7 key moments and policies from Keir Starmer's major Labour conference speech
Keir Starmer promised a "decade of national renewal" if Labour wins power as he vowed to "fight for you" in a major speech.
The Labour leader pledged to create the next generation of towns as he told his party conference "the fire of change still burns in Britain". With a general election expected next year, he used his address to appeal to Tory voters and set out his vision to change the country.
In his speech of 55 minutes the Labour leader said people are looking to the party "because they want our wounds to heal, and we are the healers". He added: "People are looking to us because these challenges require a modern state, and we are the modernisers. People are looking to us because they want to build a new Britain, and we are the builders".
Here at the key points and policies from Mr Starmer's conference speech.
1. Protester storms stage to chuck glitter
Just seconds into Mr Starmer's conference speech he was interrupted by a protester who stormed the stage and covered him in glitter.
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The man was eventually dragged off the platform by security guards after he shouted "true democracy is citizen led". But the Labour leader, who took off his jacket, brushed off the incident and told delegates: "If he thinks that bothers me he doesn't know me. "Protest or power, that is why we changed our party conference."
Mr Starmer's speech was interrupted as a protestor stormed on the stage (Ian Vogler / Daily Mirror)A 28-year-old man was later arrested by Merseyside Police on suspicion of assault, breach of the peace and causing public nuisance A force statement said on Tuesday: "We can confirm that a 28-year-old man from Surrey has been arrested following an incident at the Labour Party conference earlier this afternoon.
"The man was detained by security at the event and handed over to the police who arrested him on suspicion of S39 assault, breach of the peace and causing public nuisance. He has been taken to a police station where he will be questioned by police."
2. Getting the NHS off 'it's knees'
The crisis-hit NHS will be brought off "it's knees" and reformed if Labour's wins power, Mr Starmer told members. With a record waiting list of over 7million people waiting for an appointment, he promised to boost capacity after outlining a £1.5billion plan at the weekend.
He also promised to end the 8am "scramble" for a GP appointment and warned if the Tories continue they will "put the NHS in the ground". He said: "We must be the government that finally transforms our NHS. We can't go on like this, with a sickness service. We need an NHS that prevents illness, keeps people healthy and out of hospital in the first place.
He said Labour's commitment to end the non-dom tax status will be used to funnel money into the health service. He said the party would "guarantee" mental health treatment, and consign "dangerous waits" for cancer treatment to history.
3. Condemnation of Hamas attack on Israel
Keir Starmer used his speech to denounce the attack on Israel by Hamas militants. He said he "shocked and appalled" by the violence that has claimed the lives of 1,000 Israelis and more than 750 Palestinians.
Mr Starmer said: "I utterly condemn the senseless murder of men, women and children - including British citizens - in cold blood by the terrorists of Hamas. This party believes in the two state solution. A Palestinian state alongside a safe and secure Israel.
"But this action by Hamas does nothing for Palestinians, and Israel must always have the right to defend her people. And conference, these events, the war in Ukraine, they show precisely the test of our era. The world is becoming a more volatile place."
4. Next generation of new towns
Housing was the centrepiece of Mr Starmer's speech to the party conference as he reiterated his pledge to build one a half million homes across Britain in the first five years of a Labour government. Hitting out at the failure to act, he said, will make home ownership a "luxury for the few, not the privilege of the many".
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He also vowed to create the "next generation" of new towns, saying "sometimes the old Labour ideas are right for new times". "So where there are good jobs, where there is good infrastructure, where there is good land for affordable homes, then we will get shovels in the ground, cranes in the sky, and build the next generation of Labour new towns."
He confirmed the party would build on green belt land - but insisted the party would not target fields and hills as he said the ambitious programme did not require “tearing up the green belt".
5. New technical colleges to boost skills
Labour would create new technical excellence colleges to equip young people with the skills they need and boost Britain's growth. Keir Starmer said the generation "that sacrificed so much during the pandemic – their potential must be backed" as he unveiled the plans.
Existing FE colleges will be transformed to form "stronger links to their local economies, planted firmly in the ground of young peoples’ aspirations," he said. The proposals aim to fit skills to the needs of the local economy and give businesses an opportunity to source the skilled workers they need locally.
The Labour leader also restated his commitment to "shatter the class ceiling" by axing tax breaks for private schools and funnelling the cash back into the state sector.
6. Appeal to disaffected Conservatives
With an election expected either in the spring or autumn of 2024, the Labour leader used his speech to appeal to Tory voters.
He told them: "If you in horror at the descent of your party into the murky waters of populism and conspiracy, with no argument for economic change, if you feel our country needs a party that conserves, that fights for our Union, our environment, the rule of law, family life, the careful bond between this generation and the next, then let me tell you: Britain already has one. And you can join it. It's the Labour Party ".
7. Attack on Partygate Tories
Rule-breaking Tories who partied during the coronavirus pandemic were blasted by Mr Starmer from the conference stage. The Labour leader lashed out at “Rishi Sunak and the shallow men and women of Westminster - unable to see, unable to listen, unable to stand in your shoes and serve this country”.
Citing Partygate, first revealed by the Mirror, he said: “They won’t change; they can’t change - couldn’t change even in the pandemic when our country came together to follow rules, rules that they set and they broke.” Mr Sunak, Boris Johnson and his wife Carrie were all fined for attending a lockdown-busting birthday bash for the then Prime Minister.
In contrast, Mr Starmer told how his care worker sister toiled over 14-hours shifts, “often overnight”, during the Covid-19 pandemic. “And the reward? A struggle every week – and I mean every week – just to make ends meet,” he told delegates.
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