Labour opens conference in Liverpool with Healey and Burnham speeches set

The Labour Party opened its annual conference beside the River Mersey in Liverpool on Sunday, with Prime Minister Andy Burnham pledging to turn the page on a decade of economic and political turmoil. Burnham, who has been in the job for two months, is the U.K.'s seventh prime minister since the country voted in 2016 to leave the European Union.pbs.org+1

Burnham said the message of his keynote conference speech on Tuesday would be: "It's time for Britain to have hope again." He told delegates on Sunday: "I am here to end the decade of drift and division that we've had since Brexit, because it's not been a great decade for Britain." The conference sets the political tone and agenda for the year ahead.bbc.co.uk

What the conference opened with

The gathering follows a turbulent period for the party. Last year's Labour conference was gloomy, as members despaired about Prime Minister Keir Starmer's deep unpopularity and the rise of the opposition Reform UK. Burnham, then mayor of Greater Manchester, was followed by journalists in Liverpool as speculation grew he would challenge Starmer. A party revolt forced Starmer's resignation and Burnham's replacement of him as party leader and prime minister in July.

Labour is now seeing what supporters call a Burnham bounce, driven by his upbeat talk and modest moves to cut tax on electricity bills and cap bus fares. University of Manchester political science professor Rob Ford said Burnham's task is to win over "a skeptical electorate" eager for change "while at the same time doing that within the constraints of a very difficult economic and fiscal situation."

Chancellor John Healey will deliver his first conference speech on Monday, promising delegates "a new age of industrialisation" for the UK. He will tell them "our coal mines are not coming back", but that Labour will remake Britain's industrial past "for the modern age" by backing advanced manufacturing. Healey, a former defence secretary, will set out what he calls a "new confidence in Britain" rather than Budget details.

Healey's shipbuilding announcements

Healey will announce that three new floating docks at HM Royal Naval Base Clyde, at Faslane, will be built in the UK rather than put out to international tender. The docks were first set out in 2023 and form part of a £15bn upgrade programme for the Royal Navy's shipyards, expected to come into service in the early 2030s.

First Secretary of State Louise Haigh said in a speech on Sunday that the government would also commission a new marine research vessel. Healey is expected to announce £115m in funding for the ship, which is also set to come into service in the early 2030s. Healey said backing British shipyards is "boosting national security" while "securing resilience in the industries that will drive growth today".

Shadow chancellor Andrew Griffith said the plans were "reheated announcements" with "no clarity on where the money is coming from", adding that Labour offers "reannounced docks and more hot air from Healey". Charlotte Brumpton-Childs, national secretary of the GMB union, called the policy a "massive boost" for UK shipbuilding, saying too many contracts had gone to overseas yards.

Where the numbers came from

Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram, who has seen a draft of Burnham's address, said Burnham must be "selective" in the story he tells on Tuesday. Rotheram said: "there's no way that in that one hour you can encapsulate everything that you want to talk about." He said the public will see someone who will articulate values and principles and put them into policy decisions.

Healey will also announce £15m in taxpayers' money for the Union Learning Fund, a trade union training scheme, drawn from existing government budgets. Employees do not need to be union members to benefit, with support ranging from English, maths and digital skills to training for advanced manufacturing jobs. Unite general secretary Sharon Graham has urged Healey to unfreeze income tax thresholds in the Budget.

Economic pressure is building ahead of the Budget. A Confederation of British Industry survey to be published on Monday will highlight falling economic activity across retail and services in the three months to September, with manufacturing declining more moderately. CBI deputy chief economist Alpesh Paleja said rising energy and employment costs combined with weak demand were pressuring profit margins.