Sir Keir Starmer made his first speech at the Labour Party Conference as prime minister today, taking to the stage at 2pm to outline plans for domestic policy.
He touched on a number of topics, from migration to welfare, and promised the country a future of "national renewal", ending on a storm of applause despite a brief interruption from a heckler.
"The politics of national renewal are collective. They involve a shared struggle," he said. "A project that says, to everyone, this will be tough in the short term but, in the long term, it’s the right thing to do for our country. And we all benefit from that."
Echoing the hopeful message of Chancellor Rachel Reeves, Sir Keir also stated that "if we take tough long-term decisions now" there will be "light at the end of the tunnel".
There were also brief touches on foreign policy, including a renewed statement on his government's call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and for a hostage return deal, as well as a two-state solution.
Sir Keir has been plagued with criticism over the freebies row and the cutting of winter fuel payments for pensioners and today warned against "easy answers" and offering "false hope".
Speaking about welfare, the Prime Minister announced new legislation to crack down on welfare fraudsters, predicting that Labour expects to save £1.6bn over the next five years. This goes hand in hand with safeguarding measures to protect vulnerable claimants.
Sir Keir also pledged to introduce a Hillsborough Law requiring a duty of candour for public officials, with the aim of transparency in government and to give greater powers to victims of major disasters, such as the families of the 97 Liverpool fans killed in the 1989 stadium crush and the 72 killed in the Grenfell Tower fire.
What did Sir Keir Starmer announce at the Labour conference?
Migration was a topic of much discussion during the general election and Sir Keir also turned his attention to the issue, including acknowledgement that some people have to have their asylum claims granted.
“If we want home ownership to be a credible aspiration for our children, then every community has a duty to contribute to that purpose,” he said. “If we want to tackle illegal migration seriously, we can’t pretend that there’s a magical process that allows you to return people here unlawfully without accepting that process will also grant some people asylum.”
Sir Keir also affirmed that his government is committed to reducing both net migration and "our economic dependency upon it", noting that “concerns about immigration are legitimate”.
"I have never thought we should be relaxed about some sectors importing labour when there are millions of young people, ambitious and highly talented, who are desperate to work and contribute to their community," he said.
He maintained that immigration is not about race but rather control – and control is a Labour argument.
“It’s about control of migration. It’s always been about control,” the PM said. “That is what people have voted for time and again. They weren’t just ignored after Brexit.
“The Tories gave them the exact opposite, an immigration system deliberately reformed to reduce control.”
His government will aim to get the balance of the skills system right, according to the Prime Minister, with support on the way to afford businesses more flexibility to adapt to real training needs.
He wants UK companies to be able to "unlock the pride, the ambition" of young people to build a new future, through programmes like new foundation apprenticeships.
At the same time as acknowledging the concerns around immigration, Sir Keir went on to condemn the riots that took place across England and in Northern Ireland over the summer, sparked by the fatal stabbing of three young girls in Southport.
The PM said that people who are concerned about immigration "were not doing that" because they understand this country is a democracy and we "debate our differences”.
"We do not settle them with violent thuggery," he continued, met with standing and applause. "Racism is vile."
When will the changes come into force?
Sir Keir didn’t attach dates to the majority of his policies, the specifics of which will likely be clarified in the autumn budget and other later announcements.
However, the overall message of his speech was focused on the long-term, emphasising that the UK needs to remain strong in the meantime, in the face of upcoming tough decisions in order to reach the national renewal that he has made the cornerstone of his policies since entering Downing Street.
The Prime Minister encouraged the audience to "take pride" in Labour's victory, but reminded them to not forget the party's success came about because they "changed the party".
"Country first, party second isn't a slogan," he says. "It's the foundation of this project."
This was met with a round of applause as he told the crowd that the work of service "never stops”.
