UK

Reform will “betray” every young person and future generations by waging a war on clean energy, Ed Miliband is expected to say.The Energy Secretary will announce a host of initiatives aimed at bringing energy bills down and boosting green jobs during his speech at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool on Wednesday.But he will also use his speech to attack Reform leaders who said they would “declare war” on green energy projects, which are being championed nationwide by the Labour government.It comes as Labour have been drawing battle lines at the conference to take on Reform, who they are trailing in the polls.Mr Miliband is expected to say: “What is so exciting about clean energy is that it can answer that call for a different kind of economy … run for working people.“It offers the biggest opportunity for job creation for decades. Skilled jobs in proud professions.“And behind these statistics is the potential for each and every one of these jobs to change the lives of working people and their communities,” he will add.“Reform would wreck everything we are doing. They’ve said they would ‘wage war’ on clean energy.“Let’s spell out what this war means. A war on the workers at the Siemens wind turbine factory in Hull. A war on the construction workers building carbon capture and storage in Teesside. A war on the working people of Britain.“Reform’s war on the future would betray every young person in our country and every person yet to be born.”Ed Miliband will slam Reform’s policy on green energy in his speech More

Sir Keir Starmer has vowed Labour will never surrender Britain to Reform UK as he came out fighting to defend his government’s record and attack Nigel Farage’s fake patriotism.In an impassioned 54-minute speech at the Labour conference in Liverpool on Tuesday the prime minister pledged to defend British flags from the far right after a summer in which they became the focus of culture wars.And he outlined his vision for the country based on a “true patriotic” agenda that rejects Nigel Farage’s claim that Britain is broken.Keir Starmer said Nigel Farage ‘doesn’t believe in Britain’ More

Rachel Reeves is expected to lift the controversial two-child benefit limit in November’s Budget, as officials look at a number of options – including a “tapered” system. The chancellor is under intense pressure to scrap the “cruel” policy, brought in by Tory chancellor George Osborne, which campaigners say would be the biggest single measure that could take children out of poverty.The government has set up a taskforce on child poverty, and the chancellor has said she expects to respond to its recommendations when she unveils her Budget in November. The chancellor is under intense pressure to scrap the policy More

The Labour Party conference in Liverpool is drawing to a close, with Sir Keir Starmer having given his main stage address on Tuesday afternoon. From delegates voting to demand ministers act to prevent “the commission of a genocide in Gaza” to Sadiq Khan joking about sharia law and Hugh Grant being barred from an event for failing to RSVP, these are the things you may have missed throughout the four-day congress ahead of its closing day on Wednesday. Sir Keir Starmer delivers his main stage address at the Labour conference More

Sir Keir Starmer finally pulled himself off the ropes and came out swinging at his opponents and critics after 15 hard months of government, which have seen him lumbered with the worst approval rating of a prime minister since records began.But in a strange way he can thank Nigel Farage for helping him drop his inner robot and replace it with a previously suppressed Churchillian spirit.The PM arrived in Liverpool on Saturday knowing that his speech on Tuesday was a make-or-break moment for his premiership. Previously, he had never enthused his audience, failed to deliver a real vision and too often pulled his punches with his opponents.But there was a vibrancy to his language as he took to the Labour conference podium to articulate a vision for the country based on his politics of decency compared with the division and racism espoused by Mr Farage and Reform.An invigorated Starmer delivers an impassioned speech More

Amid widespread predictions of tax hikes to come at the autumn budget, Labour has said it remains committed to its pledge not to raise taxes on working people.This means no increases to the headline rates of VAT, national insurance, or income tax.Rachel Reeves has, however, warned of “harder” choices to come ahead of the crunch fiscal event at Labour’s party’s conference in Liverpool. This has led economists to speculate that changes could be made to tax on property, ISAs, or even pensions.Government borrowing in August was the highest in five years, official figures revealed, with higher tax receipts offset by higher spending and debt. In light of this stark picture, some economists have predicted the chancellor may need to find as much as £40bn at the Budget.Chancellor Rachel Reeves said she would ‘not take risks with Britain’s economic stability’ (Stefan Rousseau/PA) More

Sir Keir Starmer has scrapped the target for 50 per cent of pupils to go to university, instead pledging that Labour will aim to see two-thirds of children complete a degree or do a “gold standard apprenticeship”.The prime minister said he no longer believed the pledge, which was made by Tony Blair in 1999, was “right for our times”.Sir Keir told the Labour party conference: “Some politicians say, ‘I want every child to have the same opportunities that I had’.The prime minister spoke about university in his speech to the Labour conference More

Patients will be seen faster from the “comfort of their own home or their desk” thanks to a new NHS online hospital which gives access to specialists around England, the Health Secretary has said.Wes Streeting told the PA news agency people will be able to use a “virtual hospital” from 2027 to speak to specialists, while those who prefer face-to-face appointments will still be able to have them.Sir Keir Starmer also mentioned the online shift in his speech at the Labour party conference, saying NHS Online will deliver “millions of appointments” digitally.Announcing the new service, the Prime Minister said the Government would “never” take away a face-to-face consultation “for those who want it”.He said: “Think about a single mum juggling kids, trying to find time to speak to a specialist, or someone in their later years, living in a rural community miles from a hospital, who needs a check-up for a suspected eye condition.“Why not have a doctor see you at home in your living room on an iPad, talking to you? No queues, no three-hour bus trip, no cancellation letters arriving after the appointment date.”Earlier, Mr Streeting told PA: “This is a Labour Government that’s not just getting our NHS back on its feet, but modernising it so that it’s fit for the future.“NHS Online is our new virtual hospital.“It will mean that, for some patients with some conditions where it’s safe and appropriate, patients will be given the opportunity – instead of being sent around the houses to their GP, then to hospital, then for checks and scans, then back again – they’ll be seen faster and more conveniently from the comfort of their own home or their desk at work by someone who will be able to get a sense of their condition, give them a course of action, which might be going to a community diagnostic centre or they might be given a course of treatment, and it’s faster, convenient and easier for patients.“The exciting thing about NHS Online is that we’re taking an approach that’s been proven to work in some hospitals, and rolling it out across the country.“So in Southampton, for example, they’ve trialled this for patients with chronic bowel inflammation and, by taking that approach, patients are being seen more quickly, conveniently, online, given the support they need.“It’s much better for them, and frees up hospital face-to-face appointments for those who need them.“If it’s good enough for Southampton, why isn’t it happening everywhere?“Of course, it’s only for those conditions where it’s safe and effective.“And of course, there’ll be some people who always say, ‘Well, I want to see someone face to face’.“And the good news is about this, everyone wins.“For those who are seen online and want to be, it’s faster and more convenient, and for those who want to see someone face to face, well, the extra capacity we’re creating means that those people also get the better service.”The Government estimates the move to a virtual hospital will generate an extra 8.5 million appointments over three years.Moorfields Eye Hospital in London is also among those which Mr Streeting said “has really great online triage for some of its patients, much faster access to the right care”.The new system will work by using teams to triage patients through the NHS App once they have had an appointment with a GP.People will be able to book a first appointment with a specialist from around the country online, and then chat to them using video or via phone if they prefer.NHS England said using country-wide specialists will help to spread out demand, with patients no longer held back by long local waiting lists.Patients will also be able to book in for recommended tests or scans and be able to track their prescriptions.Initially the focus will be on a small number of planned treatment areas with the longest waits, NHS England said, but will expand to other areas over time.Dr Jeanette Dickson, chairwoman of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, said of NHS Online: “This is a novel and potentially game-changing way of improving equity and speed of access to NHS services, which would reduce health inequalities.“Obviously, we need to make sure that those who aren’t digitally enabled are not penalised in any way, but if this approach can be delivered safely and effectively, freeing up capacity in bricks and mortar hospitals at the same time, then it could potentially be a really good thing.”Dr Becks Fisher, from the Nuffield Trust, said: “It is sensible to give patients a free choice to opt in or out of these new digital services.“This should mean that the NHS will not shut out those who want care in person.“But there are some difficult questions looming about how this new service will be implemented: will doctors and nurses for this service be able to take on this work without it impacting on existing face-to-face work?“And how will they pass patients who need care from digital to physical services?“This service will only be safe and suitable for certain patients.“How will we make sure it is kept to them?”Daniel Elkeles, chief executive of NHS Providers, said the online hospital service could be a “very significant” development. 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