Labour party backs Starmer to make ‘hard choices’ says government minister

We spoke to Peter Kyle, who’s the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, and began by asking if Sir Keir’s speech set out a positive vision of Britain or only talked about the hard graft ahead.

Peter Kyle: We inherited some issues that were much, much worse than we expected. We knew it’d be bad. It was worse. So actually, what Keir did today was a really clever thing and it was a smart thing and it was what the public wanted from us. We talked about how we, as a country, government and different sectors and people up and down the country can come together to tackle the big challenges of the country. We will get the foundations right, the big structural challenges in the economy, in planning, in building those million and a half homes, GB Energy. And we will make sure that the people who need the fairness from the outset will get fairness baked in from the start.

Cathy Newman: It was quite a Blairite tone to it, particularly on his challenge to the left. Let’s take the cuts, for example. He didn’t back down on the winter fuel allowance cuts and he signalled that more cuts to come on sickness benefits and make.

Peter Kyle: The politics and the political positioning comes later in the day for Keir. He puts all values and principles as a party to task to solve the toll of the big challenges we face. This is part of our inheritance and he’s upfront about it. It’s not a left right thing. It’s about what will make the biggest difference.

Cathy Newman: Is he up for the fight with the left? Because there’s a vote that you’re going to get defeated on on the winter fuel allowance, and he’s turned tail and already is in the air.

Peter Kyle: If you want to gauge the mood of the party, come to the beating heart of the party, which is here at conference. You’ve just seen…

Cathy Newman: He doesn’t want to face up to them over the row on the winter fuel allowance.

Peter Kyle: You’ve just seen Keir explain in stark terms why we’re making those hard decisions, including the winter fuel crisis. And he did so with compassion and humanity in the way he did it. And conference applauded him for it.

Cathy Newman: We’ve talked about some of the difficult choices ahead, as he put it. Let’s talk about the joy, because it was there in the peroration. New homes, new towns, new hospitals, roads and schools. But literally that every single one of those things were things that the chancellor cancelled back in July. Are you now going to reinstate some of them by borrowing more? Is that what’s happening?

Peter Kyle: There’s a lot we can do with our economy that doesn’t involve enormous amounts of public spending, just by governing appropriately. We are getting cracking with GB Energy and we will headquarter in Aberdeen. We’re getting cracking with the 1.5 million homes.

Cathy Newman: Those big infrastructure changes are also going to need potentially a change in the fiscal rules. Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, hinted that earlier this week borrowing will go up to invest, potentially.

Peter Kyle: We as a government are collectively trying to find ways that we can drive efficiencies, that we can use technology in new ways so that we can cater for a much, much more greater respect for public money than those shown by the previous lot.

Cathy Newman: There’s been a lot of noises-off about the freebies, the free suits, the tickets and so on. The Lords leader, close ally of Keir Starmer, Angela Smith, suggested to us on our Political Fourcast that perhaps the rules should be looked at again across parliament. Do you think that is the solution just to sort of have a tighter rule here on where the ministers accept tickets and the like?

Peter Kyle: Keir was so strict with us to learn the rules and we all did. What the previous what were doing was breaking the rules. Boris Johnson spending money on the wallpaper, didn’t know where the money came from. Priti Patel breaking the ministerial code and paying no price for it. But what we’ve now learnt is that even within the rules there are sets of expectations on us in public life and we are learning those lessons. That’s a lesson we’ve learned. But let’s just focus on what today…

Cathy Newman: Tighten up the rules so that ministers pay for their own tickets?

Peter Kyle: There’s expectations on us in public life and we are listening and we are learning and we are trying to make sure that we live up to the standards that’s expected of us. A big change from the previous lot…

Cathy Newman: So you won’t accept free tickets?

Peter Kyle: The key thing is transparency. I’ve accepted some tickets in the past, my local football club got into the semi-finals. They wanted me there and the chairman wanted me there to celebrate with them, even though I don’t follow football, and I’m always honest about that. It was important. It was important for me to be there, and I’m doing part of my public service on behalf of that community as a representative in parliament, and of course it was a matter of huge pride for me to be there in that moment. And that is something because I added to the transparency rules that’s expected of us, I’m happy to have this conversation for. And I will make each of those decisions going forward. But I will always be here to explain myself to you and to the people who elected me as we go forward.