Keir Starmer speech live: PM faces austerity critics as Labour minister chairs urgent Middle East COBRA call

Pat McFadden has said that everybody in the Middle East needs to be able to live in peace, after the death toll from Israeli strikes on Lebanon has risen to nearly 500 people.

The chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster told LBC: “What needs to happen in the long run is that everybody in this region can live in security. We tend to focus on the immediate hostilities, the immediate outbreak, and I understand in a news sense why we do that.

“But if you’re asking me about the longer term, we want everybody in that particular part where all this shelling is going on at the moment to be able to return home in peace.

“There’s 60,000 Israelis who have not been able to live in their homes for the best part of a year now because of this back and forth shelling from Hezbollah and southern Lebanon, but also the people in southern Lebanon to be able to live in peace without this threat of constant war back and forth over the border.”

He later added: “Right now it is the most dangerous situation that I can remember in the Middle East for a long, long time.”

You can follow our Lebanon live blog with the latest updates about the conflict here

Pat McFadden has denied that there are plans to change pub licensing rules to force them to shut early.

Speaking to Nick Ferrari on LBC’s Breakfast programme, he denied a report in the Telegraph that venues could be targeted under measures to cut down on harmful drinking.

Andrew Gwynne, the public health minister, had told a Labour Party fringe event that the government was considering “tightening up the hours of operation” of bars and pubs.

Mr McFadden, the chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, said: “I don’t think there’s any plan to shut the pubs early. The pub is a great part of British life. I don’t have a drink during conference, partly so I can look forward to having a nice one when the conference is over and I hope that the pub will be open when I go in.”

He told Mr Ferrari that his drink of choice after the conference ends on Wednesday would be a pint of Guinness.

It comes as public health minister Andrew Gwynne said the government is considering “tightening up the hours of operation” of bars and pubs as part of an attempt to improve health and combat anti-social behaviour.

Pubs could be forced to call last orders early under new measures to target harmful drinking.

Public health minister Andrew Gwynne said the government is considering “tightening up the hours of operation” of bars and pubs as part of an attempt to improve health and combat anti-social behaviour.

But Mr Gwynne insisted Labour is “not the fun police” nor “supernanny”, instead saying the measures would be driven by both moral and economic arguments.

Our political correspondent Millie Cooke has the full story:

Ahead of Sir Keir Starmer’s speech, several prominent MPs are offering their opinions on what has been dubbed as a “really big historic moment”.

First to go is John McDonnell, who had his Labour whip removed for voting to scrap the two-child benefit cap.

The former shadow chancellor, who is now serving as an independent MP, is unimpressed by the narrative of the party and has compared the wording used during the conference by ministers to George Osborne.

Reacting to the government’s crachdown on benefit fraud, he told Radio 4’s Today programme: “I don’t say this lightly, but if you close your eyes and listen to he language being used, it’s almost like George Osborne speaking again in 2010.

“The rhetoric of ‘tough choices, painful decisions’ - it’s literally replica of a speech made by George Osborne.”

Rachel Reeves is understood to be considering cuts to the welfare budget as part of her money-saving budget to spend more on investment.

If the plan goes ahead, the state benefits budget could be reduced by helping more people get back to work which would lower the bill for income-related sickness benefits and universal credit.

Work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall told the Labour conference at a fringe event the government was planning “really big reforms” of welfare and job centres at the October budget.

And to further fuel speculation, chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster refused to rule out the cuts during his media round on Sky News this morning.

During his interview on Sky News, the chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster failed to rule out possible cuts to the welfare budget.

When asked by Kay Burley about the 30 October budget, Pat McFadden said it will be a “good platform for the future of the country”.

But when pressed whether ministers will consider cuts to the welfare budget, he did not address the question.

He said: “She won’t start from that point of view, but she will start by saying that there are too many people on long term sickness benefits.

“What can we do to get people back into work and there is some fraud in the system to which we are going to act on.

“It’s really important that if money is spent on benefits, it goes to those who are genuinely in need of it. And where there’s fraud in the system that we try to root that out.

“That’s two things that we do want to do, to get people back to work and to make sure that money spent in this system goes to those who are genuinely in need of it.”

Pat McFadden is now speaking on Sky News where he has hailed the prime minister’s speech today as a “really big historic moment”.

Sir Keir Starmer is expected to address the Labour Party conference at 2pm to declare there is “light at the end of the tunnel” despite tough times ahead.

The chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster told Sky News: “We have inherited a tough financial situation, but if we can stabilise that then the prospects for the country are very good.

“The prospects for investing in the country, getting the economy moving, for the turning around of public services, getting rebuilding.

“This is the prize that awaits us if we can get through this period and deal with some of the things that we’ve inherited from the last government.

“That’s the essential message at the heart of the prime minister’s speech today.”

The Labour government is to replace the apprenticeship levy with a reformed growth and skills levy.

The prime minister is expected to say that the new skills levy will offer greater flexibility for employers and learners, including through shorter duration apprenticeships in targeted sectors like construction at the Labour Party’s annual conference today.

Employers groups have been critical of the apprenticeship levy for years and have been calling for it to be reformed.

The new levy will be developed in consultation with employers, training providers and Skills England, the organisation established by the PM and education secretary Bridget Phillipson days after the formation of the Labour government.

Sir Keir Starmer will also announce the development of new, foundation apprenticeships that offer pre-apprenticeship training to young people who are not ready to start a level two or three apprenticeship.

In a speech, he will say: “We’ll get our skills system right. 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.

“So we will introduce new foundation apprenticeships, rebalance funding in our training system back to young people, align that with what businesses really need.

“The first step to a youth guarantee that will eradicate inactivity and unemployment for our young people – once and for all.”