As we reported earlier, Reeves' speech was disrupted just minutes after it began...

Since taking office, Chancellor Rachel Reeves has consistently accused the previous Conservative government of having left a £22bn "black hole" in the public's finances.

She says today that figures from Friday "showed another month of record borrowing," and "debt at 100% of GDP".

"Departments had been allocated money which they were spending, but which did not exist," she says of former prime minister Rishi Sunak's government. "The money was not there," she adds, saying that debt could pose risks for "years to come".

She says the Tories were "reckless" and "irresponsible".

• For context: Our colleagues at BBC Verify looked into Reeves' black hole claims earlier today - you can read what they found that here.

Turning her attention to the current Tory leadership race, Reeves says their party's biggest "failure" was not just being "incompetent" or putting "party before country" - but the fact they didn't understand the world as it is today.

They did not understand the premium on economic stability, she adds.

On the economy, Rachel Reeves asks conference why Britons have put their trust in Labour "for the first time in five general elections?"

She credits Starmer's leadership and adds that "Labour is the party of economic responsibility and the party of working people".

The chancellor says voters trust Labour with their money - and that that is due to the party's values. She also promises not to take risks with people's money.

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent, reporting from Liverpool

An uncomfortable moment for Rachel Reeves, to say the least, as a protester is dragged out of the hall while shouting about arms sales to Israel.

The chancellor hit back - and won a large standing ovation - for saying that “this is a changed Labour Party and not a party of protest”.

It’s similar to lines that Sir Keir Starmer has used in the past in response to hecklers.

But that tells its own story — in the past few years heckling and protests have become a feature of Labour conferences. The prime minister’s team must now be worried about his big speech tomorrow.

While Reeves moves on to the economy, a protester in the crowd stands up.

He accuses the government of continuing to sell arms to Israel, while the war with Hamas in Gaza continues.

He's swiftly dragged out of the hall and Reeves says Labour is a changed party - not one of protest.

Reflecting on the last year, the chancellor says she stood at the last Labour conference and promised that in 12 months time she would do so again "as the the first ever female Chancellor of the Exchequer".

There's another big round of applause at this moment.

She pays tribute to previous "trailblazing Labour women" and "thousands of women... who broke down barriers" to allow her to get to this position: "It falls to me, and to our generation of Labour women, to follow in the footsteps of those who went before us.

"To write the work of all women back into our economic story. And to show to our daughters and our granddaughters that they need place no ceiling on their ambitions. That is the Britain we're building."

After a big round of applause, Reeves begins her speech by saying that this time last year she made a commitment - listing actions including getting Britain "building again" and repairing the NHS.

After 14 "wasted" years, she says, referring to consecutive Conservative governments, she stands here as chancellor "ready to deliver on that commitment".

"Labour is back in the service of communities we never should have lost."

Stay here for updates, and click watch live above or below to see the chancellor's speech in full.

Faisal Islam
Economics editor

There is a clear change of tone from the top of government on the economy.

While this will not be acknowledged publicly, it does look like a recalibration of the doom and gloom that has pervaded, specifically since the PM’s speech about a "painful Budget".

The warnings from some corporate leaders and the turnaround in latest consumer confidence figures have been noticed. Some online retailers said they could see the impact of the "pain" rhetoric at the end of August in their numbers, in real time.

The chancellor is trying to distinguish between some tough decisions on tax and spend in next month’s statement, and more general optimism about UK economic prospects.

This is vital, especially in the context of the attempt to use political and economic stability to attract tens of billions of international investment at a summit next month.

But it may also be that there was a miscalculation about the state of the British consumer. Many households are still struggling under the weight of higher prices, even as the rate of inflation slows.

Consumers may have been tentatively emerging from years of global non stop rolling crises, but it was a fragile recovery. Working families were peaking from behind their curtain, hoping it was all over.

The chancellor seems to acknowledge, that as well as sound public finances, getting businesses and households to spend and invest, required confidence, and the feel good factor.

That is what we will hear in just a few minutes' time.

Image source, PA Media

It's been a tough few weeks for Keir Starmer - but former Manchester United and England footballer Gary Neville has defended the PM accepting free Arsenal tickets, which have been worth tens of thousands of pounds.

Speaking at a fringe event at the Labour party conference, Neville said: "I'm struggling with the free football tickets one quite a bit, to be honest with you, when I look at the absolute corruption we've seen in the last five, six, seven, eight years with people getting billions of pounds worth of contracts in VIP lanes.

"Keir Starmer's paid for his season ticket to go with his family to watch Arsenal all his life and he's now being told he can't go to that same seat, when I'm sure he would - you know he would, everybody knows he would - he's been told he's got to go in a hospitality box, a private box."

Neville went on to call the level of attention Starmer is receiving over this "incredible".

Priya Patel
Economics reporter

We mentioned earlier that a non-binding conference vote on the government's winter fuel cuts seemed to be delayed.

We now understand the vote will take place at the end of the day on Wednesday, as the conference wraps up.

Some unions have expressed anger and one union source says that "it’s an attempt to silence union voices on the matter" - and some wonder if the vote will actually take place at all.

Mick Whelan, boss of rail union Aslef, said: "We are disappointing that this motion has been moved and we don’t understand why."

United general secretary Sharon Graham said: "Right now it is fair to say that the Labour leaders have tried to silence the voice of pensioners, workers and communities at party conference, in this blatant manoeuvre to block debate on winter fuel cuts and the departure towards Austerity Mark 2.

"When this becomes widely known there will be real anger among everyday people. Real Anger."

Did Reeves rule out spending cuts this morning? Not quitepublished at 11:03 British Summer Time 23 September

11:03 BST 23 September

Dharshini David
Chief economics correspondent

This morning, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said real-term (i.e., after inflation) government spending would rise over this Parliament, with "no return to austerity".

But that still may mean that some departments – such as higher education and justice – face squeezed spending power.

Once you take out those areas where budgets are "protected" – such as health, schools and defence – other departments, as flagged by the independent Office For Budget Responsibility in the spring, are set to face budgets which may not keep up with price rises.

Add in population growth and they’d be even more stretched.

Reeves may yet opt to relieve some of this pressure in the plans she outlines in the Budget on 30 October – but she’s stressed that the "detailed department-by-department spending will be negotiated".

At a time when departments are already being asked to find savings, there will likely be winners and losers.

But as she also flags, public services aren’t just about the money that’s put in, but how they’re managed and run. More widespread reforms are looming.

A debate and (non-binding) vote on reversing the winter fuel allowance cuts will seemingly not take place at the Labour conference today.

The announcement was met with boos in the conference hall in Liverpool this morning.

Lynne Morris, who chairs the conference arrangements committee (CAC), said: "This is a really busy conference and we are trying to accommodate as much as we can, and I'm going to take this back straight to CAC and I'll come back to you with an answer ASAP."

Unite and the Communication Workers Union (CWU) had put forward motions which were due to be debated on Monday afternoon.

Rachel Reeves told LBC this morning: "If delegates want to vote on this, they will get a vote on this.

"I don't know the timing of the vote, but we've already had a vote in Parliament where it was overwhelmingly passed."

As a reminder, the government plans to scrap winter fuel payments, worth £200 - £300 a year, for around 10 million pensioners - read more on that in our explainer.

The two conferences taking place in Liverpoolpublished at 10:29 British Summer Time 23 September

10:29 BST 23 September

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent, reporting from Liverpool

There are two Labour Party conferences taking place in Liverpool this week.

One of them is essentially Westminster on tour: the same gaggle of ministers, politicians, advisers and journalists merely transplanted to north-west England for several days.

The other party conference is different, comprising delegates from every local Labour Party around the country who have come to Liverpool to vote on party policy and rules. Trade unions and other affiliated organisations have formal roles too.

In that party conference, at least, the mood is pretty good. After all this is the first time in 15 years that the politicians speaking at the podium have been doing so as government ministers.

One MP said that their local party members’ main gripe was not anything controversial the new government had done, but that at the general election Sir Keir Starmer "only" managed to win 411 of the 650 seats.

Yet even if that party conference is a big celebration, the other party conference is a more complicated affair.

After all, it’s fair to assume that the government’s plans for its first few months - and it is increasingly contested in Labour circles the extent to which there was an adequate plan at all - did not include an intense row about so-called freebies or a blizzard of briefing against Sue Gray, the prime minister’s chiefof staff.

All that means that Rachel Reeves’s task today is not just to lay out her approach to the economy, to infuse party members with hope, and to reassure others around the country about her plan for economic growth — though she does have to do all that.

She also needs to draw a line under the difficulties of the past few days and refocus the conference on what this fledgling government actually wants to talk about.

Is there a £22bn 'black hole'?published at 10:23 British Summer Time 23 September

10:23 BST 23 September

Chancellor Rachel Reeves said on BBC Radio 4 this morning: "When I became Chancellor, I learned of the £22bn black hole, which the previous government had covered up from the country."

The figure comes from a document published by the Treasury at the end of July, external in which it laid out the unexpected spending that would be needed this year, which it said the previous Conservative government had not been open about.

We know there is some truth to that – the Office for Budget Responsibility, which keeps an eye on government finances, said that it had not been made aware of the extent of those extra costs., external

But the head of the Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank said that, while some parts of this year’s shortfall would not have been clear to Labour, it was obvious before the election that tax rises would be needed to maintain public services., external

David Cornock
Politics reporter

Image source, EPA

As we just reported, Defence Secretary John Healey spoke to the Labour conference this morning, launching a drive to recruit gamers and coders for cyber defence.

"If you're a top gamer or a coder, your country needs you," he told the conference.

Healey also confirmed he was scrapping "outdated policies" that had blocked people from joining the Army - for example, people with asthma or bad acne.

He said that during the last 10 years, more than a million people had applied to join the forces but three in four had given up. The forces would be given a deadline to respond to applications with a rejection or an offer, he said.

As we've been reporting, the focus for Labour today will be on the economy, and chancellor Rachel Reeves will speak on the main stage at 12:00 BST.

Before then, Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds and West Midlands Mayor Richard Parker are due to speak. Parker was elected in May, ousting Conservative Andy Street who had been in office since 2017.

Later in the day, delegates will hear from Transport Secretary Louise Haigh and Scottish Labour Leader Anas Sarwar. The latter is expected to to suggest that Scotland is being "held back" by the SNP.

Towards the end of the day, speakers include Environment Secretary Steve Reed and Energy Secretary Ed Miliband.

This afternoon, there could be a (non-binding) vote in the hall on the government cutting winter fuel payment for 10million pensioners - but that could also be delayed until Wednesday.

You can watch our coverage from Liverpool, including key speeches, by pressing watch live at the top of the page.

Image source, Reuters

As we've reported, Chancellor Rachel Reeves said this morning that she inherited a £22bn "black hole" in the public finances, meaning some "difficult choices" were needed.

In response, shadow Treasury minister Gareth Davies says he "questions the validity" of that claim. He says that cutting winter fuel payments was, in fact, a "political choice".

"They have chosen on the one hand to hand massive pay rises to the unions, while at the same time taking away support for pensioners ahead of winter," he tells GB News.

"What this is really all about is what they always wanted to do, and that's roll the pitch for tax rises, which will come in the Budget.

"They're now starting to admit that. That will harm growth and I thought this government was all about growth."

• You can read BBC Verify's take on the "black hole" claims here

Rachel Reeves' speech for the Labour Party conference will take place at 12:00 BST - but she started her day with interviews with BBC Breakfast and the Today programme:

• Pressed on her "doom and gloom" message since taking office, she said: "There won't be a return to austerity, there will be real terms increases to government spending in this Parliament"
• Asked if that could still mean spending cuts for specific departments, she said it would be decided in spending reviews
• Reeves said the government is about "change" and referenced multiple times the "prize" of economic stability

• She repeated her claims of inheriting a "black hole" in public finances, accusing the previous government of "dishonesty"
• There will be no U-turn on scrapping winter fuel payments for 10 million pensions, she said, while sticking by the move to scrap the social care cap
• And, quizzed on accepting thousands of pounds donations for clothes, Reeves accepted that it looked "odd" - but said it was "right" to no longer accept such donations now she was in government
• She said the donations she did accept came from a "good personal friend" who wanted to "to buy clothes for the campaign trail and for big events and speeches"