A summary of today's developments
The Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, has called for the recall of parliament to address the financial crisis. He urged the government to abandon the mini-budget measures which triggered the market turmoil.
Liz Truss is a “danger” to the economy and has “lost control” following the fall-out from the government’s mini-budget, according to Sir Keir Starmer.
The Labour leader stopped short of calling for the PM and her Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng to resign, saying it was a “secondary” issue. He told Sky News the decisions being taken in Downing Street meant there was “a danger” and the pair “took a huge risk” with their plans, adding: “They’re gambling our money... to give tax breaks to the very rich.”
The Guardian has learned that departments will be asked to look for “efficiency savings” and told they must live within the budget constraints of the current spending review.
The chief secretary to the Treasury Chris Philp will write to departments within the next 48 hours setting out the request, a Whitehall source said.
Treasury minister Andrew Griffith has defended the government’s plans, which have largely been blamed for the seismic financial shock to markets.
Griffith, the financial secretary to the Treasury, told Sky News: “We think they are the right plans because those plans make our economy competitive.”
No 10 said Liz Truss is standing by Kwasi Kwarteng despite pressure on him to quit. A spokesman said: “The PM and the Chancellor are working on the supply side reforms needed to grow the economy which will be announced in the coming weeks”.
The Treasury has published a read-out of a meeting between the chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, and a host of representatives from somw of the biggest banks in the world. According to the statement, Kwarteng “underlined the government’s clear commitment to fiscal discipline” at a meeting aimed at reassuring the City amid market turmoil following Friday’s so-called mini-budget.
At the Labour conference Angela Rayner, the deputy leader, said although she is proud of Labour’s traditions, “there is one part of our history that I will never celebrate - losing elections”. And she says that, although Labour likes to talk about what more it should do, it should celebrate its successes more.
In her speech to the conference, Rosena Allin-Khan, the shadow minister for mental health, said that the next Labour government would guarantee access to mental health treatment within a month.
Liz Truss to appear on BBC radio tomorrow morning
Liz Truss is breaking her silence. 📢
— Pippa Crerar (@PippaCrerar) September 28, 2022
In the morning she’ll do a round of 8 local BBC radio stations w/ each getting 5 min interview.
Then she’ll do traditional pre-conference sit downs w/ regional TV.
Will be a tough gig. Some of these journos are best in business.
Updated
Labour membership increased by more than 2,500 over the party’s conference, fuelled by the Conservatives’ turmoil and polls suggesting it is on course for victory.
The conference in Liverpool was the most financially successful in the party’s history, according to insiders. A new poll by Deltapoll as the conference closed on Wednesday gave Labour a 13-point lead, as Liz Truss faced calls to sack her chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, following the emergency intervention by the Bank of England after his mini-budget.
Angela Rayner closed the conference by predicting activists would be meeting soon under a Labour government. “Think how it will feel meeting here in this hall in a few years’ time after a term of a Labour government,” she said. “Back in power.”
Martin Weale, a former member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee has warned the next 12 months are looking “pretty grim”, as he accused the chancellor of tipping “petrol on the fire”.
Asked if there has been a degree of incompetence by the government, he told the Sky News Daily podcast: “It’s rather hard to come to any other conclusion.”
Weale added: “The chancellor has in the Treasury a very well established mechanism for obtaining advice and my guess is he was offered advice and decided to ignore it.”
Liz Truss is facing growing pressure from jittery Conservative MPs to sack Kwasi Kwarteng or face a mutiny after the Bank of England’s emergency intervention to address the turmoil in the financial markets, writes Pippa Crerar and Jessica Elgot.
The move prompted comparisons to 1992’s Black Wednesday, when the UK was ignominiously ejected from the European exchange rate mechanism.
Tory MPs expressed disbelief at how sterling had slumped after the government’s mini-budget sparked market turbulence, compounded by the chancellor’s subsequent remarks, at a time when households across the country were already struggling with the cost of living.
They claimed that Kwarteng would have to resign for the party to survive the financial crisis as they urged the prime minister to reverse her plan to scrap the top 45p tax rate, which they said had been received badly in their constituencies.
Crossbench peer and former Treasury minister Lord O’Neill of Gatley said investors and companies “all over the world” were “wondering what on earth is going on in the UK”.
He told BBC Radio 4’s PM programme: “This is a breathing room for the government, in my view, to seriously think what on earth is it really trying to do and ... this idea that you can just magically quadruple productivity by a tiny corporate tax policy reversal is at the core of why investors and companies all over the world, never mind here at home, are wondering what on earth is going on in the UK.”
The EU “must not and will not back down” in the EU-UK dispute over the Northern Ireland Protocol, Michel Barnier said.
The former chief Brexit negotiator for the bloc said that Brexit had not yielded any benefits for the UK and described it as “a unilateral decision by one party with negative impacts for itself”.
During an address in Iveagh House in Dublin city, Barnier said Brexit also remained “a challenge” for Ireland, and “a blow” to the European Union project.
“Brexit is in great part the result of populism. We must be aware that this poison might still arm Europe again. But populism must not be mistaken with public opinion or public sentiment.”
The pound has managed to recover ground and London’s top index was in the green following the Bank of England surprise intervention to calm gilts markets.
The Bank said it would launch an emergency programme to buy government bonds - known as gilts - “on whatever scale is necessary” to try to bring down soaring UK public borrowing costs.
It sent sterling into the lurch, which dipped to around 1.05 against the US dollar immediately after the announcement.
However, the pound had edged back up to around 1.08 by the time European markets closed.
The intervention also seemingly calmed the FTSE 100 index which had slumped in early morning trading and again immediately after the Bank of England’s announcement.
Sir Keir Starmer: prime minister is a 'danger' to the economy
Liz Truss is a “danger” to the economy and has “lost control” following the fall-out from the government’s mini-budget, according to Sir Keir Starmer.
The Labour leader stopped short of calling for the PM and her Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng to resign, saying it was a “secondary” issue.
He told Sky News the decisions being taken in Downing Street meant there was “a danger” and the pair “took a huge risk” with their plans, adding: “They’re gambling our money... to give tax breaks to the very rich.”
Updated
Government departments to be asked to find 'efficiency savings'
The Guardian has learned that departments will be asked to look for “efficiency savings” and told they must live within the budget constraints of the current spending review.
The chief secretary to the Treasury Chris Philp will write to departments within the next 48 hours setting out the request, a Whitehall source said.
Though departmental budgets are not subject to the same inflation calculations as household budgets, budgets are still likely to be squeezed because of higher than anticipated inflation since the October 2021 review.
Liz Truss ruled out more cuts during the Tory leadership contest. “I’m certainly not talking about public spending cuts, what I’m talking about is raising growth,” she said.
Updated
Ken Clarke, a former chancellor, said he hoped the government’s fiscal plan had been torn up as he called the chancellor’s mini-budget a “serious mistake”.
“I’ve never known a budget caused a financial crisis immediately like this,” Lord Clarke told Sky News.
“So when I listened to the budget, I was rather astounded by its contents, and I hope we very rapidly get out of it.
“I was hoping that we’d gone through a circus of the leadership election and we were now going to get down to dealing with a serious national crisis.
“But they have made a catastrophic start, the budget was a serious mistake, and it has caused a serious problem.”
Updated
I’m now handing the blog to my colleague Nadeem Badshah.
Whitehall to be told to find 'efficiency savings' – reports
Sky News’s deputy political editor, Sam Coates, understands that Chris Philp, the chief secretary to the Treasury, is to write to all secretaries of state calling for “efficiency savings” to be found.
Exc: Whitehall to be told to find efficiency savings as well as refusing to reopen spending review
— Sam Coates Sky (@SamCoatesSky) September 28, 2022
Chris Philp to write to Secretaries of State within hours
"What efficiency savings are there given levels of inflation??! Amazing bulls***" said a Whitehall source
Updated
The former cabinet minister Julian Smith has called for the government to make changes to its growth plans, which, as Jessica Elgot, our deputy political editor, points out, is the first such intervention from a former cabinet minister.
First former cabinet minister to call for the government to change course https://t.co/kUqHiF2EMr
— Jessica Elgot (@jessicaelgot) September 28, 2022
Updated
In his media rounds, the financial secretary to the Treasury, Andrew Griffith, tried to argue that “all major economies” were experiencing the same volatility as the UK.
“What is unprecedented is the level of volatility we have seen in all developed markets. The UK went into this with a strong balance sheet. The UK has the second lowest debt to GDP ratio in the G7,” he told Sky News.
We are seeing the same impacts of Putin’s war in Ukraine cascading through things like the cost of energy, some of the supply side implications of that.
That’s impacting every major economy. Every major economy you are seeing interest rates going up as well. Every major economy is dealing with exactly these same issues.
The Bank of England has made this timely intervention. What the chancellor and I are focused on is delivering that economic growth plan.
Updated
Package of tax cuts and borrowing 'right plans' – Treasury minister
Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng have not appeared in public today to address the unfolding financial crisis, but the Treasury minister Andrew Griffith has done a round of broadcast interviews. In them he defended the government’s plans, which have largely been blamed for the seismic financial shock to markets.
Griffith, the financial secretary to the Treasury, told Sky News: “We think they are the right plans because those plans make our economy competitive.”
Get on and deliver that plan. That’s what I, the chancellor and my colleagues in government are focused on is getting on and delivering that growth.
That is what is going to allow consumers to benefit. In the meantime, we are protecting every household and every business from the biggest macro shock out there at the moment, which is the cost of energy.
Treasury financial secretary, Andrew Griffith says the current economic issues are being experienced in "every major economy" due to Putin's war, not the mini budget.
— Sky News (@SkyNews) September 28, 2022
He adds that the government's focus is on implementing their economic growth planhttps://t.co/WUnquWvHqf pic.twitter.com/u5g7nByTyz
Updated
Tomorrow’s edition of The Spectator has a remarkable front page for a conservative magazine.
SPECTATOR: What crisis? #TomorrowsPapersToday pic.twitter.com/ujJxxJXTyb
— Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) September 28, 2022
Liz Truss standing by chancellor - No 10
My colleague, political editor Pippa Crerar, has a brief update from a No 10 spokesman, who tells her Truss is standing by Kwasi Kwarteng.
No 10 tells me that Liz Truss is standing by Kwasi Kwarteng despite pressure on him to quit.
— Pippa Crerar (@PippaCrerar) September 28, 2022
A spokesman said: "The PM and the Chancellor are working on the supply side reforms needed to grow the economy which will be announced in the coming weeks".
Updated
For those finding the deluge of economic jargon a little overwhelming, my colleague, Phillip Inman, has a handy explainer for the latest development in the unfolding crisis here:
The president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, has said on Twitter that he has had a phonecall conversation with the prime minister, Liz Truss, prompting some to ask if he could get a message to her to appear in public and address the unfolding financial crisis in the UK.
Had a phone conversation with 🇬🇧 PM @trussliz. The UK has always been among the leaders in supporting Ukraine. We expect London’s leadership in reaction to Russian sham referenda as well. Defense and financial aid to Ukraine must be enhanced in response.
— Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) September 28, 2022
Sky News’s Beth Rigby has a brief update via Treasury sources on the chancellor and his plans. In short, he’s not going and he’s not changing course.
Quick update from Treasury sources on chancellor and the economic plan. Told CX not resigning and there will be "no reversal of policy"
— Beth Rigby (@BethRigby) September 28, 2022
Troubling update from Ed Conway at Sky News, who has been told pension funds were on the imminent brink of insolvency, which pushed the Bank of England to act.
🚨NEW🚨
— Ed Conway (@EdConwaySky) September 28, 2022
On the @bankofengland intervention:
Am told the BoE were responding to a “run dynamic” on pension funds - a wholesale equivalent of the run which destroyed Northern Rock.
Had they not intervened, there would have been mass insolvencies of pension funds by THIS AFTERNOON.
The Conservative peer, Daniel Hannan, has a take on the unfolding financial crisis that is raising eyebrows among the commentariat.
In his column for Conservative Home, Hannan, one of the key Conservative voices behind the push to leave the EU, argues it is not the £45bn package of tax cuts to be funded by public borrowing at a time of surging inflation that has spooked the markets, but the increased prospect that Sir Keir Starmer and Labour will come to power.
He writes:
What we have seen since Friday is partly a market adjustment to the increased probability that Sir Keir Starmer will win in 2024 or 2025 – leading to higher taxes, higher spending, and a weaker economy.
He suggested the reaction to the mini-budget was driven by “motivated reasoning”.
Some pundits don’t like Truss, others have never forgiven the Tories for Brexit, yet others are horrified by the idea that growth, rather than equality, should be the government’s priority.
Fair enough. But let’s be clear-headed about what is happening.
Reacting to the article, Starmer said: “That’s just a ridiculous assertion. I don’t even think the Tory party are taking that seriously.”
You can read the article in full here.
Updated
Nick Timothy, who was chief of staff to former PM Theresa May, has attacked the government’s plan.
“This is not Conservatism,” he tweeted.
And it is not what Conservatives do. Ideology and unnecessary risks with market confidence are supposed to be what the other side does. We do need a different plan – but this is a disaster that should never have happened.
This is not conservatism, and it is not what conservatives do. Ideology and unnecessary risks with market confidence are supposed to be what the other side does. We do need a different plan – but this is a disaster that should never have happened.
— Nick Timothy (@NJ_Timothy) September 28, 2022
Updated
Here’s a clip of the Labour deputy leader, Angela Rayner, delivering her closing speech at the Labour party conference in Liverpool.
Our special correspondent and former political editor, Heather Stewart, has taken a look at the options faced by the prime minister, Liz Truss: stick, twist – or gamble again?
Stewart suggests a U-turn on tax cuts with or without sacking the chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, is most likely course of action for the PM. She writes:
In its pointed statement on Tuesday evening, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) dropped a heavy hint it would like to see the chancellor withdraw some of his tax-cut plans, when he sets out his fiscal plan on 23 November.
Long before that, the intense market pressure could yet force Truss to change course, unpicking some aspects of the £45bn package Kwarteng announced, on top of the costly energy price guarantee.
Some of the tax cuts could be delayed, for example – as Rishi Sunak insisted was necessary during his leadership campaign; or some of the more contentious policies, such as the cut in the 45p rate, could be scrapped altogether.
Read the full piece here:
Updated
A Tory MP has told our political editor, Pippa Crerar, that the unfolding economic crisis, triggered by the Truss-Kwarteng mini-budget, is “extinction level stuff” for the political party.
This is increasingly looking politically unsustainable.
— Pippa Crerar (@PippaCrerar) September 28, 2022
One Tory MP tells me: “It’s extinction level stuff. This is like 2008 but worse. We’re messing with the very fundamental principle of providing a home for your family. That’s why it’s different: it’s real stuff”. https://t.co/SiQBSkiSG7
Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, has said Kwasi Kwarteng may try to freeze spending on public services when he sets out his medium-term fiscal plan to get the public finances back on track.
“The difficulty the government has got itself in is that it is cutting taxes so dramatically without any kind of plan of what it is going to do on public spending,” he told BBC Radio 4’s The World at One.
This is going to create a big challenge for the chancellor, who has said in a couple of months’ time he is going to come back to us with a credible plan.
If I had to guess now what that plan might look like, I would suggest that it will be that he will look five years into the future and he’ll say: ‘I’m going to freeze spending over the whole of that five-year period.’
The problem with that is that, particularly after a decade of austerity and cuts in public services, there are serious questions as to whether there is any credibility associated with a freeze in public spending for such a long period of time.
Updated
Conservative backbench MPs have started to publicly criticise the measures unveiled by the chancellor last Friday as part of his so-called growth plan and his handling of the fallout.
Simon Hoare, the MP for North Dorset, branded the current approach “inept madness”.
In the words of Norman Lamont on Black Wednesday: “today has been a very difficult day”. These are not circumstances beyond the control of Govt/Treasury . They were authored there. This inept madness cannot go on https://t.co/wSXrNlFt0q
— Simon Hoare MP (@Simon4NDorset) September 28, 2022
Tory MP Robert Largan said he thinks it is a “mistake” to cut the top income tax rate of 45% when “the government’s fiscal room for manoeuvre is so limited”.
The High Peak MP tweeted: “Considering the government’s Plan for Growth, there are a number of measures that I welcome. In particular, the announcement that the basic rate of income tax will be cut from 20% to 19% from next April.
“However, I have serious reservations about a number of announcements made by the chancellor. I do not believe that cutting the 45p top tax rate is the right decision when the government’s fiscal room for manoeuvre is so limited. In my view, this is a mistake.
“This is a deeply worrying time. Elected officials need to be honest about the choices we face & government needs to take a pragmatic, fiscally responsible approach on the short-term support needed for people & long-term strategic thinking to ensure our energy security.”
However, I have serious reservations about a number of announcements made by the Chancellor. I do not believe that cutting the 45p Top Tax Rate is the right decision when the Government's fiscal room for manoeuvre is so limited. In my view, this is a mistake.
— Robert Largan (@robertlargan) September 28, 2022
Mel Stride, the Conservative chairman of the Commons Treasury committee, who backed Rishi Sunak for the leadership, warned “there’s a lot of concern within the parliamentary party, there’s no doubt about that”.
Updated
'Recall parliament' – Starmer
The Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer, has called for the recall of parliament to address the financial crisis.
He urged the government to abandon the mini-budget measures which triggered the market turmoil.
Speaking in Liverpool he told reporters: “The move by the Bank of England is very serious.
“And I think many people will now be extremely worried about their mortgage, about prices going up, and now about their pensions.
“The government has clearly lost control of the economy.”
He added: “What the government needs to do now is recall parliament and abandon this budget before any more damage is done.”
You can see the clip below:
"The move by the Bank of England is very serious."
— Sky News (@SkyNews) September 28, 2022
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has called on the government to "abandon" its mini-budget before more "damage is done".
Latest: https://t.co/otF2pdt4Ga
📺 Sky 501, Virgin 602, Freeview 233 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/LMFjdvTZtc
Updated
Chancellor tells City he is committed to "fiscal discipline" - Treasury
The Treasury has published a read-out of a meeting between the chancellor, Kwasi Kwarteng, and a host of representatives from somw of the biggest banks in the world.
According to the statement, Kwarteng “underlined the government’s clear commitment to fiscal discipline” at a meeting aimed at reassuring the City amid market turmoil following Friday’s so-called mini-budget.
Representatives from Bank of America, JP Morgan, Standard Chartered, Citi, UBS, Morgan Stanley and Bloomberg all attended the meeting.
Kwarteng “underlined the government’s clear commitment to fiscal discipline and reiterated that he is working closely with the governor of the Bank of England and the OBR ahead of delivering his medium-term fiscal plan on 23 November”, the statement said.
The chancellor also discussed with attendees how last Friday’s growth plan will expand the supply side of the economy through tax incentives and reforms, helping to deliver greater opportunities and bear down on inflation.
Ahead of the upcoming Big Bang 2.0 deregulatory moment for financial services, the chancellor discussed potential sectoral reforms that are targeted at boosting growth, generating investment, and delivering higher wages across the UK.
The chancellor reiterated his view that ‘a strong UK economy has always depended on a strong financial services sector’.
“Big Bang 2.0” is the nickname given by Kwarteng and his team to the package of deregulation reforms he plans to unveil this autumn.
Updated
Kwarteng should make urgent statement on crisis - shadow chancellor
Rachel Reeves, shadow chancellor, has called on the chancellor to make an urgent statement on the unfolding economic crisis.
People will be deeply worried about the cost of their mortgage, about their pensions, and about the impact this will have on their cost of living.
This is a serious situation made in Downing Street and is the direct result of the Conservative government’s reckless actions, which include tax cuts for the richest 1%.
Their decisions will cause higher inflation and higher interest rates - and are not a credible plan for growth.
The chancellor must make an urgent statement on how he is going to fix the crisis that he has made.
Updated
Pressure is mounting on the prime minister and chancellor to provide some kind of public response to the mounting economic crisis.
The Liberal Democrats and SNP have both called for immediate action from Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng, who have both been conspicuously absent from the spotlight as the disastrous consequences of their so-called mini-budget unfold before everyone else’s eyes.
The Liberal Democrat leader, Ed Davey, says Truss has “24 hours to fix this economic disaster”.
We’ve now heard from the Bank of England but nothing at all from the prime minister.
Every hour the prime minister and chancellor hide from this economic nightmare increases the chances of interest rates spiralling out of control and people losing their homes. We can’t wait till the Conservatives’ proposed November statement to rescue the pound and property market. For the sake of the country, Liz Truss must act now.
The deputy leader of the SNP, Keith Brown, said Truss had disappeared without a trace.
It is astounding that Liz Truss has not made a single public appearance or statement since last Friday. It is time for her to come out of hiding and at least make the pretence of leading the country through this self-inflicted crisis.
Sadly, it’s not the first time the Westminster government has gone Awol during this cost-of-living crisis. They abandoned their posts for months whilst the Tory party dealt with replacing the disgraceful Boris Johnson.
The country will be asking why they bothered. The new prime minister, after less than a month in office, has plunged the country into chaos and has now disappeared while millions of households are being pushed into hardship. It is disgraceful.
Updated
With the Labour conference over, the Conservative party reaction to the crisis in the financial markets triggered by the mini-budget last week will now get the full attention of the nation’s lobby correspondents. Lucy Fisher from Times Radio has a flavour of what Tory MPs are thinking here.
Tory MP on economic turmoil: 'Politically this is extinction level for us. It's all over.
— Lucy Fisher (@LOS_Fisher) September 28, 2022
'Half of my colleagues realise it, the Q is just how quickly will the other half catch up.'
MP predicts party may remove Truss, but doubts whether that would prevent an electoral rout
And this is from Sam Coates from Sky News.
Tory MPs react pic.twitter.com/c1m1vlsDOq
— Sam Coates Sky (@SamCoatesSky) September 28, 2022
I am finishing for the day now. My colleague Jamie Grierson is taking over.
Before Angela Rayner closed the Labour conference, there was a speech to delegates from the Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya. As PA Media reports, she said the UK “must continue to lead the global fight against tyranny and oppression”. PA says:
Tsikhanouskaya ran against authoritarian leader - and ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin - Alexander Lukashenko in Belarus’ 2020 election before being pressured to leave the country.
She praised the UK’s role in supporting Ukraine, saying it has “become an example and inspiration to many others”.
She said: “The UK must continue to lead the global fight against tyranny and oppression. People all over the world look to you for your strength. We are together on the front line in the fight for democracy.
“Our fates are intertwined. A threat to democracy in one country is a threat to the whole world. Without victory in Ukraine a free Belarus is impossible, and without a free Belarus there can be no lasting peace in Europe.'”
Belarus, a close ally of Russia, was used as a launch point for the invasion of its southern neighbour by Mr Putin’s forces. In August last year, Tsikhanouskaya visited Downing Street, where then-prime minister Boris Johnson said the UK is “on the side” of the pro-democracy Belarusian opposition leader.
Tsikhanouskaya also told the conference in Liverpool about a journalist who she said was imprisoned for treason. She said the journalist is a fan of Liverpool Football Club, and that every day he sings the club’s anthem, You’ll Never Walk Alone.
“In his letters from prison he puts these lines from Liverpool’s anthem: walk on, walk on, with hope in your heart, and you will never walk alone, you will never walk alone,” she said, to applause from the crowd.
And on our path to freedom and democracy, we never walked alone. You can’t even imagine how much support we have received from all over the world.”
Delegates are now winding up, as is traditional, singing the Red Flag and Jerusalem.
Rayner says this conference has shown the shadow cabinet is “a team with a plan”.
She goes on to summarise some of the policies announced or confirmed this week.
70% home ownership, our renters’ charter and a clamp down on buy-to-let.
Council housing, council housing, council housing.
The Hillsborough law, a domestic abuse register and a new football regulator.
Sewage sanctions, job centre reform and a transformational industrial strategy.
Insulation, innovation, inspiration,
All in one.
13,000 more police officers to keep our communities safe.
New Navy ships built by unionised workers in British shipyards.
Closing the tax break for private schools, to fund education for all.
Free school breakfasts for children.
New bus services in public hands.
And as contracts expire, restoring public ownership of the railways.
Conference, our shadow cabinet has shown what a Labour government will be radical.
She ends saying how the party “how together we will transform this country”.
Updated
Rayner turns to Boris Johnson.
Then there’s Boris Johnson.
I do owe him one apology.
I said he couldn’t organise a booze up in a brewery.
Turns out he could organise a booze up pretty much anywhere …
He ended his time claiming he was forced from office by the ‘deep state’.
The only deep state that forced him from office was the one he left our country in.
Rayner apologises for going on about Johnson, but says she wanted to use all her jokes about him before people forget who he is.
Rayner goes on to criticise Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng’s trickle-down economics approach. She says:
The new prime minister and her chancellor have said it out loud.
The problem is that British workers are idlers not grafters.
The irony.
From this lot!!
Liz Truss said she doesn’t like hand-outs.
Then handed £150bn to the energy giants.
They believe in hand-outs alright.
It’s the same with her other top priority - unlimited bankers’ bonuses.
It’s the same old ideology.
You incentivise the richest by giving them more money.
You incentivise the rest of us by taking it away.
Conference, it hasn’t worked before and it won’t wash now.
Updated
Rayner turns to Kwasi Kwarteng, the chancellor.
To think this was the party that claimed they were for sound money.
That’s what one high-flying new Tory MP certainly thought in 2012.
He wrote a pamphlet demanding a balanced budget every year.
He said: “Fiscal prudence is the very least we should expect from a chancellor.”
And if they failed, they should face a 20% pay cut.
That Tory MP must be absolutely furious with the new Tory chancellor – except he is the new Tory chancellor.
I’ve got a funny feeling he won’t be taking that pay cut either.
Pay cuts are for other people.
Updated
Rayner says Labour has shown it would deliver a more competent government than the Tories. Liz Truss’s government is plunging the country into chaos, she says. Rayner goes on:
Tough on crime?
They brought crime to Number 10.
Defenders of the free market?
The market’s in free fall.
England’s green and pleasant land?
Frack it.
From the party of stability to causing earthquakes.
From the party of business, to a slap down from the IMF.
From the party of serious government to the party of parties.
Liz Truss has even crashed the pork market.
Now ... that. Is. A. Disgrace.
You’d think that snouts in the trough was the one thing they could manage.
Rayner is at least the third speaker from the platform to mock Truss’s infamous cheese speech.
Updated
Rayner urges Labour to celebrate its achievements in government, instead of talking 'endlessly' about where it failed
At the Labour conference Angela Rayner, the deputy leader, is giving the closing speech of the event.
She starts by saying that, although she is proud of Labour’s traditions, “there is one part of our history that I will never celebrate - losing elections”.
And she says that, although Labour likes to talk about what more it should do, it should celebrate its successes more. She goes on:
When the Tories deliver 1% of what they promised, they talk endlessly about that 1% and we never hear about the list of broken promises.
When we deliver 99% of what we promised, we talk endlessly about the 1% we didn’t instead.
Just think about the historic Labour governments and their legacy.
They didn’t please all of our movement all of the time, including me.
But those Labour governments made history.
The NHS.
Social security.
The welfare state.
Council housing.
Modern higher education.
The Open University.
Decriminalising homosexuality.
Outlawing racial discrimination.
Introducing equal pay.
The national minimum wage.
Sure Start.
The Good Friday agreement.
Civil partnerships.
The Equality Act.
The Human Rights Act.
The world’s first Climate Change Act.
Conference, if we’re not proud of ourselves, don’t expect anyone else to do it for us.
Updated
Having five education secretaries in year has failed children, says Bridget Phillipson
In her speech to the Labour conference Bridget Phillipson, the shadow education secretary, pointed out that the UK government had got through five education secretaries within a year. Gavin Williamson was sacked in the reshuffle on 15 September 2021. He was replaced by Nadhim Zahawi, who was replaced by Michelle Donelan when Zahawi got promoted after Rishi Sunak resigned. Donelan quit within two days, joining the exodus of ministers from Boris Johnson’s government, and she was replaced by James Cleverly on an interim basis before Kit Malthouse got the job properly when Liz Truss formed her government. He was appointed on 6 September.
Phillipson said:
Education, under this government is like a school maths problem.
If you have five education secretaries in one year.
Three of them, who haven’t got a clue what they are doing.
Two of them, who want a return to the fifties.
What have you got left?
I’ll tell you.
A government that is failing our children.
Childcare in crisis.
A recovery programme in chaos.
School buildings collapsing.
A skills system unfit for today, never mind tomorrow.
Universities treated as a political battleground, not a public good.
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The Conservative peer Daniel Hannan has a novel take on the currency crisis. In an article for ConservativeHome, he argues that the pound has been tanking since the mini-budget last week not because the markets have lost confidence in the government to manage the public finances, but because they now expect Labour to win the next election. He says:
What the sterling sell-off may have reflected … is the belief that this budget has made a Labour victory more likely.
For, although the economics were sound, the politics were always going to be difficult. Few voters get the counterintuitive logic of the Laffer Curve. A government might earn more revenue from a 40p than a 45p tax rate; but it will lose votes from those who refuse to believe it. A government might enlarge the economy, and so have more to spend on public services, if it scraps the EU’s limit on bankers’ bonuses. But the voters who make a logical assessment of their interest will be outnumbered by those want something – anything – done to make bankers’ lives harder.
In other words (and I am aware of how much this runs against the current narrative) what we have seen since Friday is partly a market adjustment to the increased probability that Sir Keir Starmer will win in 2024 or 2025 – leading to higher taxes, higher spending, and a weaker economy.
The more conventional view is that Labour is soaring in the polls because the economy is tanking, not the other way round.
Labour would guarantee patients access to mental health treatment within month, says Allin-Khan
And in her speech to the conference, Rosena Allin-Khan, the shadow minister for mental health, said that the next Labour government would guarantee access to mental health treatment within a month.
It would also recruit more mental health staff, establish mental health support in every school and open mental health hubs for under-25s in every community, with no need for referral.
She said:
Whenever I meet patients and staff, all over the country, people ask me the same thing, “What practical difference will Labour’s pledges make to me?”
It’s a good question.
Conference, here’s the answer: Our resolute commitment to prevention, early intervention and timely treatment will make the difference.
Streeting says Labour would let all patients book GP appointments online, ending 'waiting on phone at 8am'
Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, told the Labour conference in his speech this morning that the party would have a 10-year plan for NHS modernisation that would include expanding the workforce, having higher standards for patients and shifting “the focus of healthcare out of the hospital and into the community”.
On expanding the workforce, he said:
Without a workforce plan, the Conservatives have no plan for the NHS.
Everything else they announce is a sticking plaster that fails to address the root cause of the NHS crisis.
Politics is about choices. Labour believes the country needs doctors and nurses more than the richest need a tax cut.
So, we will double the number of medical training places.
And create an extra 10,000 nursing and midwifery clinical placements every year.
And on standards he said:
When we were in government, Labour guaranteed appointments within two days.
Labour will give all patients the ability to book online, the opportunity to self-refer to specialist services where appropriate and a wider range of choice so that we can choose whether we want to see someone face-to-face, on the phone or via a video link.
The days of waiting on the phone at 8am to book an appointment with your GP will be over and we will bring back the family doctor.
Labour promise of free breakfasts ‘first step on the road to rebuilding childcare’
A Labour government would fund breakfast clubs for every primary school in England, paid for by restoring the top rate of income tax to 45p, Bridget Phillipson, the shadow education secretary, has said. My colleague Jessica Elgot has the story here.
Starmer signals Labour would expect rich to pay more in tax - but says what's planned is 'not really wealth tax'
Here are the main points from Keir Starmer’s morning interview round.
Starmer suggested the government should urgently shelve elements of its mini-budget from last Friday in the light of the impact it is having on borrowing costs, and the criticism of it from the IMF. (See 7.36am.) The IMF intervention will be a particular boon for Labour members because when the 1976 Callaghan government had to go “cap in hand to the IMF” for a loan in 1976, that became emblematic of Labour financial incompetence (unfairly, some argue) and that charge severely damaged the party’s reputation for a generation. Liz Truss seems unlikely to take Starmer’s advice, and perform a U-turn, even though that could potentially solve the sterling crisis. Starmer probably realises that having the opposition call for a U-turn makes it, politically, even harder for the government to perform one.
He said people would be “worried sick” about their mortgages with the cost of borrowing going up. He told BBC Breakfast.
This is a situation where the government has self-inflicted harm on our economy. And people looking at their mortgages, looking at their prices this morning, will be worried sick, I think. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re not a little bit angry that the government has lost control of the economy.
Speaking on LBC, he said he spoke to his sister, who is a care worker, last night and she was “really struggling” with bills. He said:
She’s a care worker. She’s really struggling. She’s just got her bill in, in her case her energy bill, and she’s really struggling. She’s got just a small amount of money left in the bank and she’s in a high state of anxiety. And that’s just an example of what it’s like for many, many people, whether it’s the mortgage, whether it’s prices.
He signalled Labour would expect the rich to pay more in tax – although he claimed it was “not really” right to call this a wealth tax. On LBC Nick Ferrari asked if he would ever look at a wealth tax and Starmer, who is normally a very fluent interviewee, hesitated and stuttered briefly as he started to reply. Starmer said:
We are looking at how we tax fairly. On wealth, I’m looking at whether and how we tax all different forms of income. Some people obviously earn their income through a wage. Other people earn it through stocks and shares and dividends, and we’re looking at what is a fair way to tax all income, wherever it comes from.
Asked if people could call that a wealth tax, Starmer replied:
No, it’s not really a wealth tax. It’s looking at different forms of income. It’s stocks and shares and dividends.
Labour has already committed to re-introducing the 45% top rate of income tax, which the Tories are abolishing. But Starmer is hinting the wealthy might pay more in tax under Labour in other ways too.
He said that what Rupa Huq said about Kwasi Kwarteng being “superficially” black was “racist”. But he refused to say she should be thrown out of the party, saying that she was now subject to a disciplinary process that needed to proceed independently.
He said that Labour’s plans to generate all electricity from green sources by 2030 would require changes to planning laws. When it was put to him on Radio 5 Live that Labour would not be able to put up enough wind turbines in time under current planning laws, he replied: “Yeah, we’re going to have to change planning regulations.”
He said he hoped Labour was now closer to the party of Tony Blair than to the party of Jeremy Corbyn “because because Tony Blair won three elections and I want us to win the next election”. (See 7.44am.)
He was unable to say exactly how Labour would fund the cut in the basic rate of income tax to 19%. Labour has said it will match the cut, which the Tories are funding through borrowing. Labour is opposed to unfunded tax cuts. Starmer said the party was still committed to its fiscal rules, which rule out unfunded tax cuts, but Starmer said an incoming Labour administration “will inherit the government’s arrangements”. It would get to the point where it could meet its fiscal rules “as quickly as we can”, he said.
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Q: As leader of the Labour party, how would you be able to work with Rupa Huq if she were allowed to continue as an MP?
Starmer says he has put an independent disciplinary process in place. He will respect that process. But what she said was “racist”.
Of course it is frustrating to have to be talking about this story after his speech, he says. But he says the mood at conference is very positive.
We are now in a position to look confidently at the electorate and the electorate can look confidently at us.
Q: Who should get Eurovision? Liverpool or Glasgow?
Starmer says, since he is in Liverpool, he will go for them.
And that’s it. The full interview is (we think) over. I will unpack it all a bit more shortly, with a summary and analysis.
Q: Do you back pay rises matching inflation for NHS staff?
Starmer declares an interest. His wife works for the NHS, he says. He says there is a pay review process under way. But of course he thinks workers need a pay rise.
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Q: Why does your plan to freeze energy bills only last six months? The government’s lasts two years.
Starmer claims the big difference between the government and Labour is that Labour is proposing a windfall tax to part fund this cost.
On timing, he says his plan lasts for six months. Of course after six months Labour would need a new plan.
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Q: How are your plans for Great British Energy costed?
Starmer says start-up money will be put in. An independent board will decide how it is spent. It will bring in private investment too. Private companies say, if they knew what the government’s plans were, they would have more confidence investing.
Q: How much money would you borrow to set this up?
Starmer says Labour would only borrow to invest. The current government is borrowing for day to day spending. Labour would not do that, he says.
He says Labour would spend £28bn a year on its entire clean energy strategy. The Great British Energy plan would only use part of that money – £8bn, he says.
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Starmer says government's mini-budget has left people 'worried sick' about their mortgages
Keir Starmer is now being interviewed on BBC Breakfast.
He starts by repeating his point about the IMF statement being very serious. He knows how worried people will be.
This is a situation “where the government has self-inflicted harm on our economy”. People will be “worried sick” about their mortgages, and angry with the government, he says.
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Q: Alastair Campbell told the programme yesterday that sometimes you lack oomph.
Starmer says he is a serious person. He has done important jobs. In every past job he has done, like being DPP, he has seen problems and fixed them.
Q: Lucy Powell was asked what the most exciting thing you had done was, and could not reply.
Starmer says for him the most exciting thing he has done was see the birth of his children.
He suggests that if he came on the programme to say he had done a bungee jump, that would not make him a better PM.
If I came on here and said I’ve done a bungee jump you wouldn’t say, ‘Well, great, now we’ve got the prime minister we need’.
And interview is over. It’s BBC Breakfast next.
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Q: Can you really be the party of the centre ground if you have an MP making comments like Rupa Huq’s?
Starmer says what Huq said was racist. The party took action.
But the party is confident.
Q: Can someone stay in the Labour party if they say things that are racist.
Starmer says there will be an independent process.
Q: But you are leader.
Starmer says it is right to have an independent process.
Q: When would you get debt falling as a proprotion of GDP?
Starmer says Labour does want to get that down.
Q: The IMF says, unless you can commit to tax rises, the credibility of its fiscal rules could be called into question.
Starmer says that is why Labour is rejecting some of the government’s tax cuts, and proposing a windfall tax.
Q: How would you help people with their mortgages?
Starmer says the single most important thing is to get the economy under control. The markets do not have confidence in what the government is doing.
Q: The markets do not like unfunded tax cuts. But you are proposing some too, like cutting the basic rate to 19%.
Starmer says all Labour’s tax plans have been funded. It will inherit “a complete mess”. But it will stick to its fiscal rules.
Q: How much will it cost cutting the basic rate of income tax, and how will you fund that?
Starmer says Labour will set out its plans. Going ahead with the corporation tax increase would raise about £18bn.
Q: But Rachel Reeves said on Monday that you would have to borrow to fund some of these tax cuts.
Starmer says Labour would inherit a situation were tax cuts were being funded by borrowing.
But as quickly as possible it will get back to its fiscal rules, he says.
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IMF statement shows 'government has completely lost control of economy', says Starmer
Martha Kearney is now interviewing Keir Starmer on the Today programme.
Q: In the 1970s Labour had to go to the IMF. What do you make of the IMF statement about the mini-budget?
Starmer says a move like this is rare. He goes on:
I think it reflects the fact that the government has completely lost control of the economy.
Q: John Redwood told us the IMF did not see inflation coming?
Starmer says, instead of disparaging the IMF, Tories should be telling people how they are going to solve the problems people face with their mortages.
He repeats his call for the government to urgently shelve the mini-budget plans. (See 7.36am.)
Q: Should the Bank of England be doing more?
Starmer says the Bank is independent. It is not for him to tell it what to do.
But the government needs to review what it announced on Friday.
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On Radio 5 Live they play clips of interviews with voters discussing Keir Starmer. Most of them are relatively negative about him personally.
Asked for his reaction, Starmer says Labour had a 17-point lead in a poll yesterday. He says the party is confident.
Q: Do you stand for democracy?
Of course, says Starmer.
Q: So why are you ignoring the vote for PR?
Starmer says, in Labour, the manifesto-making process is separate from conference.
Q: Should Rupa Huq continue as an MP?
Starmer says there will be an independent process. But what she said was racist.
Q: Why won’t you let shadow ministers join picket lines?
Starmer replies:
I completely empathise with people who are struggling to pay their bills, I support industrial action, trade unions have to do their job representing their members.
Whatever the disruptions of a strike - and there are disruptions and I don’t want them to go ahead - equally they are last resort and people who are striking are losing money themselves by going on strike.
I want to see that resolved, but the single most important thing that I can do and that every Labour politician can do for working people is to have a Labour government that can get to grips with the underlying problem of the cost-of-living crisis and put in place much better employment rights for those who are struggling so hard.
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Q: Your plan to freeze energy bills only last six months? What happens next?
Starmer says Labour has been the first to put proposals on the table all along, as with the windfall tax, and the energy price freeze.
In April they will have to look at this again. Every time there has been a problem, Labour has put a plan on the table, the government has said it’s wrong, but it has then implemented the Labour plan.
It’s Radio 5 Live next, and the first question to Keir Starmer is whether it is really possible to generate all electricity from renewable sources by 2030. Starmer says this is “tough, but doable”. The pledge refers to electricity generation from renewable source, he says, not all energy generation. He is not talking about phasing out gas by 2030.
He says the plan has been properly assessed by independent analysts.
To implement this, and get wind farms built quickly, planning regulations will have to change, he says.
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Starmer says Rupa Huq's comment about Kwasi Kwarteng was 'racist'
Q: Was it a mistake to campaign for Jeremy Corbyn to be prime minister?
Starmer says he does not regret serving in the last shadow cabinet. But he always said the party had to change, he says.
Q: What was your reaction to what Rupa Huq said about Kwasi Kwarteng?
Starmer says what she said was wrong and “racist”. He is very pleased the Labour party acted. An independent process will now consider what happens next.
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Starmer says he hopes Labour now closer to Blair's party than Corbyn's, because Blair won elections
Q: You want to be seen as economically responsible. But what is your position on government borrowing, and how are you different from the Conservatives?
Starmer says Labour has two rules: it will pay for day to day spending, and borrow to invest. It would not cut the top rate of tax. It would not cancel the corporation tax rise. It would impose a windfall tax on energy companies. And it would end non-dom status.
Q: Is Labour closer to the party of Tony Blair than the party of Jeremy Corbyn?
Starmer says:
I certainly hope so, because Tony Blair won three elections and I want us to win the next election.
In the past, when asked questions like this, Starmer tend to avoid making a choice, stressing that he was different from both Blair and Corbyn.
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Keir Starmer is now being interviewed on Times Radio.
He says there is a mood at Labour conference they have not seen for years. People are confident. They feel that it is time for change.
Q: How much will it cost to set up your Great British Energy company?
Starmer says the biggest offshore windfarm in Wales is owned by Sweden. Other foreign countries are investing in the UK energy market. The new company will be there to provide clean energy, and energy security. And the rewards will come to the UK.
Q: But is there money to fund it? The latest wind and power projects cost £18bn. Your budget for this is £2bn, which does not seem enough?
Starmer says renewable energy is now nine times cheaper than gas. And the new company is there to stimulate private investment. The board will be independent.
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Starmer: government 'has got to respond' to IMF warning
Good morning. Keir Starmer’s speech to Labour delegates was widely praised yesterday, but he must be the first opposition leader in many years whose conference speech has, in effect, received an endorsement from the IMF. In his speech, Starmer said:
The government has lost control of the British economy – and for what? They’ve crashed the pound – and for what?
Higher interest rates. Higher inflation. Higher borrowing. And for what?
Not for you. Not for working people. For tax cuts for the richest 1% in our society. Don’t forget. Don’t forgive.
The IMF did not put it quite like that, but in an extraordinary statement last night it said something broadly similar – criticising the tax cuts (“we do not recommend large and untargeted fiscal packages at this juncture”) and calling for a rethink.
Starmer is doing a round of interviews this morning. Speaking to Nick Ferrari on LBC, Starmer said that, in the light of the IMF warnings, the government should urgently review the plans it set out in its mini-budget. He said:
The IMF statement is very serious, and it shows just what a mess the government have made of the economy. And it is self-inflicted. This was a step they didn’t have to take …
We all look at the graph and we see the pound falling, but it’s not an abstract graph; this is reflected in people’s mortgages etc and people are very, very worried this morning.
Some people who thought they had a mortgage arrangement last week now haven’t got one. Imagine that, a first-time buyer, suddenly your dream goes up.
This government has got to respond to this. They’ve got to set out, in terms, how are they going to fix the problems that they have made.
At the moment they are saying they might be doing something in November. That’s far too long. They’ve got to review the plans they put out on Friday. They’ve got to do it urgently, in my view.
Here is the agenda for the day.
9.55am: Conference opens with a session including speeches from Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, Rosena Allin-Khan, the shadow minister for mental health, and Bridget Phillipson, the shadow education secretary.
11.30am: The Belarus opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya addresses the conference.
11.45am: Angela Rayner, the deputy Labour leader, speaks as the conference concludes.
I try to monitor the comments below the line (BTL) but it is impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, do include “Andrew” in it somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I do try to answer questions, and if they are of general interest, I will post the question and reply above the line (ATL), although I can’t promise to do this for everyone.
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