cabinet members including Yvette Cooper, Rachel Reeves and Angela Rayner were at the front of the crowd for the speech
The speech followed a torrid spell for Labour that saw any feelgood factor from the July election landslide abruptly disappear.
The party has spent weeks fielding difficult questions about the thousands of pounds of gifts received by Sir Keir and senior figures such as Rachel Reeves and Angela Rayner.
And unions and MPs are furious about the scrapping of winter fuel payments for 10million pensioners, with a vote at conference potentially happening tomorrow.
Sir Keir will not be present – as he is dashing off to New York straight after the speech to attend the UN general assembly.
A new Savanta poll has found the premier’s personal ratings have plummeted 26 points since the summer, from a net plus 15 to minus 11.
Before Sir Keir appeared activists were pumped up with a Star Wars-style display on the big screens of the list of constituencies Labour won on July 4.
The PM was then teed up with a video showing the events of election night, and his victory comments.
Striding on stage he compared the conference having the highest attendance in history to his first speech as leader – to just a cameraman under Covid rule. ‘Do you remember? Most people don’t,’ he joked.
Sir Keir said he was aiming to ‘build a new Britain’, telling conference: ‘Built from that age-old spirit of creativity and enterprise. The pride and ambition of working people.
‘That when matched by a government of service, a decisive government, a government prepared to use its power for justice, opportunity and equal respect, can deliver a Britain that belongs to you.’
The PM said the Government has ‘clear, measurable targets’, adding: ‘Progress displayed publicly. So every single person in this country can judge our performance on actions not words.’
Sir Keir said there was also a need to protect from the ‘whims of Westminster, making sure we don’t get blown off course’.
He said ‘true service’ must ‘listen to people far beyond the walls of the state and empower them to make our country better’, adding: ‘Because trust me, that is without question the quickest way to clear away the Tory rot and build that Britain which belongs to you.’
Sir Keir acknowledged that many voters are ‘fed up’ with politics, adding: ‘I know this country is exhausted by and with politics.
‘I know that the cost-of-living crisis drew a veil over the joy and wonder in our lives and that people want respite and relief, and may even have voted Labour for that reason.’
The premier said: ‘First, we stabilise our economy, second we fix the foundations and third we build with pride and determination a Britain that belongs to you.
‘But it will be hard. That’s not rhetoric, it’s reality. It’s not just the financial black hole, the £22billion of unfunded spending commitments concealed from our country by the Tories.
‘It’s not just the societal black hole. Our public services decimated, communities held together with little more than goodwill.
‘It’s also the political black hole, because the politics of national renewal, they are collective.
‘They involve a shared struggle, a project that says to everyone: this will be tough in the short term, but in the long term is the right thing for our country and we all benefit from that.
‘To coin a phrase, we’re all in it together.’
Sir Keir did not offer any apology for accepting more than £100,000-worth of freebies, glossing over the furore with officials stressing it was a ‘vision’ speech.
After a protester disrupted Sir Keir’s Labour conference speech, the PM quipped: ‘This guy’s obviously got a pass from the 2019 conference.’
He added: ‘While he’s been protesting, we’ve been changing the party. That’s why we’ve got a Labour Government.’
Sir Keir said he wanted to lead a ‘great reforming government’ to ‘rebuild’ public services and give people ‘more control in their lives’.
The PM said: ‘Their pockets are not deep – not at all. So we have to be a great reforming government.
‘Our NHS reformed so patients have more control over their health. The energy system reformed so our country has more control over its security. Police and justice reformed, so communities have more control of their streets.
‘Education reformed – so children have more control of their future. And our economy reformed with the unique force that is economic growth.
‘Giving every community the breathing space, the calm, the control to focus on the little things they love in life, not the anxiety and insecurity we have now. Because we do need joy. We do need that in our lives.’
Ministers have been shaken by a fall in business confidence following gloomy rhetoric about the state of the economy.
But the PM said: ‘The truth is that if we take tough long-term decisions now, if we stick to the driving purpose behind everything we do: higher economic growth – so living standards rise in every community; our NHS facing the future – waiting lists at your hospital down; safer streets in your community; stronger borders; more opportunities for your children; clean British energy powering your home; making our country more secure… then that light at the end of this tunnel, that Britain that belongs to you, we get there much more quickly.’
Delivering her speech to Labour’s conference yesterday, the Chancellor also tried to sound more positive, claiming her ‘optimism for Britain burns brighter than ever’ and her ‘ambition knows no limits’.
Sir Keir committed to ‘reduce both net migration and our economic dependency on it’, arguing: ‘I have never thought we should be relaxed about some sectors importing labour when there are millions of young people, ambitious and highly talented, who are desperate to work and contribute.’
However, the premier said he had to ‘level’ with people about ‘the trade-offs this country faces’ – suggesting that would include accepting more building and more asylum seekers.
‘As we take on those massive challenges the Tories ignored, the time is long overdue for politicians to level with you about the trade-offs this country faces,’ he said.
‘Because if the last few years have shown us anything, it’s that if you bury your head because things are difficult, your country goes backwards.
‘So if we want justice to be served some communities must live close to new prisons. If we want to maintain support for the welfare state, then we will legislate to stop benefit fraud. Do everything we can to tackle worklessness.
‘If we want cheaper electricity, we need new pylons over ground otherwise the burden on taxpayers is too much. If we want home ownership to be a credible aspiration for our children, then every community has a duty to contribute to that purpose.
‘If we want to tackle illegal migration we can’t pretend there’s a magical process that allows you to return people here unlawfully without accepting that prices will also grant some people asylum.
‘If we want to be serious about levelling up then we must be proud to be the party of wealth creation, unashamed to partner with the private sector.’
The Prime Minister promised a new Fraud, Error and Debt Bill to modernise the Department for Work and Pensions, allowing it to recover money lost to fraud while protecting vulnerable claimants from mounting debts.
And he honoured a commitment to the people of Liverpool by promising that a Hillsborough Law will be introduced before the next anniversary of the April 1989 football stadium disaster which claimed the lives of 97 fans.
The law will introduce a legal duty of candour on public bodies, with the potential for criminal sanctions for officials or organisations which mislead or obstruct investigations.
Sir Keir said: ‘A law for Liverpool. A law for the 97. A law that people should never have needed to fight so hard to get.’
Daniel Riley, 18, who heckled the PM, said he was moved to shout due Sir Keir Starmer’s stance on the Middle East.
He told reporters after being released by security: ‘Everyday we’re still sending British bombs and British bullets that are being used in Lebanon and in Gaza right now and the Prime Minister – he could stop that, he could stop that right now but he doesn’t.
‘And he says that he wants things to stop but he won’t lift a finger to actually stop it.’
Asked if he had planned to disrupt the leader’s speech, Mr Riley said: ‘No, I was a delegate, I’m a Labour Party member, I hoped I’d be one for life but I suspect not now.’
Keir Starmer and his wife Victoria arrived at the conference centre ahead of his speech today
Delegates queue for the leader’s speech at the conference centre in Liverpool today
The Starmers chatting to other guests at the conference hotel this morning
