A dose of financial reality at the heart of Healey's speechpublished at 14:24 BST

14:24 BST

Dharshini David
Deputy economics editor

Image source, Reuters

The Chancellor’s speech leant heavily on the concept of hope, but at its heart was a dose of financial reality.

Whatever the government’s spending ambitions, the indication was the forthcoming Budget would be about fiscal discipline, rather than extra cash.

We do, after all, spend more on interest payments on existing public debt than any government department, apart from health.

But there remains many questions about how the Chancellor will realise goals such as faster growth and better employment opportunities.

The extra funds for apprenticeships will, for example, be a welcome boost – but it’s a relatively small one – and many sectors continue to grapple with higher costs of employing staff, including tax changes imposed by the previous Chancellor.

So, there is much yet to be resolved – and while optimism is crucial for a thriving economy, hope alone won’t do the job.

The reinstatement of the Union Learning Fund, a trade union-run programme to provide workers with extra education, also featured in John Healey's speech.

The chancellor said 180,000 workers had received new training each year through the fund before it was abolished by the Tories in 2021.

But what is it?

Set up in 1998, the aim of the fund has been to help support the most disadvantaged learners in the labour market, focusing on maths and English, and the take-up of high quality apprenticeships.

Employees did not need to be union members to take part in the scheme.

It also focused on digital skills and training for jobs in growing industries, such as advanced manufacturing.

Before it was closed in 2021, the fund was managed and administered by Unionlearn, an organisation run by the Trades Union Congress.

Do we spend more on debt interest than on the Home Office, justice and defence?published at 13:56 BST

13:56 BST

By Tom Edgington

Chancellor John Healey criticised the economic record of the previous Conservative governments, telling his party’s conference they “left Britain spending more on debt than the Home Office, defence and justice put together”.

Back in March, the Office for Budget Responsibly (OBR) - the official spending watchdog - forecast debt interest would cost £135bn in 2026-27.

That’s higher than the Home Office, Justice and Defence budgets, which are expected to total £103bn this year.

The OBR is due to update the official debt interest forecast at next month’s Budget.

It’s important to note that debt interest costs have continued to rise under the Labour government. At the start of this month, long-term market borrowing costs climbed to their highest levels since 1998.

Image source, PA Media

In his speech, the chancellor referred to Alan Milburn's upcoming report into youth unemployment, describing how the Labour minister's ongoing work "lays bare the scale" of the challenges young people face.

This is has been a key focus of Labour since its general election win in 2024, with former PM Keir Starmer describing Milburn's interim report in May as "sobering".

The latest official figures, released last month, suggest 981,000 people aged 16 to 24 were not in education, employment or training (Neet) between April and June 2026 - a 3% increase on the same time last year.

Reacting to these latest figures, Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden said the government was determined to "turn the tide" on the youth unemployment crisis.

The final instalment of Milburn's report - including recommendations for how to tackle the problems outlined - is expected to be published later this year.

Jennifer McKiernan
Reporting from Liverpool

There was clearly a lot of support for John Healey in his first conference speech as chancellor, as he outlined how getting young people into work was key to his vision ahead of his first Budget on 28 October.

As a veteran Labour politician, Healey sprinkled his speech with anecdotes about his time in government that kept delegates laughing, including his tale of lending Gordon Brown his red tie at the 1999 Labour conference.

Notably, some of the biggest cheers were for the re-establishment of the Union Learning Fund - a fund relatively unknown outside the trade union circles who are at the conference in force.

Healey was careful not to say too much about his Budget plans, though offered new announcements about Rolls-Royce factories and Royal Navy floating docks that went down a storm with the party faithful.

Image source, Reuters

Healey has just finished giving his first speech to a Labour conference as chancellor. Here's what we heard:

• Labour will bring back hope through a "new age of industrialisation", he says, announcing the government will commit £6bn for British shipyards, and new docks for new submarines will be built "in Britain, by British workers"
• But the chancellor Healey warns the money New Labour had in the 90s is "simply not there now", and criticises the fiscal situation left to them by the Conservatives. He says he and PM are in "lockstep" on the need to meet the fiscal rules
• It's a warning about what's to come when he delivers his first Budget next month, writes our political correspondent Jack Fenwick

• The chancellor also announces mayors will be given £100m to fund a new apprenticeships scheme, saying: "The best thing we can offer a young person isn’t a benefit payment, it’s a first job with training and a wage"
• "It's not progressive to allow a bigger and bigger benefits bill... this is not just an economic must, this is a moral duty," Healey says

Speech had a defence flavour to it - but key questions on spending remainpublished at 13:04 BST

13:04 BST

Jack Fenwick
Political correspondent, reporting from Liverpool

This speech had a distinct defence flavour to it, but big questions remain on that area for the chancellor.

Healey resigned as defence secretary, a move that many saw as one of the final nails in the coffin for Keir Starmer’s premiership.

He announced £6bn of new contracts for British shipyards, which he said would help defend the UK for decades to come.

But the chancellor still needs to find almost £5bn in next month’s Budget to fund the Defence Investment Plan.

And he's under pressure to set out when and how the UK will reach 3% of GDP on defence spending.

Expect that to be one of the biggest talking points around Healey in the coming weeks and months.

Healey says "national industrial strength is national security" as he announces the government will commit £6bn of contracts for British shipyards.

Funding will be used to build new docks for new submarines, which Healey says will be built "in Britain, by British workers" and "will defend us all for decades to come".

The chancellor says British trade unions are "full partners in this new age of industrialisation" as he announces the "rebirth" of the Union Learning Fund.

He says 180,000 workers got new training each year through the fund before it was abolished by the Tories, adding that he's proud to reinstate the fund.

Healey says he wants this new learning fund to come with a focus on artificial intelligence, to help "British workers harness AI, not be outrun by it".

He describes AI as "the greatest innovation of our time" which will "transform our society at every level", adding that the UK will also need to "face the serious risks" it poses to national security.

Returning to his analogy about the miners' lamp, Healey says the government "needs to light the way for a new generation" before finishing his speech.

Healey tries to manage expectations at a tumultuous time in global marketspublished at 12:49 BST

12:49 BST

Faisal Islam
Economics editor

Image source, PA Media

In the conference hall, Chancellor John Healey is sporting a tie he lent to his predecessor Gordon Brown 27 years ago.

In the first part of his speech he is spelling out the balancing act between talking up economic vibes and the tough message to his Labour colleagues.

That message is also aimed for the markets, and perhaps some of the business leaders I have just seen being shepherded in for his speech.

"I have to level with you that the money New Labour had in the '90s is simply not there now," he says. At the top of his speech he was trying to channel "many reasons for optimism… new leadership, new confidence and new hope".

The chancellor and PM's approach is a conscious contrast to what we heard from their own colleagues in 2024, but he is also managing expectations at a tumultuous time in global markets.

Healey announces Rolls-Royce will invest an extra £300m into its British factories in Derby, in Bristol, in Glasgow and in Rotherham.

"This is the new age of industrialisation, this is the new confidence in Britain lit by this government, driven forward by business," he says.

Healey goes on to say the government will use everything it can to create jobs and industrialise Britain, including directing more of taxpayers' money to British business jobs and innovation.

Image source, UK pool

Healey says when he sees a million youngsters he sees hope not despair.

He says he wants to announce a "down-payment" on the work of Alan Milburn - who is delivering a major report on youth unemployment - and deliver thousands more apprenticeships.

Healey says a local apprenticeship service will be like football scouts for apprenticeships, delivering more apprenticeships for young people.

It will be led by mayors, he says. "They know which firms are hiring and which colleges are delivering and they know which estates have been left behind – that’s what devolution means," he says.

He says the Labour government had planned to start in a few areas, but now every mayor will have a chance to do it, backed by an extra £100m fully funded by savings from the Department for Work and Pensions.

The best thing we can offer a young person isn't a benefit payment, it's first job, with training and a wage, he says.

Healey uses speech to reassure he's a safe pair of handspublished at 12:36 BST

12:36 BST

Jack Fenwick
Political correspondent, reporting from Liverpool

Much of the talk around Andy Burnham in the weeks leading up to him becoming prime minister focused on how much he’d be willing to spend.

This time last year Andy Burnham, then the mayor of Greater Manchester, caused a stir at Labour conference when he suggested the country needed to stop being in hock to the bond markets.

Those comments led some to believe that a Burnham government may look to spend and borrow more money.

Some of the prime minister's critics worried that approach would spook the markets and lead to even higher borrowing costs.

Burnham has since then sought to reassure people and talked up his belief in economic restraint.

His appointment of John Healey as chancellor was intended to signal that he'd put a safe pair of hands in the treasury.

And he's used this speech to stress that he will stick to the previous government's fiscal rules, designed to keep the bond markets on side.

Economically those around the chancellor feel there is no other option.

But politically that does restrain the government.

One big question being asked by Labour members here will be whether Burnham and Healey can achieve the sort of change they've promised, while sticking to those rules.

Healey says world wide economic shocks and trade tensions are felt hard here at home, from prices at the pump to the cost of monthly mortgage payments.

"These times demand of us a greater resolve, a greater determination and a greater hope, to build a more resilient country," he says.

Healey says his first duty on his first day as chancellor was fiscal discipline because it "underpins every promise this government makes", adding that "we can't succeed without it".

He says it's not just the shadow chancellor who "offers the opposite" as he criticises Reform UK for what he describes as "dodgy donors and fantasy funding behind every plan".

Healey says Reform UK leader Nigel Farage "wants you to think he's a man of the people but when it comes to the economy he's Liz Truss with a Bitcoin account".

"Through the core of the Budget I deliver a month today will be fiscal discipline," Healey adds.

Jack Fenwick
Political correspondent, reporting from Liverpool

We've had our first warning from John Healey about what's to come when he delivers the Budget a month today.

The chancellor has spent the first part of his speech talking up the record of the New Labour governments of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, which Healey was part of.

But he says "the money New Labour had in the '90s is simply not there now".

Healey said the amount of money the UK is spending servicing its debt is preventing the government spending in other areas.

Andy Burnham's government has strived to strike a more optimistic tone in its first few months.

But the economic situation is clearly very tricky.

And this was a clear indication that difficult decisions on tax and spending lie ahead in the next few weeks.

Image source, PA Media

Healey accuses the Conservatives of gutting public services through austerity measures, and says Brexit hammered exports, while the Liz Truss mini budget "crashed the economy" and collapsed confidence in Britain's fiscal strength, leaving a "legacy of sky-high debt costs".

These levels of debt are an "assault on our common sense" and an "affront to our values", he says.

He adds that is why he and the PM are in "lockstep" that they will meet the fiscal rules and maintain control of the UK's finances.

Healey tells the conference he wants to talk about the "politics of hope, our belief in a better day". He says hope is earned through "fiscal discipline, good work and through strong industries".

Labour will bring back hope through "good jobs" and a "new age of industrialisation", he says, adding that he is a "proud Yorkshireman representing a former coalfield".

He says coal miners' lamps were a "symbol of hope" that there was "always light at the end of the tunnel" and that "the same goes now for Britain's future".

He lists what he says the Labour party has achieved in the last two years, and since Andy Burnham has became PM, with policies on the cost of living, cutting VAT from energy bills and reducing business rates on pubs, clubs and music venues.

Jennifer McKiernan
Reporting from Liverpool

There's a strong response to Healey mentioning the lifeboat volunteers of the RNLI.

He's speaking after some volunteers were targeted by anti-immigration activists earlier this month due to their work in the Channel.

Image source, UK pool

Healey says it's been 40 years since his first Labour conference, and that it is the "privilege of my life" to address it as chancellor today.

He then praises Andy Burnham, saying the prime minister has the vision and determination to "give people hope again".

He then pays tribute to former Chancellor Rachel Reeves, who he says delivered two Labour budgets which mean "we're cutting NHS waiting lists and lifting half a million children out of poverty".

Also paying tribute to Keir Starmer, Healey says the former prime minister rebuilt Britain's respect and international reputation, especially in standing up to Russia in defence of Ukraine.

Jennifer McKiernan
Reporting from Liverpool

Image source, PA Media

A warm response in a packed hall as Chancellor John Healey starts his speech.

There's laughter as he recalls how his first Labour conference was in 1986.

"Back then, I had hair," he quips.

Chancellor John Healey has just begun his speech at the Labour Party conference.

Watch live at the top of the page, and we'll bring you the key lines, analysis and reaction in updates here.