Conservative party conference

At a Policy Exchange fringe meeting at Tory conference, Arlene Foster has just ruled out any regulatory checks between Northern Ireland and Great Britain that extend beyond agriculture, eliminating one of the possible Brexit compromises. She did say that she’d be prepared to consider a time limit on the backstop. But she thought that Leo Varadkar wouldn’t even be prepared to entertain this. Foster made clear that she could never accept a customs border within the United Kingdom. She argued that would be unacceptable on both constitutional and economic grounds, highlighting that Northern Ireland does far more trade with Great Britain than it does with the Republic of Ireland.

It's day two of Conservative party conference and the Tory wars are in full swing. This morning it's the turn of Philip Hammond to cause trouble. In an interview with the Daily Mail, the Chancellor repeatedly mocked Boris Johnson, saying that his former cabinet colleague is incapable of grown-up politics. But while Hammond was happy to dish it out, on his morning broadcast round just now he seemed somewhat more shy about repeating his criticism of Boris: https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/1046647875713863680?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw Asked about his criticism of Boris being incapable of grown up politics, Hammond had this to say: 'No I didn't say that at all. I said Boris has his own way of doing things.' Over on the Today programme, Hammond was also fronted up about his remarks.

As from the Manchester conference hall I watched Theresa May’s big moment falling apart, as I buried my head in my hands while her agonies multiplied, I suppose I thought this could spell the end for her premiership. But even as I thought that, then reminded myself that the same failure of the larynx has afflicted me in front of a big audience and could strike anyone and is in itself meaningless, I knew such an outcome would be unjust. There may be reasons why the Tories should find a new leader, but the triple-whammy of a frog in the throat, some joker’s idiotic stunt, and the failure of two magnetic letters to stick to a board, can hardly count among them.

If the Labour party conference in Manchester felt like a funeral, the Conservatives’ gathering in Birmingham had the air of a wedding. It had jazz bands, champagne bars and a near-universal mood of celebration — which is odd, given that every opinion poll and bookmaker reckons the Tories are on course to lose power next year. Almost every speech delivered from the floor was more substantial, forceful and credible than any delivered at the Labour party conference. And one of the highlights was the tour de force delivered by Theresa May. For almost two decades the job of Home Secretary has been a political graveyard. Theresa May has made it into a power base. Several home secretaries tried to deport Abu Qatada; she succeeded.