Away from the Reform conference, there are questions over whether Andy Burnham’s ambitious economic agenda is compatible with the more cautious approach being signalled by his chancellor, John Healey.

My colleagues Pippa Crerar, Heather Stewart and Jessica Elgot look at the tensions within Labour over its economic plans, including how far Healey is prepared to go on investment and spending while keeping control of the public finances.

They write:

Healey has just returned from the G20 finance ministers’ meeting in North Carolina and is acutely conscious of factors beyond his control that will hit the Office for Budget Responsibility’s forecasts, including the rising cost of oil after bombing resumed in Iran.

It is little surprise, then, that he has repeatedly stressed that fiscal responsibility is the “bedrock” of his approach and he will stick to Reeves’s fiscal rules.

But his cautious tone jars uncomfortably with the prime minister’s large – and costly – policy vision: more public control of utilities, reform of the broken social care system and a mass social home building programme.

“[Healey] is in a bind,” one Treasury source said. “His instinct is to keep things steady, especially while the OBR does its snapshot, but that’s not Andy’s gameplan for his first week back.”

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Farage ended his speech by praising the “amazing” atmosphere at the conference, despite the controversies and disruption that have overshadowed the event in recent days.

“It has been the most incredible few days,” he said.

“The atmosphere has been amazing. It’s been upbeat, it’s been optimistic, it’s been fun.”

He then invited speakers on stage and audience members to sing the national anthem.

And with that, the conference is over.

Nigel Farage has told the Reform conference he wants to lead the party to victory at the next election, warning it could be the country’s “last chance” to avoid “terminal decline”.

He said:

I want us to win the next election, because I believe I can lead us into the kind of fundamental change of direction that this country needs.

If we don’t take it, well, it might be our last chance to turn the country around before we head for terrible and, frankly, terminal decline.”

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has downplayed the controversies that overshadowed his party’s conference yesterday.

“Much of mainstream media today says the Reform UK conference was subdued,” he told audience members in his closing remarks. “Are you subdued?”

He continued:

I tell you what we learned yesterday and today. There will be times in this journey when there are good days, and times when there are difficult days.

More often than not, things will be put upon us that are unfair. But sometimes we will make mistakes, sometimes we will get things wrong and get a bit of a kicking for it.

But what this conference has shown is whatever you throw at the leadership, whatever you throw at the people’s army, we immediately pick ourselves up, dust ourselves down and start all over again.”

The leader of a flag campaign group who was arrested on suspicion of causing religiously and racially aggravated harassment was given access to Reform UK’s annual conference.

Ryan Bridge, whose Raise the Colours group has put up hundreds of union and St George flags across England, told the Guardian he was invited to the conference.

Raise the Colours has argued the campaign displays flags as a sign of patriotism, but it has been accused of using them to spread anti-immigrant sentiment.

Bridge’s attendance at the event comes as Reform UK has been attempting to attract more wavering centre-ground voters who have been reluctant to support the party. But a threat from its hard-right rival Restore Britain has given the party reason to pull rightwards.

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Nigel Farage has hit back at criticism over the treatment of protesters at the Reform UK conference, calling it “utter nonsense” and accusing his critics of taking a “one-sided” view.

West Midlands police has asked a female protester to come forward after footage appeared to show her being manhandled and having her hair pulled by a Reform audience member as she was removed from the conference yesterday (see post at 12:08).

Speaking to broadcasters, Farage said: “It’s all one way, isn’t it? I can have milkshakes chucked in my face, be bashed over the head with placards and that’s all fine. That’s absolutely fine.

“Yet, well, we have a big event that people have paid a lot of money to come to and we get people there trying to disrupt it and we remove them. Suddenly we’re in the wrong. Utter nonsense.”

He added: “This is just also one sided. It is ridiculous. There were people there trying to disrupt our conference. We always have them. We always have them and we remove them quickly and expeditiously.”

Before we hear from Nigel Farage on stage later this afternoon, he has been answering questions from the media on his party finances.

He again insisted Reform has not broken any laws after a report by Channel 4 News showed senior party figures discussing how to disguise donations from foreign sources.

Farage told ITV he expected to face more investigations and blamed “the establishment” for the scrutiny surrounding his party.

“You come back and see me in six months, there’ll be five more investigations. It won’t end,” he said.

“They are not going to give us a free ride. They will do anything they can. I expect many more investigations over the course of the next few months, I have no doubt about it.”

Speaking to GB News, he acknowledged that there would be “some people in the middle out there who aren’t quite sure (about Reform), that would be worried by some of these allegations”.

Nigel Farage has told the co-founder of anti-migrant Raise the Colours movement, Ryan Bridge, that Reform UK would provide legal support as he fights injunctions being pursued by councils over his activities.

“What your campaign has done is wake up vast parts of this country,” Farage told Bridge from a stage inside the Reform conference, after the activist was among three people selected to ask questions during a discussion hosted by Jeremy Kyle.

“If we can help you legally we will,” said Farage, after Bridge told him he was subject to an injunction preventing him from raising flags in Oxfordshire and was facing a further one from Birmingham city council.

Bridge was among 10 activists banned from France this year after travelling there to take part in actions intended to stop migrant boats taking to the sea.

He is also named, alongside six others, in an application by Birmingham city council for a high court injunction aimed at stopping Raise the Colours activists from putting up flags in the city. The first hearing is due to take place on Tuesday.

Robert Jenrick has been asked about protesters blocking traffic in and out of the Port of Dover earlier today.

Footage showed the group, appearing largely to be men, dressed in black and wearing balaclavas, gathered at the Kent port.

A group was later seen marching through the town and chanting “whose streets? our streets!” and “stop the boats” as dozens of police officers followed.

Speaking to reporters at the Reform national conference, the party’s Treasury spokesperson said:

I’m sick of people disrupting life in this country.

I hope the police take all the actions as necessary to get the port open as quickly as possible.

It’s completely disgraceful that businesses and individuals are having their lives held up by those people.

On the second day of the Reform UK conference, in the wake of an undercover investigation alleging party officials plotted to evade the law on foreign donations, the deputy leader, Richard Tice, addressed the audience. Within minutes, a banner appeared behind him reading: “Collect £5m, burn the planet.”

It was taken down promptly and Tice, who has repeatedly called on people to enjoy the summer’s five successive heatwaves and record drought, rolled on. As Reform members at the Birmingham venue applauded Tice, there was plenty of agreement with his views. “I enjoyed the heat this summer,” said Jeanette Bowden, of Bexley. “I don’t think people need telling to take care of themselves.” Her partner, James, added, without scientific backing: “Carbon dioxide was much higher in the past, it was 10 times higher than this during the ice ages. It’s not a human problem.”

Amid stalls offering simulated helicopter rides, gold as an investment, tattoos and discounts on rum, climate scepticism was common. “It’s overhyped,” said Yvonne, who did not wish to give a surname.

“I don’t believe the predictions,” said Jim Langford. “They told us Norwich would be underwater by now and it’s not Atlantis yet.” Ed Rennie, a former Labour councillor from north London, said the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change had reduced some of its higher predictions.

But many of the same people who, like Tice, cast doubt on climate science, also criticised the government for failing to protect people against the hot weather. Bowden pointed to new-build houses. “They have really small windows,” she said. “That might be good in winter, but in summer it must be too hot, you can hardly open them. The government should not force this on people.”

Yvonne added: “The government were all on their holidays in the summer, not doing their jobs [to help people during the heatwaves]. Government should ensure there is clean water and sewage, but they’re not even doing that.”

The confusion among Reform supporters, explained Michael Jacobs, an emeritus professor of political economy at the University of Sheffield, was to be expected given the party leadership’s peddling of “myths and lies” over the climate. Voters often say they want contradictory things, such as high standards of social care without tax rises to pay for them, Jacobs pointed out. But on the climate, they face an even more intense bombardment from contradictory viewpoints, as parties of the right try to turn the issue into a culture war.

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In other news, a timely report that suggests Manchester’s economic success – one of Andy Burnham’s biggest legacies as mayor – could be replicated across England to unlock untapped growth potential of up to £80bn is released this weekend.

Mandala Partners, a global economic research consultancy that was led by Nick Williams – a former Downing Street economic adviser who is now working for the first secretary, Louise Haigh – found that housing, transport and health devolution would be crucial to achieving the prime minister’s aim of “growth in every postcode”.

Of these, the impact of following Manchester’s housing investment model is most striking. The report found that an £8.5bn programme of revolving public risk capital across mayoral strategic authorities could unlock almost 100,000 additional homes, crowd in more than £20bn of private investment and support more than 70,000 jobs.

While not commissioned by No 10, Mandala’s study nevertheless bolsters Burnham’s central argument that learning from the success of Manchester’s devolution model could deliver far-reaching economic benefits and release the country from its low-growth chokehold. Given the caution that exists in parts of the Treasury towards the prime minister’s more radical plans, Downing Street aides may read with interest.

Dexys Midnight Runners frontman Kevin Rowland has hit out at Nigel Farage for using the band’s hit Come on Eileen as his entrance music at the Reform UK conference yesterday.

Rowland, the song’s main songwriter, said on social media he was “disgusted” by Farage’s use of the track, adding that he and the band are “passionately against Farage’s politics”.

He said:

I, Kevin Rowland (the son of Irish immigrants) and the main songwriter of ‘Come On Eileen,’ am disgusted to learn that Nigel Farage has used our Dexys Midnight Runners’ song to make his entrance for his party conference speech. Myself, and all of Dexys are passionately against Farage’s politics.”

Activist group Climate Resistance claimed responsibility for the protest during Nigel Farage’s speech yesterday, PA reports.

In a comment, the group said it was “horrified at the violence” from Reform conference audience members (see post at 12:08).

The group also said the protester is considering whether to come forward to police.

Lee Anderson, the Reform UK chair, has attempted to make light of the protests during Nigel Farage’s speech yesterday, where a woman appeared to be assaulted by a mob of Reform supporters (see previous post).

He described it as a “few nuisances”, saying he saw “an old chap” with a walking stick among the chaos. He could be referring to the man pictured here raising a crutch (or a walking stick) while a heckler is dragged out of the conference:

“I don’t condone any sort of that behaviour,” said Anderson. “But if anybody wants to have a quick whip round later, we are collecting for a new walking stick.”

Police are appealing for a woman who was among the climate activists protesting during Nigel Farage’s speech at Reform’s conference to come forward, after footage appeared to show her being manhandled by people in the crowd.

Security at the event on the outskirts of Birmingham removed several protesters who stood up and heckled the Reform UK leader at intervals during his speech.

Footage which has been circulating on social media shows one of them having her hair pulled by a woman in the crowd, while another person who does not appear to be security puts his hand over the protester’s face.

West Midlands police released a statement on Saturday morning saying: “We’re aware of a video circulating from the Reform UK Conference showing an incident with a protester. We haven’t received a complaint but would ask the woman involved to come forward and contact us so we can carry out enquiries.

“Anyone with any information should contact us on 101 quoting log number 924 of 5 September.”

When asked about the incident, Nadine Dorries, a former Conservative MP who has joined Reform, said sensitivities were “heightened” in the aftermath of the killing of Anne Widdcombe.

“They tried to completely derail the speech. It was an organised sting again,” she told LBC.

“It was a number of people at spaced intervals, they wanted to completely disrupt the speech. That was what was shocking.

“I’m afraid if you’re going to come into a venue with such high security following the murder of Anne Widdicombe, obviously people’s sensitivities are going to be heightened, and I think it was foolish of those people to come into the audience and to try and do what they did, given how nervous people are following Anne’s murder.”

A quarter of Reform UK supporters want to rejoin the EU, according to polling carried out to coincide with the party’s ongoing conference in Birmingham.

The study, which was to be set out at a fringe event on Saturday showed some attitudes among Reform backers were unexpected, as with Brexit. But on other subjects, notably immigration, Reform supporters’ views were very similar to what people expected.

The polling, carried out by Opinium for the Policy Institute at King’s College London and UK in a Changing Europe, charted both what Reform supporters believe, and what backers of other parties think they believe.

In some areas there was a notable gap between the two. While 25% of Reform supporters said they want to see Brexit reversed, the public at large estimated the proportion at just 9%. In contrast, 76% of Reform supporters want to stop all immigration to the UK, close to the guess of 80%.

A more potentially alarming finding for Reform was that they are the party that voters at large most want to stop winning in their area, suggesting the possible damage to Nigel Farage’s party from tactical voting. Overall, 41% of voters named Reform as the party they would want to block.

Such is the strength of feeling that around a third of Labour and Green voters said they would consider voting Conservative tactically to keep Reform out.

Meanwhile, police are dealing with an apparent protest by groups of masked men in Dover, which a local councillor said appeared to be a “coordinated” demonstration related to “illegal migration”.

Dozens of men dressed in black and wearing balaclavas were pictured gathered at the port this morning, with the Port of Dover confirming that the disruption is affecting “all routes” in and out of the port, as well as around the town.

Chris Vinson, leader of the Conservative group at Dover District Council, said the protest appeared to be “illegal migration-related”. He told the Press Association:

Overnight, clearly what appears to be several hundred masked men wearing black clothing and balaclavas seem to have coordinated and loaded into rental vans and then descended on roads leading in and out of Dover with the intent to block them, and that’s what they’ve successfully done, and it’s brought the town to a standstill.

There are stacks of people who are stuck in their cars or in their workplaces as a result.”

In a brief statement, Kent police said: “We are aware of a protest currently taking place at the Port of Dover. Officers are in attendance and engaging with protesters.”

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Robert Jenrick is set to unveil a major tax-cutting pledge at Reform UK’s conference today, as the party seeks to shift the focus back to its economic agenda.

PA has the following report:

The party’s treasury spokesman is expected to tell the final day of the Reform conference in Birmingham that he would increase the tax-free personal allowance to £15,000 within the first 100 days of taking office.

The threshold has been set at £12,570 since 2021 and is due to remain there until 2031.

Reform said the plan would save the average taxpayer £500 a year and take 2.9 million people out of income tax altogether, at a cost of £17.7 billion in its first year, rising to £21 billion five years later.

The party has previously said it wants to increase the personal allowance to £20,000, with Mr Jenrick expected to say he will approach the figure “step-by-step” when it is affordable.

Mr Jenrick will also use his speech to set out some £80 billion in spending cuts, primarily through slashing the welfare budget.

He is expected to say: “The hard choice for Burnham and for us is exactly the same. It’s either welfare waste, foreign aid and migrants — or the British worker. We choose the worker.”