Health Secretary Yvette Cooper has announced the return of Sure Start family support centres at the Labour Party Conference, delivering a critical message aimed at the Conservatives. The announcement came during her keynote speech on the final day of the conference in Liverpool.
Ms Cooper said she was still "angry" at the cuts to Sure Start under the previous Conservative government and confirmed that 1,000 new centres would be set up across the country over the next two years.
Prime Minister hints at EU rejoin
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Andy Burnham suggested Britain could "go all the way" and rejoin the European Union, a move that would reverse the Brexit referendum result. Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, he said he would look at the "pros and cons" of all options after saying Brexit had done "more harm than good" in his conference speech.
Mr Burnham said: "We could stay as we are. That's definitely an option, if people think this is the right place to stay. We could look at what George Osborne has said about a customs union, we could look at what the Liberal Democrats said at their conference about the single market or we could go all the way."
Care sector reforms announced
Ms Cooper also announced the first-ever national collective pension scheme for care workers, following campaigning by Unison. She said: "We will deliver the first-ever legally-binding fair pay agreement for care workers with minimum standards of pay and conditions across every employer, because care workers have been undervalued and underpaid for far too long."
She added: "We will publish a proper workforce plan for social care, proper career pathways, training, development of specialist skills. We'll offer thousands more academy places to help young jobseekers into good jobs in care."
Other conference announcements
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy announced the "biggest investment into youth work in a generation", with 1,000 new youth support workers. Reality TV star Georgia Harrison also spoke, calling for stronger regulation of social media to stop explicit images being shared without consent.
Mr Burnham's speech included a major review of the pension triple lock, a repeal of the ban on public water ownership, and plans for a National Care Service free at the point of use. The Prime Minister also said he was considering "every possible measure" to cut the cost of driving, including a potential fuel duty rise next year.
