Labour conference live: Rachel Reeves stands by winter fuel allowance cut as nurses reject 5.5% pay rise

Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of silencing the voices of pensioners by blocking a vote on the government’s decision to scrap winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners.

The prime minister is facing a furious backlash from unions after kicking a key vote on the plans to Wednesday - the last day of conference known as the graveyard slot. Unite, Labour’s biggest union backer, said the party was blocking debate on the cuts and descending into “austerity mark 2”.

“When this becomes widely known there will be real anger among everyday people. Real Anger,” general secretary Sharon Graham added.

Our political correspondent Archie Mitchell has the full story:

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar, who is now up delivering his speech, has said his party caused a political earthquake in Scotland during the general election.

He told the audience: “What a year it has been. In the 12 months since we last met, we no longer have a Tory government, we now have the fewest Tory MPs in modern political history, we have the SNP beaten in Scotland and we now have a UK Labour government that has started the journey for change.

“We have, crucially, for the first time in 14 years a Labour prime minister. A prime minister that understands Scotland, cares about Scotland and is determined to deliver for Scotland. And for the first time ever, we have a female chancellor in Rachel Reeves who made a fantastic speech earlier today and made clear there will be no return to austerity with a Labour government.

“And in Scotland we delivered a political earthquake, with a record swing to Scottish Labour. Our share of the vote went up 16 per cent, meaning we now have not one Scottish Labour MP, we now have 37 Scottish Labour MPs putting Scotland at the heart of a Labour government.”

Transport Secretary Louise Haigh told delegates at the Labour conference that the party is the “greatest force for social change” as she vowed to end the “age of privatised chaos”.

She said: “We are bringing the age of privatised chaos underwritten by public money to an end for good. There are those that say that it could never change, that our politics is too small to stand up to a challenge like this, that it doesn’t matter the colour of the rosette, things will always stay the same.

“But that has never been Labour. That has never been us. There is a reason our party is the greatest force for social change our country has ever seen.”

She added: “By the end of this parliament, our railways will be in public ownership, run by great British Railways in the service of you, the British people, and change does not stop there.

“We’ve hauled in failing train operators and put them on remedial plans. We’ve announced world leading legislation to ensure flying will be greener. We’ve called time on divisive culture wars around walking and cycling.

“We’ve repealed the toxic minimum service level legislation, green lit hundreds of affordable homes by stations, and we got round the table with the unions to put an end to the longest ever industrial dispute on our railways.”

Rachel Reeves has announced hundreds of schools will host free breakfast clubs from April as she doubled down on her controversial decision to abolish winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners.

The chancellor said the move would ease child poverty, after accusations she will force some less well-off pensioners to choose between heating and eating.

Ms Reeves has warned of more difficult choices ahead before next month’s Budget, but it is understood ministers will not scrap the council tax discount claimed by single people.

Our Whitehall editor Kate Devlin has the full story:

The transport secretary has said Labour is “ripping up the very roots of Thatcherism” during its time in power.

Louise Haigh told the conference: “Because of what we achieved together, we are not just cleaning up the mess of the last 14 years, we are ripping up the very roots of Thatcherism that have undermined and run down our transport system for decades.

“Privatisation of our transport is not pragmatism. It hasn’t spurred innovation. It hasn’t made things better. It belongs to a past that failed.”

The “position” on whether Ukraine would be given permission to fire Storm Shadow weapons in Russia “remains unchanged”, the prime minister’s deputy official spokeswoman has said.

“We remain in constant contact with the Ukrainians and will always listen to their position,” she said.

“As you can expect at UNGA (UN General Assembly), we will be focused on a number of issues, that includes ongoing support for Ukraine in their defence against Russia’s aggression, but also a ceasefire in Gaza and a de-escalation of tensions in Lebanon amongst others.”

On Storm Shadow, she added: “When it comes to that our position remains unchanged.

“I think as the PM said following his trip to Washington just last week, our ongoing discussions on Ukraine are not about one specific bit of military equipment.

“They are broader discussions about strategy and about how we support Ukraine during what is a crucial period over the next few months and as we enter winter.”

James Cleverly has attacked Rachel Reeves following her keynote speech at the Labour Party conference.

He accused the chancellor of setting out the “wrong” priorities and increasing more taxes.

The former home secretary said: “Nobody can take this chancellor or this government seriously.

“Their priorities are all wrong. They talk about taking tough decisions, but capitulate in union negotiations.

“They will tax more and more to spend more and more. Labour aren’t taking the tough decisions, they’re making the wrong decisions.

“We can all see that they cannot be trusted with the public finances, or the economy.”

Austerity? Free frocks and specs? Snatching winter fuel from shivering pensioners? Dismal polls and facing a conference defeat on the latter? The chancellor grinned and bore it, observes Joe Murphy:

Energy secretary Ed Miliband has pledged to lift more than a million renters out of fuel poverty as part of the government’s plans to boost energy efficiency standards by 2030.

Labour’s warm homes plan aims to make properties across the country cheaper to run by installing new insulation and rolling out solar panels on rooftops.

Mr Miliband said Labour intends to go “further and faster” than its manifesto pledge by raising standards in the social housing sector, in addition to the private rented sector.

Ahead of his speech at the Labour conference in Liverpool, he said: “We all know that the poorest people in our country often live in cold, draughty homes.

“It is a Tory legacy. It is a Tory scandal. It is a Tory outrage. This government will not tolerate this injustice and we will end it.

“And because being Labour means we raise our sights to tackle injustice, we will go further and faster than promised in our manifesto, ensuring every rented home reaches decent standards of energy efficiency.

“Warmer homes, lower bills, over one million people lifted out of fuel poverty. That’s the difference a Labour government makes.”

The government has committed to consulting tenants on its warm homes plan by the end of this year.