Eighty days into government after a landslide election win, Sir Keir Starmer came to Liverpool as the first Labour prime minister in 15 years to address conference.
It should have been a joyous victory lap, but instead this is a PM already stumbling, wrong-footed by a row over the amount of freebies he took as leader of the opposition, and dysfunction in Number 10.
Politics latest: PM laughs off heckler as he defends winter fuel cut
A year ago in the very same conference hall, Sir Keir was being cheered on stage almost like a rock star, with staffers nearly in tears as their leader made his pitch to become prime minister.
And while the reception was still very warm as he delivered his speech on Tuesday, the country is fast cooling on their new leader.
The hope – and hunger – on display at last year’s conference when Labour were on the cusp of power, and Sir Keir was riding high in the polls, has given way to the hard reality of governing.
New polling by Opinium reveals that the prime minister’s approval rating has dropped 45 points to -26 since he became the country’s leader. It now makes him – by a point – less popular than his predecessor Rishi Sunak.
Meanwhile, the row over the prime minister taking free clothes, holidays and tickets to football matches and concerts has also cut through, with two-thirds of people in a recent YouGov poll saying it was wrong to do it.
So his task at conference was to try to get his “mission-led” government back on track and try to convey the purpose of the short-term pain he is warning us all about.
It was a speech of three parts.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Starmer: ‘Light at the end of the tunnel’
The first was to convey the “change begins” message by running through some of the measures his new government have put in train – from setting up a new border security command to beginning planning reforms or launching Great British Energy to invest in renewable power.
The second was to “fix the foundations” as he explained the “tough decisions” he was making, and acknowledging the decision to cut winter fuel allowance had driven concern. His message was consistent to that in the election and immediate aftermath – change will take time and “it will be hard”.
The third element was to try to inject some sense of where the country could end up.
He told the audience: “The truth is that if we take long-term decisions now, if we stick to the driving purpose behind everything we do – higher economic growth, so living standards rise in every community; our NHS facing the future – waiting lists at your hospital down; safer streets in your community; stronger borders; more opportunities for your children; clean British energy power in your home – then that light at the end of this tunnel, that Britain belongs to you, we get there much more quickly.”
Read more:
Student heckler says Starmer won’t ‘lift a finger’ over Gaza
Who is Labour peer behind donation row?
Analysis: Could higher borrowing give chancellor her vision?
This was another Starmer speech brimming with rhetoric around “national renewal” and a government “in the service of working people”. But for his massive majority, the announcements in this speech were modest.
When this government says “change begins”, the word “begins” is doing a lot of heavy lifting.
Insiders tell me that the inheritance from the Conservatives was much worse than they thought, the chancellor is finding her job much more difficult than she expected, and improvements to public services will be coming at the end of the parliament.
But while the public might have sympathy for that, where the leadership seems to be falling down is on the culture change that Sir Keir promised when he was leader of the opposition.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
‘Describe Starmer’s speech in one word?’
His was to be a government of service. He was going to restore trust in politics. He was going to heal the “wounds of trust” between voters and those who govern.
On this, Starmer has struggled, as the message discipline and slickness of the leadership campaign gives way to infighting and rows over freebies.
Away from the podium speeches and around the fringes of this conference, in a late night bar or over a quiet coffee, the mood is defensive and a little deflated.
There is private admission from senior ministers and staffers that the PM has got into a mess over the “free gear Keir” row.
Two figures tell me that it should have been shut down earlier and more emphatically, instead of running over the weekend into conference.
“We should have killed it off, it looks bad,” said one senior government figure.
Another expressed frustration that the government had gone off message and Downing Street didn’t clean it up quickly enough, with the headlines over donations kick starting the conference, adding: “We need to get back to the missions.”
One figure told me Starmer had been “upset” by all of it, particularly as it has brought his wife Victoria into the spotlight.
You can only imagine the frustration he must privately be feeling as he comes into the first conference in 15 years where Labour are in power on the backfoot, with his ratings falling and public opprobrium just weeks after delivering a landslide.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
PM needs to ‘lift’ conference
There is also unhappiness around the Number 10 leaks. On the side-lines, political operatives are whispering about the fury felt among many of the backroom special advisers who are seeing their pay cut as they move into government, while Sue Gray’s pay rise puts her on more than the prime minister.
“The advisers hate Sue Gray,” is how one figure put it.
It is a huge frustration to Starmer, who I am told highly values her advice.
Cabinet ministers also speak highly of Ms Gray in private. One told me: “On the machinery of government, she’s really helpful linking up different departments and cabinet ministers and helping us work out how it is done.”
Those who know the PM well say that Ms Gray is not going anywhere, and that the task after this conference will be to get the barnacles off the boat and focus relentlessly again on the missions.
Sir Keir wanted to lift voters’ eyes back to the horizon and “the light at the end of the tunnel” in his first conference as prime minister.
But instead he is personally weighed down by his promise to do things differently and his decision to take over £107,000 in freebies in the last parliament.
It’s hard to sell a message of “change begins” when there are questions about whether your actions match your words.
UK
Family of man who committed murder after escaping from mental health unit say they were ‘failed’ by NHS trust
The family of a man who committed murder during an escape from a secure mental health unit have told Sky News they were “failed” by the trust that was meant to be caring for him.
Joshua Carroll is currently waiting to be sentenced for the murder of Headley Thomas, known as Barry, after beating him to death in a park in Trafford, Manchester, in September 2022.
At the time of the attack, Joshua was in the care of Greater Manchester Mental Health Trust (GMMH). He was being treated as an inpatient at Park House, a unit which has now closed down.
Joshua’s mum and sister say he escaped from the unit 21 times – and they repeatedly complained to the trust and asked for help.
Headley Thomas, who was known as Barry
Leanne Carroll, Joshua’s sister, told Sky News: “The night it happened, Joshua had come to my house. And it was just a normal ‘oh Joshua has escaped from hospital again’. Nothing appeared any different.”
She says they didn’t find out about what had happened until Joshua was arrested weeks later – and “everything fell apart from there”.
Julie and Leanne Carroll
“My heart broke,” said Joshua’s mum, Julie Carroll. “It’s just a horrible, horrible situation.”
Joshua had been diagnosed with conditions including schizoaffective disorder, and had been in and out of inpatient care for around 15 years, his family said.
They showed me more than 20 pages of complaints and responses from GMMH about his repeated escapes, dating back eight years before the murder.
After Joshua’s fourth escape from Park House, his family asked for him to be moved to another unit, saying they were concerned about security.
This didn’t happen, with the trust citing capacity issues. His family complained once again about his escapes just five weeks before the murder, in August 2022.
“We are very, very angry and disappointed,” said Julie. “You think if your child is in hospital, and they are very poorly, that they are going to be looked after – they will be safe and they will be secure. But that wasn’t the case for Josh.”
Julie Carroll says her “heart broke” after her son’s crime came to light
Although Joshua was convicted of murder, Leanne says his family hold GMMH partly responsible.
“If you had done your job properly – none of this would have happened,” she said. “Two families wouldn’t have been destroyed and so many hearts wouldn’t have been broken.”
Since 2022, GMMH has been served with several Section 29A warning notices by the Care Quality Commission. These are issued when the commission decides a service needs to make significant improvements, and there is a risk of harm.
In the case of GMMH, their concerns included “ward security systems not consistently keeping people safe”.
Dr John Mulligan is a clinical psychologist for GMMH, working in the community for the early intervention in psychosis service, and a representative for the union Unite.
Dr John Mulligan
He and his colleagues have been going on strike repeatedly across the past seven months, saying they just don’t have the staffing levels they need to keep people safe.
“Thankfully, violent incidents among our service users are quite rare, they are much more likely to be the victims of violence and aggression,” he said. “But serious incidents are happening regularly. Far too regularly.
“It’s very upsetting for staff and for patients and families.”
Joshua Carroll . Pic: Greater Manchester Police
Salli Midgley, chief nurse at the Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust said: “On behalf of GMMH, we express our heartfelt condolences to Headley Thomas’s loved ones at this very sad time.
“Our thoughts and sympathies remain with everyone who has been affected by this most devastating incident. We are deeply sorry that it happened while Joshua Carroll was under our care.
“Under the trust’s new leadership, we have been working closely with NHS England, our commissioners and the CQC to create better, safer and well-led services for all.”
The Carroll family asked for Joshua to be moved to a different unit after his escapes
She continued: “A huge amount of progress has already been made but we know we still have a lot to do to improve our services.
“As part of this work, we are currently carrying out an in-depth investigation into the care and treatment provided to Mr Carroll, and the circumstances leading to Mr Thomas’ death, the findings of which will be shared with NHS England.
“We are unable to comment further on this case whilst the investigation is ongoing.”
Barry Thomas’s family told Sky News mental health is a very serious issue – but they believe Joshua Carroll tried to “play down his actions”.
They said: “Let’s all remember that a life was taken. Our brother, father, and uncle. The evidence the police gathered was in plain sight for all to see.
“We, the family, would like to thank all the police involved for the work they have done, in bringing justice for Barry.”
UK
Hashem Abedi: Manchester bomb plotter moved back to Belmarsh prison after guards attacked in jail in Durham
The Manchester Arena bomb plotter Hashem Abedi has been moved back to Belmarsh prison after an alleged attack at HMP Frankland on Saturday.
Three prison officers at the high-security jail in County Durham were attacked with cooking oil before being stabbed with an improvised weapon.
Abedi has been transferred to Belmarsh prison in southeast London where he’d previously been found guilty of attacking a prison officer in 2020, along with two other convicted terrorists.
Belmarsh is considered the most high-security prison in the UK.
Abedi has been moved to the only available highly-controlled ‘suite’ cell in the country – a standalone self-contained unit monitored by a minimum of five people at any one time, and a prison dog.
There are only four such cells across England and Wales.
Abedi was convicted of assisting the Manchester terror plot, in which his brother Salman Abedi killed himself and 22 other people by detonating a bomb in a rucksack at an Ariana Grande concert in May 2017.
Hashem Abedi was sentenced in 2020 to at least 55 years in prison after being found guilty of 22 counts of murder over the atrocity.
Salman Abedi before the concert attack. File pic: PA
Meanwhile, the government has said it will commission a review into the incident at HMP Frankland, after suspending access to cooking facilities in separation units, which is where the alleged attack took place.
Sky News understands the Prison Officers Association, after visiting staff who were on duty at the category A jail this week, have written to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer calling for urgent action in order to protect prison staff in the high-security estate.
The union wants to see prison officers working there given stab-proof vests, access to tasers in certain situations, and not just a suspension of self cooking facilities in separation units but a full ban.
Separation units house the country’s most dangerous and violent criminals.
Read more from Sky News:
‘Likely’ British Steel will be nationalised, says business secretary
Ukrainian forces ‘strike Russian brigade’ behind Sumy missile attack
Belmarsh prison in southeast London. File pic: PA
There have been a series of violent attacks across prisons in England and Wales, only days apart.
On Sunday, convicted killer John Mansfield was found dead at a category A prison, HMP Whitemoor, in Cambridgeshire. Police said they arrested a 44-year-old man on suspicion of murder.
Sky News also understands there was an incident on Tuesday lunchtime at HMP Lowdham Grange in Nottinghamshire.
A specialist ‘response group’ consisting of officers from outside the prison were deployed to bring the situation under control, along with a ‘hostage’ situation, while prisoners climbed on the roof and netting. The situation was brought under control within an hour.
Prisons minister Lord Timpson said it was “another sign of the problems we are facing in our prison with prisons that are overcrowded and violent”.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway