Keir Starmer sets out plan for ‘national renewal’ in Labour conference speech

In his first Labour Party conference speech since entering No 10, Sir Keir said “change has begun” but warned there would be difficult decisions ahead.

He told delegates in Liverpool it would be a “long-term project”.

But “make no mistake, the work of change has begun. The patient, calm, determined era of politics as service has begun”.

He promised that the Government would address an “injustice hiding in plain sight”, the issue of homeless veterans.

“We cannot stand by and let this happen anymore,” he said.

He listed action including reforming planning, ending the doctors’ strike, launching Great British Energy – which he confirmed would be based in Aberdeen – and a plan to nationalise the railways as an indication of his Government delivering on the promises made.

“And we’re only just getting started,” he said.

“A crackdown on knife crime. A real living wage. A modern industrial strategy. A 10-year plan for our NHS.

“Devolution to our nations, regions and cities. The biggest levelling up of workers’ rights in a generation.

“More teachers. More neighbourhood police. More operations.  Rebuilding our public services.

“Change has begun.”

Sir Keir said “service is the responsibility and opportunity of power”, adding: “Service does not mean we’ll get everything right, it doesn’t mean everyone will agree.

“But it does mean we understand that every decision we take, we take together and that it is our duty to the British people to face up to necessary decisions in their interests.”

The Prime Minister also criticised those people who “still hanker” for the “weak and cowardly fantasy of populism”, saying it is “water off a duck’s back” to him.

In a message with emotional significance in Liverpool, he confirmed that the Government would bring forward a Hillsborough Law by the time of the next anniversary of the 1989 football stadium disaster in April.