Labour conference: Keir Starmer will say he is fighting for Britain’s ‘soul’ in new attack on Nigel Farage as PM aims to boost ailing premiership – live updates

Sir Keir Starmer will today unveil a radical plan for an ‘online hospital’ to help tackle record NHS waiting lists.

The Prime Minister will use his conference speech to promise 8.5 million extra appointments in the first three years of the scheme, which begins in 2027.

Dubbed NHS Online, the service will connect patients to specialist doctors via the existing NHS App.

It is designed to give people the choice of digital consultations from home – freeing up hospitals for those who need in-person care.

In his speech Sir Keir will announce: ‘A new world is coming. In decades to come, I want people to look back on this moment as the moment we renewed the NHS for a new world.’

Patients using the service will be able to order and track prescriptions, book scans and tests, and get clinical advice without visiting a hospital.

Those needing procedures will be referred directly to the nearest hospital, surgical hub or diagnostic centre.

Labour activists and delegates in Liverpool have been urged to be ‘vigilant’ by the party’s conference arrangements committee chairwoman, ahead of Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s speech.

Lynne Morris made the announcement as she opened the third day of the Labour Party conference on Tuesday, and following a one-man pro-Palestine protest during Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s speech on Monday.

In order to deliver a safe conference, we would ask you to be vigilant and to report any concerns you have to a member of staff or steward immediately.

If there is someone sitting with you in your delegation or in a seat near to you that you do not recognise, or that are concerned about in any way, please inform the regional, Scottish or Welsh teams.

Only delegates and those with tickets, which includes several journalists, will be let into the hall for Sir Keir’s address, Ms Morris said.

Keir Starmer faces a new revolt from left-wingers today after they voiced fury at Donald Trump’s extraordinary peace plan for Tony Blair to help run Gaza.

The US president named the ex-PM as a member of a new board that would run the territory if a ceasefire can be achieved between Israel and Hamas.

Starmer has given ‘strong support’ to the blueprint, unveiled by Mr Trump at a press conference with Benjamin Netanyahu.

Wes Streeting backed Sir Tony involvement touring broadcast studios at Labour conference in Liverpool this morning.

But there is disquiet in party ranks about the prospect, after activists endorsed a motion yesterday condemning Israel’s ‘genocide’.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting has backed Keir Starmer to silence his critics in his leader’s speech later today.

Mr Streeting told the PA news agency:

I actually think this Labour conference has been really important for the party and for the Government. I feel like we’ve got a spring in our step, I think people have come together at this conference.

We’re proud of what we’ve achieved in our first year as a Labour Government, but we know there’s so much more to do to rebuild our economy, rebuild our public services and rebuild trust in politics.That’s the challenge that we’re facing, that’s the fight we are up for.

Keir Starmer has confounded his critics and confounded expectations before, and he will do it again today.

In his speech this afternoon, Sir Keir will compare the challenge facing Labour now to Clement Attlee’s administration in 1945 as it rebuilt Britain from the ruins of the Second World War.

The Prime Minister will say:

It is a test. A fight for the soul of our country, every bit as big as rebuilding Britain after the war, and we must all rise to this challenge.

And yet we need to be clear that our path, the path of renewal, it’s long, it’s difficult, it requires decisions that are not cost-free or easy. Decisions that will not always be comfortable for our party.

Yet at the end of this hard road there will be a new country, a fairer country, a land of dignity and respect.

Keir Starmer and wife Victoria in Liverpool

The Prime Minister will give his leader’s address in Liverpool at 2pm.

The speech is the highlight of the third day of Labour’s conference but we will hear from some Cabinet ministers beforehand.

Here’s a list of the main speakers today:

• 10:10am Hilary Benn – Northern Ireland Secretary
• 10:20am Heidi Alexander – Transport Secretary
• 11:50am Wes Streeting – Health Secretary

by Harriet Line, Deputy Political Editor

Sir Keir Starmer will today warn the country it faces a ‘defining choice’ between ‘decency and division’, as splits emerged at the top of his party over whether Reform is ‘racist’.

In his keynote speech to Labour’s conference today, the rattled Prime Minister will double down on his attacks of Nigel Farage.

Sir Keir will liken the ‘fight for the soul’ of Britain to rebuilding the country after the war, and will hint at painful tax rises to come – saying the path of renewal requires decisions that are not ‘cost-free or easy’.

Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the Labour Party conference as Keir Starmer makes his leader’s speech later today in Liverpool.

The Prime Minister will be desperate to unite his fractious party as well as the country as he renews his attack on Nigel Farage and Reform.

But his speech comes in the wake of a turbulent period for his leadership and the prospect of a Budget in November which could see tax hikes and spending squeezes.

Stick with us throughout the day as we bring you the latest updates and reaction from Liverpool with our political reporters James Tapsfield, David Wilcock and Greg Heffer alongside Jamie Bullen reporting from London.