Politics UK – live: Farage says Reform can take power at next election as Starmer pledges no free clothes

Labour’s conference in Liverpool will be the first such gathering since 2009 to be held while the party is in government, and the first post-election victory celebration since 2005. Sean O’Grady looks forward to the sticky – and interesting – bits:

Hospitals built from crumbling concrete will be replaced as a priority and spared from a spending review Rachel Reeves has vowed to undertake, a letter to MPs suggests.

The Chancellor announced in July that all projects in the New Hospitals Programme promised by the previous Conservative government would be reviewed.

But seven hospitals built with reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac) across England will not be subject to this, a letter sent by health secretary Wes Streeting to MPs has now suggested.

The lightweight concrete, used in public buildings including schools and hospitals between the 1950s and 1990s, has started to deteriorate.

“Central to the review is the understanding that the hospitals built primarily from Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (Raac) need to be replaced as a priority, to protect patient and staff safety,” Mr Streeting’s letter said.

Rachel Reeves is under increasing pressure to scrap her plan to cut winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners after being handed a £10bn budget boost by the Bank of England (BoE):

Labour must not rest on its laurels on diversity in Parliament, one of the party’s frontbenchers has said ahead of its annual women’s conference today.

Commons Leader Lucy Powell hailed the 2024 election as a landmark for women’s representation, returning both the highest number and highest proportion of female MPs in history.

Some 263 women were elected to Parliament in July, 40% of all MPs, with 190 of them being Labour MPs.

The numbers of ethnic minority and openly LGBT MPs are also at record levels for the start of a Parliament.

Ms Powell said: “This Parliament is our most diverse ever, in large part down to the huge number of Labour MPs who were elected. Our first women’s conference under a Labour Government in 15 years is a moment to celebrate.

“But we can’t rest on our laurels. If we are to restore trust in politics, we need a Parliament which properly reflects the country we serve.”

Ms Powell went on to say more needed to be done to address concerns about the safety of MPs and make Parliament’s working environment more family-friendly.

Exclusive by Archie Mitchell:

Donald Trump will win the US presidential election, Nigel Farage has claimed as his Reform UK party sought to play up its links with the Republican candidate.

The Reform leader had words of warning for Foreign Secretary David Lammy – who once described former president Mr Trump as a “neo-Nazi sympathising sociopath” – about a potential second Trump presidency.

He also claimed Democratic nominee Kamala Harris had a “history of being part of the radical left”, and sought to draw a comparison with Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party.

The Clacton MP was due to join Mr Trump’s campaign over the summer, before announcing his intention to stand for Parliament and take over the leadership of Reform.

At the Reform conference, following his stump speech, Mr Farage said: “The fact that we have a Labour Government with a big majority who are going to be there for a few years, the fact that the Foreign Secretary has said some pretty unpleasant things about Donald Trump, if Trump wins, that doesn’t put us in a great place.”

The Reform UK merchandise stand at their Birmingham conference is offering a wide range of items for sale – from ties signed by Richard Tice to caps emblazoned with “Let’s Save Britain”. The caps – manufactured in China – are on sale for £20.

Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice said leader Nigel Farage’s relationship with former US president Donald Trump was “to the benefit of this country”.

Mr Farage has visited the US three times since being elected as the MP for Clacton, including attending the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.

Mr Tice said that “as a leader of a party that is now becoming mainstream, international affairs, our relationship with our most important, strategic international partner – the US – is very important and the world will be a safer place if Donald Trump wins the presidential election”.

Nigel Farage has promised that Reform UK will “be vetting candidates rigorously at all levels” in future as he delivered his keynote speech to the party’s conference in Birmingham.

Mr Farage said the party had no “time or room” for “a few extremists to wreck the work of a party that now has 80,000 members”.

Reform UK reportedly had to remove more than 100 general election candidates since the start of the year, more than a dozen of whom were sacked after offensive and racist comments were revealed.

They included these three, suspended over their remarks: