Connect with us

Published

on

Hecklers have interrupted the chancellor’s speech at the Labour conference as they appeared to call for a halt to arms sales to Israel and for action on the environment.

Rachel Reeves was telling the conference in Liverpool how proud she was to be the UK’s first-ever female chancellor when shouting came from the hall.

Follow live updates from Labour conference

A young man in the middle of the audience stood up and could be heard shouting: “We are still selling arms to Israel, I thought we voted for change Rachel, climate breakdown is on our doorstep.”

Others shouted: “Free Palestine.”

Shouts of “stop oil” were also heard from around the audience.

Another man in front of the first heckler appeared to be trying to roll out a banner but an audience member in front of him grabbed it.

Security guards in the hall ran to the men and bundled them out quickly as the audience booed and shouted “down, down”.

Protestor during Rachel Reeves speech
Image:
The protester was from Climate Resistance

Ms Reeves appeared stony-faced as she responded by declaring Labour has become “a party that represents working people, not a party of protest”.

She was cheered by the audience, who gave her a standing ovation.

Campaign group Climate Resistance has claimed responsibility for the protest and accused security of “violently” apprehending one of their protesters.

A statement from the group said campaigners argue “donations from polluting industries and Israel lobbyists to Labour are to blame for the government’s inaction”.

Earlier this month, the government suspended 30 out of 350 arms export licences to Israel.

They said three of their members, who are also Labour Party members, were arrested and questioned by police for 30 minutes before being driven away from the venue and “de-arrested”.

Rachel Reeves
Image:
Rachel Reeves was heckled during her speech

Follow Sky News on WhatsApp
Follow Sky News on WhatsApp

Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News

Tap here

‘No return to austerity’

The heckling lasted just a few moments and Ms Reeves continued with her speech, in which she attempted to strike a more optimistic tone than the months of doom and gloom from her and Sir Keir Starmer about the UK’s economy.

She said: “Because I know how much damage has been done in those 14 years, let me say one thing straight up: there will be no return to austerity. Conservative austerity was a destructive choice for our public services and for investment and growth too.

“Yes, we must deal with the Tory legacy and that means tough decisions but I won’t let that dim our ambition for Britain.

“So it will be a budget with real ambition, a budget to fix the foundations, a budget to deliver the change that we promised, a budget to rebuild Britain.”

The autumn budget will take place on 30 October, with the chancellor expected to impose some tax rises.

Read more:
Nurses reject government’s 5.5% pay rise offer

Chancellor promises to bring investment to boost living standards

Speech’s only policy surprise was breakfast club pilot

Ms Reeves used her conference speech to announce £7m of funding for a pilot scheme to introduce breakfast clubs to 750 primary schools across England this summer term.

The government will then look to expand the scheme to provide breakfast to all state school pupils aged four to 11 in England – one of Labour’s manifesto pledges. The pilot will be used to find out the best way of rolling out the policy.

Pic: iStock
Image:
Rachel Reeves announced a breakfast club rollout. Pic: iStock

The chancellor said it is “an investment in our young people, an investment in reducing child poverty and investment in our economy”.

“I will judge my time in office a success if I know that at the end of it, there are working class kids from ordinary backgrounds who lead richer lives, their horizons expanded, able to achieve and to thrive,” she added.

About 12% of state schools in England already offer a taxpayer-subsidised breakfast club for schools with at least 40% of pupils from income-deprived areas through the National School Breakfast Club Programme (NSBP). But this funding ends in July 2025.

Continue Reading

Politics

5 countries where crypto is (surprisingly) tax-free in 2025

Published

on

By

5 countries where crypto is (surprisingly) tax-free in 2025

5 countries where crypto is (surprisingly) tax-free in 2025

Looking to live tax-free with crypto in 2025? These five countries, including the Cayman Islands, UAE and Germany, still offer legal, zero-tax treatment for cryptocurrencies.

Continue Reading

Politics

Children with special needs will ‘always’ have ‘legal right’ to support, education secretary says

Published

on

By

Children with special needs will 'always' have 'legal right' to support, education secretary says

The education secretary has said children with special needs will “always” have a legal right to additional support as she sought to quell a looming row over potential cuts.

The government is facing a potential repeat of the debacle over welfare reform due to suggestions it could scrap tailored plans for children and young people with special needs in the classroom.

Politics latest: Minister says ‘those with broadest shoulders should pay more tax’

Speaking in the Commons on Monday, Bridget Phillipson failed to rule out abolishing education, health and care plans (EHCPs) – legally-binding plans to ensure children and young people receive bespoke support in either mainstream or specialist schools.

Laura Trott, the shadow education secretary, said parents’ anxiety was “through the roof” following reports over the weekend that EHCPs could be scrapped.

She said parents “need and deserve answers” and asked: “Can she confirm that no parent or child will have their right to support reduced, replaced or removed as a result of her planned changes?”

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Sophy’s thought on whether to scrap EHCPs

Ms Phillipson said SEND provision was a “serious and complex area” and that the government’s plans would be set out in a white paper that would be published later in the year.

More on Education

“I would say to all parents of children with SEND, there is no responsibility I take more seriously than our responsibility to some of the most vulnerable children in our country,” she said.

“We will ensure, as a government, that children get better access to more support, strengthened support, with a much sharper focus on early intervention.”

ECHPs are drawn up by local councils and are available to children and young people aged up to 25 who need more support than is provided by the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) budget.

They identify educational, health and social needs and set out the additional support to meet those needs.

In total, there were 638,745 EHCPs in place in January 2025 – up 10.8% on the same point last year.

‘Rebel ready’

One Labour MP said they were concerned the government risked making the “same mistakes” over ECHPs as it did with the row over welfare, when it was eventually forced into a humiliating climbdown in the face of opposition by Labour MPs.

“The political risk is much higher even than with welfare, and I’m worried it’s being driven by a need to save money which it shouldn’t be,” they told Sky News.

“Some colleagues are rebel ready.”

The MP said the government should be “charting a transition from where we are now to where we need to be”, adding: “That may well be a future without ECHPs, because there is mainstream capacity – but that cannot be a removal of current provision.”

Later in the debate, Ms Phillipson said children with special educational needs and disabilities would “always” have a “legal right” to additional support as she accused a Conservative MP of attempting to “scare” parents.

“The guiding principle of any reform to the SEND system that we will set out will be about better support for children, strengthened support for children and improved support for children, both inside and outside of special schools,” she said.

Read more:
Government to ban ‘appalling’ non-disclosure agreements
Government declines to rule out wealth tax

“Improved inclusivity in mainstream schools, more specialist provision in mainstream schools, and absolutely drawing on the expertise of the specialist sector in creating the places where we need them, there will always be a legal right … to the additional support… that children with SEND need.”

Her words were echoed by schools minister Catherine McKinnell, who also did not rule out changing ECHPs.

She told the Politics Hub With Sophy Ridge that the government was “focused on reforming the whole system”.

“Children and families have been left in a system where they’ve had to fight for their child’s education, and that has to change,” she said.

She added that EHCPs have not necessarily “fixed the situation” for some children – but for others it’s “really important”.

Continue Reading

Politics

Government to ban ‘appalling’ non-disclosure agreements that silence victims of abuse at work

Published

on

By

Government to ban 'appalling' non-disclosure agreements that silence victims of abuse at work

Victims will no longer have to “suffer in silence”, the government has said, as it pledges to ban non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) designed to silence staff who’ve suffered harassment or discrimination.

Accusers of Harvey Weinstein, the former film producer and convicted sex offender, are among many in recent years who had to breach such agreements in order to speak out.

Labour has suggested an extra section in the Employment Rights Bill that would void NDAs that are intended to stop employees going public about harassment or discrimination.

The government said this would allow victims to come forward about their situation rather than remain “stuck in unwanted situations, through fear or desperation”.

Zelda Perkins, former assistant to Harvey Weinstein, led the calls for wrongful NDAs to be banned. Pic: Reuters
Image:
Zelda Perkins, former assistant to Harvey Weinstein, led the calls for wrongful NDAs to be banned. Pic: Reuters

Zelda Perkins, Weinstein’s former assistant and founder of Can’t Buy My Silence UK, said the changes would mark a “huge milestone” in combatting the “abuse of power”.

She added: “This victory belongs to the people who broke their NDAs, who risked everything to speak the truth when they were told they couldn’t. Without their courage, none of this would be happening.”

Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner said the government had “heard the calls from victims of harassment and discrimination” and was taking action to prevent people from having to “suffer in silence”.

More from UK

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Weinstein found guilty of sex crime in retrial

An NDA is a broad term that describes any agreement that restricts what a signatory can say about something and was originally intended to protect commercially sensitive information.

Currently, a business can take an employee to court and seek compensation if they think a NDA has been broken – even if that person is a victim or witness of harassment or discrimination.

“Many high profile cases” have revealed NDAs are being manipulated to prevent people “speaking out about horrific experiences in the workplace”, the government said.

Announcing the amendments, employment minister Justin Madders said: “The misuse of NDAs to silence victims of harassment or discrimination is an appalling practice that this government has been determined to end.”

The bill is currently in the House of Lords, where it will be debated on 14 July, before going on to be discussed by MPs as well.

Continue Reading

Trending