Theresa may

Oh dear. Theresa May's leader's speech at conference has descended into farce. As the Prime Minister tried to unify her party, one attendee had other ideas. Simon Brodkin interrupted May's speech mid-flow and presented her with a P45. Security had to escort him out  with the 'comedian' heckled by attendees. That's the picture of conference sorted then...

A little over forty years ago in a small village in Oxfordshire, I signed up to be a member of the Conservative Party. I did it because it was the party that had the ideas to build a better Britain.  It understood the hard work and discipline necessary to see them through. And it had at its heart a simple promise that spoke to me, my values and my aspirations: that each new generation in our country should be able to build a better future. That each generation should live the British Dream. And that dream is what I believe in.

This morning has been a reminder of how difficult this conference will be for the Tories. Two policies were announced overnight and neither have landed well. Theresa May then delivered a nervy performance on the Andrew Marr Show that will have done little to reassure Tories that she can turn things round. On tuition fees, the Tories have announced a freeze in their levels. It is hard to understand the politics behind this. It raises the salience of the issue without coming up with a solution. Those who went Labour because of their policy of abolishing fees won’t be won over by this. The other policy announcement is more money for George Osborne’s old Help to Buy scheme. But this doesn’t deal with the fundamental housing problem, a lack of supply.

The Conservative party conference is underway. In the days after the doomed snap election, Theresa May didn't look as though she would make it this far. But the Prime Minister has clung on. Here are the highlights to look out for on day one: Party conference: 10.30 - 12.30: Meeting of the National Conservative Convention. Alexandra Suite, Midland Hotel  14.00 - 14.50: Welcome to Conference: Conference Chairman; Conservative Party Chairman; First Secretary of State 14.50 - 15.45: Delivering a fairer future for young people: Secretary of State for Education; Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 15.45 - 16.

At Conservative party conference next week, expect a lot of soul-searching over what exactly went wrong for the Tories in the snap election. Happily, the Prime Minister has kicked proceedings off early – telling the House magazine that the big problem was that the Tories just weren't ready for an early election: 'I think the other issue was the need to have, in a sense, a less centralised campaign. You obviously need to have a central focus in the campaign. But I think that an awful lot of people out there in the party worked hard on the ground, and there is a feeling that there wasn’t the ability to do what they wanted to do. There weren’t the links with the centre that there should have been. That’s one of the issues we need to look at.

Even Damian Green seems to find it odd that he’s the second most important person in the government. When asked, the First Secretary of State plays down his influence — in fact, he plays down most things. When David Cameron wanted the Tories’ immigration policies out of the spotlight, he put Green in charge of them. And when Theresa May wanted someone she could trust to be her deputy after the disastrous general election, she chose one of the few people in the cabinet whom she can call a friend. The pair have known each other since Oxford, and now talk face-to-face every day. When we meet in his magisterial cabinet office headquarters, he talks about her with enthusiasm.

Theresa May’s Florence speech may have been welcomed with cautious optimism by Michel Barnier, but the reaction in Germany has been decidedly more downbeat. ‘In substance, May is bringing no more clarity,’ tweeted German MEP Manfred Weber. ‘I am even more concerned now.’ Weber is Chairman of the centre-right European Peoples Party, the biggest grouping in the European Parliament, and a rising star in Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union. So does he speak for Merkel? Well, that would be pushing it, but while ‘Mutti’ maintains her deafening silence about all matters Brexit, it’s probably the closest we’re going to get.

Theresa May’s speech in Florence was fine as far as it went, I say in The Sun this morning. A time limited transition is a sensible way to smooth out Brexit. But May didn’t answer the really big questions in this speech: what kind of future relationship with the EU does the UK want? How does it think regulatory divergence should be managed? The problem is that the Cabinet is divided on these questions—and neither side is strong enough to win the argument. So, Boris and Gove can stop Hammond and Heywood from getting what they want. But they can’t win the debate themselves. The result is a stalemate. This means the government doesn’t have clear direction on this crucial question.

It’s good to be here in this great city of Florence today at a critical time in the evolution of the relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union. It was here, more than anywhere else, that the Renaissance began – a period of history that inspired centuries of creativity and critical thought across our continent and which in many ways defined what it meant to be European. A period of history whose example shaped the modern world. A period of history that teaches us that when we come together in a spirit of ambition and innovation, we have it within ourselves to do great things. That shows us that if we open our minds to new thinking and new possibilities, we can forge a better, brighter future for all our peoples. And that is what I want to focus on today.

Theresa May’s Brexit pitch today will deliver to the EU ‘divorce terms that she hopes it can’t refuse’, says the Times. An early draft of her speech suggests she will start by explaining the choice of location, Florence; a city, the PM will say, ‘that taught us what it is to be European’. This begs the questions of what it means to be 'both British and European in the age of Brexit’, says the Times. Expect to hear mention of Britain being ’outward-looking’ and ‘global’ once again. But given that today's address ‘must be the speech of her life’ she cannot rest on saying things she has already said.