The prime minister has insisted new proposals for dealing with the legacy of the Troubles include protections for British Army veterans but not paramilitaries.

Speaking about the plan worked out by the UK and Irish governments, Sir Keir Starmer told BBC News NI he was pleased progress had been made on the issue.

“We have made a provision for veterans in relation to it, the protections have been put in place,” he said.

When asked to clarify if the protections were for everybody who came forward including paramilitaries the prime minister said: “No, it’s for veterans.”

“And obviously we need to make all of the arrangements workable in practice, but the next thing that needs to happen is the necessary legislation to take this forward,” he said.

The prime minister also denied that it has left some people thinking he sees veterans as more important than victims.

“No, not at all,” he said.

Sir Keir said he worked in Northern Ireland for five years so he knows “how important accountability and truth and justice is for all the victims”.

“Other governments have failed on this, the last government badly.

“I want this to work…and I have in my mind’s eye the victims who’ve waited a very, very long time for the accountability that they deserve,” he added.

He also defended his government’s decision to appoint a Dutch conflict resolution expert to explore the merits of talking to paramilitary groups about disbandment.

Fleur Ravensbergen is based at the University of Amsterdam.

She could meet representatives of loyalist and republican organisations over the coming months and will deliver a report next August.

Sir Keir told BBC News NI: “Those paramilitaries are still having impact and effect in some communities in Northern Ireland.

“That is intolerable, and it is our job to do whatever we can to alleviate that for those communities, and that’s the sole purpose of this role.

“So that doesn’t deflect from my condemnation of paramilitaries, not in the slightest.”

The prime minister denied his leadership was “hanging by a thread” amidst reports the Mayor of Manchester Andy Burnham is preparing a leadership challenge.

He also refused to get drawn into the question of whether or not people in Northern Ireland should be able to vote in the Irish presidential election saying: ” I think that’s something that needs to be worked through.”

BBC News NI Political Editor Enda McClafferty

It was for Sir Keir Starmer a moment of great jeopardy and opportunity all rolled into one.

Twenty six interviews back to back with all of the UK’s regional political editors was a challenging prospect.

But it also provided a platform to penetrate deep into every corner of the UK with guaranteed air time.

More importantly, it allowed him to focus on the most of local of issues affecting communities which seldom appear on his radar.

But such scrutiny – 130 minutes of constant questions – comes at a price on a day when his leadership is being questioned by his own MPs.

In Northern Ireland, he championed his new Troubles legacy deal with Dublin but made clear veterans would be treated differently than former paramilitaries.

Despite the Irish government insisting everybody who engages with the new legacy bodies will be treated the same.

We await to see how these promises are laid out in legislation which could come within weeks.

He also defended engaging with those paramilitary groups still active in communities and said the “sole purpose of the process” was to alleviate the suffering of those living in fear.

But there was no escaping the questions around his leadership which seem to be growing by the day.

He insisted he will lead the party into the next general election in four years and will face down any challengers to his leadership including the Manchester mayor Andy Burnham who he suggested was driven by his own personal ambition.

It is hard to believe how a party leader with a 150 seat majority at Westminster could be under such pressure.

The prime minister has told BBC Wales he does not know whether he will campaign in Caerphilly ahead of the Senedd by-election next month.

Sir Keir Starmer appeared to give his party’s conference at the weekend as a reason why he may not go to the constituency.

Labour faces a fight to retain Caerphilly, which it has held in the Senedd since 1999, and in Westminster since the early 20th century.

The prime minister said there were “huge benefits” to having Labour in power in both the UK and Welsh governments, and that his party has to work hard to “earn every vote”.

Senior figures in political parties often take part in by-election campaigns to help teams on the ground.

The by-election, triggered by the death of the late Labour Member of the Senedd (MS) Hefin David, takes place on 23 October.

Sir Keir’s comments came as the UK government announced a Great Britain-wide fund to provide extra funding for public spaces and high streets.

The UK government announced £214m in new funding in Wales, including £35m for Wales’ 22 local authorities to use over the next two years.

It said nine authorities – including Caerphilly – would receive up to £20m each.

Sir Keir was asked by BBC Wales if he would go to Caerphilly: “I don’t know whether I’m going to Caerphilly. It’s obviously coming up very soon and we’ve got our party conference next week.”

When it was put to him that it was a key by-election, Sir Keir added: “As you know, we’re in Liverpool next week, we’ve got a big party conference coming up.”

Asked if he was an electoral asset there, he added: “I work very well with the first minister, and as long as we keep championing the difference we’re making, that’s what matters.

“Even today in Caerphilly, we’ve announced our Pride in Place fund, which is ten years worth of funding into Caerphilly, and control locally of what that money is spent on.”

Recent opinion polling have suggested Labour is in third place in Wales for the next Senedd election in May, with a recent YouGov survey putting the party on 14%.

Asked if he was worried about being the first Labour leader to lose Wales, he said: “Well we’ve got a long way to go into those elections.

“The most important thing is to be absolutely clear of the huge benefits of having a Labour first minister and a Labour prime minister working together.”

He said the UK government had provided “a record settlement for Wales, the biggest since devolution”, referring to funding for the Welsh government. He said Labour had invested in fixing coal tips, in the railways, in renewable energy and Port Talbot.

When the recent opinion poll was put to him, Sir Keir said: “We have to work hard, we have to earn every vote.

“We did very well in the general election last year. So we’ve shown what we can do.”

Senior Labour figures have recently painted a bleak picture for the party next May, with one suggesting Labour was facing the “biggest kicking” in its history.

By Gareth Lewis, Wales political editor

Labour are up against it in Caerphilly in next month’s by-election – a previously safe seat for the party – and you might think a bit of personal door-knocking would be a priority for a PM already looking at dire polling for next year’s Senedd election.

Polls also suggest that Sir Keir is not a popular prime minister and he didn’t directly address whether he thought he would be an electoral asset there.

As for next May his pledge to “earn every vote” is the sort of thing you would expect a politician to say.

But it’s perhaps a tacit acknowledgment that Labour really do have to fight to stay in power after more than a century of hoovering up votes and domination in Welsh politics.

Sir Keir was on home turf for these traditional pre-conference interviews on a skyscraper looming over north London, but his problems lie further afield.

On Thursday the UK government announced the Pride in Place programme will see nine further councils receive £20m each over a decade.

They are:

• Blaenau Gwent
• Neath Port Talbot
• Newport
• Rhondda Cynon Taf
• Caerphilly
• Carmarthenshire
• Conwy
• Cardiff
• Swansea

A total of £1.5m would be made available to each of Wales’ 22 local authorities to spend over two years, except Bridgend which will get £3m.

The scheme is similar to the previous levelling up fund, in that councils have to make bids to the UK government for the cash.

Sir Keir said: “This is a huge investment, but what matters most is who decides how it’s spent: the neighbours, volunteers and parents who know their communities best – the people with real skin in the game.”

Candidates announced so far for the Caerphilly Senedd by-election are:

• Conservatives – Gareth Potter
• Gwlad – Anthony Cook
• Labour – Richard Tunnicliffe
• Plaid Cymru – Lindsay Whittle
• Reform UK – Llŷr Powell
• Welsh Liberal Democrats – Steve Aicheler
• Greens – Gareth Hughes

Sir Keir Starmer has vowed he will lead Labour into the 2026 Holyrood election despite criticism from within his party.

The promise came after Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham said there needs to be “a proper plan for the country” and revealed that some Labour MPs have contacted him to discuss the party leadership.

Speaking to BBC Scotland, the prime minister said he would not comment on Burnham’s “personal ambitions”.

He vowed to deliver change across the UK, and denied that his record in government had derailed Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar’s chances of becoming first minister.

Sir Keir also said there was still a chance that Scotch whisky could be exempt from US trade tariffs after he lobbied Donald Trump during his state visit.

After victory north of the border in the 2024 general election, Labour is aiming to return to government in Scotland for the first time since 2007 at next year’s Holyrood election.

However, the party has slipped in the polls since Sir Keir entered Downing Street.

The Holyrood vote will coincide with the Welsh Parliament and English local elections.

Asked if he would lead Labour into all of them, Sir Keir told BBC Scotland: “Yes. When I took over as leader of the Labour Party people told me I couldn’t change the Labour Party, I did.

“When we went into the general election people told me I couldn’t win, we did.

“Now I’m leading the change across the United Kingdom, including delivering better change for Scotland and I’ll continue to do so.”

Sir Keir denied that his unpopularity had ruined Sarwar’s chances of becoming first minister.

“Anas is an excellent candidate who will be incredibly good for Scotland with an absolute focus on delivery,” the prime minister said.

He insisted the pair had worked well together and that they would focus on ousting the SNP from office.

Sarwar, when asked about the prospect of a Labour leadership challenge, told reporters: “I think we should ignore the internal political tittle tattle and get on with delivering for the country.”

The Scottish Labour leader was repeatedly asked if he had full confidence in the prime minister.

He acknowledged that Sir Keir had a “difficult job” and said his biggest criticism of the UK government was that it had achieved “huge successes” but that “very few people had been told about them or know about them”.

Sir Keir denied that he was ruining Sarwar’s chances of becoming first minister and insisted that they “work very closely together”.

He insisted he was delivering for Scotland, citing a £10bn deal for Clyde-built warships to be produced for the Norwegian navy.

Speculation about a Labour leadership bid mounted after Burnham told the Daily Telegraph that Labour MPs had urged him to challenge Sir Keir for the party leadership.

While the Greater Manchester mayor, who is not an MP, said he was not “plotting to get back” to Westminster, he did not rule out a leadership bid.

He later told BBC Radio Manchester: “It’s not up to me, it’s not my decision,” adding that it was a matter for the parliamentary party.

Burnham said that any contest should not focus on personalities and should instead be about a “proper plan for the country, and a proper plan for beating Reform”.

The mayor has proposed raising taxes for higher earners and increasing borrowing to build council houses as he called for the government to “get beyond this thing of being in hock to the bond markets”.

Sir Keir told BBC Scotland: “I’m not going to get drawn into commenting on the personal ambition of the mayor of Manchester.”

He said that fiscal rules were in place to “protect working people” and that economic stability was a “foundational stone” of his government.

“We saw three years ago this week what happened when Liz Truss abandoned fiscal rules,” the prime minister said.

He added: “I’m not going to let that happen under a Labour government.”

Sir Keir also confirmed that he had lobbied the US president for a tariff exemption on whisky during his state visit to the UK last last week.

The Scottish and UK governments are seeking a reduction or removal of the 10% tariff, which the whisky industry says costs businesses £4m per week.

However, Trump flew back to the US without agreeing a deal.

“I absolutely understand how important it is for Scotland,” the prime minister said.

First Minister John Swinney has also discussed the issue with the US president, including during a recent meeting in the Oval Office.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, he said he had laid the “groundwork” for a deal and that it was for the UK “to get it over the line”.

Asked about speculation over a Labour leadership challenge, he claimed Sir Keir had “spectacularly misused his opportunity of a landslide win”.

Swinney said: “I’ll allow the Labour Party to fall apart as I lead the SNP to the success that we want to deliver for Scotland.”

The answer you would expect from a Scottish Labour leader when asked if they have full confidence in their UK leader is “yes”.

But that’s not how Anas Sarwar handled that question today.

His response to the BBC’s Lynsey Bews did not include a full throated endorsement of Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership.

Instead, he sounded a little more apologetic. He acknowledged that the prime minister has a “difficult job” and suggested that the UK government needed to do much better at communicating its successes.

That came as a surprise, although it is nowhere close to calling for “wholesale change” as the mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham has done.

Sarwar has dismissed talk of new leadership for the UK party as “tittle tattle” but he will be concerned by the trend in opinion polls that suggest his party is heavily trailing the SNP in voting intentions for next year’s Holyrood elections.

He will also know that the prime minister’s personal poll ratings are extremely low and unlikely to offer Scottish Labour an election bounce.

The prime minister’s hope is that by delivering defence orders for Scottish firms and international trade terms that help Scottish workers, he can still boost the Labour brand.