Keir Starmer showered with glitter by protester during Labour conference speech – UK politics live

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Pro-PR group called People Demand Democracy says it organised glitter protest

A group called People Demand Democracy has claimed responsibility for a protest in which Keir Starmer was covered in glitter, PA Media reports. PA says;

The organisation, described as “friends” by Just Stop Oil, is calling for a “a fair, proportional voting system for Westminster elections”, as well as a “legally-binding national House of Citizens” to be selected by democratic lottery.

In a press release, the group said:

The people of the UK are more disillusioned by the state of our politics than at any time in living memory – look at the polls. After years of battling over Brexit, lockdown parties, abuse claims, crumbling public services and crashing living standards, people are sick to the back teeth of politicians. And we are furious there is no way to make our voices heard. This has got to change.

We need a democratic alternative that gives the people of the UK a voice to deal with the major challenges of our time: rampant inequality, an escalating climate crisis, political corruption and on. But what do we have instead? A Labour party offering very little in terms of real change.

The group included a quote from the protester, who they did not name in its press release, saying:

The Labour party has been captured, donors and lobbyists have more control over Keir Starmer than his members. A House of Citizens will force politicians to listen to people, it dismantles their relationships with the rich, it would create meaningful change in our economy and fix inequality. It would address the climate and ecological emergency and transform our country.

It would listen to scientists and communities and unearth consensus, not profit off conflict and division.

Starmer says they have dragged their party back, and can do the same for their politics.

We’ve dragged this party back to service. We can do the same for politics.

I grew up working class. I’ve been fighting all my life. And I won’t stop now.

I’ve felt the anxiety of a cost of living crisis before. And until your family can see the way out, I will fight for you.

And he ends by saying Labour has a plan for Britain to last.

A plan to turn the page and say, in a cry of defiance to all those who now write our country off: Britain must, Britain can, Britain will get its future back.

And that’s it.

Starmer says the Rutherglen and West Hamilton byelection shows Labour serves the working people of Scotland because it serves the people of Britain.

He says taking on the SNP will involve a fight – they will regroup.

And the Tories are prepared “to scorch the earth just to get at us”.

Wherever you think the line is, they’ve already got plans to cross it.

Starmer says, while Sunak wants to 'row back on our climate misson', he wants to 'speed ahead'

Starmer says people are paying higher bills because the Tories did not build gas storage, did not invest in green energy, and did not fix home insulation.

This is sticking-plaster politics, he says.

He says Labour would turn the page.

Here is the plan for growth, he says.

First, a national wealth fund, ready to invest in infrastructure.

Second, long-term stability for researchers and investment.

Third, a new direction for skills. Labour will set up technical excellence colleges.

And, fourth, a new mindset – recognising the opportunity offered by green jobs.

So when Rishi Sunak says row back on our climate mission, I say speed ahead.

Speed ahead with investment.

Speed ahead with half a million jobs.

Speed ahead with Great British Energy.

The new company, GB Energy, will be set up in Scotland, he says.

PA Media has more on the fate of the protester.

The protester who stormed the stage as Keir Starmer began his speech shouted “democracy first” as he was removed from the conference venue in Liverpool.

Media had assembled around the rear exit as he was placed in a police van and driven away.

Starmer says Labour will hold out a hand of partnership to business.

It understand that “private enterprise is the only way this country pays its way in the world”.

But Labour will also scrap zero-hour contracts, end fire and rehire and make work pay with a real living wage.

Starmer says Tories have descended into 'murky waters of populism and conspiracy'

Starmer says he has an invitation for Tories who “look in horror at the descent of [their] party into the murky waters of populism and conspiracy, with no argument for economic change”.

He invites them to join Labour.

Starmer says he never expected to hear a modern Conservative PM say 50% of children going to university is a false dream.

My dad felt the disrespect of vocational skills for all his lfie. But the solution is not and never will be levelling down the working class aspiration to go to university.

Starmer says Labour will protect the green belt. He grew up in Surrey, he says.

But in some places there are “ridiculous uses” to the green belt. It’s “not a green belt, but a grey belt”.

It is justified to build there, he says.

He says the Tories saw the case for levelling up.

But as soon as they won an election, “they turned back”.

And they reverted to trickle-down economics.

Starmer says Labour will build next generation of new towns

Starmer is talking about the obstacles in the way of aspirations, and says it is the restrictive planning system holding back housebuilding.

Conference, we must bulldoze through it.

He says they used to talk about the dream of home ownership. But it is a dream, he says.

He says he is trying hard not to mention the pebble-dashed semi he grew up in (a joke about how often he talks about it). But it meant everything to his family, he says.

He says people will resist Labour’s plans to get more houses built.

Labour wants 1.5m new homes built across the country, he says.

And he wants the National Grid laid more quickly.

And sometimes the old Labour ideas are right for new times, he says. So they will build “the next generation of Labour new towns”.

Starmer is covering things he would like to stop:

MPs having second jobs.

Bonuses for people putting sewage in the water.

Pensioners freezing, while energy firms make record profits.

Government contract by the back door.

Cleaners being mocked as they scrub off the mess left by people holding illegal parties in Westminster.

Starmer says he wants to restore respect for working people

Starmer says his sister is a care worker. During the pandemic she was working 14-hour shifts just to make ends meet.

But it is more than that. It is respect, he says.

Working people never let each other down.

The British people will commit to the goal of national renewal, he says.

He says working class people regularly have people telling them they cannot do things.

That is the hardest class ceiling at all, he says.

Imagine, if instead a whole country said – you do belong. Imagine if a whole country said we back your potential. Imagine if a whole community commits, properly, to unlocking the pride you have for your community.

Watch: Protester pours glitter over Keir Starmer during Labour conference speech

Starmer says people say the problem is politicians are not honest.

That is not the problem, he says – although for one of them (Boris Johnson), it was the problem, he says.

The problem is people think politicians like Rishi Sunak are only looking after themselves.

Sunak and the other shallow men and women are unable to see what life is like for people.

Starmer says 'prize is huge' if Labour can reform services across public sector

Starmer refers to the plan to pay for more operations, using overtime, to help reduce the backlog.

He says he knows some people don’t like the word reform. But the NHS cannot go on like this.

And what is true of the NHS is true across the board.

We are hear to make the government more dynamic, more joined up, more strategic, focused at all times and without exception on long-term national renewal.

He says he has reformed a public service before.

And if it can be done across the public sector, “the prize is huge”.

Starmer says 7.5m people are waiting for treatment on the NHS.

He describes a football in the Southern League with a choice between paying £15,000 for a private knee operation, or giving up his career. He crowd-funded his operation, and got back to the pitch.

He says this should not have to happen.

The whole point of our NHS is to be the crowd-funded solution for all of us.

Labour will get it back on its feet, he says.