‘Farage says go home, I say you are home' – Streeting praises foreign health staff as he calls Reform UK ‘disaster' for NHS
Wes Streeting, the health secretary, told LBC this morning that Reform UK’s plan to rescind indefinite leave to remain as an immigration status, including from people who have already been told they can remain in Britain for good, would be a “disaster” for the NHS.
Asked what impact it would have, he said:
It would be a disaster.
There are doctors, nurses, care workers, NHS staff earning less than £60,000 a year, who have come to this country, who have given back, not just through their taxes, but through their service to our country.
If we were to send those people back, I think that would be a disaster.
And my message that I’m giving in my speech Labour party conference today is, to those of you listening who are in that situation, who are fearing for your future now in the way that you weren’t some weeks ago, [Nigel] Farage says ‘go home’, I say ‘you are home’, and I’m grateful for the service that you give to our national health service, to our social care system and to our country.
Streeting also said that Reform UK posed another threat to the NHS, because Farage has in the past expressed support for the idea of moving to an insurance-based health system. He went on:
That’s a system that would check your pockets before your pulse. That’s a system that could ask for your credit card before you get your care.
That’s not a future I think people in this country want. And I think if more people knew about Reform’s policies on the NHS, the less confident they would be.
Streeting also said he was “shocked” by Farage’s disregard for science.
When Nigel Farage was asked in the context of that row about paracetamol, and whether or not it posed a risk to pregnant women and their children, despite what all of the medical science and all of our doctors were saying, when he was asked whose side he was on, he said, ‘I don’t have a side.’
Well, that’s not someone I think should be trusted with healthcare in our country.
And the fact that he chose to give a platform at his conference to someone who said the Covid vaccine gave the royal family cancer says you can’t trust this man with your health.
Streeting ended with a personal jibe.
If that’s the sort of health advice Nigel Farage is taking, maybe that’s why he’s the same age as Brad Pitt but looks 20 years older.
Key events
Heidi Alexander says she's ‘fully committed' to Northern Powerhouse Rail – but defends taking time to get it right
Last week the BBC reported that plans for Northern Powerhouse Rail had been yet again delayed. In his story, Faisal Islam said the government remained committed to the plan for a new rail line between Liverpool and Manchester, but that extensive “tyre kicking” was holding the plan back because Treasury ministers do not want to commit to the plan until they are sure it is viable. Islam quoted a source close to Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, saying: “Any more tyre kicking and there will be no tyre left.”
In her speech to the conference this morning Heidi Alexander, the transport secretary, in effect confirmed the BBC story.
So let me be absolutely clear: this government is fully committed to Northern Powerhouse Rail.
But what we won’t do, conference, is repeat the mistakes of the past, where governments made promises with no plan to deliver them.
New infrastructure will be the physical embodiment of our ambition.
But we need to get the basics right too.
In the first 12 months of this government, we passed our landmark Public Ownership Act, took South Western and c2c into public hands, with Greater Anglia to follow in just two weeks’ time.
In February, West Midlands Trains will be next, with Thameslink, Chiltern, and Great Western to follow.
At that point more than half of the rail network will be publicly owned.
So working with our brilliant Labour mayors we will:
Expand the Tyne & Wear Metro to Washington; extend the tram to East Birmingham; and bring a rapid transit system to Liverpool.
We’ll build new stations at Portishead and Pill in the West Country, reopen Haxby Station on the outskirts of York, and improve rail, road and bus connections in the East Midlands.
We’ll fund zero-emission buses in Greater Manchester; a new fleet of trams for South Yorkshire, and new Piccadilly and Elizabeth Line trains for London.
And, Tracy, we will end the scandal of Leeds being the largest city in Europe without a metro, and we will build mass transit for West Yorkshire.
Benn tells activists to ‘be of good heart and good cheer', saying past Labour governments have got through ‘tough times' too
Sometimes party conference speeches are just about cheering members up. Aged 71, Hilary Benn is the oldest member of the cabinet, and a third-generation minister. (His father and grandfather were both cabinet ministers.) As such he is the person best placed to tell Labour conference that things have been this bad, or worse, in the past. And he did it in his speech, saying:
Everything that is worthwhile involves effort, determination and never, ever giving up.
After all, just remember from whence we have come.
1945. Clem Attlee.
Debt was well over 200% of GDP … rationing continued after the war … there was an energy crisis … the freezing cold winter of 1947… and yet that Labour government created the National Health Service, legislated to preserve beauty for posterity through the National Parks Act and helped to establish Nato, which to this day remains the bedrock of our security.
1964 … Harold Wilson’s great victory and a Labour government that changed society for the better … the first Sex and Race Equality legislation …. the abolition of capital punishment …..Equal Pay ….. the Open University that has given so many people – so many people – the opportunity to bring out the talent that is within each of us to illuminate our world.
Go forward to 1997. Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. So, so much achieved including that Good Friday agreement.
And now the government of 2024 and our prime minister, Keir Starmer.
We know that we are – once again – living in tough and difficult times but our history teaches us that we have succeeded before and we will, conference, do so again …
So, conference be of good heart and be of good cheer.
Because believe you me, in the years to come people will too say of this government that we changed the country for the better so that a brighter future might be bequeathed to those will come after us.
Farage's plan to leave ECHR would undermine Good Friday agreement, Hilary Benn says
Hilary Benn, the Northern Ireland secretary, also mentioned Tony Blair and the Good Friday agreement this morning (see 10.22am), in his speech to the conference. He brought it up in a passage attacking Reform UK.
Conference, the Good Friday agreement enabled Northern Ireland to move away from the bloody and brutal trauma of the Troubles towards peace and progress.
It was – without doubt – the greatest achievement of the last Labour government.
It took courage. It took patient negotiation.
And yet what does Nigel Farage want to do? He actually wants to undermine the Good Friday agreement by walking away from the European convention on human rights.
And after all that the people of Northern Ireland have been through, I cannot think of anything more irresponsible.
It’s wrong, it’s reckless and we have got to make sure that it never, ever happens.
Unison welcomes £500m commitment to fair pay agreement for care workers, but says ‘substantially more' needed
Unison, a leading health union, has welcomed today’s announcement that the government is committing £500m towards its plan for a fair pay agreement for adult care workers, but it says “substantially more” will be needed.
In a statement, Christina McAnea, the Unison general secretary, said:
The best way to begin getting a grip on this complex, fragmented sector in crisis is to improve wages through a fair pay agreement, backed by proper funding.
The higher wages that result will help make staff feel more valued, boost recruitment and encourage care workers to stay in their jobs for longer.
The funding announced is a start, but substantially more will be needed to deliver the national care service the public deserves.
In its announcement, the Department of Health and Social Care says:
A new body to negotiate changes to pay and terms and conditions for care workers will be set up including both employers and trade unions.
The body will aim to improve recruitment and retention, giving staff better recognition for their important work and this initial investment will mean that by 2028, care workers will expect to see a boost in their yearly wages.
The cash injection follows the government’s immediate actions to boost the social care sector, including a £2,000 uplift in the carers’ allowance and an increase in the Disabled Facilities Grant to provide 15,000 more home adaptations.
A public consultation to gather views on the design of the Fair Pay Agreement process has also been launched today by government.
Following this, the Adult Social Care Negotiating Body will be established through regulations in 2026 – with the first Fair Pay Agreement coming into force in 2028.
Tony Blair's record in Northern Ireland shows he could play positive role in Gaza, says Streeting
Wes Streeting, the health secretary, has said that Tony Blair could play a positive role in Gaza helping to lead the administration there proposed under Donald Trump’s peace plan.
In an interview on LBC, Streeting said that Blair’s decision to involve the UK in the Iraq war was “a catastrophic error” that had “devasting consequences”. He said that he personally opposed it at the time.
But Streeting said Blair’s record in Northern Ireland, where he negotiated the Good Friday agreement, showed that he could be a positive force. He said:
I also think about Tony Blair’s other legacy, great legacy, which is Northern Ireland, and there he showed that he could bring together sworn enemies to broker a lasting peace.
So if Tony Blair can put those skills to use, if he’s got the confidence of both the Israelis, the Palestinians, and the regional players, as seems to be the case, then great. If he can make that contribution, and that can be another legacy, a positive legacy under his belt, then so much the better.
Other parties are less enthusiastic. Last week, when it was reported that Trump’s plan would include a role for Blair running Gaza, the SNP described this as a “sick joke” and urged Keir Starmer to oppose it.
As Starmer offers ‘patriotic renewal', Ed Balls says ‘I've no idea what that means'
Wes Streeting, the health secretary, was interviewed on ITV’s Good Morning Britain by its presenters Susanna Reid and Ed Balls. Balls, who was a leading Labour politician before he chose a career in TV, said the problem for the party was that Keir Starmer was offering “the politics of patriotic renewal”. Balls went on: “I’ve got to say, I’ve no idea what that means.”
In response, Streeting said that Starmer would be setting out a vision in his speech, but that it was important “people don’t just hear that or see it, but actually feel it in terms of their own pockets, in terms of their livelihoods, the opportunities for their kids, the NHS being there for them when they need it”.
Labour delegates urged to be ‘vigilant' about possible disruption ahead of Starmer's speech
Labour activists and delegates in Liverpool have been urged to be “vigilant” by the party’s conference arrangements committee chair ahead of Keir Starmer’s speech later, PA Media reports. PA says:
Lynne Morris made the announcement as she opened the third day of the conference, and following a one-man pro-Palestine protest during Rachel Reeves’s speech on Monday.
Morris said: “In order to deliver a safe conference, we would ask you to be vigilant and to report any concerns you have to a member of staff or steward immediately.
“If there is someone sitting with you in your delegation or in a seat near to you that you do not recognise, or that are concerned about in any way, please inform the regional, Scottish or Welsh teams.”
Streeting hits out at BMA, saying if it continues to block Labour NHS reforms, it could let in Reform UK
Just as MPs who become home secretary end up becoming more authoritarian, people appointed health secretary almost invariably end up disliking the BMA. In an interview with GB News, Wes Streeting accused the BMA of holding the NHS back.
Referring to BMA objections to a new system giving patients online access to GP appointments, Streeting said:
I think the BMA are letting the side down, to be honest, because they’re giving people the impression that GPs are opposed to online access. Actually, loads of GPs are already doing it, we just want to make sure it’s happening everywhere.
They’ve got to work with us, not against this. It’s been, it’s been a running theme of my first year as health and social care secretary that the BMA kick off from one week to the next, and I’d rather we work together as partners. I really, I really do.
The alternative is, we either get the NHS back on its feet with a Labour government and we’ll be proud of that achievement for years to come, or if the BMA hold us back and the forces of conservatism win, there’ll be a Reform government with Nigel Farage, who doesn’t believe in the NHS …
That’s not a future I want to see, but that is going to be the choice of the next general election, and there isn’t a more pro-NHS, more pro-doctor, pro-patient, health secretary or government waiting in the wings.
Streeting says NHS body that issued advice saying first-cousin marriages have some benefits was wrong and should apologise
Wes Streeting, the health secretary, has said an NHS organisation was wrong to describe first-cousin marriages as having benefits.
As the Mail on Sunday revealed at the weekend, NHS England’s Genomics Education Programme has issued guidance saying, although first-cousin marriage carries an increased risk of children being born with a genetic condition, it offers benefits including “stronger extended family support systems and economic advantages (resources, property and inheritance can be consolidated rather than diluted across households)”.
In his LBC interview, Streeting said the Genomics Education Programme should apologise for saying this. He said:
The first I heard of this was when I saw that report, I asked immediately, ‘What on earth is going on here and what are they playing at?’
The advice has been taken down but why was it ever there in the first place?
The medical science and evidence is clear.
First-cousin marriages are high risk and unsafe, we see the genetic defects it causes, the harm that it causes.
That’s why that advice should never have been published.
Asked whether he thinks there should be an apology for publishing the guidance, he said: “Yeah, I do think that.”
The Conservative MP Richard Holden is pushing for legislation to ban first-cousin marriages in the UK, but the government has not backed this.
‘Farage says go home, I say you are home' – Streeting praises foreign health staff as he calls Reform UK ‘disaster' for NHS
Wes Streeting, the health secretary, told LBC this morning that Reform UK’s plan to rescind indefinite leave to remain as an immigration status, including from people who have already been told they can remain in Britain for good, would be a “disaster” for the NHS.
Asked what impact it would have, he said:
It would be a disaster.
There are doctors, nurses, care workers, NHS staff earning less than £60,000 a year, who have come to this country, who have given back, not just through their taxes, but through their service to our country.
If we were to send those people back, I think that would be a disaster.
And my message that I’m giving in my speech Labour party conference today is, to those of you listening who are in that situation, who are fearing for your future now in the way that you weren’t some weeks ago, [Nigel] Farage says ‘go home’, I say ‘you are home’, and I’m grateful for the service that you give to our national health service, to our social care system and to our country.
Streeting also said that Reform UK posed another threat to the NHS, because Farage has in the past expressed support for the idea of moving to an insurance-based health system. He went on:
That’s a system that would check your pockets before your pulse. That’s a system that could ask for your credit card before you get your care.
That’s not a future I think people in this country want. And I think if more people knew about Reform’s policies on the NHS, the less confident they would be.
Streeting also said he was “shocked” by Farage’s disregard for science.
When Nigel Farage was asked in the context of that row about paracetamol, and whether or not it posed a risk to pregnant women and their children, despite what all of the medical science and all of our doctors were saying, when he was asked whose side he was on, he said, ‘I don’t have a side.’
Well, that’s not someone I think should be trusted with healthcare in our country.
And the fact that he chose to give a platform at his conference to someone who said the Covid vaccine gave the royal family cancer says you can’t trust this man with your health.
Streeting ended with a personal jibe.
If that’s the sort of health advice Nigel Farage is taking, maybe that’s why he’s the same age as Brad Pitt but looks 20 years older.
Starmer says ‘NHS Online' for more virtual hospital appointments shows how Labour is delivering ‘national renewal'
Keir Starmer is describing the plans for “NHS Online”, an online hospital for England, as an example of how the government is providing “national renewal”.
In his speech to the conference later, Starmer is expected to say:
A new chapter in the story of our NHS, harnessing the future, patients in control. Waiting times cut for every single person in this country. That’s national renewal, that’s a Britain built for all.
Labour says the “NHS Online” service is set to be rolled out from 2027, and that it will “deliver the equivalent of up to 8.5m appointments and assessments in its first three years”.
Starmer is expected to say:
In decades to come, I want people to look back on this moment as the moment we renewed the NHS for a new world.
In a briefing, Labour gives this explanation of how “NHS Online” will work.
The online hospital will be accessible through the NHS app – which is a central part of Labour’s drive to create an NHS fit for the future. That drive has seen an extra five million NHS appointments delivered since Labour came to office.
Patients will always have the choice between NHS Online and their local hospital. Those who opt in to the service will also access and track prescriptions, be referred for scans and tests, and receive clinical advice on managing their condition – all from the comfort of their own home.
If someone needs a physical test or a procedure these will be booked on the app at convenient locations close to their home or work – whether at a nearby hospital, surgical hub or Community Diagnostic Centre.
As NHS Online is rolled out, the initial focus will be on a small number of high-priority treatments that currently have the longest waits, and will expand over time to include further types of treatment.
And Labour also gives three examples of hospitals where online consultations have been a success.
University Hospital Southampton’s outpatient clinics were overwhelmed with follow-up appointments for patients with low-risk inflammatory bowel disease flare-ups. They developed a virtual follow-up pathway, enabling patients to access care remotely and initiate follow-up when needed, rather than being booked into routine slots. They used digital tools to monitor their symptoms and support decision-making. This led to a 73% reduction in consultant-led outpatient appointments, over 75% of patients managed virtually, and a 58% reduction in waiting times.
Moorfields Eye Hospital identified issues with long waits for referrals to be reviewed, causing anxiety and distress for patients waiting for care. They introduced a Single Point of Access for virtual triage across multiple providers with all referrals coming into a single shared system. Staff assessed each referral digitally to quickly decide what kind of care was needed and where it should happen, with patients prioritised if urgent, directed to the right clinic if routine, or promptly informed if a referral wasn’t appropriate. Referral processing time reduced from 11 hours to two, with 58% of urgent referrals safely downgraded to routine clinics.
At Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust, a partnership with Medefer has enabled virtual triage of 99% of referrals within 48 hours. This model has allowed 79% of patients to be seen virtually and 82% to be discharged without requiring a face-to-face appointment, demonstrating how digital triage can manage high volumes safely and efficiently.
Wes Streeting rejects reports that Reeves will impose VAT on private healthcare in budget
Good morning. Keir Starmer is delivering his speech to the Labour conference later, and it is arguably the biggest personal fightback opportunity he will get this year. Pippa Crerar has written up the overnight briefing we got about the speech from Labour. But a conference speech is primarily just a rhetorical event; a budget is a fiscal event, and a policy event, and that is why the most important moment for Labour between now and the end of the year is the budget on 26 November.
Starmer will address delegates with the media already braced for big tax rises this autumn, prompted by what Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, told the conference yesterday. Some of the papers are focusing on the general likelihood of tax increases.
But one newspaper has a more specific claim. The Daily Mail says that the governent is considering putting VAT on private healthcare in the budget. It says:
And Whitehall sources told the Daily Mail that the Treasury was examining options for adding VAT to services that are currently exempt – with private healthcare and financial services said to be in the firing line.
Putting VAT on private healthcare could raise £2bn for the Treasury, but would hit up to 8m middle-class families.
Wes Streeting, the health secretary, has been doing the morning interview round. Normally ministers do not comment on budget matters. But Streeting could not have been clearer when he was on BBC Breakfast this morning. The presenter, Jon Kay, said he did not expect Streeting to comment directly on the story, but asked if he would say anything about the principle of taxing private healthcare. Streeting replied:
I’m going to shock you. It’s not happening.
Asked if he could guarantee that, Streeting said:
Yup. Not happening.
Streeting has been talking, among other things, about two big health-related announcements this morning.
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NHS England is setting up what it calls an online hospital – NHS Online. It says: “The innovative new model of care will not have a physical site, instead digitally connecting patients to expert clinicians anywhere in England. The first patients will be able to use the service from 2027.” There are more details here.
I will post more from the Streeting interviews soon.
Here is the agenda for the day.
9.30am: The conference opens. Speakers during the morning include Tracy Brabin, the mayor of West Yorkshire, at 10am, Hilary Benn, the Northern Ireland secretary, at 10.10am, Heidi Alexander, the transport secretary, at 10.20am, and Wes Streeting, the health secretary, at 11.50am.
11.30am: Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, takes part in a Q&A event at a Centre for Social Justice fringe.
2pm: Keir Starmer delivers his speech to the conference.
4pm: Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, takes part in a Sky Sports Q&A event at the fringe.
5pm: Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, takes part in a Tony Blair Institute Q&A event at the fringe.
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