Politics UK live: Starmer’s approval rating drops to lowest ever ahead of Labour conference
Sir Keir Starmer’s approval rating has dropped to its lowest ever ahead of his party’s first conference since coming into power, a new poll has revealed.
The prime minister’s net approval rating has plunged even further to -26 per cent, with a majority now disapproving of the way he is handling his job, according to Opinium’s lastest poll.
On the eve of the Labour Party Conference, which begins in Liverpool on Sunday, the research showed Sir Keir’s score is down 13 points from -13 a fortnight ago, standing at his lowest ever by 12 points.
The prime minister insisted that Labour is “rebuilding our country” and that “change has started” as he arrived for the event on Saturday afternoon, intent on shifting attention away from rows over donations and internal No 10 infighting.
Sir Keir, his deputy Angela Rayner and chancellor Rachel Reeves have pledged not to take any further donations for clothing after he and his wife, Lady Victoria Starmer, faced scrutiny over the acceptance of gifts from prominent Labour donor and peer Lord Alli.
Meanwhile, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage promised “the sky is the limit” for his party as he closed their conference in Birmingham on Saturday afternoon following two days of speeches.
Key Points
Labour doubles down on pensioner winter fuel cuts
Keir Starmer’s top team is unapologetic about the cut to the winter fuel payment for millions of pensioners as the party chair warned “we have to get the money from somewhere” on the eve of Labour’s conference in Liverpool.
Rising star in the cabinet Ellie Reeves, who is due to open the conference on Sunday, has insisted the government shouldn’t “paper over the cracks” as she admitted she understood that the party would face a wave of emotion if pensioners die this winter in cold homes.
Her warning, in an exclusive interview with The Independent, comes as Sir Keir prepares to square up again to the left of the party trying to embarrass him by demanding the reversal of the winter fuel cut.
Eminem, fireworks, and the cult of Nigel Farage: Inside Reform UK’s party conference
Reform UK’s conference had the buzz of a party punching well above its weight. And that is exactly what the party’s leadership is attempting to do. Nigel Farage and other senior figures spent today’s conference – the largest it has ever held – trying to persuade its members, and the wider public, that it is a credible electoral force.
They even went so far as to suggest Mr Farage could be the next prime minister.
With just five sitting MPs, the most the party has ever secured in its short history, it’s certainly a bold ambition.
Feel-good factor of Labour’s landslide win in July’s General election already begins to wear off
The feel-good factor of Labour’s landslide win in July’s general election has already begun to wear off, as Sir Keir Starmer battles a backlash over donations of clothing to him and his wife and damaging briefing revealing splits within his No 10 operation.
There is also lingering anger over the decision to strip winter fuel payments from about 10 million pensioners, with union calls at conference to reverse the move.
With the Labour conference taking place against a backdrop of rising tensions in the Middle East, hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters also gathered on Liverpool’s waterfront to coincide with the start of the party’s event.
The prime minister arrived with Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner and was met by a small group of cheering activists ahead of the formal start of the conference on Sunday.
He said the conference would show “how we’re fixing the foundations and rebuilding our country”.
Sir Keir said the gathering was “our biggest conference ever and the first one in 15 years with Labour in government”, adding “change has started”.
Starmer promises to protect public services from future austerity cuts
Sir Keir Starmer has promised to protect public services from swingeing cuts, as he made a bid to move on from rows over donations and strife at No 10, after arriving at the Labour Party conference.
The Prime Minister said his Government was not “going down the road of austerity”, like that pursued by David Cameron’s administration.
It may signal that the Treasury has found new ways to free up funds, after the halt on spending to address a £22bn black hole in the public finances announced not long after Labour came to power.
Starmer wants Government to be compared with Labour’s post-war administration
Sir Keir Starmer said he wanted his Government to be compared with Clement Attlee’s transformational post-war administration.
The 1945 Labour government set up the NHS and helped rebuild the UK after the devastation of the Second World War.
The Prime Minister told Labour activists he wanted his plans for the country to be viewed with the same sense of pride.
He also joked that since entering No 10 he had bonded with Larry the cat because they both had experience “chasing pests out of Downing Street”.
At a reception at the Labour conference in Liverpool he said: “In less than 14 weeks, we’ve achieved more than the Tories did in 14 years. We’ve ended the strikes in the NHS so our doctors are back in the surgeries, carrying out operations, getting waiting lists down.
“We’ve set up a national wealth fund to get the investment we need into our country. We have launched GB Energy, that publicly owned company.
“We talked about this for years, now we are doing it, to generate the next generation of clean power.
“We have begun to end no-fault evictions.
“We’ve reformed planning, we’ve got rid of the ban on onshore wind, we are moving ahead with solar.
“Buses across the country will be better regulated, with fares and routes regulated by local people and railways are coming back into public ownership.”
He added that Labour had a “10-year plan for the NHS so we get it back on its feet and fit for the future so that people will, in years to come, look back with the same pride at the 2024 Labour Government as they do the 1945 Labour government”.
The Government was also carrying out “the biggest levelling-up of workers’ rights in a generation”.
Drones seized by police for breaching Labour Party conference restrictions
Drones have been seized by police after they were flown in breach of airspace restrictions during the Labour Party conference in Liverpool.
Merseyside Police said they seized three drones on Saturday after a temporary airspace restriction covering much of Liverpool city centre was put in place.
The restriction means it is an offence for any unmanned aircraft to fly below 2,000 ft above sea level in the specified area between 10pm on September 20 and 5am on September 26, without the explicit permission of Merseyside Police.
In a post on social media, Merseyside Police said: “We seized three drones in Liverpool today, Saturday 21 September, as they were being flown in breach of restrictions put in place for the duration of the Labour Party conference taking place in the city this week.”
Drone users flying inside the restricted airspace that have not been granted permission could be prosecuted, as well as have their equipment seized and confiscated, police said.
Chief Inspector Iain Wyke, of protective security operations at Merseyside Police, said: “Our policing plans for the Labour Party conference are extensive and take into consideration land, sea and air.
“These airspace restrictions, like other security measures we will have in place such as road closures or patrols on the River Mersey, are aimed at keeping delegates and the wider public safe.”
He added: “Specialist resources, made up of Merseyside Police officers and officers from regional and national teams, including air support, will be in place for the duration of the conference.”
Anyone who wants to seek consideration to fly a drone in the restricted area must obtain permission from Merseyside Police by emailing [email protected].
Keir Starmer had a plan to win the election, but no plan for government
Nobody had high expectations of this Labour government. That could have been one of its strengths: that people would accept it had taken over at a time when the public finances were in a bad way, and so any small improvement would be a welcome relief, earning generous approval from the voters.
But I am afraid Keir Starmer has blown it. He has taken people’s low expectations and said, in effect, that they were not low enough. It has become an established view – already – that the government has made a bad start, which means that a lot of the coverage of Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool, starting this weekend, will be organised around the question: Can he turn things around?