Labour would keep 19% basic rate but reinstate 45% top rate of income tax, says Keir Starmer – UK politics live

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Burnham says, as he has become more experienced as a politician, he has “stopped speaking in code”.

He says that approach would be a “helpful blast of reality” at Westminster.

Q: If you stood for the leadership, would you be able to campaign better now than last time.

Burnham reminds Ridge he lost a leadership contest not just once, but twice.

But he says he thinks he is a better politician now.

The interview is now over.

Q: Are you tempted to return to Westminster? There will be a byelection in West Lancashire.

Burnham says he has committed to serve a full second term as mayor of Greater Manchester. But he would not rule out returning after that.

Burnham says he would go as far as to call the mini-budget “immoral”.

He is supporting Keir Starmer, he says. Labour has a sustained and clear lead in the polls. That is a significant achievement, he says.

He says he is disappointed to hear Starmer rule out electoral reform. Starmer should listen to the mood of conference on this. (Delegates may well pass a motion calling for proportional representation.) He says what happened over the summer, with the Tory leadership, illustrated the need for electoral reform.

Burnham says this is the first party conference since 2010 when it has been more likely than not that Labour will form a government in the next one or two years.

Q: So should Labour commit to reversing the 1p in the pound cut in income tax, and the abolition of the 45% rate?

Burnham says he is saying that. He thinks this is not the time for tax cuts.

But he says that does not mean Labour should not be putting money in people’s pockets.

Q: Should Labour commit to reversing those tax cuts?

Burnham says this was not a time for tax cuts.

Q: Should Labour commit to reversing them?

Burnham says he thinks he answered this.

Q: So should they commit to reversing them?

“They should,”, says Burham.

Good morning. The Labour party conference opens in Liverpool this morning. The conference slogan is “A Fairer, Greener Future” and the party is fleshing that out this morning with the release of a plan for clean power by 2030. My Observer colleagues Toby Helm, Andrew Rawnsley and Phillip Inman have the details here.

They report:

[Keir] Starmer says the move – far more ambitious than any green policy advanced by the Tories and the most far-reaching of his leadership so far – would release the British people from the mercy of “dictators” such as Russian president Vladimir Putin over energy bills.

It would also, he says, cut hundreds of pounds off annual household energy bills “for good”, create up to half a million UK jobs, and make this country the first to have a zero-emission power system …

The idea at its core is to build a self-sufficient power system run entirely by cheap, homegrown renewables and nuclear, by the end of the decade. This, they argue, would also allow the country to become a major energy exporter.

In its briefing on the plan Labour says it wants to deliver a zero-carbon electricity system by 2030. It says it would:

1) Cut energy bills for good, saving UK households ?93bn over the rest of this decade; or a saving of ?475 per household every year until 2030.

2) Make the UK energy independent, freeing the UK from being exposed to the fluctuations of the global gas market, which has been too-easily manipulated by Vladimir Putin and petrostates.

3) Reindustrialise the UK, supporting the creation of over 200,000 direct jobs and up to 260,000-300,000 indirect jobs over the decade.

4) Tackle the climate crisis to leave a better world for our children by making the UK the first major economy to have a zero-emission power system.

Normally the main political parties observer an unofficial non-aggression pact during party conference season, and while the Labour conference is on, the Tories stay relatively quiet, and vice versa. But this week is likely to be different, because politics is still reeling from the impact of the mini-budget on Friday and there is a lot of Conservative party news in the papers. The Tories have been briefing about further tax cuts being likely next year, and Kwasi Kwarteng, the chancellor, will be on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg. His comments could overshadow what Starmer has to say.

Here is the agenda for the day.

8.30am: Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, and Ed Miliband, the shadow secretary for climate change and net zero, are interviewed on Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday.

9am: Kwasi Kwarteng, the chancellor, and Keir Starmer, the Labour leader are interviewed on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuensseberg.

10.45am: The Labour conference opens with a tribute to the Queen from Keir Starmer, followed by delegates singing the national anthem..

11.25am: Angela Rayner, the deputy Lablour leader, speaks.

11.40am: David Evans, the general secretary, speaks.

11.50am: Anneliese Dodds, the party chair, speaks.

2.15pm: Delegates debate constitutional amendments.

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