UK

Sir Keir Starmer is set to announce a new “online hospital” that hopes to deliver millions of appointments and help slash waiting lists.The Prime Minister will use his leader’s speech at Labour’s conference to set out plans for NHS Online, which will connect patients to specialist clinicians.The scheme, which will begin operating in 2027, will deliver up to 8.5 million extra NHS appointments in its first three years, Labour claims.In his speech in Liverpool, Sir Keir will say “a new world is coming” and “in decades to come, I want people to look back on this moment as the moment we renewed the NHS for a new world”.The online hospital will be accessible through the NHS app and will allow patients to choose between the digital service and their local hospital.Those who use the service will be able to access and track prescriptions, be referred for scans and tests, and receive clinical advice on managing their condition.Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will make the announcement in his speech in Liverpool More

A new “online hospital” will deliver millions of appointments and help slash waiting lists, Sir Keir Starmer will announce.The Prime Minister will use his leader’s speech at Labour’s conference to set out plans for NHS Online which will connect patients to specialist clinicians.The scheme, which will begin operating in 2027, will deliver up to 8.5 million extra NHS appointments in its first three years, Labour claimed.In his speech in Liverpool Sir Keir will say “a new world is coming” and “in decades to come, I want people to look back on this moment as the moment we renewed the NHS for a new world”.The online hospital will be accessible through the NHS app and will allow patients to choose between the digital service and their local hospital.Those who use the service will be able to access and track prescriptions, be referred for scans and tests, and receive clinical advice on managing their condition.Patients who require a physical test or a procedure will be able to book them on the app, at a nearby hospital, surgical hub or community diagnostic centre.Sir Keir will describe it as “a new chapter in the story of our NHS, harnessing the future, patients in control”.“Waiting times cut for every single person in this country. That’s national renewal, that’s a Britain built for all.”The Prime Minister will stress the need for continued NHS modernisation, insisting it is Labour’s responsibility to make the health service fit for the years to come.Sir Keir will say: “I know how hard people work in the NHS – I see it my family – and I celebrate it at every opportunity.“But the responsibility of this party is not just to celebrate the NHS, it’s to make it better.”The scheme builds upon ideas already being used in some NHS trusts to reduce waiting times and allow patients to get treatment or advice quicker.NHS England chief executive Sir Jim Mackey said: “This is a huge step forward for the NHS and will deliver millions more appointments by the end of the decade, offering a real alternative for patients and more control over their own care.“Patients who choose to receive their treatment through the online hospital will benefit from us industrialising the latest technology and innovations, while the increased capacity will help to cut demand and slash waiting times.“The NHS can, must and will move forward to match other sectors in offering digital services that make services as personalised, convenient, and flexible as possible for both staff and patients.”NHS Providers chief executive Daniel Elkeles said: “The online hospital could be a very significant development, transforming the way many patients receive their care.“The way the NHS provides outpatients services hasn’t changed much for decades, but during Covid we learned a lot about opportunities for new approaches using digital technology.“It’s sensible they are taking the time to plan this properly because there are a lot of factors to consider.“These include the handling of patient data and the need to avoid ‘digital exclusion’ of people who can’t access the service.“It’s important there’s new funding and it will be an NHS organisation with NHS staff.“This is a bold, exciting initiative, but the benefits should not come at the cost of destabilising vital services patients will continue to rely on.” More

Sir Keir Starmer will step up his attack on Nigel Farage by telling voters Britain faces a historic choice between his “decency” and the Reform leader’s “division”.Just 48 hours after describing Mr Farage’s immigration policies as “racist and immoral”, Sir Keir will use his most important conference speech yet as a rallying call for Labour to fight back against Reform, which is seen by the prime minister as the government’s primary threat. The prime minister, whose party is trailing around 10 points behind Reform in the polls, will tell the conference in Liverpool: “We can all see our country faces a choice, a defining choice. Britain stands at a fork in the road.“We can choose decency. Or we can choose division. Renewal or decline.“A country, proud of its values, in control of its future, or one that succumbs, against the grain of our history, to the politics of grievance.”Prime minister Keir Starmer and chancellor Rachel Reeves More

Sometimes all that is needed to rally the troops is to point at the enemy and shout: “Charge!”.This is exactly what Keir Starmer started doing in his speech in London on Friday and has continued to do every day since. And it is working.People arriving in Liverpool for the Labour Party conference this week were expecting to come to a wake for a government that has barely stuttered into life.The script appeared to have been written. Manchester mayor Andy Burnham the conference darling and saviour, and Keir Starmer continuing to struggle to articulate exactly why he should remain as leader.Starmer with his chancellor Rachel Reeves More

Shabana Mahmood set out her stall as home secretary in her main stage address to the Labour conference in Liverpool on Monday, saying she will “do whatever it takes to secure our borders”.Unveiling tough new measures to restrict access to indefinite leave to remain on Monday, the new home secretary confirmed that migrants who want to remain in the UK will have to learn English to a high standard, have a clean criminal record and volunteer in their community to be eligible for indefinite leave to remain. They will also have to be working, paying national insurance and not be claiming benefits under the proposed changes.It came just days after Nigel Farage announced plans to abolish indefinite leave to remain, meaning tens of thousands of people who have legally settled in Britain could be at risk of deportation – a policy Sir Keir Starmer branded both “racist” and “immoral” on Sunday morning.After Labour’s new plans were trailed yesterday, critics rounded on the proposals, with the Refugee Council accusing the government of “punishing refugees for needing help”.But Mahmood told delegates: “Until we can decide who comes in and who must leave, we will never be the open, tolerant and generous country that I know we all believe in.” Her comments were a clear attempt to persuade party members that her controversial new measures are part of a broader mission to keep Britain open and tolerant – rather than simply pandering to Reform, as many critics have argued. Home secretary Shabana Mahmood laid out her robust approach to immigration on Monday More

Andy Burnham has said he wants to see the UK rejoin the EU in his lifetime as he hit back at Rachel Reeves and Sir Keir Starmer’s attempt to compare him to Liz Truss. The Greater Manchester mayor also urged his party to “call out” the financial “disaster” of Britain’s departure from the bloc, as he insisted he would not be “hopeless” on the economy as prime minister.As speculation over his leadership ambitions erupted last week, Sir Keir seized on Mr Burnham’s claim that the UK should no longer be in hock to the bond markets to link him to Ms Truss and her disastrous mini-Budget.The Greater Manchester mayor urged his party to ‘call out’ the financial ‘disaster’ of Britain’s departure from the bloc More

Zack Polanski hopes the contrast could not be more stark. As hundreds of suited-up lobbyists swirl around a convention centre in Liverpool for Labour’s conference, he is strolling up and down Bold Street, a short walk away, to hear what “real people” care about. Donning his go-to olive anorak over a black tieless suit, the Green Party leader is pounding the pavement, making the case for disgruntled Labour voters to join his growing ranks. The firebrand left-winger, who was elected leader of the Greens this month with 85 per cent of member votes, claims Sir Keir’s premiership has been “an unmitigated disaster” and has paved the way for the rise of the populist right in Reform UK. Sir Keir and his cabinet have ramped up their attacks on Nigel Farage in recent days, branding Reform UK’s latest immigration policy – a plan to scrap indefinite leave to remain – as “racist”. Rachel Reeves doubled down on the Sir Keir’s comments on Monday, telling the Labour conference that the Reform leader was the “single greatest threat” to Britain. But Mr Polanski claims Sir Keir has failed to challenge Reform through its rise in the polls over the past year, meaning “it has got to the point where Farage has created a public conversation about ending ILR”. In that way, the prime minister is “complicit”, he claims. He also pointed to the fact Sir Keir did not address the nation from Downing Street in the wake of Tommy Robinson’s Unite the Kingdom rally earlier this month, a demonstration which attracted around 150,000, saying it “demonstrates the utter vacancy of moral and ethical leadership”. Labour said the Unite the Kingdom rally did not take place at its conference. Polanski struck a contrast between his party and Labour, saying the Greens’ vested interests are ‘people and the planet’ More

Rachel Reeves interrupted by pro-Palestine heckler at Labour party conferenceAndy Burnham has said Labour should call out the cost of the Brexit “disaster” – as home secretary Shabana Mahmood addresses the Labour Party conferenceAt a fringe event to the conference this afternoon, the Greater Manchester mayor spoke about the impact of leaving the European Union four years ago, claiming “the growth is not there as it once was”.Then talking about the autumn budget, when Labour will need to raise £30 billion, Mr Burnham said chancellor Rachel Reeves needed to rebalance a system in which he said “we overtax people’s work and we undertax wealth and assets”.His comments come amid mounting speculation that he is plotting a leadership bid against Sir Keir Starmer, with Ms Reeves appearing to attack his economic approach in her speech to the conference earlier.She said: “There are still those who peddle the idea that we could just abandon economic responsibility and cast off any constraints on spending. They are wrong – dangerously so.”But at the fringe event organised by the Guardian Politics podcast live, Mr Burnham rejected the suggestion he was “hopeless” on the economy. Meanwhile, Ms Mahmood is talking to the conference in Liverpool a day after announcing a major crackdown on immigration with tougher tests for migrants wanting to remain in the UK.Delegates seem unconvinced by home secretary’s attempt to justify migration reformsThe Independent’s political correspondent Millie Cooke reports from Liverpool:Shabana Mahmood has framed its fresh migration crackdown as an attempt to keep Britain as an “open, tolerant and generous country”.After the government faced criticism for its clampdown on indefinite leave to remain, the main route for immigrants gaining British citizenship in the UK, the home secretary has attempted to justify the reforms – instead saying it is necessary to keep the fabric of the country together.”Unless we have control of our borders, and until we can decide who comes in and who must be, we will never be the open, tolerant and generous country that I know we all believe in”, she said.Unfortunately, the audience didn’t seem convinced.There was applause – but it was lacklustre.( More