Andy Burnham has called for Labour to end a “climate of fear” in the party.

The Greater Manchester mayor said he had “launched a debate on our direction”, while insisting he wanted to see the Prime Minister and the Government succeed.

But he told a fringe event at the Labour Party conference: “One thing I am worried about, and I think we do need to debate at this conference in my view, is how can you have an open debate about all of those things if there’s too much of a climate of fear within our party and the way the party is being run.”

Criticising a situation where “a party member is suspended for liking a tweet by another political party, or a Member of Parliament loses the whip for trying to protect disability benefits”, Mr Burnham received repeated rounds of applause from the audience.

He added: “If that is the way we’re doing things, where debate is being closed down, that to me is what we’ve got to change.”

Mr Burnham also spoke out against demands for “simplistic statements of loyalty”, saying: “If that closes down the debate we need, I think it’s at risk of underestimating the peril the party is in as we get to the polls next May.”

Police have started arresting protesters supporting the banned group Palestine Action outside the Labour party conference in Liverpool.

Around 100 people have gathered silently to hold signs reading: “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action”, protest group Defend Our Juries said.

Palestine Action was banned as a terror organisation in July after the group claimed responsibility for an action in which two Voyager planes were damaged at RAF Brize Norton the previous month.

A Merseyside Police spokesman said: “We can confirm that officers are in attendance at a Defend Our Juries protest near to The Wheel of Liverpool this afternoon, Sunday 28 September.

“Some of the people in attendance have displayed material in support of Palestine Action.

“Officers are in the process of making arrests on suspicion of wearing/carrying an article supporting a proscribed organisation.”

There are reports that police are arresting protesters who held a sit-down protest outside the Labour Conference and said they supported Palestine Action, a banned organisation

Welsh First Minister Eluned Morgan claimed that Wales would “fall into chaos” if Plaid Cymru or Reform UK wins the Senedd election in May.

Labour has been the “voice” of Wales for more than a century, she said.

“But let’s be brutally honest, the polls are not looking good. People are angry. They’re disillusioned.

“Our voice, the voice that’s always fought for them, is getting drowned out by the carnival of charlatans and the circus of snake oil salesmen.

“Now Reform blames foreigners, Plaid blame Westminster – divisive nationalism in different forms. Different poison, same bottle – all with answers that sound brilliant until you ask how: They can’t tell you.”

Most Labour members want a change of leadership before the next general election, new polling has found.

The poll for website LabourList conducted by Survation, found that 53% of members believe that the party should have a new leadership in place, with just 31% backing the current leadership.

A digital billboard van is driving around Liverpool today highlighting Labour’s sleaze and scandals from the past year.

The embarrasing billboard recounts everything from Morgan McSweeney’s undeclared £700,000 donations, Angela Rayner’s unpaid taxes, and the housing minister who made her tenants homeless.

The farming protest at Labour conference continues this afternoon, with tractors bringing Labour’s seafront to a halt.

Unite boss Sharon Graham says it’s becoming harder and harder to justify its affiliation with the Labour Party to members.

The hardline leader of Britain’s biggest union said: “We’ve got a real issue going on where a lot of our members, and actually, I think it chimes with the public, are worried at the direction Labour’s going in. I mean, they put in a Labour government to do Labour things, and this Labour government is not doing what they expected them to do. So it becomes harder and harder to justify the affiliation. That’s a decision made by members, that’s who will make that decision. But I do think that they are getting very frustrated.”

The Green Party has embarrassed Labour on its first day of conference by announcing a new major membership milestone.

The party says it’s surpassed 80,000 members for the first time, as it attracts defectors from the Labour Party.

Green Party leader Zack Polanski said: “This is a huge milestone for the Green Party of England and Wales. The tired, old two-party system is over.

“More and more people are looking to a politics rooted in tackling the climate crisis and inequality.”

John McDonnell has called on former Tory chancellor George Osborne to be put on trial for social crimes over his welfare cuts in the early 2010s.

The former Shadow Chancellor slammed his one-time opponent for the cuts which he said led to suicides.

He also issued a warning for Rachel Reeves’ next budget.

Keir Starmer has just unveiled Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as his special surprise guest in Liverpool.

Mr Albanese is also a Labour Prime Minister, the UK Labour sister party.

He brands Starmer his “mate”

Farmers waving banners and flagged have taken their fight for an inheritance tax U-turn to Labour’s party conference.

Hundreds of people arrived in Liverpool to call on Rachel Reeves and Keir Starmer to axe their tax raid.

After Keir Starmer accused Reform of racist policies, Labour is now attacking Nigel Farage’s party for having too many ex-Tories.

Reform UK are “importing failed Tories” to write their policies, Ellie Reeves told the Labour Party conference.

The former party chairwoman said: “Until recently, their party was literally owned by one individual: Nigel Farage, a man who, when asked about his policies, said, and I quote ‘if you ask me how you’re going to do this, I can’t really give you an answer’.

“So how do they solve that problem? By importing failed Tories to help them write their policies.

“If the answer is Nadine Dorries, then you’re asking the wrong question.”

Housing Secretary Steve Reed appears to be grabbing the limelight today more than any other minister.

Mr Reed is attracing huge queues as he signs his new “build, baby, build” merch, including hats, flags and tote bags.

Chants could be heard across the Liverpool docks as he got members to parrot the campaign line, amid Labour’s pledge to build 1.5 million homes.

Steve Reed said he took on his “dream job” as Housing Secretary “not under the circumstances” he would have wanted.

Mr Reed received a standing ovation and applause for his tribute to predecessor and former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner, who left Government earlier this month after a row over her tax affairs.

At the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, the Housing Secretary said: “When I picked up the phone to the Prime Minister three weeks ago, he offered me my dream job but not under the circumstances I would have wanted.

“So can I begin by thanking my good friend Angela Rayner for all she has done for our party and our Government over so many years – for workers’ rights, for local government, for building council homes.

“Angela, you are a true working-class hero.”

Housing Secretary Steve Reed has a nightmare interview with GB News as he is unable to say how many homes Labour has built so far, after almost 15 months in office.

Hello from Day 1 of Labour conference.

Keir Starmer’s facing an open leadership challenge from Andy Burnham, his chief of staff is under pressure to resign, and the party’s shedding votes.

Can the Prime Minister turn this around?

Reform UK has responded after Sir Keir Starmer accused the party of promoting a “racist” policy on immigration.

Zia Yusuf, Reform UK’s head of policy, said: “Labour’s message to the country is clear: pay hundreds of billions for foreign nationals to live off the state forever or Labour will call you racist.

“Reform’s plan will ensure only British people can access welfare and that migrants contribute to society.”

Nigel Farage insisted Sir Keir Starmer is attacking him because he is on course to enter 10 Downing Street.

The Reform UK leader highlighted new polling by More in Common suggesting he’s on course to win a majority at the next general election.

He wrote on X: “Keir Starmer has spent his entire weekend attacking Reform. This is the reason why.”

Sir Keir Starmer speaks during an opening session on the first day of the Labour party conference in Liverpool

Kemi Badneoch said: “Keir Starmer just failed three times to rule out a hike in VAT. Claiming that ‘the manifesto stands’ is not the same as saying ‘no rise in VAT’.

“The PM must rule out hiking VAT immediately, or working people will fear another Labour tax bombshell in the budget.”

Sir Keir Starmer said he needs “space” to make good on the promises he made at last year’s general election.

“I will be judged at the next election on three things, I think, more than anything else,” the Prime Minister told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme.

“One, have we improved living standards? Do people genuinely feel better off?

“Two, have we improved public services? Is the NHS in a better place and people can feel it?

“And three, do people feel safe and secure in their home, in their neighbourhood, and that their country is secure?”

Sir Keir, who said he had a “five-year mandate” after his election win, added: “I’ll be judged at the end of that five years, and quite right too.

“But I just need the space to get on and do what we need to do, to do those three things above all else, but also, in a world which is more volatile than any of us have known for a very long time, to ensure that the United Kingdom is safe and secure.”

Sir Keir Starmer insisted that digital IDs will help to reinforce existing rules and prevent people working illegally amid a backlash over the proposals

The Prime Minister told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme: “We must be really clear. You must have ID, mandatory digital ID, in order to work, because we have to stop illegal working.

“If you look at any of the raids – we’ve massively increased the number of raids on working premises – it is absolutely clear that people are working illegally in numbers.”

Asked what difference the ID scheme would make, Sir Keir said: “The difference is this is on point of starting, not a retrospective exercise as it now is. It is an automatic collection of the information by the Government so we know exactly who is working in our economy, and it will help us enforce the rules that are there.

“But there’s no point people saying to me, ‘why do we need it?’ when we all acknowledge there is a problem people are working illegally in our economy. It is amongst the reasons that people want to come to the United Kingdom, we have to deal with that.

“I made a pledge that we would do whatever was necessary, use whatever tools were available to deal with illegal migration. I intend to do so.”

Asked whether he could rule out a VAT rise, Sir Keir Starmer told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme that “the manifesto stands”.

The Prime Minister repeated the phrase and added: “We put that manifesto before the electorate. We got elected and that manifesto stands.

“I’m not going to go through the details of what may be in the Budget.

“Obviously, it’s two months away and no prime minister and no chancellor would ever sit here and indicate two months out what may or may not be in the Budget.”

Read the full story here

Sir Keir Starmer claimed that Reform UK’s policy, which would require migrants who have been granted indefinite leave to remain to re-apply under much stricter rules, is “racist”.

The Prime Minister told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme: “Well, I do think that it is a racist policy. I do think it is immoral. It needs to be called out for what it is.”

Asked if Reform are trying to appeal to racists, Sir Keir said: “No, I think there are plenty of people who either vote Reform or are thinking of voting Reform who are frustrated.

“They had 14 years of failure under the Conservatives, they want us to change things.

“They may have voted Labour a year ago, and they want the change to come more quickly. I actually do understand that.”

Sir Keir Starmer hit out at Nigel Farage as he claimed Reform UK would “tear that country apart”.

The Prime Minister told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme: “I was arguing against Reform because Reform do not believe in that country, they want to tear that country apart.

“What was said last week about deporting migrants who are lawfully here, who’ve been here for years, working in our hospitals and our schools, running businesses, our neighbours, and Reform says they want to deport them – that would tear our country apart.

“We are, at the moment, a leading member of the Coalition of the Willing, corralling and bringing together European countries to fight the aggression of (Russian President Vladimir) Putin.

“Imagine if Reform came in and they were cosying up to Putin – the impact that would have on our security and defence.”

Sir Keir Starmer has sought to define the idea of “patriotic renewal” as he faced questions on the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme.

“Patriotic renewal is fixing the problems in the country that we inherited but changing the country as we do so,” the Prime Minister said, adding: “We’ve got to get the economy working.

“We’ve got to get wealth creation but it needs to be everywhere across the country, and that is what I want to change.

“Not going back to economic growth that is in some parts of the country but not all parts of the country.

“With the NHS, obviously we need to fix it, but I want to do more than fix it.

“I want to make sure it’s fit for the future, so that means bringing it closer to people, recognising the way in which disease and illness has changed, making sure we’re using technology as we go forward.”

Keir Starmer keeps making awkward glances elsewhere during this forensic grilling by Laura Kuenssberg.

He appears to be searching for the lifraft of an aide as he faces questions he’s clearly not comfortable answering.

Labour needs to “wake up” and “do Labour things”, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham has said.

Ms Graham told the Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips programme on Sky News that workers are not that interested in the party’s deputy leader contest and are “scratching their heads” about the choices Labour is making under Sir Keir Starmer.

“They really need to wake up, smell the coffee, and be Labour. Don’t be embarrassed to be Labour. They are a Labour Government – do Labour things,” she said.

Asked about a possible leadership challenge from Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, she said there was “no point” changing around the person at the top if policies stay the same.

Sir Keir Starmer was asked how much “trouble” he was in as he faced a grilling on the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme.

He said: “There’s a lot we’ve achieved but we’ve got to do more. We inherited a complete mess, a broken economy, broken public services.

“We said we would change that and I always said that would take time but I do understand people are frustrated because if they lived through 14 years of failure they want change to come more quickly.”

Pressed again if he accepted he was in “political trouble”, said: “In politics, there are always going to be comments about leaders and leadership, particularly at times like conference.

“But I always focus on what is it we’re trying to achieve.”

Housing Secretary Steve Reed has insisted that Sir Keir Starmer will lead Labour into the next general election.

Asked directly, Mr Reed told Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips on Sky News: “I’m certain. We’re working towards a decade of national renewal. We need stability after the chaos and endless revolving door that we saw under the Conservatives.”

A peaceful scene on the banks of the Mersey this morning ahead of Labour’s annual conference

Housing Secretary Steve Reed claims the Reform UK leader is not very patriotic as Labour comes under continued threat from Nigel Farage’s party.

He also tells Sky News that the government will lift the two-child benefit cap “when we can afford it”.

The construction of three new towns will begin before the next election, the Housing Secretary will pledge today.

The Government will “do whatever it takes to get Britain building”, Steve Reed is expected to tell Labour members on the opening day of the party’s annual gathering in Liverpool.

Work on 12 new towns will be taken forward, Mr Reed is to announce, as recommended by a report from the Government’s New Towns Taskforce.

But the priority for construction in the current Parliament will likely be Tempsford in Bedfordshire, Leeds South Bank, and Crews Hill, north London, described by Labour as “most promising sites”.

There was plenty of chatter over breakfast this morning as Keir Starmer and a number of his top team – John Healey, Pat McFadden and Jonathan Reynolds – tucked into their cornflakes inside the main hotel on the first day of the Labour party conference.

While the PM and Cabinet ministers nattered away with officials and advisers Sir Keir’s chief of staff Morgan McSweeney cut a lonely figure as he sat at a table on his own.

Perhaps he was gathering his thoughts with a difficult few days ahead.

“I’d rather have Maggie Thatcher as Prime Minister than Keir Starmer”. Not the words of a fervent Tory cheerleader but those of a lifelong Labour supporter and die-hard socialist.

They were spat out with some considerable venom by my taxi driver as I arrived in Liverpool last night. By now we had reached my destination. But with rain lashing down on the windscreen of the black hackney-cab and the meter still ticking over, he wasn’t done just yet.

It went something like this – Keir Starmer has destroyed the Labour party, I will never vote for a Labour party that introduces identity cards, Starmer has done nothing to stop illegal migration, I’d rather have Andy Burnham as leader… Nigel Farage will be the next Prime Minister.

Read the full analysis here.

Sir Keir Starmer insisted Labour can “pull this round” as the party’s annual conference in Liverpool gets underway today.

The Prime Minister hopes to use the gathering to unveil a series of eye-catching policies with the aim of turning the tide for both Labour and his premiership.

But a poll on the eve of conference suggested Reform UK leader Nigel Farage could be on course for a landslide win in the next general election.

Sir Keir said the battle against Reform UK and its “toxic” politics were “the fight of our times”.

The Prime Minister told The Sunday Times: “I think we can pull this round.”

But in a plea for party unity, after speculation Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham could seek a return to Westminster to oust him, Sir Keir said: “It is the fight of our times and we’ve all got to be in it together.”