Labour conference: Reeves slammed by own MP for 'refusing to listen' to pensioners

Thanks for joining us for day two of Labour's conference in Liverpool.

Tomorrow will see Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer take to the main stage for a speech to delegates.

Until then, please visit this page for the latest political news.

Angela Rayner said Rachel Reeves's speech had shown the Government was both "optimistic and serious about the task ahead".

The Deputy Prime Minister said the Labour administration was "under no illusion about the task ahead of us" but confident it could "fix the foundations."

Speaking at Labour's largest ever business day at its annual conference in Liverpool, she said speeches by Ms Reeves and Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds had been "optimistic and I think serious about the task ahead, but also what this woman wants to do to enable Britain to thrive and grow the economy so we can pay for our public services."

"When business thrives the whole economy does," Ms Rayne

Shadow health secretary Victoria Atkins said: “Labour was warned that if they gave an inflation-busting pay rise to junior doctors then other hard-working health staff would ask why they aren’t as valued by this government. As a result of that decision, this response by RCN was clearly foreseeable, yet the Chancellor and Health Secretary seem taken aback that their short-term decisions have long-term consequences.

“In under three months, this Labour government has stopped new hospitals being built, scrapped NHS productivity improvements, overseen GPs entering industrial action, been exposed in a health cronyism scandal and has now opened a dispute with hundreds of thousands of nurses and midwives.

“For the sake of patients, NHS staff and taxpayers, the Health Secretary must step away from press releases and explain what plans he has to reach an agreement with nurses, midwives and other healthcare staff. Action now, not words about the past, is needed.”

Responding to Rachel Reeves' speech, James Cleverly MP said:

"Nobody can take this Chancellor or this Government seriously.

"Their priorities are all wrong. They talk about taking tough decisions, but capitulate in union negotiations.

"They will tax more and more to spend more and more.

"Labour aren't taking the tough decisions, they're making the wrong decisions.

"We can all see that they cannot be trusted with the public finances, or the economy."

Protesters from the Unite union gathered outside the Labour conference at 1pm today in a demonstration against winter fuel payment cuts.

Dozens of pensioners turned out despite the rainy weather in Liverpool for the rally.

Shadow Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said: “The last few months - and today’s speech - were a big opportunity to set out plans to grow the economy. The Chancellor once again wasted it with discredited attacks on the opposition.“That is not governing - and business confidence is now vanishing as a result.”

Labour MP John McDonnell has criticised his own Chancellor's speech, declaring Rachel Reeves's position on winter fuel "a dreadful mistake".

He also accused the Cabinet minsiter of "refusing to listen" and "just ploughing on".

He said: "I am bitterly disappointed that Rachel Reeves is refusing to listen to the profound worries people have about the Winter Fuel Allowance & is just ploughing on despite all the evidence of the hardship & suffering this would cause.

"A dreadful mistake. Saddening to say the least."

Simon Francis, coordinator of the End Fuel Poverty Coalition, said: "A smiling and triumphant Rachel Reeves' attitude at conference is in stark contrast to the feelings of pensioners who she has taken the winter fuel payment away from.

"For 1.2million pensioners in absolute poverty and for 1.6million older people with disabilities, the winter will be a grim time without the support with energy bills they have relied on.

"The Chancellor doubled down on her gamble with older people's lives to fill a budgetary black hole, which according to reports is £10bn less than was initially claimed. And that’s before the Government takes receipt of the £3bn which it is recovering from the collapse of one of the energy firms.

"While Rachael Reeves tries to claim that the triple lock on pensions is enough to replace these payments, personal finance experts point out that the rise starts next April, when pensioners face an energy bills crisis now. Equally, there are up to 800,000 of the poorest pensioners who get less than the full state pension and don’t even get Pension Credit.

"And of course, the full rise only applies to the one in four pensioners who get the 'new' state pension."

Members of the Royal College of Nursing, the union and professional body for nursing staff, have voted to reject the UK government’s NHS pay award for 2024/25 in England.

Two-thirds of nursing staff voted against the current year’s pay award on a record high turnout for the RCN, with 145,000 members casting a vote.

In a letter to the Health Secretary Wes Streeting MP, RCN General Secretary Nicola Ranger said:“We are witnessing a fundamental shift in the determination of nursing staff to stand up for themselves, their patients and the NHS they believe in.

“Many will support the new government’s health and care agenda as set out in recent weeks and fully recognise the diagnosis of a failing NHS. Working closely with all other professionals, nursing staff are the lifeblood of the service. The government will find our continued support for the reforms key to their success.

“To raise standards and reform the NHS, you need safe numbers of nursing staff and they need to feel valued. Nursing staff were asked to consider if, after more than a decade of neglect, they thought the pay award was a fair start. This outcome shows their expectations of government are far higher.

“Our members do not yet feel valued and they are looking for urgent action, not rhetorical commitments. Their concerns relate to understaffed shifts, poor patient care and nursing careers trapped at the lowest pay grades – they need to see that the government’s reform agenda will transform their profession as a central part of improving care for the public.”

Rachel Reeves hugged members of the Cabinet after finishing her speech.

Audience members gave the Chancellor a standing ovation as she smiled and thanked them.

Rachel Reeves has said “wealth created and wealth shared in every part of Britain” would be the “prize” of the Labour Government’s industrial strategy.

The Chancellor said the “era of trickle-down, trickle-out dogma is over”.

“Britain is open for business once again,” she told the Labour Party conference.

“If you have felt the quiet desperation of jobs, opportunities and investment slipping away, then be assured your ambitions, your hopes, your future will not be held back any longer.

“Shovels in the ground, cranes in the sky, the sounds and the sights of the future arriving.

“Wealth created and wealth shared in every part of Britain. That is the prize, that is the Britain we’re building, that is the Britain I believe in.”

Rachel Reeves said: “The British capacity for inventiveness, enterprise and old-fashioned hard work has not gone away, so believe me when I say my optimism for Britain burns brighter than ever, my ambition knows no limits because I can see the prize on offer if we make the right choices now.

“Stability is the crucial foundation on which all of our ambitions will be built, the essential pre-condition for business to invest with confidence and for families to plan for the future.

“The Liz Truss experiment showed us any plan for growth without stability leads to ruin, so we will make the choices necessary to secure our public finances and fix the foundations for lasting growth.

“Stability paired with reform will forge the conditions for businesses to invest and consumers to spend with confidence.

“Growth is the challenge and investment is the solution. Investment in new industries, new technologies and new infrastructure.”

The Prime Minister’s deputy official spokeswoman has said the Government’s policy on changes to winter fuel payments “remains the same”.

The policy is facing backlash at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool.

She said: “There’s no change in our position on winter fuel, our focus remains on encouraging more people who should be eligible for pension credit to be applying for it, but the policy remains the same.”

Nurses have rejected the Government’s pay award of a 5.5% rise, the Royal College of Nursing announced.

Rachel Reeves said that along with Jonathan Reynolds, the Business Secretary, she will publish a new industrial strategy next month.

A protestor from the Climate Restistance group just disrupted the keynote speech of Chancellor Rachel Reeves at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool.

Sam Simons, a spokesman for the group said: “Labour promised us change – instead we’re getting more of the same. The same pandering to the fossil fuel industry; the same arms licences that are fuelling a genocide in Gaza, and the same austerity that sees the poorest hit hardest.

“It’s time for Labour to start putting the needs of people before the interests of profit. That means immediately stopping arms licences to Israel, blocking new oil and gas, and standing up for the communities already being devastated by the climate crisis.”

Rachel Reeves said: “Next month I will deliver the first Budget of this Labour government.

“And because I know how much damage has been done in those 14 years, let me say one thing straight up. There will be no return to austerity.

“Yes, we must deal with the Tory legacy, and that means tough decisions, but I won’t let that dim our ambition for Britain.

“So real ambition, a budget to fix the foundations, a budget to deliver the change that we promised a budget to rebuild, Britain, and my budget will keep our manifesto commitment. Every choice we make will be within a framework of economic and fiscal stability, you’d expect nothing less.”

Referring to the winter fuel allowance, Rachel Reeves said: "I know that not everyone in this hall, or in this country, will agree with every decision I'll make, but I will not duck those decisions, not for political expediency, not for personal advantage."

Rachel Reeves said the British public had “looked at us, looked at me, and decided Labour could be trusted with their money” at the general election.

The Chancellor told party conference: “Why is it that the British people put their trust in us for the first time in five generations?

“We left no stone unturned to show Labour is the party of economic responsibility and the party of working people.”

She added: “People looked at us, looked at me, and decided Labour could be trusted with their money.”

She said she would not “risk playing fast and loose with the public finances”, which she accused the previous Tory government of doing.

“I will not take that risk, I will repay the trust that people put in us,” she told delegates.

Rachel Reeves began her speech to Labour party conference with a reminder that she’s broken through the glass ceiling as first female chancellor.

She tells delegates there are more women Labour MPs than the total number of Tory MPs.

A protestor was hauled out of the hall at the Party's conference in Liverpool by security after disrupting her speech.

Ms Reeves responded by saying that Labour is no longer a party of protest.

“This is a changed Labour Party, a Labour Party that represents working people, not a party of protest,” the Chancellor said.

Read the story here.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves' speech was disrupted by a protester.

The activists were shouting about the sale of arms to Israel.

Read the story here.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has begun her speech to the Labour Party conference.

She said: "This time last year, I stood on this stage and I made a commitment. I promised that we would get Britain building again, repair our NHS and power growth in every part of Britain.

“Today, after 14 wasted years, I stand here as your Chancellor of the Exchequer, ready to deliver on that commitment.”

Chancellor Rachel Reeves received applause and a standing ovation from Labour Party delegates as she came to the panel ahead of her speech in the main conference hall.

Unions have accused Labour of silencing the voice of pensioners in a "blatant manoeuvre " to block debate on winter fuel cuts.

Unite says they have faced "constant attempts" this week by the Labour leadership to block their protest motion at the Party's conference.

Watch the clip in full here -

The Home Secretary, who is set to address the Labour Party conference on Tuesday, will be alarmed by the latest figures.

Some 1,400 people have crossed the Channel in just two days.

Only one in three Britons have a positive view of Labour, new polling shows.

The YouGov survey found 34% have a "very favourable" or "somewhat favourable" opinion of Sir Keir Starmer's party.

In comparison, 57% have a “somewhat unfavourable” or “very unfavourable” view in the poll of 2,241 British adults carried out from September 12-13.

The Defence Secretary confirms plans to allow the Army to recruit more soldiers suffering from hay fever, eczema and acne.

He added: "We will always maintain the highest standards. And we will create an Armed Forces that draws the very best of British talent. Better fit to fight. Better reflecting the country they defend."

John Healey declares he wants new recruits to start training within 30 days of an application being lodged.

And he tells the nation's gamers: 'Your country needs you'.

He said: "We can’t solve the problems, all at once. We can begin the change.

"And we have. Legislating for a new Armed Forces Commissioner to improve service life, confirming we’ll set new minimum standards for military housing, delivering the largest pay rise to the Armed Forces in over 20 years.

"So that now, for the first time, a Defence Secretary can say everyone in uniform will be paid at least the national living wage.

So today, I’m announcing our first steps to start to fix the Tory recruitment crisis.

"First, I’ve scrapped 100 outdated policies that block people joining. Second, I’m setting new targets for the Forces to reject or make a conditional offer within 10 days and to give people a training start date within 30 days.

"Third, I’m setting up a new direct route for cyber military recruits. Because if you are a top gamer or coder, your country needs you."

The Defence Secretary reiterates calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

This is stronger language than the Conservatives used and comes after Sir Keir Starmer was criticised by his own MPs over the issue.

He said: "Conference, I stood here last year and I promised that Britain will be better defended with Labour.

"Now, in Government we’re getting on with the job. We’ve increased UK support for Ukraine, we’ve dedicated Britain to securing an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, we’ve launched a strategic defence review to fix the foundations of our defence for the future.

"We can’t solve the problems, all at once.

"We can begin the change.

"And we have. Legislating for a new Armed Forces Commissioner to improve service life, confirming we’ll set new minimum standards for military housing, delivering the largest pay rise to the Armed Forces in over 20 years.

"So that now, for the first time, a Defence Secretary can say everyone in uniform will be paid at least the national living wage."

Defence Secretary John Healey warns there are too few Royal Navy sailors to staff the nation's warships.

He said: "We know there are serious problems, with our Armed Forces hollowed out and underfunded over the last 14 years.

"And the problems, the problems the Tories have left, are much worse than we thought.

"As Defence Secretary, I know this myself, ships without enough sailors to crew them, military housing with no running water, defence plans with billion-pound blackholes and yet, despite everything the Tories did the total commitment of civilian staff, industry workers, service personnel to defend this nation, remains undiminished."

The Defence Secretary hails Britain's support for Ukraine in its war with Russia.

He vows the UK will provide £3 billion in military aid every year "for as long as it takes for Ukraine to win".

Mr Healey said: "They told us that they were fighting for their country’s freedom – and fighting for Europe’s future.

"Because defence of Europe and defence of the UK starts in Ukraine. And today, today is Day 942 of Putin’s illegal war. I’m proud Labour has stood with Kyiv since day one.

"I’m proud the UK is united for Ukraine.

"And I’m proud this Labour government has step up our support for Ukraine.

"New packages of artillery, air defence, armoured vehicles, a new guarantee to speed up deliveries, a new defence industrial strategy, a treaty with new export guarantees, a new commitment to train Ukrainian troops throughout 2025, and a pledge to spend £3B in military support this year, next year and every year it takes for as long as it takes for Ukraine to win."

Mr Healey is celebrating Labour's successess in military towns and cities across the country.

He told the conference: "Record wins in military towns and cities right across the UK.

"Wycombe, home of the RAF air command , Labour gain. Portsmouth, home of the Royal Navy, Labour gain. Aldershot, home of the British Army, Labour gain.

"Labour, Labour is the Party of Defence."

Gareth Davies, Shadow Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, said: “Today, the Chancellor will again use her discredited narrative on her economic inheritance to avoid taking responsibility for the choices she has made.

“She has spent billions on inflation-busting public sector pay rises for trade union backers paid for by snatching £300 from pensioners at the same time accepting thousands of pounds in free clothes and luxury holidays whilst telling families to tighten their belts.

“She must take responsibility for the political choices she is making, now and at her first Budget. We will hold Labour to account on the promises they made.”

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has defended Angela Rayner's department's hiring of a taxpayer-funded photographer.

She told Times Radio: "All government departments under all governments have press officers and communications budgets.

"It's not a personal photographer."

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said that donations for clothes were "very beneficial" to her during the election campaign amid a Labour freebies row.

She told ITV's Good Morning Britain that "an old friend" of hers wanted to offer support "during the election campaign".

"The way that she wanted to support was to help me buy clothes for the campaign trail and for big events and I was very grateful for that support," Ms Reeves added.

She told the programme: "We declared it in the proper way and we asked the registrar the best way to record it and we did it in the way that was asked of us."

"I never planned to continue this in government but it was something that was very beneficial to me during the campaign," Ms Reeves said.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves swerved questions about the timing of a debate at the Labour conference at which unions plan to push for a U-turn on winter fuel payment cuts.

Asked if the vote being moved from today to the final morning of the conference was Labour "running scared of this vote taking place prior to the Prime Minister's address", she told Nick Ferrari on LBC: "I don't know the situation about when votes take place, but if delegates want to vote on this, they will get a vote on this.

"I don't know the timing of the vote, but we've already had a vote in Parliament where it was overwhelmingly passed.

"This isn't the decision that I wanted to make. It wasn't a decision that I expected to make, but given the state of the public finances that I inherited, I think it was right to restrict the winter fuel payment to the poorest pensioners, and to make sure that all of the pensioners entitled to it are getting it."

The vote at Labour's conference on union calls for the winter fuel allowance cuts to be reversed has been delayed.

Unite and the Communication Workers Union (CWU) have put forward motions which were due to be debated this afternoon.

But the debate has been moved to Wednesday which is typically the quietest day at the gathering after Sir Keir Starmer's keynote speech on Tuesday.

Unite and the CWU are opposed to changing the day and are trying to get the decision reversed.

"It is weak politics and shows a lack of leadership. It should be debated today," said one union official. Another official described Labour as being "tin-eared".

Scores of retired members of Unite will stage a protest outside Labour's conference centre in Liverpool at lunchtime.

The demonstration is part of the union's campaign against the winter fuel allowance cut.