Keir Starmer fails to mention LGBTQ+ issues in first Labour Party conference speech as PM

Keir Starmer’s first address at the Labour Party conference as prime minister touched on a wide range of topics – but issues affecting LGBTQ+ people were noticeably missing.

Starmer, who became prime minister in July after ousting Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives from power, delivered his speech on Tuesday (24 September) at the party’s annual conference in Liverpool.

The PM promised to introduce the Hillsborough Law, which, in the wake of the football disaster in 1989, would put a legal duty of candour on public bodies. He also vowed to root out benefit fraud with new legislation, pledged to “house all veterans in need [to] repay those who served us”, and announced that the new state-owned company GB Energy will be based in Aberdeen.

Despite not explicitly mentioning LGBTQ+ people or issues, such as the rising number of hate crime rates and the years-long waiting lists for trans healthcare, the theme of equality of opportunity and acceptance ran through the speech.

Labour will strive to make the UK a place that gives an “equal voice to every person” and a place “that won’t expect you to change who you are just to get on”, Starmer said.

“A country that doesn’t just work for you and your family, but one that recognises you, sees you, respects you as part of our story. A Britain that belongs to you.”

Starmer’s speech was not without controversy and interruption, as there had been for chancellor Rachel Reeves on Monday (23 September).

As he urged “restraint and de-escalation at the border between Lebanon and Israel” and a made a now-viral gaff where he called for the return of the “sausages”, rather than hostages, a heckler interrupted him. It is believed the man shouted about children in Gaza, before being removed from the hall.

“This guy’s obviously got a pass from the 2019 conference,” Starmer said, a quip in reference to Jeremy Corbyn’s tenure as Labour leader. “While he’s been protesting, we’ve been changing the party. That’s why we’ve got a Labour government.”

The retort was not well-received by everyone, with political commentator Owen Jones calling it “genuinely vile behaviour”.

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