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White House Correspondent
Sir Keir Starmer’s address to the 2024 Labour Party Conference saw him promise to rebuild Britain “brick by brick” after fourteen years of Tory government, telling conference delegates his government will create a “Britain that belongs to you”.
But what exactly was announced? We look at the key developments from the prime minister’s speech below.
Hillsborough law introduced by April
Sir Keir told the audience in Liverpool that he will introduce a Hillsborough Law by April, the anniversary of the disaster, putting a legal duty of candour on all public bodies. The legislation will include the potential for criminal sanctions for any official or authority that misleads or obstructs investigations.
Campaigners, including the families of the 97 Liverpool fans who were crushed to death at Hillsborough stadium in 1989, have been calling for such legislation for more than three decades.
Speaking on the main stage at Labour’s conference, Sir Keir said it was a law that “people shouldn’t have had to fight so hard to get”.
“It’s also a law for the sub postmasters in the Horizon scandal. The victims of infected blood, Windrush and Grenfell Tower. And all the countless injustices over the years suffered by working people at the hands of those that were supposed to serve them – truth and justice concealed behind the closed ranks of the state”, he said.
Homes for Heroes
Sir Keir has announced measures to build more homes and provide veterans of the armed forces with accommodation, saying: “Homes will be there for heroes.” The plan will “repay those who served us”, the prime minister told the conference on Tuesday.
He said: “There is another injustice hiding in plain sight in our streets. In every town and city in this country are people who were prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice for our nation, to put their lives on the line to protect all of us, but who will not have a safe place to sleep tonight.
“We cannot stand by and let this happen anymore. So today I can announce that this government will respect that service – we will repay those who served us and house all veterans in housing need. Homes will be there for heroes.”
GB Energy to be based in Aberdeen
Labour’s new state-owned green energy company GB Energy will be based in Aberdeen, the prime minister has confirmed.
The new publicly-owned company “will drive forward our mission on clean energy”, Sir Keir said.
“We said it belonged in Scotland, and it does. But the truth is, it could only really ever be based in one place in Scotland.
“So today, I can confirm that the future of British energy will be powered as it has been for decades, by the talent and skills of the working people in the Granite City with GB Energy based in Aberdeen”, he added.
Foundation apprenticeships
The prime minister promised to introduce new foundation apprenticeships as part of an attempt to eradicate youth inactivity and unemployment.
While he did not provide a time frame, or further detail on what those apprenticeships would look like, the prime minister said the aim is to “rebalance funding in our training system back to young people” and “align that with what businesses really need”.
Sir Keir said the apprenticeships would be the “first step to a youth guarantee that will eradicate inactivity and unemployment for our young people – once and for all”.
“We’ve got to give businesses more flexibility to adapt to real training needs and also unlock the pride, the ambition, the pull of the badge of the shirt that young people feel when building a future, not just for themselves but for their community”, he said.
Legislation to stop benefit fraud
Sir Keir also announced new legislation to deal with welfare fraudsters more quickly, in a mission Labour estimated would save the taxpayer £1.6 billion over the next five years.
The prime minister promised to “leave no stone unturned” in his mission to “rebuild our public services”.
The legislation, expected to come as part of a Fraud, Error and Debt Bill, would help the Department for Work and Pensions to recover money lost to fraud while protecting vulnerable claimants from mounting debts, the government said.
It will include powers to help officials keep up with more sophisticated fraud, warning that fraud and error in the social security system costs the country as much as £10 billion a year.
Sir Keir also announced plans to “support people back into work”, with further details set to come later this year.
