The Deputy Prime Minister is welcomed to a huge applause from her party.

She says it's the "honour of [her] life" to stand in front of the crowd as Labour's Deputy PM.

"Now change begins," she tells them.

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner has just started her speech on the first day of the Labour party's annual conference.

It's the first time in 15 years that senior figures from the party are making speeches as government ministers, and not opposition politicians.

Stay with us as we bring you the key lines from the Deputy PM's speech.

The Labour party's annual conference has begun in Liverpool.

Opening the conference is Cabinet Office minister Ellie Reeves.

A little earlier, the managing director of Iceland told the BBC people are "still really struggling" and there is a "shoplifting, violent epidemic sweeping the country".

Richard Walker told the Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme that he is given a "serious incidents report" every Monday, and it's "really upsetting".

On the subject of workers' rights, he questions: "How about the right not to be assaulted at work?"

Walker argues that assaulting a shop worker should be a "standalone offence".

He describes a "ridiculous £200 limit" and a "free card to knick what they want".

Let's get some reaction to this morning's discussion about MPs accepting gifts and donations.

Viewer Jan Diack emailed the programme to say the issue shows it is a case of "them and us all over again".

"Why do they pretend they live in the same world as the rest of us?" she asks.

Simon Holder, on the other hand, says the obsession with clothes and a holiday is "madness" and he "really doesn't care".

Shadow Commons leader Chris Philp was asked on the show about a claim from Conservative party leadership candidate Robert Jenrick that "terror suspects" have arrived in the UK on small boats.

"Do you have evidence to corroborate that claim?," Laura Kuenssberg asks.

Philp tells the programme he won't comment on security issues.

Kuenssberg then asks if Jenrick was right to put that information into the public domain.

"He wasn't wrong," he replies, saying he shares Jenrick's concerns.

Labour was wrong to cancel the Rwanda scheme, which would have stopped the boats, Philp adds.

You can read more here about how the UK is trying to stop Channel crossings?

The Sunday Times reported, external that Angela Rayner appeared to have breached parliamentary rules by failing to declare that a friend joined her on a “personal holiday” - funded by Lord Alli, the multimillionaire peer and Labour donor.

The newspaper reported that the deputy prime minister did not report that Sam Tarry, then the Ilford South MP, stayed with her at a $2.5 million apartment in Manhattan.

Angela Rayner pushed back saying it was a "personal holiday" and she didn't travel to New York with another person, but "that person went to New York and I met up with them".

You can listen to more of what Rayner had to say about that in the below clip.

It is worth reflecting back on Laura Kuenssberg's interview with Chris Philp as she asked him if there should be a change in the rules for declaring donations.

He believes that personal gifts like luxury clothes and glasses are "downright weird" to accept and that Labour cutting winter fuel payments for pensioners is "terrible".

Philp told the BBC show that the rules "should be looked at when it comes to those very personal gifts".

There's "no justification" for accepting luxury clothes for Starmer's wife, he says, or for luxury apartments in Manhattan, in reference to Deputy PM Angela Rayner declaring she accepted accommodation in New York during a personal holiday.

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent

It’s not exactly ground-breaking for there to be divisions in Number 10. There have been divisions between senior advisers to numerous prime ministers of all political stripes, often litigated through leaks to the media.

It does feel unusual, though, for the leaks about Sir Keir Starmer’s Downing Street, particularly his chief of staff Sue Gray, to have reached such a frenzied pitch so early in his tenure.

Asked whether Gray would still be in post by Christmas, Angela Rayner said she thought so, and that Gray is doing an “exceptional” job - not that she could really have said anything else.

Rayner then went on to make a point that even some of the many advisers who have frustrations about Gray believe that it is uncomfortable to see her being “demonised” when she does not have the ability to answer back.

In an interview with The Observer today, Starmer said that it was his “job to do something” about the leaks emanating from the heart of his government.

Those on all side of this argument, and it is unquestionably an argument, agree. The word that has punctuated almost every conversation I have had about the Gray situation is “unsustainable”. Few believe things can continue like this – not even until Christmas.

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent

This is the first Labour Party conference in 15 years where politicians are addressing party members as government ministers.

That is a big deal and will confer a celebratory sparkle on the four-day gathering.

Which is why it is so uncomfortable for those at the top of the party that the build-up to the conference has been dominated by questions about gifts and about Sue Gray, Sir Keir Starmer’s chief of staff.

Angela Rayner, out on the government’s behalf this morning, had her own particular questions to answer over donations from Lord Alli.

Perhaps her most eye-catching defence was that she had been “overly transparent” - essentially that her eagerness to comply with declaration requirements has meant that there are facts in the public domain for her, and her colleagues, to account for.

But it felt from Rayner’s interview that the government was trying to move to a less defensive and more apologetic posture on this issue. “I get that people are angry and I get that people are upset,” she said.

Combined with the announcement on Friday that Rayner, Starmer and Rachel Reeves would no longer accept donations for clothes, it is clear the government feels there is political damage to be mopped up here.

Shadow Commons leader Chris Philp was also on this morning's show as a guest and he says the PM has accepted more freebies than any other MP.

Accepting free clothes for his wife is "weird and inappropriate" he tells the show.

Kuenssberg says it is "rich" for Philp to lecture Labour on this, especially as he resigned over concerns about his own party's integrity.

Waheed Ali has been given "enormous influence" for a donor, Philp says.

"Do you accept you had a part in attacking integrity of politics?" she asks. He says that he does.

Under Sunak's premiership, he says, the party cleaned up. And all leadership contenders will prioritise integrity, he adds.

Labour's housing targets has also been an issue discussed on this morning's show and Kuennsberg asks activist Kwajo Tweneboa how he feels about Angela Rayner's approach to targets.

The Right to Buy scheme has to go, he says, calling it "the most damaging policy introduced in respect to social housing".

There are enough homeless children to fill the 02 Arena more than seven times, he tells the Laura Kuenssberg panel.

Labour talks about the "biggest injection of council homes in a generation", he says, so the government cannot simultaneously talk about selling social housing.

On building social housing, Tweneboa says ministers will have to step in.

"The government talks about fixing the foundation - that starts with social housing ," he says..

Iceland boss Richard Walker is among the panellists on today's show and he is asked about Labour's economic narrative that things are going to be painful. As a business owner, is that helpful or not?

The "tonality needs to change", Walker replies.

This is not going to be a fun budget for anyone, he says, and "those with the broadest shoulders, myself included, should carry the burden".

But this needs to be done in collaboration with business, he says.

On housing, he adds, there is a need to "separate out the day-to-day kind of revenue account versus that long term capital investment".

It's not just about "shiny new hydrogen plants", it's the politics of "ordinary everyday lives", Walker says.

So what has Chancellor Rachel Reeves said ahead of her first Budget on 30 October?

She has told the BBC it will involve "difficult decisions" on tax, spending and benefits.

What else did we hear from Laura Kuenssberg's interview with Angela Rayner this morning?

The discussion also covered allegations of rape by former Harrods boss Mohamed Al Fayed.

Rayner says what concerns her is that "powerful people who seem to get away it", listing a range of issues such as employment rights and how the judiciary system works.

"Nobody is above that law," she says, and references "power imbalances" - citing as examples Westminster and the BBC.

Some of what people are saying is "horrifying", Rayner says, adding that there had to be measures in place to ensure that women are not put into situations where powerful people cannot be challenged.

Finally, Rayner is asked about her influence and whether she is "prepared to be a pain" and a thorn in Labour's side.

"Being a pain all the time doesn't always get you what you want to achieve," she replies, adding she believes in the "carrot and stick approach".

Rayner says it is an honour for her to be deputy PM.

"I will be pushy when I need to be pushy," Rayner says. "We are a team, our cabinet is a team and I am working with all levers of government."

Rayner says it is "nonsense" that there are reports she is being "pushed out".

"I am not being pushed out," she tells the BBC as the interview ends.

Next, Rayner is asked about the millions of people waiting for council housing,

The deputy PM lists off a couple of changes, including increasing the amount of council and social housing, adding that the Right to Buy scheme will be reviewed.

She is pressed again on an exact figure to how many homes will be built.

She answers that she will not "put an exact figure" on it as there are so many "moving parts" - including brownfield land.

Rayner adds that in terms of house building "it has fallen off because mandatory housing targets were removed" by the last Conservative government.

"These are the biggest set of reforms the system has seen in a very long time," she says, adding that she cannot have developers waiting for years.

Rayner finishes this section of questioning by saying: "I will be taking blockages out of the system to make it more efficient."

Back in July, Rayner unveiled an overhaul of England's planning rules to help her party deliver on promises of 1.5m new homes by 2029.

The questioning now turns to Labour's chief of staff Sue Gray's salary, which the BBC this week revealed was £170,000 - higher than the PM's salary.

Kuenssberg asks: Will Gray still be in her job by Christmas?

She's doing an "incredible" job and she has a "huge amount of respect in the cabinet", Rayner replies, adding that she is angered that somehow it's OK to "demonise" workers in their workplace.

You can read more about the row over Sue Gray's pay here.

Kuenssberg asks Rayner about Lord Alli - a Labour donor - receiving a Downing Street pass, and asks Rayner who signed that off.

"I don't know about that," Rayner replies, but says it was not due to any donations he had given to her.

"I did not see him in Parliament and Number 10", she adds.

With regards any post-election celebrations at Downing Street, it is No 10's position that Lord Alli did not organise, host or pay for a reception at Downing Street.

Rayner is now asked about some of the comments that BBC viewers have shared about Labour MPs receiving "freebies".

Rayner acknowledges that donors have "helped me in the past".

She says she has had to accept donations to help run campaigning "as it is a very expensive way of doing politics".

There's a big difference between accepting donations for campaigning and accepting accommodation for a holiday and donations for clothes, Kuenssberg says. "Are you sorry you did that?" she asks.

Rayner says she believes she has been "very transparent".

"I put the clothing donation out in the public domain", Rayner adds.

She says she understands people are frustrated, but donations have been a feature of British politics for a very long time.

"But the transparency is very important," she adds.