Keir Starmer to deliver keynote speech at the Labour conference as Prime Minister aims to strike upbeat note after weeks of gloom around economy and sleaze row over free gifts

by Andrew Pierce for The Daily Mail

Given that all roads in Labour’s cronyism scandal lead to the fabulously wealthy media tycoon Lord Alli, he has understandably kept a low profile at conference.

But then he has also kept a spectacularly low profile in the House of Lords since being elevated by Tony Blair in 1998.

After Queen ­Elizabeth II died two years ago, Alli admitted as much when peers were paying their tributes to the late monarch. ‘My Lords I have not spoken in your Lordships’ House for many years,’ he started.

He can say that again. In the past six years, Alli has spoken only three times and for a total of ten ­minutes. In the past decade, he’s spoken barely a dozen times.

Read more of Andrew Pierce’s Conference Diary here:

Speculation is mounting that Rachel Reeves will overhaul fiscal rules in the Budget so the government can pump up borrowing.

The Chancellor gave a broad hint at her intentions in her speech to Labour conference yesterday, saying she wanted ‘an end to the low investment that feeds decline’.

Ms Reeves has committed to meeting the Tories’ provision that public sector net debt should be falling in the fifth year of a forecast period.

The Government has lost control of the process that reviews public sector pay, the shadow health secretary has said.

Conservative minister Victoria Atkins said that the Royal College of Nursing’s rejection of the proposed 5.5% pay award showed that Labour were not properly in charge of the system.

Yesterday, Health Secretary Wes Streeting dodged on whether more money could be available after the bump was snubbed.

Speaking to Sky News on the morning broadcast round, Ms Atkins said:

The Labour Government has lost control of the independent public sector pay process.

The ramifications of giving one part of the health workforce an inflation busting pay rise, as they did over the summer with junior or resident doctors, (is that it) will have an impact across the workforce, including for nurses.

Is it any wonder that having given this inflation busting pay rise with no reform, no productivity improvements for junior doctors in the summer, that nurses and other healthcare professionals are now asking why they are not valued in the same way by this Government.

by Quentin Letts for The Daily Mail

Rachel Reeves practically shouted this speech down a tunnel. There is always something tubular about her oratory but her nerves amplified the megaphone manner.

The effect was blurty, jerky, echoey, under-oiled. Between paragraphs she did not let her cheeks relax. They maintained a terrible rictus grin.

Mind you, there was something so peculiar about it all that she became quite watchable. As a performer she may be less annoying than Sir Keir Starmer.

She was still settling down, still blinking like a mixy rabbit, when hecklers struck. They were across the hall from me and I did not hear what they were saying but reportedly it was about Palestine.

Sir Keir Starmer has been pictured having breakfast with his wife Victoria in a Liverpool hotel ahead of his conference speech this afternoon.

The Prime Minister will address delegates at 2pm.

Before we look ahead to the day’s events in Liverpool, let’s recap what happened at the conference yesterday.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered one of the biggest speeches of her career when she addressed Labour delegates for the first time as Chancellor.

In her speech, Ms Reeves announced the £315million free breakfast clubs programme for primary schools will begin in April and pledged to unveil a Budget with ‘real ambition’ when she delivers it in the Commons next month.

But her moment was marred when climate protesters heckled her address which forced her to stop as they were bundled out of the conference hall, the Chancellor responded by saying Labour was no longer a ‘party of protest’

Elsewhere, boos rang out at the conference as a vote on whether to axe winter fuel allowance for pensioners was delayed and Lord Alli refused to answer questions surrounding controversial gifts handed to Labour politicians when approached by a Sky News reporter.

The PM is set to strike a more positive tone in his address to activists in Liverpool, after his first months in power were blighted by rows over winter fuel allowance, tax hikes and freebies.

He will appeal for the party to stick with him, insisting that the country will reap the rewards of making ‘painful choices’ now.

Sir Keir will also highlight his commitments to tackling high immigration and crack down on benefits fraud, in a nod to voters’ worries.

Announcements expected in the speech include:

• A crackdown on benefit fraudsters aimed at saving £1.6 billion over five years.
• A commitment 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.

Sir Keir will acknowledge 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.

But Sir Keir will not offer an apology for accepting more than £100,000-worth of freebies. One senior source said: ‘This is a speech setting out a ten-year vision for the country – not a discussion about a few suits.’

The Prime Minister will undoubtedly be the headline speaker in Liverpool today, but other Cabinet ministers will also grace the stage to speak at the party’s conference which ends tomorrow.

Yesterday, Chancellor Rachel Reeves was among a long list of ministers who spoke and we’re not expecting today to be as busy.

Here are some speech timings for the day ahead:

• 10.10am – Yvette Cooper, Home Secretary

• 11.30am – Lisa Nandy, Culture Secretary

• 2pm – Keir Starner, Prime Minister

• 4pm – Shabana Mahmood, Justice Secretary

We will bring you lines and reaction from the addresses.

Before we look ahead to the conference, here’s an exclusive story from The Daily Mail on how Sir Keir Starmer has become mortgage-free

by Sam Greenhill, Tom Rawstorne and Jason Groves

The mortgage on Sir Keir Starmer’s £2 million townhouse has been paid off, official documents show.

Sir Keir and Lady Starmer have achieved what many homeowners can only dream of – putting them in the top one-third of English homeowners in not having to make mortgage or rent payments.

The four-bedroom property, in north London’s trendy Kentish Town, officially became mortgage-free on Monday last week.

Former Labour shadow chancellor John McDonnell said the party’s messaging about the economy and spending is the same as that from the Conservative Party during austerity.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Mr McDonnell, who had the whip removed from him by Labour when he voted against the Government over the removal of the two-child benefit cap said:

If you close your eyes and listen to the language being used, it’s almost like George Osborne speaking again in 2010. When you hear politicians talk about tough choices or painful decisions, and then you hear some of the rhetoric around fraud and social security, literally that’s a replica of a speech made by George Osborne in 2010.

What I’m worried about is the first measure the Government has actually introduced is an austerity measure of winter fuel allowance, which for many of my constituents will cause immense hardship.

We were desperate to get rid of the Tories. I was so elated at the election of a Labour Government, but I don’t believe that actually what we’re hearing this week is going to inspire people around the sort of objectives that we have as a party, of changing our society, ending austerity.

Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Pat McFadden has toured the broadcast studios this morning for the government ahead of Sir Keir Starmer’s conference speech.

During his round of interviews, Mr McFadden insisted the government would show positivity about the future if public finances can be kept under control.

Here are the best lines from his interviews:

• Mr McFadden described stories around Downing Street infighting and gifts handed to minsters as ‘squalls’ which matter less to the public than plans Sir Keir will announce today
• He said reaching a deal with striking nurses is an ‘essential step’ towards fixing public services but warned there isn’t an ‘unlimited amount’ of public spending
• Mr McFadden said Labour doesn’t talk about the so-called £22 billion ‘for fun’ as he defended the Government’s downbeat messaging over public finances
• He also insisted there are ‘good times on the horizon’ if the Government is able to bring stability to public finances
• The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster denied that there are plans to change pub licensing rules to force them to shut early
• And he did not rule out cuts to welfare and benefits in next month’s Budget

Firstly, let’s take a look at The Daily Mail’s preview of Sir Keir’s speech which is set to take place at 2pm.

by Jason Groves, Harriet Line and John-Paul Ford Rojas

Sir Keir Starmer will today declare there is ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ for the country as he pledges to lead a ‘great reforming government’.

In his keynote speech to Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool, the Prime Minister will try to lift the gloom that has threatened to envelop his tenure by arguing that making ‘painful choices’ now will eventually pay off.

Sir Keir will urge people to join a ‘collective’ effort to ‘renew’ Britain, saying it will involve a ‘shared struggle’.

Hello and welcome to MailOnline’s live coverage of the Labour Party conference as it enters its third and penultimate day.

Today, the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, will deliver his keynote speech to delegates in Liverpool as he aims to revive his gloomy premiership with a more upbeat message about the country’s future.

The Home Secretary Yvette Cooper and Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy are also expected to speak today.

Stick with us as we bring you the latest developments from Liverpool including news, reaction plus the best pictures and videos from the event.