Next election will be 'open fight' between Labour and Reform, says PM

Mr Starmer has said the next election will be an "open fight" between Labour and Reform UK.

The Prime Minister said: "We're going to face a very different election next time to any of the elections we fought in the United Kingdom for a very, very long time.

"That's why... I want this to be out as an open fight between Labour and Reform, and I'll be majoring on this in my conference speech next week."

He said many centre-right parties in Europe have "withered on the vine" and the same is happening in the UK. The PM said: "The choice before the electorate here of the next election is not going to be the traditional Labour versus Conservative."

He added that his party was "battling with repairing the damage that was done under the last government which was huge" and "rebuilding in a way which embraces and takes on the battle for the soul of the country".

Andy Burnham has raised 'legitimate concerns' says Sadiq Khan

While the PM was speaking at the summit, London Mayor Sadiq Khan said Greater Manchester counterpart Andy Burnham has raised "legitimate concerns" about his leadership.

Speaking on an LBC phone-in show on Friday, Sir Sadiq said: "I think Andy's raising legitimate concerns he has, and, you know, he's entitled to do so." Asked by presenter James O'Brien whether Mr Burnham was going further than that and manoeuvring for leadership of the Labour Party, Sir Sadiq said that was "your characterisation".

He added: "I think we've got 400 MPs, so it won't be a surprise to anybody that there may be a small minority not happy with the leadership. I'm going to conference next week, and the joy of conference when Labour is in Government far outweighs any concerns people may have."

Sir Sadiq said he had no intention of running for any other job in politics himself.

PM confirms he will roll out digital ID

The PM has confirmed the rollout of free digital ID.

He says the measure will help tackle illegal immigration, because it will stop people working without clearance. He said: "Our immigration system does need to be fair if we want to maintain that binding contract that politics is built on, otherwise it undermines trust, undermines people's faith that we're on their side and their belief that the state can and will work for them.

"And that is why today I am announcing this government will make a new, free of charge digital ID, mandatory for the right to work by the end of this Parliament.

"Let me spell it out. You will not be able to work in the United Kingdom if you do not have digital I.D.. It's as simple as that because decent, pragmatic, fair minded people, they want us to tackle the issues that they see around them."

Government has been 'squeamish' about discussing immigration, says Starmer

Mr Starmer says governments have been "squeamish" talking about immigration.

He tells the audience: "We've got to look ourselves in the mirror and recognise where we've allowed our parties to shy away from people's concerns and let the politics of purity patronise people.

"Now, you will all have issues in your own countries, but in Britain it's illegal migration, and I suspect that may be the same in a number of other countries.

"For too many years, it's been too easy for people to come here, slip into the shadow economy and remain here illegally because frankly, we've been squeamish about saying things that are clearly true."

Voters are 'disappointed with pace of change' says Starmer

The Prime Minister has warned that voters are "very disappointed" by the pace of change.

He said: "People are very disappointed with the pace of change in government. It's so much slower than almost every other facet of their lives. So we do have to speed up delivery."

Tommy Robinson march 'part of a strategy' says Starmer

The Prime Minister tells the audience that the Unite the Kingdom march, organised by Tommy Robinson, showed the dangers of radicalisation.

He said people who went along heard: "There's a coming struggle, a defining struggle, a violent struggle for the nation, for all of our nations. And you don't have to be a great historian to know where that kind of poison ends up.

"And you could just feel it in a language that is naked in its attempt to intimidate, because it's not careless or accidental. It's part of a strategy."

Starmer hits out at portrayal of London in dig at Donald Trump

He tells international vistors that London isn't the "wasteland of anarchy that some would have you believe".

In a veiled dig at Donald Trump he said the city is "portrayed in a way that is a million miles from reality".

Referring to people who claim the capital is a crime-ridden mess, he said there is a "sort of industrialized infrastructure of grievance".

Starmer vows to confront 'lies' that do not match reality

The Prime Minister is on his feet, saying centre-left parties are having "quite a year so far".

Mr Starmer told the audience: "This is a gathering of people bound by a common cause the patriotic renewal of our nation's, that is underpinned by the values of dignity and respect, equality and fairness, and the belief that social democratic means are the best way to pursue that goal."

He says it is a time to take on "lies" that "simply do not match the realities around us".

How would digital IDs work?

Digital IDs would be held on people's phones and there would be no requirement to be asked to prouduce it, according to the government.

It added: "But digital ID will be mandatory as a means of proving your Right to Work."

It argues those with no right to work in the UK could face a further crackdown.

Petition against digital ID cards surges past 700,000 signatures

More than 740,000 signatures have been included on a petition against the introduction of digital ID cards.

The petition calls on the UK Government to not introduce digital ID cards.

Organisers said it would be a "step towards mass surveillance and digital control."

No changes to penalties for companies after digital ID comes in

Introducing digital IDs will not change what penalties companies face for failing to check their employees' right to work, Lisa Nandy said.

The Culture Secretary told Times Radio: "Companies already are meant to check on whether people have the right to work in the UK and face penalties for that... they will continue to face those penalties."

But she said it would make it easier for businesses to do their checks. "It makes it much easier for companies to be able to do this and to be able to check whether people are able to work legally or not, which means there is no excuse for not doing so."

The cards will be free of charge, she said and funded under existing spending plans.

Digital ID will be needed to work in UK, says Culture Secretary

Digital ID will be compulsory for anyone who wants to work in the UK, the Culture Secretary has said.

"It will be compulsory if you want to work in this country, so you'll have to show that to be able to prove that you have the right to work," Lisa Nandy told BBC Breakfast.

She said the change would make a "significant dent" in the number of people who are able to work illegally because current documents can be too easily falsified.
A national insurance number "won't be sufficient" in future to prove employment rights, she said.

"The problem with national insurance numbers is that they're not linked to anything else. So they're not linked, for example, to photo ID, so you can't verify that the person in front of you is actually the person whose national insurance number that you're looking at, and we've seen a real rise in the amount of identity theft and people losing documents and then finding that their identity has been stolen."

She said the Government was not putting a "precise figure" on the cost of rolling out the scheme because the consultation would seek to determine how it would work for groups including older people, the homeless and people with disabilities.

Nigel Farage on track to become PM, megapoll finds

Nigel Farage is on track to become Prime Minister, grim polling shows.

Seat-by-seat analysis by YouGov, based on more polling of 13,000 people, suggests his Reform UK would win 311 seats in the Commons if an election was held now. This would fall just short of a majority, but would offer no path for any other party to lead the country.

Reform currently has five MPs. The megapoll suggests Labour would win just 144 of 650 seats, down from the 411 won last year. The Lib Dems would be on 78 seats while the Tories would be all but wiped out.
The polling suggests Kemi Badenoch's party would win just 45 seats. Meanwhile the SNP would pick up 37 and the Greens would get seven.

It would be Labour's worst showing in the Commons since 1931. Even the 2019 general election disaster under Jeremy Corbyn saw Labour win 202 seats.

High profile Labour casualties would include Yvette Cooper, Wes Streeting, Ed Miliband, Bridget Phillipson, Lisa Nandy and Angela Rayner.

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PM to sound alarm over agitators like Tommy Robinson

Keir Starmer will warn online agitators are trying to stir up a "poisonous belief" that violence is coming to the UK in a major speech.

The Prime Minister will say fears are being stirred in order to ramp up a "coming struggle". He will describe "an industrialised infrastructure of grievance... created through our devices".

Mr Starmer is expected to say: "That is miserable, joyless, demonstrably untrue, and yet, in another way, totally cohesive. That preys on real problems in the real world, identifies clear enemies - that's us.

"And, at its heart, its most poisonous belief, on full display at the protests here in London just a week or two ago, (is) that there is a coming struggle, a defining struggle, a violent struggle, for the nation - or all our nations."

It comes after far-right rabble rouser Tommy Robinson claimed after a rally which attracted more than 100,000 in London that "the spark has started, the revolution is on". Elon Musk appeared via video link claiming that violence is coming and call on supporters to "fight" or "die".

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Digital IDs will crack down on illegal working, says Starmer

Digital IDs will crack down on illegal working in the country, Keir Starmer will argue.

The Prime Minister will also argue it will moodernise aspects of how the state handles data.

The previous Labour government's plan to introduce ID cards was blocked by the Conservative-Lib Dem coalition.

Keir Starmer to announce rollout of digital ID cards

Prime Minister Keir Starmer will announce the rollout of mandatory ID cards in a speech today.