UK politics live: Further poll boost for Labour as its conference begins

Labour has already made three policy announcements at this conference, before the main proceedings have already started. They are:

۱) A revived version of “help-to-buy”, called “Your First Home”. (See ۸.۳۹am.) In a note explaining the policy, Labour says:

A new equity loan scheme to help first-time buyers to purchase new build homes will be set out by the chancellor at the budget next month, with pre-registration open by the end of ۲۰۲۶.

Support will be targeted to help those without access to the ‘bank of mum and dad’ to get on the housing ladder to buy a modest new build home.

The ‘Your First Home’ equity loan scheme will be open to first-time buyers with just a ۲.۵% deposit.

It will provide a ۲۰% equity loan to help first-time buyers buy a new build home, with an initial interest-free period to ensure housing costs are affordable.

The scheme will be funded by reprioritising existing government budgets.

Developers will also contribute to the running costs of the scheme, which will give industry confidence to bring forward much-needed, high-quality new homes across the country.

۲) Guaranteed jobs for out-of-work young people with disabilities and health conditions. This was announced yesterday, as an extension of the existing jobs guarantee programme. Labour said:

Under the scheme, eligible young people on health benefits will be offered a guaranteed job on a voluntary basis just three months after their work capability assessment.

They will receive mentoring and tailored support with their mental health, finances and housing to prepare them for work from partner organisations, while employers will be supported with onboarding costs.

The government will also cover ۱۰۰% of wage costs for up to ۲۵ hours a week for six months.

The move marks a significant expansion of the jobs guarantee, a government scheme launched earlier this year for long-term unemployed young people aged ۱۸-۲۴ who have been claiming universal credit for ۱۸ months.

The expansion to young people on health benefits after just ۱۳ weeks, will start from April ۲۰۲۷.

۳) Giving councils in England stronger powers to take over empty homes. Announcing this move this morning, Labour said:

Empty Dwelling Management Orders (EDMOs) allow councils to take over the management of long-term empty homes and bring them back into occupation for an initial period of ۱۲ months, up to a total of ۸ years, but no applications have been made since ۲۰۲۱.

In the English devolution white paper, the government committed to strengthen local authority powers to take over management of empty properties.

Ministers are today announcing that they will reverse damaging changes made in ۲۰۱۲ by the Tories during the coalition government by:

-reducing the period a property must be empty before it becomes eligible for an EDMO from two years to six months, to prevent homes from falling into serious disrepair and accelerating their return to use.

-removing the evidential requirements for local authorities to provide the residential property tribunal, simplifying the process and empowering local authority empty homes officers to act more decisively and with greater speed.

-exploring further changes to protect local authorities from absorbing the costs they face managing homes subject to EDMOs.

Andy Burnham has announced a new help-to-buy scheme aimed at helping first-time buyers who cannot rely on the “bank of mum and dad”, Pippa Crerar reports.

Good morning, and welcome to coverage of the Labour party conference. Or the Hope Again conference, as it is being billed here in Liverpool.

As a good Catholic, Andy Burnham (probably) believes in the resurrection and, since he has become prime minister, his party has certainly staged a miraculous recovery. When it met in this city a year ago (at a conference which ended with Burnham’s leadership ambitions becoming the subject of mild mockery from the Starmerites, and much of the media), Labour was about ۱۰ points behind Reform UK and Nigel Farage seemed on course to become prime minister. That is not true any more. On Thursday two MRP polls showed that, with Burnham as Labour leader, Reform UK has suffered a huge setback. More in Common has another out this morning. “More in Common’s latest MRP projects Labour on ۲۵۰ seats and Reform on ۱۴۷, a sharp reversal from July’s projection of Reform ۲۹۳ and Labour ۱۱۰,” it says.

But what next? That is what the next four days may (or may not) clarify.

Burnham has given an interview to the Guardian’s political editor, Pippa Crerar, and he told her that he wants to show the public that he is willing to take “difficult but real decisions”. Burnham said:

I think the public want to see, number one, honesty about things. So not spin or putting things a certain way that’s self-serving. They want honesty, and then they want, I think, difficult but real decisions.

Not difficult decisions and making a fetish out of that, but actually grasping nettles and then moving things forward. I don’t think politics has been prepared to do that enough in recent times.

Burnham said he would show that he was willing to take these decisions.

Always in politics, there are things that you can do. The question is sometimes: Are you prepared to do them? Yeah, I am prepared to do them.

What all those things are, sadly Burnham didn’t tell Pippa. We will find out on Tuesday afternoon, when he delivers his conference speech. But he has an interview with the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg coming up soon, and we might learn a bit more from that.

Here is the agenda for the day.

۸.۳۰am: Angela Rayner, the housing secretary, is interviewed on Sky’s Sunday Morning with Kate McCann.

۹am: Andy Burnham is interviewed on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg.

۱۱.۲۰am: The Labour conference formally opens in Liverpool.

۱۲.۳۰pm: Lucy Powell, the Labour deputy leader and education secretary, addresses the conference. The other main speakers are Louise Haigh, the first secretary of state, at ۲pm, and Pat McFadden, the work and pensions secretary, at ۳.۱۵pm.

۳.۱۵pm: Wes Streeting, the defence secretary, speaks at a New Statesman in conversation fringe event. Other fringe events include Kanishka Narayan, the AI minister, speaking on preparing workers for AI at ۳.۳۰pm; a LabourList rally where Ed Miliband, the foreign secretary, Streeting, and Angela Rayner are due to speak at ۴.۳۰pm; and an IPPR in conversation event with Louise Haigh at ۴.۳۰pm. You can read the full conference timetable here.

Also, at some point this afternoon Burnham is due to meet his Norwegian counterpart Jonas Gahr Støre.

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