Oldham Evening Chronicle
This is the end of the live reporting· 29 Sept 2026, 15:42
Follow LIVE as Andy Burnham addresses Labour Party Conference

Follow LIVE as Andy Burnham addresses Labour Party Conference

Follow LIVE as we cover Andy Burnham's speech at the Labour Party Conference. We will give you the main lines and analysis from the speech

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    Alfie Garner

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Alfie Garner

ANALYSIS: Did we get anything new from that speech?

Short answer: not really. A lot of that was stuff we had already heard before. However, what's new is the way he will go about it.
We have heard more on Social Care, Triple Lock, Electoral Reform and reforms to Public Services like Water and energy

Read more on the Roch Valley Radio Website.

And with that, we come to the end of our coverage of the Labour Party Conference. Some big announcements and a united party? I guess we will have to wait and see, goodbye!

Alfie Garner

"If you agree with enough of what I said, get behind this plan"
That is Burnham's last pledge to the people in the hall and the people watching at home, before closing his speech with the tagline of the whole conference "We will hope again"

We are going to take a quick breather before some analysis

Alfie Garner

"Brexit has done more harm than good"

Burnham will take the chance during the UK-EU Summit to gain clarity and secure the countries future

Alfie Garner

Burnham pledges to give power to every UK Postcode

He pledges he will give power to every postcode across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It follows a mention of John Sweeney and his comments of Burnham being the 'last Prime Minister of the United Kingdom'

Alfie Garner

Burnham tears up as he talks about his dad and reflects on his life. The crowd in the hall, rightfully, give a long standing ovation

Alfie Garner

Burnham announces plans for a National Commission for Electoral Reform

He also invites all parties to support the commission and will enter the next election committed to electoral reform. Burnham mentions the previous two votes on electoral reform

Alfie Garner

Prime Minister pledges to a Two-State solution

Burnham has confirmed his commitment to a Two-State Solution between Israel and Palestine, something that Ed Miliband confirmed earlier this week

Alfie Garner

Burnham will honour the Triple Lock

He said he will keep to the manifesto promise, but will have to 'adjust' it come the new parliament
In April 2030, the Triple Lock will be adjusted upward by at least 2.5%. It will also stay in line, in real terms, with average earnings.
Burnham also commits that low-income pensioners will not pay income tax in the current Parliament

Alfie Garner

Burnham confirms his plans for a National Care Service

He called for a person-faced, at-home service, free at the point of service and without a penny coming from the state pension.
He said he would also make sure that the care staff get the respect they deserve. It is due to be introduced in the next parliament and fully funded without any additional borrowing.
Burnham acknowledges the political price he will pay, but says "someone needs to rip the plaster off"

Alfie Garner

Burnham to care workers "you are not invisible to me"

Burnham speaks about the care his parents received and appears angry at how poor it was
He apologised to the care workers and pledged to change things for the workers, pledging the same for NHS Staff: "we have let you down too...at risk of burnout...corridor care, your daily experience". He also says we can't let care system fail before it breaks the NHS

Alfie Garner

Burnham has announced plans for a new Energy plan and Great British Grid, to challenge private companies

He also confirms that VAT will disappear from energy bills on Thursday

Alfie Garner

Burnham is now moving onto water, "water is a symbol of what has gone wrong in Britain"

Burnham is confirming that a strengthened water bill will repeal Thatcher's ban on Public Ownership of Water Companies. It is met with a huge standing ovation in the hall.
He also introduced new plans to hold mayors to account for water companies, with tougher consequences for repeated failures, including public ownership.

Alfie Garner

Burnham has moved on to housing and homelessness
"We will make it much easier for councils to acquire these homes", pledging to ensure safe housing when renting from Landlords.
Burnham has also spoken about his new scheme 'My First Home", as well as planning to introduce Leasehold reform from January.

Alfie Garner

"Britain has been on the wrong path for a long time" as he pledges honestly as well as hope
He also pledges to say the thing that many politicians don't want to say as he want to "build a new politics"

Alfie Garner

Burnham pays tribute to his predecessor
"For the historic victory he achieved for us, I'm here to say Thank You Kier"

Alfie Garner

"We can be unstoppable and we will be" closes Burnham's opening paragraph before a quick dig at Liz Truss

Alfie Garner

Rapturous applause greets the Prime Minister as he walks onto the stage.

Alfie Garner

"take your seats" is just what we heard from the Hall
We are expecting the speech to start imminently, likely proceeded before a short video

Alfie Garner

What can we expect from today's speech?

What could Andy Say?
Professor of Politics at University of Liverpool, Jon Tonge, thinks that Andy could talk about Neoliberalism and a change to economic approach. We could also see some talk about nationalisation

The big thing is likely to be reforms to the Triple Lock, which has been speculated about over the last few days of the conference, something that the 2024 manifesto promised to keep.

Alfie Garner

Meanwhile, Rayner's speech focused on housing, with the Minister announcing policies on Leaseholds, capping and scrapping ground rents and legislating against 'Cowboy' Estates and Letting agents

Alfie Garner

While we wait, what else has happened so far today? Two big speeches, one from Sir Chris Bryant and another from Angela Rayner.

The big line from Bryant was, "Conference, when I was appointed as Secretary of State, the BBC headline ran, ‘Will colourful Sir Chris Bryant shake up Stormont?’ Number one, I don’t know what they meant by ‘colourful’ – oh, you can work it out, can you? But just for the avoidance of doubt, yes I am ever so lightly homosexual…"

Alfie Garner

Hello and welcome to our Live coverage of the Prime Minister's Speech to the Labour Party Conference, which we expect to start at 2pm.