Labour lost four seats at the general election (five if you include Jeremy Corbyn) to independent candidates because the party was seen as too pro-Israel and not supportive enough of the Palestinian’s cause. In his speech David Lammy defended Labour’s stance on the Israel-Gaza war, and restated its commitment to the two-state solution. He said:

In my first weeks of government, I went to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories to call for an immediate ceasefire.

Words no previous foreign secretary had even used.

We have used the full weight of Britain’s diplomacy to push to protect civilians, now.

Get all the hostages out, now.

Allow unrestricted aid into Gaza, now.

We have provided millions to fund field hospitals in Gaza.

We brought the security council together to demand polio vaccinations for Palestinian children.

We have respected the independence of the international courts. And we have made the right decisions to stand up for international law.

We have called out the violent settlers in the West Bank. We have continued to fight for the hostages and to support their families.

We have never lost sight of the end goal: an irreversible pathway towards a two-state solution.

I believe in the right of Israel to be safe and secure.

And I also believe in the justness of the Palestinian cause.

It is only once Palestinians and Israelis have the same fundamental rights: Sovereignty, security and dignity in their own independent, recognised states that we can achieve a just and lasting peace for all.

David Lammy, the foreign secetary, told delegates that foriegn policy under Labour has been about showing that “Britain is back”. In his speech in the conference hall, he explained.

On my first weekend as foreign secretary – when I travelled to Germany, to Poland, to Sweden in less than 48 hours – I was proud to say: Britain is back.

When Keir Starmer, and my dear friend John Healey and I flew to Washington DC a few days later to meet with world leaders and commit unshakeably to NATO. We were proud to say: Britain is back.

When the Labour government hosted 45 European leaders at Blenheim Palace, to reset our relationship with Europe, we said: Britain is back.

When we restored funding to UNRWA for their work in Gaza, what did we say?

Britain is back.

When we stood up for international law when it was not easy: what did we say?

Britain is back.

In my first four months, I visited 10 countries, engaged over 20 world leaders and 40 foreign ministers and what did I tell them?

Britain is back.

And when, unlike Rishi Sunak last year, the Prime Minister and I travel later this week to the UN General Assembly later this week; what will I say?

Britain is back.

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Lucy Powell, the leader of the Commons, used her speech to the Labour conference this afternoon to rebut claims that her party was no better than the Conservatives on standards.

She only made an oblique reference to the recent stories about donations to Labour politicians – saying transparency is ‘“not always easy” – but her argument was clearly relevant to the stories dominating the headlines this morning.

She said:

Let’s be honest, conference, some want to paint a picture that nothing will change, that we are just the same.

I totally refute that.

First, conduct matters.

That’s why one of the first things I did as leader was to pass a motion to limit MP’s second jobs. And we will go further. I’ve set up the House modernisation committee to drive up standards, tackle bad culture and make parliament more effective.

Transparency matters too and it’s not always easy. But the question is ‘are we delivering on our promises, without fear or favour?’

And judge us by our actions. We are on the side of fans, passengers, consumers, and workers.

This couldn’t be more different from the recent past.

Instead of strengthening the rules for MPs, when one of theirs was found in serious breach for lobbying Tory MPs voted to get him off the hook. And what about their fast lane for mates, billions of tax-payers cash spent on crony Covid contracts?

And let’s never forget they changed the law so we couldn’t socialise, while secretly partying themselves and then lying to parliament about it for months.

So, don’t let anyone tell you we are all the same, conference, because we are not.

David Lammy, the foreign secretary, has said that further sanctions on Israel over settler violence in the West Bank have not been ruled out.

Speaking at a Labour party conference fringe event, he said he was in talks with G7 allies about responding to “deeply” concerning “escalatory behaviour” in the occupied region.

He said:

I’m deeply, deeply worried by the growing violence and settler violence that we see in the West Bank.

I’m in discussions with G7 partners, particular European partners on that. I’m not announcing further sanctions today, but that is kept under close review.

But Lammy also signalled that he was opposed to a full ban on arms exports to Israel. Some export licences have already been suspended, but when Lammy was asked about going further, he replied:

I don’t think it would be quite right to suspend licences, for example, that the Israelis could use in relation to the Houthis, that Israel may need to use in relation to the challenges it has with other proxies in the area.

I think that would be a mistake. It would lead to a wider war and an escalation that we here in the UK are committed to stopping, so I’m afraid I disagree with that position.

In his speech to the conference Pat McFadden, the Cabinet Office minister, explained why he thought Labour was able to win over new voters at the election.

We welcome every supporter old and new.

And why did they come to us?

Because they could see that we were serious.

Economic stability over unfunded wish lists.

National security, support for NATO, 100% behind Ukraine’s fight for survival.

A party of wealth creation as well as wealth distribution.

A party that learned from its defeat rather than telling the voters that they had got it wrong.

That isn’t caution. It’s our duty. It’s our job description. It’s our founding purpose to learn from the people and to win.

McFadden argued Labour government’s all had the same mission.

The Attlee government gave us a welfare state out of the ruins of war.

The Wilson government saw how society was changing and let us live more freely together.

The Blair government renewed the country and restored the public realm.

And what unites them all?

Every Labour government modernises a Britain that has been allowed to fall behind by the Tories.

Every Labour Government is about the future, it’s about a better tomorrow, not the siren call of retreating to the past.

The government has been criticised for being too negative in the weeks after the election which have seen ministers repeatedly stress the dire state of public services left by the Conservatives. But, in his speech, McFadden said this was not “gloom”, just seriousness.

Being honest about what the Tories left us with, about the damage they did to our country, is not gloom. It’s serious.

And it’s time we got serious about the governance and the future of the country.

Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, has challenged the Tories to explain how they would fund reversing Labour policy of putting VAT on private school fees.

In an interview with GB News, she also described Tory claims that the policy will drive large numbers of pupils out of private schools and into state schools as “scaremongering”.

Labour expects to raise about £1.3bn a year from the policy, which will into effect from January next year.

In her interview, Phillipson said:

I don’t accept the premise that we will see a significant movement from the private to the state sector. That was what the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies were also clear about where they said they thought the change would be minimal.

What we’re seeing in certain areas, in a small number of areas, because of that demographic bulge that we’re seeing that’s coming through the system, particularly with older teenagers, is that there are some pinch points.

But I just don’t anticipate or recognize the characterisation of the kind of change that people are scaremongering about, frankly. And I’d say to the Conservatives who are peddling this, look, if they want to reverse this, how are they going to pay for it?

All the Tory leadership candidates have strongly opposed the plan for VAT on private school fees – one of the Labour policies most unpopular with Conservative party members and rightwing newspapers.

Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, has said that getting rid of the two-child benefit cap should be in the party’s DNA.

In an interview with Times Radio, he said:

Do I want us to see the financial situation improve that allows us to remove the two child benefit cap to lift children out of poverty? Absolutely. But that’s in the Labour party’s DNA.

The Labour party is formed to lift people out of poverty, put the children out of poverty. And I want to see poverty come down.

And I want the financial circumstances to be there for us to be able to do even more than what we promised in our manifesto.

The government has hinted that at some point it will get rid of the cap, which stops claimants getting child-related benefits for third and subsequent children, because it is a major contributor to child poverty. But the Institute for Fiscal Studies says getting rid of it would cost about £3.4bn, and at the moment the government says it cannot afford to remove it.

The Conservatives are continuing to attack Labour over donations. In a statement issued by CCHQ after the Sunday morning interview round, the Tory MP Paul Holmes said:

As Labour’s party conference begins after fewer than 12 weeks in power, Keir Starmer’s government has been engulfed in scandal and infighting, showing that the only change they offer is a change of clothes.

Keir Starmer promised a government of service and all we’re seeing is a government of self-service – from handing their trade union paymasters an inflation-busting pay rise to failing to declare thousands of pounds of clothes, parties and holidays for their top team and Starmer’s wife in return for a Downing Street pass, or giving Starmer’s chief of staff a bumper pay rise – it’s clear Labour are not acting in the interests of the country.