Andy Burnham has blamed Brexit for the country’s decline as he vowed to take the UK back to the 1970s.
The Prime Minister promised to “draw a line on a decade of division” in his first Labour conference speech since entering No10 back in July.
His team in Downing Street are said to be building a case to rejoin the European Union since leaving in 2020.
Mr Burnham, who campaigned to remain in the bloc during the 2016 referendum, told party delegates in Liverpool: “Everyone wants less drift and more direction.
“Today I answer that call. Hope comes from honesty, and we will have hope again. But first, honesty. It comes from saying the things politicians usually avoid.”
He added: “I will say it straight. Britain has been on the wrong path for a very long time: deindustrialisation, deregulation, privatisation, austerity, Brexit.
“And what has it given us? A country run for vested interests, not in the public interest, with power held in to few hands and too many places left to drift.
“I am ready to do things my predecessors wouldn’t. I will make a break with the direction of the last 40 years (and) put Britain on a new path. I will build a new country and a new economy.”
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Sadiq Khan heaps praise onto Andy Burnham for his ‘bold vision for Britain’ – and hits out at Brexit
Sadiq Khan has doled out praise to Andy Burnham for his “bold vision for Britain” following the Prime Minister’s keynote speech.
Lord Khan, the Mayor of London, said: “Today Andy set out a bold vision to rewire and transform our country.
“A new social care service, thousands more council homes, our water under public control, and reversing the devastating damage of Brexit.
Giving our country hope again.”
Labour vows to ‘change the electoral system’ in its next manifesto, Andy Burnham says
Labour will fight the next election on a promise to introduce a form of proportional representation, Andy Burnham said, as he announced a national commission on electoral reform.
The Prime Minister said he is creating a “new national commission on electoral reform”, and added: “In past years, you have voted twice to support electoral reform. I hear you, I agree with you.
He continued: ” I invite all the political parties to be part of its work. We will contest the next election with a manifesto commitment to change the electoral system so that everyone’s vote counts and everyone’s voice is heard.”
Mr Burnham said he is offering “a more serious and thought through prospectus for the future of Britain than people have been offered in a generation”.
“I appreciate some of it is difficult… but I believe this is what we need,” he said.
PM backs young Britons with ‘fundamental rethink’ of welfare and boosting opportunities
Andy Burnham said a “fundamental rethink” of the welfare system is needed to fund new opportunities for young people, with too “drifting” towards the benefits system.
He pointed to Alan Milburn’s review into the rising number of young people not in education, employment or training which is due imminently.
He reiterated Labour’s plans to change the education system with academic and technical pathways from 14 and offer work placements and apprenticeships, as well as reducing waiting times for young people needing mental health support.
“We will need a fundamental rethink of the welfare system to find the money for these opportunities upfront, and we will require young people to take up the help presented to them.”
RECAP: Andy Burnham reveals major triple lock shake-up in bombshell announcement
Andy Burnham has announced changes to the state pension triple lock that will take effect from April 2030, as part of plans to fund a new National Care Service.
Under the changes, the state pension will continue to rise in line with inflation or by 2.5 per cent, while maintaining its value relative to average earnings over time.
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Labour to honour manifesto pledge to keep triple lock with new National Care Service ‘free at point of use’
A new National Care Service will be “free at the point of use”, and impose no charges on the basic state pension, Andy Burnham has announced.
The Prime Minister said he will honour Labour’s manifesto pledge to keep the triple lock on pensions through to the end of this parliament.
But he says that from 2030, the Government will “adjust it”.
“From then, the state pension will continue to rise every year at least by prices or 2.5 per cent,” Mr Burnham said.
“And it will hold its value relative to earnings over time so that pensioners will always share in the rising prosperity of the nation. This change will generate significant savings, which we will use to build up our own National Care Service.”
He admitted that he “may pay a political price” for this announcement, but “someone has to go through the pain barrier and rip the plaster off”.
PM vows to cut cost of living in new ‘social contract’ for the 21st century
Andy Burnham said he has to be “honest” about what the country can spend as he vowed to bring the cost of living down as part of a new “social contract” for the 21st century.
He said his approach to the economy was “responsible”, and that action on welfare and on council home building would save the Treasury billions.
The Prime Minister referenced taking VAT off electricity bills from the start of October and reducing the bus fare cap to £2 to help ease pressures on household budgets.
Mr Burnham said: “I would love to go quicker, but I have to be honest about what the country can afford. I will stick to our fiscal rules to get borrowing and debt down. The approach I am outlining today is the responsible one.”
He added: “If we build a generation of council homes, we will save billions from the housing benefit budget over the decade. If we get energy bills down, we will better control inflation and support the economy. If we change the way we support people, we will get more people into work and the welfare bill down.
“Not through crude cuts. That should never be the Labour way, but by investing in people, in their success, supporting them to get where they want to be, rather than paying for failure, as the country does now.”
He continued: “We can’t afford to carry on like this. In 1945, we had the Beveridge Report. We need something similar now – new social contract for the 21st century.”
Andy Burnham echoes Angela Rayner as Labour awards councils power to take over poor quality homes neglected by landlords
Councils will be given the power to take over poor quality homes if landlords refuse to improve them, Andy Burnham has announced.
The Prime Minister told Labour Party delegates and activists in Liverpool: “Go to almost any town across Britain, and you will see plenty of empty homes.
“We will give councils the power to take control of them and bring them back into the public housing stock.
“You will see rented homes in a poor state of repair too, on so many British streets, homes which harm the health of the people inside and drag down the streets around them.
“The worst of it – often owned by absent landlords who are paid through the benefit system but refuse to reinvest anything in the upkeep of the property. It is time to call an end to this.
“Landlords who rent out the worst quality homes will be given warnings to improve them. If they refuse, we will make it much easier for councils to acquire those homes – and we will legislate if necessary.
“We don’t let people sell food which damages health, so why allow it with homes? From now on, we won’t.”
Prime Minister unveils new publicly-owned Great British Grid to aid Net Zero mission
Andy Burnham said a new publicly-owned Great British Grid would drive down energy costs.
“A publicly-owned company that will challenge the private sector operators. It will increase competition, drive down costs and speed up connections. So businesses can expand and grow more quickly.”
The UK will have a national energy plan for the first time and give stronger powers to mayors and local leaders, he said.
“Energy, water, housing. Back under stronger public control. We rely on them, we pay for them and once again we will have power over them.”
He said he would be “pragmatic” in relation to North Sea oil and gas amid looming decisions on Jackdaw and Rosebank “as we build a bridge to a clean energy future as we confront the climate crisis”.
Andy Burnham pledges to pave the way for public ownership of water companies through landmark new water Bill
The Government will pave the way for public ownership of water companies through a new water Bill, which Environment Secretary Angela Eagle will unveil, the Prime Minister has said.
Mr Burnham said: “Water is a symbol of what has gone wrong with Britain – a service where the shareholders never lose and the public never win, from which some have syphoned out easy money while the public picked up the bill for the sewage in our seas. It stinks.”
Mr Burnham said Ms Eagle “will present a strengthened Water Bill to Parliament”.
He added: “The centrepiece of that Bill will be this: the repeal of Margaret Thatcher’s ideological ban on public ownership of water companies.
“It will start a 10-year journey to a very different water system, it will strengthen public control, mayors will have new powers to hold water companies to account, with tougher consequences for those which repeatedly fail. It will close the loopholes used to pay excessive bonuses.
“Where private companies serve the public interest, we will support them but the consequences will be clear for those who do not, including taking back control or ownership.”
‘Deindustrialisation, deregulation, privatisation, austerity, Brexit’ – Andy Burnham announces 40-year political U-turn
Andy Burnham has said he will “break with the direction” of the past 40 years as he said Britain had been on the “wrong path” for four decades.
The Prime Minister told the Labour Party conference in Liverpool that “everyone knows things are not working as they should”.
Mr Burnham said: “Everyone can see the position Britain is in. Everyone knows things are not working as they should. Everyone is talking about how life is too expensive. Everyone wants less drift and more direction. Today, I answer that call.”
He added: “Britain has been on the wrong path for a long time. Deindustrialisation, deregulation, privatisation, austerity, Brexit and what has it given us?
“A country run for vested interests, not in the public interest, with power held in too few hands and too many places left to drift.
“I am ready to do things my predecessors wouldn’t. I will make a break with the direction of the past 40 years and put Britain on a new path, build a new economy and a new politics. That is the case I make to you today.”
‘Never forget who took away control’, says PM as he blasts right-wing regression in Britain
Andy Burnham reflected on the regression in Britain since the 1980s, and pointed the finger at the right-wing of British politics as the ones to blame.
He said: “We built the common good, until the 1980s. Suddenly the common wealth we had created, the wealth we had created for the many, became an opportunity for the few.
“Homes, water, care – broken up and sold off.
“The British right talk about taking control – never forget they are the ones who took it away in the first place.”
Prime Minister thanks Keir Starmer for ‘historic victory’ for Labour in 2024
Andy Burnham said: “I’ve been thinking very carefully about what to say to you today, of course I am here to speak to you. The Labour family, the other family I love so much.
“For the historic victory he achieved for us, I’m here to say thank you Keir.”
He spoke of his family’s “working-class aspiration” and a “post-war Britain that backed them to do it”, but he said something is “different these days”.
“The sense of the powers-that-be pulling against the people not with them. If there’s one thing I want to put right, it’s that.
“Imagine living in a Britain where people feel the country has their back again. A Britain for everyone, no matter who we are or where we’re born. We would be unstoppable. And we will be.”
Andy Burnham takes the stage to address Labour Party Conference
The Prime Minister has taken the stage at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool.
In his initial address, he said: “All together now, that’s my rallying call to the country today. When we pull as one, there is nothing we can’t do.
“Today we draw a line on a decade of division, we stop doom scrolling on posts that bring Britain down, and we put the country on a new path.
“Britain with belief again, people with hope again.”
Pensions rank top priority area for Government spending cuts among Labour members, poll reveals
According to new YouGov polling data, Labour members are most likely to pick pensions when asked to choose up to three areas they think the Government should cut spending the most
Pensions was included in the top three priorities by 32 per cent of Labour members – a significant way out front of the other options.
Meanwhile, overseas aid accrued 25 per cent, welfare accrued 23 per cent, and defence surprisingly garnered 16 per cent of support despite calls for more funding in the sector.
Rounding out the data, climate expenditure was voted by 12 per cent of members, while local government spending earned six per cent of member support, Police forces had two per cent, the NHS had one per cent, and schools also had one per cent.
A total of 25 per cent of members voted “none of the above” among their top three choices.
Pensions topping the list comes as Andy Burnham is set to consider scrapping the triple lock on pensions, with the sector accounting for the single largest proportion of government welfare spending – significantly higher than disability and child benefits and universal credit.
‘We are ending the injustice of leasehold’, says Angela Rayner in social housing pledge
Angela Rayner said: “We are ending the injustice of leasehold. Abolishing the sickening threats of people’s homes being snatched away by their landlord for the slightest breach. And we’re finally dealing with ground rents.”
She continued: “That is why we are calling time on this by capping, then scrapping ground rents, putting power back and money back in people’s hands.”
“We will also cap outrageous administration and permission fees for leaseholders. I’m taking every action to empower people in their own homes.”
On “unqualified, unlicensed and unregulated agents who take thousands” from clients and are “mishandling their money with no transparency or accountability”, she pledged to legislate for an independent regulation to “rein these cowboys in”.
“They’ll be required to follow the rules. And if they don’t, their licences will be taken away.”
Angela Rayner promises to tackle homelessness and reduce reliance on temporary accommodation
Angela Rayner made several housing pledges during her speech this afternoon, promising to tackle homelessness and reduce reliance on temporary accommodation, as well as cracking down on “fleeceholders” and cowboy builders.
She told the Labour Party conference: “For those homes that sit idle and unused, we will make it easier for councils to bring these homes back into use for desperate families who need them.
“Sweeping away Tory barriers that hampered our local leaders from taking action. This is why I am also announcing more powers for local leaders to tackle homelessness and to ensure that they have the homes that their communities need.
“Our councils will be able to refer local homeless households to other social housing providers to reduce reliance on temporary accommodation.
“We will stop social homes from being lost when providers sell them by making it easier for councils to buy, and at the same time, we will introduce a new duty on public services to work together to provide a wraparound support to prevent homelessness before families reach crisis point.
“When we say that we stand for more public control of housing, this is what we mean: giving power to those who know their areas and local people best, and who ultimately are accountable when families are left without a secure home.”
Angela Rayner hits out at Nigel Farage during party conference speech
Angela Rayner lashed out at Nigel Farage during her speech in Liverpool, citing the recent flurry of scandals that hit Reform UK over the summer.
She said: “Does anyone really think that Farage’s crypto-billionaire sugar daddies are handing him millions because he’s standing up for the working people of Britain, give me a break.
“If he’s singing a happy birthday song for £70, just imagine what he’s doing for £70 million.”
Addressing the conference, she added: “He’s shown which side he’s on, and I know it’s our job to show you that we’re on yours.”
‘Two years in, we must be more impatient than ever to get on’, says Angela Rayner
Angela Rayner has reflected on the recent milestones achieved by the Labour Party, and pointed to the future by saying: “Our shared task now is to give our country hope again.”
She cited the Employment Rights Act introduced in the first 100 days, alongside the Renters Rights Act, as landmark party achievements of late, as well as giving back to businesses and local leaders.
“Shifting power out of Whitehall and giving communities with skin in the game the ability to shape their own future.”
“Two years in, we must be more impatient than ever to get on.”
Angela Rayner takes the stage at Labour Party Conference
Housing Secretary Angela Rayner is speaking from the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool, where she is reflecting on the legacy of the party through the decades.
She said: “We’re standing on the shoulders of giants”, as she pointed to some of Labour’s biggest achievements throughout the decades such as the post-war labour government who “rebuilt Britain and gave birth to the NHS.”
“We are the party of working people.”
Pensioners could be willing to back triple lock reform if they ‘could see where the money was going’, Angela Rayner says
Angela Rayner has suggested that pensioners could accept changes to the triple lock if they knew any savings would be used to improve social care, rather than fill a government spending “black hole”.
The Housing Secretary praised Prime Minister Andy Burnham for being prepared to risk his political reputation to reform England’s social care system, which she described as unfair and a “lottery” for families.
Under the current system, people with conditions such as dementia can face significant care costs and risk losing their homes, while those with cancer and some other illnesses receive care through the NHS.
Ms Rayner said Mr Burnham was willing to use his “political capital” to create a fairer system, despite facing criticism over potential changes to the way social care is funded.
His previous efforts to reform the system during Gordon Brown’s premiership were met with accusations that he was proposing a “death tax”.
Ms Rayner said: “The high principle on this is that people have paid in all their lives. They are willing, I think, to look at that.
“But what they don’t want is what they consider to be, quite frankly, incompetent politicians that are going to take something from us to fill a black hole.
“If they can see that this is going to improve and and move it into a way that delivers, so you’ve got a retail offer of ‘that’s no longer fit for purpose, but we can either do something for the younger generation because of the intergenerational disparities, or something on social care or whatever’, I think they would they would be willing to have a conversation.”
Indefinite leave to remain revisions will be ‘fair to British citizens’, Lucy Powell tells GB News
Deputy Labour Leader Lucy Powell confirmed to GB News this morning that Shabana Mahmood’s indefinite leave to remain revisions would be “fair to British citizens”.
When probed on an estimated 2.2 million additional UK citizens under the Home Secretary’s indefinite leave to remain plans, Ms Powell told the People’s Channel: “What we’re talking about is people already in this country, the vast majority of whom are working in our NHS and care sector.
“We’ve been having conversations about the people who have come here legally and are working, and the terms of which them being able to get settled status.
“We’ve put that out to consultation and will arrive at a position that is both fair to British citizens today, and to those who come her legally and are contributing and working.”
Labour Chair concedes Reform UK remain the ‘main threat’ despite declining in polls
Labour Chair Bridget Phillipson has described Reform UK as Labour’s “main threat”, despite Nigel Farage’s party sliding in the polls.
Speaking to Politico during the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool, Ms Phillipson said Reform faced “unanswered questions” over its donations, but conceded the party remained “well-organized” and “well-funded”.
“They’re not going anywhere”, she added.
Ms Phillipson also cautioned against dismissing the Conservatives, who suffered their worst-ever general election result in 2024, but have since regained ground in national polling under leader Kemi Badenoch.
Asked about the Conservatives’ resurgence, she acknowledged: “I think history would show how electorally successful they are.”
However, she argued that the party “have never reconciled with why they lost so badly in 2024”.
Andy Burnham to announce GB Grid to expand Britain’s power grid and help deliver net zero
Prime Minister Andy Burnham will today announce GB Grid, a new publicly owned company designed to accelerate the expansion of Britain’s power grid and help deliver net zero.
In his Labour Party conference speech, Mr Burnham will say GB Grid will “increase competition to drive down costs and speed up delivery” of major grid projects.
Modelled on GB Energy, the company will invest in and compete for infrastructure projects, aiming to tackle delays and rising costs.
Mr Burnham will frame the initiative as a move towards greater public control of the energy system, arguing that high prices are leaving households and businesses paying the cost.
“The price of energy is crippling for businesses, and British billpayers pay some of the highest energy costs in Europe.”
He will add: “Once again, the British public has lost control.”
The company is also intended to challenge the dominance of the three transmission operators that run Britain’s high-voltage electricity network, including National Grid.
Ministers have reportedly raised concerns about the cost and pace of projects needed to meet net zero targets.
The announcement follows First Secretary of State Louise Haigh’s criticism of “energy giants” operating as “monopolies with a vice-like grip on British people and British businesses.”
Lucy Powell pledges pension perks around the corner as she doubles down on commitment to triple lock
Labour deputy leader Lucy Powell has declined to say whether the party could abandon the state pension triple lock, as discussions continue over how Andy Burnham’s social care proposals could be funded.
Ms Powell, who is also Education Secretary, said Labour remained committed to the triple lock, and pointed to the policy’s inclusion in Labour’s 2024 manifesto which had delivered significant increases for pensioners.
Speaking to Sky News, Ms Powell said pensioners could expect their state pension to rise by around £2,000 a year over the course of the current Parliament, describing this as important for ensuring their incomes remain secure.
However, when repeatedly asked whether Chancellor John Healey and Mr Burnham were considering ending the triple lock, Ms Powell did not give a direct answer.
She said she did not know what Mr Burnham would announce, but stressed that addressing major issues such as the social care crisis would require an open discussion about funding.
Ms Powell acknowledged that such reforms would come at a cost, saying the Government could not resolve the social care crisis without discussing how the necessary measures would be paid for.
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