Chris Mason
Political editor

The stand out remarks from the prime minister in his interview with Laura were about Reform’s idea to scrap Indefinite Leave to Remain - which Sir Keir Starmer sees as immoral and racist.

We’ll be seeing plenty of Starmer in the next few days and he will keep returning to the dividing line he now wants to draw between Labour and Reform.

In essence, his pitch is that Labour need to be united against their common opponent - Nigel Farage.

But it is precisely that threat from Reform which has accelerated the fears and jitters of Labour MPs and activists, and so the talk is about whether the prime minister is up to that battle ahead.

The grumpiness is broad and it is deep within the parliamentary party, even if there is also a breadth and a depth to the view that Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester, rather overdid it with his interventions in the last few days.

Burnham is appearing at a fringe event at the conference this afternoon which I’ll be heading to - assuming I can get through the door as I suspect it’ll be rammed.

The prime minister will argue that navel gazing and leadership speculation is what contributed to the Conservatives' calamitous collapse in popularity and Labour must not make the same mistake.

But Labour MPs are not blind to opinion polls that suggest Armageddon for the party and point to the cavernous depths of Starmer's unpopularity.

"He makes Corbyn look loved," one backbencher observed to me ruefully.

Image source, Reuters

Labour's annual party conference in Liverpool is now under way.

Delegates representing voters and trade unions will be taking part in voting on the party's policies, with speeches expected over the coming days from major figures.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is due to speak tomorrow, with Keir Starmer scheduled to give a keynote speech on Tuesday afternoon.

One of the biggest moments from today's programme was Starmer accusing Reform UK of wanting to "tear the country apart", and accusations that Nigel Farage's plan to deport legal migrants is "racist" and "immoral".

Reform has hit back, with the party's Zia Yusuf claiming its plan will ensure migrants contribute to British society.

We'll be closing our page shortly, but before we go we'll leave you with a final word from our political editor Chris Mason.

Image source, Getty Images

We also heard from climate activist Greta Thunberg during the programme.

Speaking from one of the boats in a flotilla trying to bring aid in to Gaza and to "show that the people of the world stand with Palestine", adding that the territory is under "Israel's illegal and inhumane siege".

Kuenssberg questions their approach at taking aid in, saying that flotillas have been the target of many Israeli attacks. She asks why Thunberg didn't take the route that the Catholic Church takes into Jerusalem, suggested by Italy.

Thunberg says that they have seen these types of proposals before but that Israel is not working in the interests of the Palestinians and that they have been lied to countless times.

When asked about the dangers of the mission, Thunberg says there have been "escalated attacks and threats", and instead asks why Israel would attack "a peaceful humanitarian mission" trying to take aid to a "starving population".

"I don't think anyone would risk their life for a publicity stunt... have you asked people in Gaza if they think it is?"

Israel has insisted it acts in accordance with international law and facilitates the entry of aid, and has repeatedly said it would not allow the flotilla to reach its intended destination.

Polling expert Sir John Curtice talks through which parties Labour is losing support to in the polls since forming a government last year.

Image source, EPA

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has responded to Starmer's comments about VAT.

A reminder, the PM did not directly answer Laura Kuenssberg on whether he would rule out raising this rate tax.

"The manifesto stands," he said when pressed, adding that more will come out in the November Budget.

"Keir Starmer just failed three times to rule out a hike in VAT," Badenoch writes on X. "Claiming that ‘the manifesto stands’ is not the same as saying ‘no rise in VAT’.

"The PM must rule out hiking VAT immediately, or working people will fear another Labour tax bombshell in the budget."

Simon Jones
Reporter, BBC South East Today

Almost 900 migrants are believed to have crossed the Channel in small boats on Saturday.

The number will be confirmed later by the Home Office.

Yesterday, two women died while attempting the crossing, and the body of a man was discovered in a canal near the beach in Dunkirk.

More than 30,000 people have reached the UK in small boats so far in 2025 and more than 50,000 have crossed since Labour came into power in July 2024.

Watch: How many people would Reform's migrant plans impact?published at 10:47 BST

10:47 BST

By Ben Chu

Reform says if elected it will abolish the right of migrants to qualify for permanent settlement in the UK after five years, replacing it with a five-year renewable visa system with requirements needed to be met.

So how many would be affected under these proposals?

In the year ending June 2025, there were 163,000 grants of settlement for non-EU citizens.

For those in the UK that might go on to claim settlement, there were more than 4m people at the end of 2024.

Watch my analysis of the plans below:

More on what Reform has proposed now.

On Monday, the party announced it would abolish the right of migrants to qualify for permanent settlement in the UK after five years, should Reform win the next election.

Under the plans, migrants would need to reapply for new visas with tougher rules, and Reform would abolish Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR), which gives people rights and access to benefits.

Under the current system, migrants can apply for indefinite leave to remain after five years, giving the right to live, study and work in the UK permanently.

It is a key route to gaining British citizenship and allows people to claim benefits.

Reform's policy chief Zia Yusuf said the changes would lead to "hundreds of thousands of people having to apply and ultimately losing their settled status in the UK".

"Many of those who will lose their leave to remain are entirely dependent on the welfare state and will leave voluntarily upon losing access to benefits," he said.

"Those that don't will be subject to immigration enforcement as part of our mass deportation programme."

Image source, PA Media

The BBC approached Reform UK about claims made by Keir Starmer in the programme that the party's deportation plan for migrants is "racist".

Reform's head of policy, Zia Yusuf, says: “Labour’s message to the country is clear: pay hundreds of billions for foreign nationals to live off the state forever, or Labour will call you racist.

“Reform’s plan will ensure only British people can access welfare and that migrants contribute to society.”

Tom Joyner
Live reporter

We've heard a lot from Starmer this morning as he prepares for Labour's conference later today. If you're just joining us, here's a quick round-up of what happened in the programme:

• The prime minister said he understood that the public were "frustrated" and admitted that his government had work to, with Labour behind in the polls.
• He emphatically dismissed speculation of a leadership challenge from Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham
• Starmer accused Reform UK of wanting to do "tear the country apart" and accused the party's plan to deport legal migrants of being "racist" and "immoral", but stopped short of saying it was pandering to racist voters
• He said he wanted to bring forward his government's deadline to close asylum hotels in 2029
• Starmer said the way the government provides help to children with special educational needs and disabilities needed change
• Meanwhile, shadow housing secretary James Cleverly accused Labour of trying to claw back credibility on immigration, and of opposing changes he made in the previous government
• He said Reform were good at grabbing headlines and hit out at the BBC for its coverage of the party

That brings the live programme to an end this morning, but stick with us as we continue to bring you analysis and reaction.

The Labour Party Confernece kicks off today in Liverpool.

Next week, Laura will be joined by Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch at the start of their conference in Manchester.

Kuenssberg then asks Cleverly whether leaving the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) would make a difference to UK immigration cases.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has launched a review into a possible exit, but Kuenssberg presses Cleverly on comments he has previously made that leaving would not solve anything.

Cleverly pushes back and clarifies that he previously said leaving the ECHR - an international treaty designed to protect human rights - is not a "silver bullet". Cleverly goes onto say that there have been decisions made by the judiciary which are "perverse".

That brings the interview to an end.

Kuenssberg repeats her first question: "Do you see the battle with Reform on the same terms as the prime minister?"

Cleverly says Reform is "very, very good at headline-grabbing" and takes aim at the BBC for being "very compliant when it comes to covering what they say."

But he adds that the party's "the policies fall apart" when you look at the details.

"[They have] no plan for delivery".

After a brief discussion with the panel, shadow housing secretary James Cleverly is now in the hot seat.

Kuenssberg begins by asking if he sees the battle with Reform UK as, in the prime minister's words, a "battle for the soul" of the country.

He doesn't answer the question, but says Labour is desperately trying to reclaim credibility on the issue of immigration.

Cleverly claims that Labour opposed him when he tried to tighten rules on who could work in the UK during his time as home secretary.

"This is a day late and a dollar short," he says. "No one is buying it."

Chris Mason
Political editor

This is a conference season with a recurring word: patriotism.

Reform UK and the Liberal Democrats offered their own takes on it.

Now Labour are leaning into it in Liverpool.

Sir Keir Starmer says "patriotic renewal" as he puts it "is fixing the problems we inherited and changing the country".

He describes the UK as a "beautiful, tolerant diverse country", in what he believes is contrasting with Reform’s worldview.

"Reform do not believe in that country. They want to tear that country apart," he tells Laura. There’ll be plenty more where this came from in the next few days.

Image source, PA Media

"What if the problem is you?" Kuenssberg asks.

The prime minister says that he will be judged at the next election on three things - living standards, the NHS and if people feel safe and secure.

I will be "rightly judged" at the end of the five-year mandate, he says.

Kuenssberg then asks Starmer: "What are you saying to your critics?"

"We have got the fight of our lives ahead of us, because we have got to beat Reform," he says.

The interview is now over - next up, it's shadow housing secretary James Cleverly.

The interview turns to the topic of Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester.

Kuenssberg puts it to the PM that Burnham is not the first to say there are issues with Starmer's leadership.

"Comments about leaders and leadership are part and parcel of being in politics. It is the bread and butter of politics," he says.

"Every leader gets it. It's in the job description. I don't focus on that. I focus on what we've got to get done."

Kuenssberg now asks Starmer on whether he would rule out scrapping the legal right for children with special educational needs to get extra help.

Starmer responds by saying: "I don't want to take away rights - but we do need to reform this system".

She pushes back and asks again: "So you might scrap that legal right?"

Starmer says that at the moment special needs "doesn't work for most people", before adding that this was topic was the number one concern for MPS.

Kuenssberg asks the prime minister on his governments tax plans, ahead of Chancellor Rachel Reeves' Budget in November.

She asks him directly whether the PM will rule out raising VAT.

Starmer responds by highlighting what he says are a record number of jobs, adding that he came into politics to change things.

He's pressed again on VAT.

"The manifesto stands," he replies, adding that more will come out in the November Budget.

Labour's general election manifesto last year ruled out increasing rates of income tax, national insurance and VAT., external

Starmer is asked whether he thinks Reforms plan to deport migrants is an "immoral policy".

"Yes," he says.

"We are a proud, tolerant country," adding that people have been coming to the UK "for centuries".

He goes on to say it's one thing to "remove illegal migrants - I'm up for that," but it's a "completely different thing, to reach into people who are lawfully here and start removing them."

"The fight with Reform is different," Starmer says.

Kuenssberg then asks if the PM thinks it is a racist policy.

"I do think that it is a racist policy. I do think it is immoral. It needs to be called out for what it is," Starmer says.

But he stops short of saying that Reform UK is trying to appeal to racist voters.

"I think there are plenty of people who vote Reform or thinking of voting Reform who are frustrated," he adds.

We'll bring you more on what Reform has proposed shortly.