Uk politics

Thursday

Nick Cohen

J.K. Rowling and the darkness on the left

From our UK edition

You rarely come across a character in modern literature like Jimmy Knight. He’s a racist, but that’s not what makes him a novelty act. racists, after all, are deplored everywhere in the culture industry, from Hollywood to Pinewood Studios. Of this racist, however, his ex-wife says: ‘I wouldn’t trust him if it was anything to do with Jews. He doesn't like them. Israel is the root of all evil, according to Jimmy. Zionism: I got sick of the bloody sound of the word.’ Knight is also a misogynist, a type which is once again a familiar figure in contemporary fiction. But when his girlfriend cries out after he hits her, he replies by attacking her privilege with the language of the left: 'Oh fuck off, that didn’t hurt!

Wednesday

Katy Balls

Why the latest Labour broadcast should worry the Tories

From our UK edition

In his speech today at Labour conference, Jeremy Corbyn confidently set out his vision for government. The Leader of the Opposition promised that a change was coming – and said that this change would benefit the many. On Brexit, however, he disappointed some pro-EU MPs by refusing to soften the party's position and explicitly back a Leave/Remain second referendum. A glimpse of why that was can be found in the party's latest broadcast. Following on from that speech, Labour has released 'Our Town'. The short video is centred on the message that a Corbyn government would 'restore pride in British towns and bring our high streets and communities back to life'. In it, the party promises to kickstart the economy in 'all the regions'.

James Forsyth

The Tories will have to up their game in response to this Corbyn speech

From our UK edition

Jeremy Corbyn’s speech to Labour conference has raised the stakes for the Tories ahead of their gathering in Birmingham. Corbyn is mastering the art of making very radical things sound reasonable. Listening to him talking about ‘Inclusive Ownership Funds’ which ‘will mean workers share more fairly in the rewards of successful businesses’ you would have no idea that what this really means is the government confiscating 1pc of a companies’ equity every year without compensation; an idea that is bound to scare off business investment. Labour want to present their agenda as a response to the 2008 crash. Jeremy Corbyn’s distance from New Labour means that the Tory arguments about how Labour policies made the crash worse, just bounce off him.

Isabel Hardman

Corbyn’s confident conference speech will send Labour members home happy

From our UK edition

Jeremy Corbyn's speech to Labour conference showed how confident the Labour leader is now. He knew his way around the text enough to be able to make little spontaneous jokes, rather than reading the 'strong message here' instruction from the autocue, as he did in his 2015 address. He varied his pitch, his pace and his tone. None of these things have been guaranteed with Corbyn until now. The speech itself was well-written and structured, starting with a lengthy but effective values-based section where Corbyn praised the membership and attacked the press, which warmed up those in the hall no end. Not that the members needed warming up. They were, unsurprisingly, delighted by the very appearance of their leader, waving 'Jeremy Corbyn' scarves and signing that now famous song.

Liam Halligan

Review: The book that reveals John McDonnell’s economic world view

From our UK edition

In 1995, the Labour party voted to amend Clause IV of its constitution, ditching its historic commitment to mass public ownership. A significant victory for Tony Blair, it sparked a modernisation process that saw New Labour win three successive elections. On Monday John McDonnell drew wild cheers from Labour delegates in Liverpool when he directly rebuked Blair, insisting Clause IV is 'as relevant today' as a century ago. The Shadow Chancellor certainly rolled back the years during his conference speech, unveiling the most radical Labour prospectus of modern times – an unashamedly socialist pitch, calling for aggressive re-nationalisation and sweeping trade union powers.

The Spectator

Full text: Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour conference speech

From our UK edition

Thank you for that welcome. I want to start by thanking the workers, the fantastic staff at the Conference Centre and hotels, the Labour Party staff who make this possible, and the people of Liverpool who have made us feel so welcome this week. And I want to thank my family, but in particular my wife Laura. Tu eres mi fuerza y mi apoyo. Gracias Laurita. And congratulations conference, to all of you on what’s been a great conference. A conference of a Labour Party that’s ready to take charge and start the work of rebuilding our divided country. This year we mark the centenary of the Representation of the People Act, which saw eight million women getting the vote for the first time, along with five and a half million working class men.

Steerpike

Theresa May grills the press pack

From our UK edition

Whisper it quietly, but Theresa May might actually be having a good week for once. While Labour fill up the headlines with the chaos over their Brexit position, the Prime Minister has managed to keep a low profile as her cabinet wait for their chance to spring their own conference ambush. So, with the wind in her sails, the Prime Minister decided to take some questions from the press pack travelling with her as she flew to the UN General Assembly in New York. One hack, hearing of May’s piety, and possibly hoping she’d say ‘a plague of locusts on Boris’s house,' asked the vicar’s daughter: ‘What do you pray for in church, Prime Minister?’ Her response: ‘I pray for serious questions from journalists.’ Ouch.

Isabel Hardman

How blaming the media keeps Labour activists happy

From our UK edition

One of the features of conference season, along with the stale sandwiches and lack of natural light, is the obsession with 'the mood'. It's a nebulous thing, made up of the atmosphere in the conference hall and fringe meetings, but it can tell you a lot about what a party might be up to over the next few months. Labour's 2014 conference, for instance, felt eerily flat for a party that was supposed to be on the cusp of government. Conversely, the party's 2016 gathering felt pretty edgy following the second leadership contest in as many years. That conference saw a very clear pulling-apart of the 'moderates' and the Corbynites following the attempted coup against Jeremy Corbyn, and this set the agenda for the following year. The past few days in Liverpool haven't felt so sharp.

Tom Goodenough

Momentum’s Brexit fudge would make the Labour party proud

From our UK edition

What Momentum thinks about Brexit matters. But is Momentum prepared to ask its members what it really thinks about Brexit? Not yet is the answer, according to Jon Lansman, the group’s founder. And it’s refusal to do so produces a fudge on the hot topic of the day of which the Labour party itself would be proud. While the group’s World Transformed festival has been a hotbed of discussion on all kinds of issues – socialism, Marxism, anti-Semitism, climate change, to name  a few – there’s one topic that isn’t on the menu: Brexit. At least, that is, in so far as coming to a settled position among Momentum members goes. So is this a failure on Momentum’s part?

Steerpike

No early election? We’ll just go on a general strike, says Labour MP

From our UK edition

Oh dear. Despite reports this year of a more professional tone at conference, one Labour MP appears to have missed the message. Last year John McDonnell told a conference fringe that his party was wargaming for a 'run on the pound' in the event they were elected. This year's socialist slip-up has been committed by Laura Smith. The MP for Crewe and Nantwich has come up with a Plan B should Labour's Plan A of bringing about an early election fail: 'If we can’t get a general election, we should unite with our comrades in the trade union movement and bring an end to the government with a general strike.' https://twitter.com/rosskempsell/status/1044814788612820992 The crowd went wild – with shadow cabinet member Richard Burgon even taking part in a standing ovation.

Steerpike

Security check: Corbyn’s adviser, the former Communist Party member

From our UK edition

Jeremy Corbyn’s adviser and close friend Andrew Murray has been scratching his head of late as to why he still hasn’t had his request for a Parliamentary security pass granted. In search of answers, Murray has hit out at the 'deep state' made up of spies and sinister civil servants looking to thwart a left-wing government. However, Mr S wonders whether there could be another reason it's taken so long for the pass to be granted.

Tuesday

Steerpike

Watch: Israeli ambassador takes a pop at Jeremy Corbyn

From our UK edition

The Labour Friends of Israel reception at the party’s conference has traditionally been attended by the Labour leader. But this year, as in recent years, Jeremy Corbyn did not attend. Instead it fell to the party’s deputy leader, Tom Watson, to make an appearance. Watson was introduced as a ‘long standing friend of Israel’ and he used his speech to call out those who have attacked pro-Israeli MPs within the Labour party. Here’s what he said: We have an obligation to rid this party of anti Semitism. I recognise the hurt that has been caused. I recognise the pain that has been thrust upon our friends in the Jewish community. I know how failing to tackle a problem risks bringing eternal shame.

Steerpike

Watch: Diane Abbott makes yet another number blunder

From our UK edition

When it comes to numbers, Diane Abbott doesn't have a good track record. And it seems that's still the case for the shadow home secretary. Delivering her speech to Labour conference this afternoon, Abbott intended to talk about 999 calls. But unfortunately the Labour MP fell one number short: Oh dear...

Katy Balls

Emily Thornberry’s speech shows why Team Corbyn went cold on a female deputy | 25 September 2018

From our UK edition

For those wondering why exactly Labour vetoed plans for a new female deputy leader this morning over fears the role could undermine Jeremy Corbyn, look no further than Emily Thornberry's conference speech. This afternoon, the shadow foreign secretary offered a pretty good explanation as to why Corbyn's allies had become nervous about the idea of promoting a woman to second in command. Fresh from talking movingly about her backstory in a fringe event (Isabel reports on part 1 of Thornberry's leadership launch here), Thornberry gave her boss a run for his money with a crowd-pleasing – at times barnstorming – speech which neatly set out the clear blue water between herself and the current Labour leader.

Isabel Hardman

Emily Thornberry’s leadership pitch, part 1

From our UK edition

The Labour leadership may be rowing back from the idea of having a second, female, deputy leader, but that isn’t stopping those who, like Emily Thornberry, fancy a shot at the top job one day. While the Shadow Foreign Secretary was totally loyal to Jeremy Corbyn when she spoke at a Times fringe this lunchtime, she started by talking movingly about her backstory, touching also on the need for a leader who has experience of the frontbench, and repeatedly referred to the importance of members in the Labour Party. It is well-understood that Thornberry would, one day, like to run for leader, and today’s performance not only underlined that, but also showed why she should.

Steerpike

Tosh McDonald: I set my alarm early so I could hate Thatcher more

From our UK edition

Jeremy Corbyn has famously said that he wants a 'kinder, gentler politics'. But it seems one of his close allies didn't get the message. Union leader Tosh McDonald took to the stage at Labour conference this morning to tell his fellow party members of just how much he hates Margaret Thatcher: 'I say this many times, it’s still true: I hated her. I wish I could be like Jeremy and rise above it, but I can’t. And I did hate her that much that I did set my alarm clock an hour earlier than I needed, just so I could hate her for an hour longer.' Tosh by name, tosh by nature...

The Spectator

Full text: Emily Thornberry’s Labour conference speech

From our UK edition

Conference, as we all know, this is a year of important anniversaries in the history of the socialist movement - a movement always based on the unstoppable momentum of the masses, the incredible inspiration of courageous individuals and a core belief that injustice done to any of us is injustice done to all of us wherever we are in the world. And in this year of anniversaries, we start by celebrating 150 years of the TUC: 150 years spent fighting for workers, not just in Britain but all across the globe, and stronger than ever today thanks to the leadership of Frances O’Grady, and thanks to a Labour leadership which now respects the representatives of our workers, rather than treating them with deliberate contempt.

Steerpike

Watch: Labour supporter refuses to leave the stage

From our UK edition

It’s all kicking off at Labour conference. A Labour supporter has just given a speech on Palestine from the main stage, but when he was told his time was up he refused to leave the stage: 'My time is not up. I am speaking for the Palestinian people. I’ve got a couple more lines and I’m going to say them, and if you want me off this stage, you’re going to have to get security up here. And they’d better send an army, because east enders, like Palestinians, don’t go down easy.' https://twitter.com/josephmdurso/status/1044590622710075394?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw Eventually, he did leave the stage but not before a warm greeting and a handshake from Jeremy Corbyn...

Alex Massie

The dreadful state of British politics | 25 September 2018

From our UK edition

Conference season always shows our political parties at their worst. It would be a kindness if these things were not televised. These dungeons cannot withstand the intrusion of too much daylight. On the other hand, some things are evident. Chiefly, it is now beyond clear that Brexit has broken both parties. More than that, it has overwhelmed a hopelessly overmatched political class that plainly lacks the ability to make sense of the Brexit fiasco and, just as pertinently, the courage to look reality in the face. This government - this hopeless government, I should say - is kept alive by only one thing: the impossibility of the opposition. In turn, this opposition is given hope by only one thing: the clattering uselessness of this government.

Katy Balls

Keir Starmer’s Brexit speech triggers Labour barney

From our UK edition

Well, that lasted long. From the moment Keir Starmer left the conference stage after setting out Labour's Brexit position, rumours began to circulate that all wasn't as it seemed. When the shadow Brexit secretary spoke in the conference hall this morning, he received a standing ovation for pledging to keep all options open on Brexit – including the option to remain in the EU; ‘Nobody is ruling out remain as an option.’ However, less than an hour later and dissent has broken out on the conference hall over the party position – and whether the shadow Brexit secretary correctly articulated the official policy. As Steerpike reports, that passage of the speech was not in the official text sent to hacks – leading to suggestions that it was not approved.