By Dan Haygarth,Liam Thorp,Lois McCarthy

Copyright walesonline

Rachel Reeves’ address to the Labour Party conference took an unexpected turn on Monday (September 29), when a protestor interrupted her, just moments into her speech. The outburst came from an audience member, who shouted about the “mass starvation of Palestinians”, briefly halting proceedings in the main hall at the Liverpool Exhibition Centre. In response, the Chancellor of Exchequer acknowledged the comment, saying: “We understand your cause and we are recognising a Palestinian state.” Her words were met with applause from the hall, after which she continued with her speech. Ms Reeves then shifted focus back to Labour’s domestic agenda. She added: “We’re now a party in government, not a party of protest. “And I’m proud to stand here as your Chancellor, the Chancellor that has increased the minimum wage, the Chancellor that is introducing free breakfast clubs and free school meals, a Chancellor that has overseen five cuts to interest rates. “That’s the difference we make, and that is the difference we make in power, not through protest,” reports the Liverpool Echo . She added: “Our party has changed, and that is why I am standing here, proud to be your Chancellor of the Exchequer.” She was met with additional applause from delegates in the conference venue. For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation, sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here During her address, Ms Reeves declared Labour would persist in its efforts to recover misappropriated funds from PPE contracts and Covid “corruption”, telling the party’s gathering: “We want our money back.” Ms Reeves revealed the Government had already clawed back nearly £400 million via its Covid corruption commissioner. “We will continue that fight to recover more from those PPE contracts that failed to deliver,” the Chancellor declared. “But we won’t stop there. In the coming months we are bringing in additional new powers to investigate and recover more money from fraudsters who have ripped off the Government, and ripped off our public services. “And I can tell you today too, that to deploy those new powers, we are recruiting a new hit squad to investigate and recover all the money that is owed to the British people. Because conference, we want our money back. “We are getting that money back, and we are putting it where it belongs, in our communities, in our schools and in our National Health Service.” The Chancellor also expressed her fundamental disagreement with the Conservative and Reform UK stance that the economy is broken. She addressed the conference: “The Conservatives and Reform they want you to believe that our economy is broken, that our best days lie behind us, the decline is inevitable. “I fundamentally reject that. It’s not the country I see around me, not the future that I believe in. “I know that things are still difficult, bills are too high, getting ahead can feel tough, and there are still too many obstacles in the way for businesses. “And so, our central economic objective is to change that. Growth to improve living standards is a challenge, and investment is a solution. “By overhauling our planning system, reforming our pension system, launching Britain’s very first national wealth fund and a modern industrial strategy, and signing new trade deals to back our manufacturers and our exporters with India, with the United States and with our closest neighbours and allies in Europe.”