Labour conference: Six takeaways from Keir Starmer's speech

Here is what we learned from Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer's speech to his party conference - which could be the last before a general election.

1. He can handle a stage invasion

Sir Keir's speech got off to the worst possible start as a protester stormed the stage and doused him in glitter.

He recovered his composure fairly quickly, as the man was bundled from the hall by security shouting slogans about a people's democracy.

"If he thinks that bothers me he doesn't know me," said Sir Keir to loud applause.

"That's why we changed our party conference. That's why we changed our party."

• Keir Starmer's speech disrupted by glitter protest

He removed his jacket and rolled up his sleeves, which lent him a getting-down-to-business air, but it meant he had to deliver his entire speech in a glitter-flecked white shirt.

He reappeared on stage after the speech ended to pose for the cameras with wife Victoria, after being hastily brushed down by aides.

2. 'Getting Britain building again'

The Labour leader has made economic growth his top priority - but to really get his point over, he spoke at length about building.

The phrase "getting Britain building again" was repeated throughout his speech. He declared "we are the builders", to cheers in the hall.

He also coined a new term for building homes on the green belt - Labour will build on the "grey belt", he said, meaning unloved patches of dirt and scrubland (or "disused petrol stations" as one of his aides described them).

He repeated his pledge to build 1.5m new homes. Labour claim they can get going with this quickly if they win the next election, through tweaks to the existing planning system.

Sir Keir's big policy announcement - building a "generation of Labour new towns" - could prove more tricky.

3. This was a pre-election speech

Sir Keir was introduced to the stage as the leader of the Labour Party - not as tradition dictates "our next prime minister".

Labour clearly wants to avoid triumphalism - and there were some tough messages on rejecting easy answers and choosing the "hard road". Not to mention a message to his critics on the left about reforming the NHS.

But he still wanted to send Labour election candidates home with a tune to whistle.

And that meant his five "national missions", which we are told will be at the core of Labour's campaigning until next May's local - and possibly national - elections.

In case these "missions" have passed you by, they are: Getting Britain building again, "switching on" Great British Energy, getting the NHS "back on its feet", recruiting more police officers and "tearing down the barriers to opportunity" (this week's policy on further education colleges and making private schools pay VAT fund specialist teachers falls under this category).

4. Labour is ready to fight rough

Labour think they are on to a winner by linking Rishi Sunak to Liz Truss. In a speech short on gags, he got a laugh for this line: "I never thought I'd say this but I'm beginning to see why Liz Truss won. Although I still think we'd be better off with that lettuce."

But there was a serious edge - and a clear hint that Labour is ready to fight rough when the general election is called.

"Trust me. Wherever you think the line is, they've already got plans to cross it," Sir Keir told delegates.

"They will be up for the fight. They're always up for the fight to save their own skin. And this isn't over. In fact, it's barely begun. So we have to be disciplined. Focused. Ready to fight back."

5. Class is making a comeback

One key difference between Tony Blair and Keir Starmer is that the current Labour leader has never been afraid to talk about class.

He spoke about breaking the "class ceiling" and his own "working class" background, the "pebble-dash semi" he grew up in, and how his toolmaker Dad "felt the disrespect of vocational skills all his life".

This came as part of an attack on Rishi Sunak for "levelling-down the working class aspiration to go to university".

6. Labour sees Scotland as the route back to Downing Street

Labour are still riding high on their resounding defeat of the SNP in the Rutherglen by-election, which the party leadership believes heralds a comeback in Scotland and a clear path to Downing Street.

Sir Keir re-announced Labour's plan to base Great British Energy - the publicly-owned clean energy firm he's planning - in Scotland.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sawar and winning candidate Michael Shanks were the only Labour politicians to be mentioned by name in his speech.