Keir Starmer’s speech live: Labor leader addresses first conference as PM amid austerity row

Three out of four people believe the prime minister has wrongly accepted gifts from businesses or organisations, a poll has found.

An Ipsos study found 75 per cent of Britons believe it is “rarely acceptable” or “unacceptable” for Sir Keir Starmer to receive a free gift.

But 15 percent felt it was “usually acceptable” and five percent thought it was “always acceptable”.

The survey was carried out following stories about how Sir Keir and members of the government, including chancellor Rachel Reeves, received donations for items of clothing.

Expert Savanta said the latest polls suggested “growing support” for the PM.

According to the PA, the prime minister and most senior ministers will not accept donations to pay for their clothes.

Sir Keir was among MPs, including Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey, to receive tickets for Taylor Swift’s concert at Wembley Stadium from the Football Association.

Community orders should be “more trusted by the courts” as an alternative to jail, the prisons minister has suggested, signaling a potential change in the approach to tackling low-level crime.

Lord Timpson said the Labor government would carry out a review of sentencing policy “as a matter of urgency” as he accused his predecessors at the Ministry of Justice of failing to “follow the evidence” on measures to prevent re-offending.

Speaking at an event on the sidelines of the annual wedding conference in Liverpool, the former Timpson Group chief executive said he hoped his appointment to the role showed Sir Keir Starmer had sent a message that he wanted to “change the system”.

Lord Timpson is the longtime boss of shoe repair company Timpson, known for recruiting and training prisoners.

He told the audience: “When it comes to the public view, that’s what I want, because not everyone has the same view about prisons, but we have to make sure that everything we do. cuts crime, and if it cuts crime and reduces reoffending, then I hope that society will follow this.

“I’ve been around for a long time and I hope that by putting me in this position, the prime minister has sent a signal that we need to change the system, and I hope it will be long enough to do that.”

Sir Keir Starmer’s keynote speech today will be important, as it will be his first post-victory address, where he will inspire after a difficult start.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves faces the tough task of selling fiscal discipline – a message that may not sit well with her party and union base.

Ultimately, the conference will be judged whether it serves as a milestone for Labor to return to power or a missed opportunity to reset after a difficult start in government.

If you have any questions about the Labor conference, post them here and chief political commentator John Rentoul will be on hand to answer them.

Keir Starmer’s government is facing a clash with civil unions after ministers briefed Whitehall’s top mandarins.

Dave Penman, general secretary for the First Division Civil Servants Association (FDA), reacted angrily to the briefing on cabinet secretary Simon Case.

The finger was pointed at Mr Case over his briefing to Starmer’s chief of staff, Sue Gray, with whom he had a difficult relationship when he was a senior civil servant.

Our political editor David Maddox has the full story:

Sir Keir Starmer will deliver a keynote speech today in which he is expected to promise “light at the end of the tunnel” for the country.

It will be the prime minister’s first conference speech since Labor’s election victory in July. The conference has returned to Liverpool for the third consecutive year.

Sir Keir’s conference speech is expected to start at 2pm.

To watch the full speech, follow The Independent’s live stream. You can follow all the build-up, analysis and talk on this live blog.

Education secretary Bridget Phillipson said she would not accept a free ticket to Oasis, because she is a Blur fan.

The Labor minister said he preferred the Gallagher brothers’ rival band from the 1990s.

Asked if he would take a free ticket to one of the concerts, he said: “No, because I’m a Blur fan. So I’m not going to Oasis.

Defense secretary John Healey returned to London to chair a COBRA meeting on the crisis in the Middle East.

Mr Healey has left the Labor party conference in Liverpool and returned to London, Sky News reported.

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has told all British citizens in Lebanon to leave and advised them not to travel to the country.

Those responsible for the Grenfell Tower disaster must face “criminal responsibility”, the Labor MP for Kensington and Bayswater has said.

Joe Powell also argued that companies named in the Grenfell report should not receive contracts or public money from the government, and that sports organizations should withdraw their sponsorship deals.

Speaking at the Labor conference in Liverpool, he said: “The report of the public inquiry is not the same as justice, but it is important.

“So we need to look at criminal responsibility for those responsible for what happened at Grenfell Tower.

“We must ensure that all the companies named in the report do not receive public money, we must ensure that sponsorship deals are terminated by sports organizations that still have ties to these companies.

“And we need to ensure that the remedial work in the buildings up and down the country where tens of thousands of people are still going to sleep in unsafe buildings, as soon as possible.

“And we need to make sure that the full recommendations of the report are considered and acted upon by the government.”