Jeremy corbyn

Wednesday

The Spectator

Full speech: Jeremy Corbyn at Labour party conference

From our UK edition

Thank you for that introduction. And how brilliant it is to see the hall here in Liverpool, absolutely packed for the Labour conference, well I say it’s packed but Virgin Trains assure me there are 800 empty seats. Either way Conference, it’s a huge pleasure to be holding our party’s annual gathering here in this fantastic city that has shaped our country, our economy, our culture and our music. Liverpool and its people have always been central to the Labour party and our movement. And I know some people say campaigns and protests don’t change things. But the Hillsborough families have shown just how wrong that is.

Isabel Hardman

There will be nothing normal about Jeremy Corbyn’s conference speech

From our UK edition

Jeremy Corbyn will shortly address the Labour conference with what is officially known as the ‘parliamentary report’. An accurate ‘parliamentary report’ would include an in-depth discussion about relations between the parliamentary party and its leader, who has gone from being one of the most rebellious backbenchers to demanding loyalty from his colleagues. Normally before a leader’s speech, pundits pick over what it is that the leader needs to cover. Normally, this involves variations of rousing the party faithful, announcing a policy or two that give us an idea of who the leader is and their vision for the coming year, and facing down any critics, whether in rival parties or their own.

Tom Goodenough

‘Awesome’, ‘amazing’ & ‘divisive’: Jeremy Corbyn’s speech, the conference verdict

From our UK edition

Jeremy Corbyn has just brought down the curtain on the Labour conference. He earned a standing ovation at the end, but what did those filing out - including MPs who have spoken out against Corbyn in the past - really make of what Corbyn had to say? Coffee House caught up with delegates to hear their thoughts: Unsurprisingly, many of those leaving the hall were singing Corbyn's praises. Labour MP Richard Burgon went as far as saying it was the best speech Jeremy has given as Labour leader: ‘You saw in there how enthused people in the hall are but I also think the message in there and the policies in there can enthuse people right around the country too. I think this is the start of something big’ But Stephen Kinnock said Corbyn still needed to do more to reach out.

Tom Goodenough

Andy Burnham finally quits the shadow cabinet

From our UK edition

Andy Burnham has just announced he's leaving the shadow cabinet. He said he was doing so to concentrate on his mayoral bid, telling Labour's conference: 'That's why I can tell you all first today that I have asked Jeremy to plan a new Shadow Cabinet without me, although I will of course stay until it is in place.' He also took a pop at Westminster ('Westminster over decades has failed the North of England') and said the turmoil in the Labour party over the last year had made him 'profoundly sad'. But he also - tried - to use his speech to defend himself. Burnham has been accused of flip-flopping all over the place recently. He came under fire over the summer for being one of the few members of the shadow cabinet not to walk away.

Tom Goodenough

Jeremy Corbyn is ‘relaxed’ about migration. He might not be after the next election

From our UK edition

What does Jeremy Corbyn have to say to Labour voters worried about migration? Not a lot, seems to be the answer. And that’s a big problem for the Labour party if it doesn’t want to haemorrhage support at the next election. Several newspapers this morning report his ‘relaxed’ stance on the subject. While his interview on the Today show just now (which was pre-recorded, apparently because Corbyn isn’t a ‘morning person’) made it clear - as if it wasn’t before - that the Labour leader isn’t taking this issue very seriously at all. He batted away a question about what an acceptable level of migration is.

Tom Goodenough

Jeremy Corbyn makes an impression at Labour’s ‘Friends of Israel’ bash

From our UK edition

Has Jeremy Corbyn turned over a new leaf? This time last year at the Labour Friends of Israel reception, the Labour leader pointedly refused to say the word ‘Israel’. That stubbornness led to a heckler yelling at Corbyn: ‘Say the word Israel!’. It was clear he was determined not to make the same blunder a year on. In fact, at tonight’s reception, he went five times better – mentioning Israel repeatedly during his address. Corbyn also affirmed a ‘two state solution’ and said: ‘I say this: the Labour party is not a home for anti-Semitism in any form. I do not intend to allow it to be. The Labour party must be specifically an anti-racist party and specifically opposed to any form of anti-Semitism anywhere in our movement.

Tom Goodenough

Labour conference, day four: The Spectator guide

From our UK edition

Jeremy Corbyn’s conference speech will be the highlight - or lowlight (depending on your perspective) - of the day as the curtain comes down at Labour’s annual conference. The party has largely managed to put on a brave face and display of unity during its annual gathering. But there is still time for that facade to all come crashing down as Corbyn closes the conference. Here’s what on today: Main conference: 9am: Policy seminars 2.15pm: Jeremy Corbyn gives his keynote speech Fringe events: 9am: Labour women’s network - what next for women in the party, politics and public space? Labour women’s network 12.30pm: Securing the future: what will reverse the rise on child poverty?

Tuesday

Steerpike

Is Seumas Milne about to be shown the back door?

From our UK edition

Oh dear. It's not been a great conference for Seumas Milne. Jeremy Corbyn's director of comms managed to make himself the story this week after he altered Clive Lewis's speech on Trident at the last minute. The shadow Defence Secretary was said to be so angry over the changes that he punched a wall after the speech. So, Mr S was curious to hear a rumour swirling around Labour conference this evening. The talk of conference is that Milne's departure is imminent with suggestions his last day could be as soon as Friday. While sources close to Milne insist to Mr S that this is not the case, several party insiders are adamant he is on the way out within the next month.

Isabel Hardman

Man bites dog as Corbyn tells Labour members: I want to win an election

From our UK edition

Jeremy Corbyn’s conference speech includes the normally unremarkable but currently remarkable assertion that he wants Labour to win the next election. Given the debate that has raged within the Labour party over the past few months about purity vs power, that the re-elected Labour leader is saying this at all is significant. He will say tomorrow that he expects a general election next year and that ‘we expect all our members to support that effort, and we will be ready whenever it comes’. Some Labour MPs will point out that this will require a dramatic shift from some members who haven’t yet delivered any party leaflets but are still threatening to de-select them.

Rod Liddle

Labour is dying. Time to move on

From our UK edition

Still enveloped in their bubble of iridescent adolescent phlegm, the Labour Party now stands at 26 per cent in the latest opinion polls. Below the figure achieved under Michael Foot’s leadership in the 1983 general election, usually regarded as the lowest of all low points for the party. And Foot was battling against a Prime Minister who had just won a very popular war, as well as against a credible new party, the SDP. Labour do not know how much trouble they are in, even now. It is very difficult to see a way out for the sensible or fairly sensible Labour members, especially the MPs. Pray that Corbyn fails while desperately holding on to their seats. They don’t need to pray for that, but many will not hold on to their seats. They should surely get the hell out.

Tom Goodenough

Labour moderates find a glimmer of conference hope

From our UK edition

Labour’s conference has just waved through a raft of reforms which look set to tip the balance of power on the party’s National Executive Committee away from Jeremy Corbyn and towards the moderates. The wording of the changes which caused the trouble is pretty banal: that the leader of the Scottish and Welsh Labour parties will be able to pick someone to sit on the NEC. But while this might sound like a piecemeal change, make no mistake: this is a blow to Corbyn. The change means that Kezia Dugdale or Carwyn Jones can now either take up their seats, or pick someone else to sit on the NEC (Dugdale has said she'll take up the seat herself). This goes against what Corbyn supporters proposed, which was for members to get the chance to choose.

Katy Balls

Watch: Tom Watson defends New Labour’s record in barnstorming speech

From our UK edition

Down-hearted moderates at this year's Labour conference have received a much-needed boost this afternoon from the party's Deputy Leader. Tom Watson gave a barnstorming speech to congregates as he defended Labour's record in government and vowed to take the fight to the Tories in the next general election. After months of navel-gazing in the Labour leadership race, Watson turned his ire on the opposition. He described Theresa May as a Lib Dem manifesto pledge -- 'abandoned' -- as he accused her of 'ducking and diving; humming and hahing' on everything from the Northern powerhouse to the Single Market.

Tom Goodenough

Sadiq Khan’s power ballad to Jeremy Corbyn

From our UK edition

Sadiq Khan’s speech to Labour conference just now could be summed up in a single word: power. He repeated it so much - 38 times in total - you’d be forgiven for thinking he could do with a thesaurus. But there was nothing accidental about him banging on about power. This was a clear dig at Jeremy Corbyn. Khan’s big idea isn’t real that big at all. He told his party that Labour out of power ‘will never, ever be good enough’, while his finishing plea was that: 'It’s time to put Labour back into power, it’s time for a Labour Government. A Labour Prime Minister in Downing Street.

The Spectator

Full speech: Sadiq Khan at Labour conference

From our UK edition

Labour in power. Not just talking the talk, but walking the walk too. Never sacrificing or selling out on our ideals, but putting them in action every single day. Not a revolution overnight, but real and meaningful change that makes life easier for the people who need it most. Conference, after the election this summer the leadership of our party has now been decided and I congratulate Jeremy on his clear victory. Now it’s time for us all to work together towards the greatest prize: getting Labour back into power. Conference, with Labour in power your home and your commute get more affordable, the air you breathe gets less polluted, you get better pay and conditions at work, our businesses are supported to grow, and new jobs are created.

Fraser Nelson

Parliamentarians vs Corbynistas – two tribes at war in the Labour Party conference

From our UK edition

Quite extraordinary scenes here at the Labour Party conference. I’m typing this in the main conference hall and have just watched Mike Katz of the Jewish Labour Movement give a short speech against anti-Semitism. This ought to be utterly uncontroversial, but it has become a wedge issue between the two tribes who now make up the Labour Party. Between those who were members before May 2015, and those who joined after. There have two very different outlooks, and are at war with each other. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msl8Hm0GZp0 Katz’s speech was cheered effusively, like a rallying call, by about a third of the hall. And, amazingly, heckled by other members.

Tom Goodenough

Labour conference, day three: The Spectator guide

From our UK edition

Tom Watson, Labour's deputy leader, and Sadiq Khan, the Labour politician with the largest mandate to his name, both take to the stage today on the third day of Labour's conference in Liverpool. Watson described the leadership contest as a 'very bruising summer' for the party and insisted the focus now was on 'rebuilding trust' among voters after Corbyn was re-elected leader on Saturday. He's likely to make a similar pitch in his keynote speech today. While Khan will tell the Labour conference (in a veiled dig at Corbyn) that the party can only make a difference if it manages to win power. Elsewhere, Corbyn's defeated rival in the leadership race Owen Smith is scheduled to make an appearance in a fringe event at 12.30pm.

Monday

Steerpike

Falkland Islands’ pitch to Jeremy Corbyn falls on deaf ears

From our UK edition

In a crowded field, one of Jeremy Corbyn’s more controversial suggestions during his time as Labour leader has been putting forward the idea of a ‘power sharing deal’ with Argentina over the Falkland Islands. That plan was called a ‘repugnant surrender’ by war hero Simon Weston, while Michael Fallon said Corbyn posed a bigger threat to the Falklands than the Argentine navy. Yet that hasn’t put off the Falkland Islands Government from turning up at Labour’s party conference this year with a stall. Alas, it seems, the Falkland Island Government’s hopes of speaking to Corbyn have so far fallen on deaf ears.

Tom Goodenough

John McDonnell sends taxpayers running for the hills

From our UK edition

John McDonnell’s speech was a chance to win over voters. But while his pitch went down well in the hall and was greeted by raptures of wild applause from (some of) the party faithful, there was little on offer to entice those on the fence to come over to Labour. If anything, this looked to be business as usual for a party that voters just don’t trust on the economy (the latest YouGov poll puts Labour nine points behind the Tories). McDonnell talked about sharing the burden, investing and ‘calling a halt to austerity'. He said: ‘We will rewrite the rules to the benefit of working people on taxes, investment and how our economic institutions work.’ So what does this rewriting of the rules actually mean?

Isabel Hardman

Labour members’ stand-off with MPs shows things can only get more bitter

From our UK edition

Jeremy Corbyn might have wanted to wipe the slate clean and start over with his MPs after the summer’s leadership contest. But the mood on the Labour conference fringe shows that this is going to be extremely difficult in practice, even if the Labour leader does everything that his MPs ask of him (which he won’t). Many members are furious with the MPs for orchestrating a coup against their leader and forcing a leadership contest; many MPs are utterly defiant about the importance of said coup, even though it failed, and aren’t prepared to fall meekly behind the leader, no matter how much members tell them to.

Tom Goodenough

Coffee House Shots: Labour conference’s uneasy peace

From our UK edition

Labour's conference is well underway but the mood so far is far from lively. Rather than rallying around their newly re-elected leader, for many who have gathered at the party's annual conference the atmosphere is somewhat gloomy. So whilst Jeremy Corbyn promised to 'wipe the slate clean' following his re-election, can the Labour party learn to forgive and forget? Isabel Hardman says on this Coffee House Shots episode that so far an uneasy peace is prevailing. But only just...: 'I was sort of expecting it to be this bitter bunfight where people were shouting at each other and that hasn't happened so far. But we've only had one night where people have all been drinking together and already people are starting to criticise the Labour leader.