Uk politics

Tuesday

Isabel Hardman

The probation crisis could totally undermine the government’s domestic abuse law

From our UK edition

It has long been accepted in Westminster, including by those who were actually in the Ministry of Justice when it took place, that the privatisation of the Probation Service hasn’t worked very well. That’s putting it mildly, as today’s report from HM Inspectorate of Probation shows. The report found that in seven out of 10 cases, private probation companies were providing ‘inadequate’ protection for victims of domestic abuse when their abusers return to the community.

Steerpike

Keir Starmer goes off script in Brexit conference speech

From our UK edition

This year's Labour conference has been praised for adopting a more professional tone than previous years. However, today that message appears to have been lost. After the party pulled plans at the last minute for a female deputy leader, Keir Starmer appears to have gone off script in his big Brexit conference speech. https://twitter.com/BBCPolitics/status/1044532574255636480 The shadow Brexit secretary was met with applause when he appeared to keep the idea of a second EU referendum on the table – announcing: 'Nobody is ruling out remain as an option.' Only John McDonnell did just this yesterday when he said any second referendum would be 'deal or no deal'. Curiously, Keir's line isn't on the speech text briefed out by Labour. Has Starmer gone off script without approval? P.S.

Katy Balls

Corbyn and Watson rift claims its first victim: a new female deputy

From our UK edition

The Tom Watson/Jeremy Corbyn feud has claimed its first conference victim: a female deputy leader. Plans to create a new deputy leader role specifically for a female have been dropped this morning at the last minute after Corbyn's team grew nervous – and blame is being placed firmly with his deputy Tom Watson. When the role was first thought up, it was seen as a way to undermine Watson – a man who has firmly fallen out of favour with the Corbyn regime – while also scoring some points politically for promoting women. After all, Labour are behind the Tories on gender equality here thanks to the fact they have never had a female leader. However, I understand things started to go wrong for the Corbynistas when Tom Watson actually got on board with the idea.

Steerpike

Watch: Kate Hoey’s Brexit warning to Corbynistas

From our UK edition

The Corbynistas don't have much time for Kate Hoey, the Labour MP and ardent Brexiteer. Owen Jones accused Hoey of propping up a government that is leading Britain 'into calamity' by refusing to vote down the Tories over Brexit. But the MP for Vauxhall has a message for her critics: it isn't me you should worry about. Instead, Hoey said, Corbyn's supporters should keep an eye on the likes of Chuka Umunna and other Labour MPs calling for a second referendum. Their support for a 'people's vote' has little to do with Brexit, she said, and more to do with trying to make life difficult for Jeremy Corbyn.

Steerpike

Through the looking glass: Labour’s future foreign policy

From our UK edition

To the dismay of many of Jeremy Corbyn's parliamentary colleagues, foreign policy is the Labour leader's main passion. Corbyn rarely appears more animated than when discussing the plight of Palestinians – or lambasting the Saudi Arabian government. So, Mr S listened with interest as Corbyn's closest allies gathered at Labour conference for a Stop the War fringe event. Corbyn adviser (and former Communist Party of Britain member) Andrew Murray was joined by shadow cabinet members Richard Burgon and Diane Abbott along with Chris Williamson for the packed event titled Why We Need An Anti-War Government. To kick proceedings off, Williamson said the party was making history: 'We often talk about recapturing the spirit of 1945 and I honestly feel that we're in that moment right now.

Tom Goodenough

Why Labour’s Brexit MPs are finally feeling more upbeat

From our UK edition

Kate Hoey has paid a heavy price for being a supporter of Brexit. The Labour MP has been hounded online and faced a vicious deselection battle in her Vauxhall constituency from activists who say that she has no place representing an area in which nearly eight in ten voters backed ‘Remain’. But rather than change her mind, Hoey has stuck to her guns. At a Labour Leave event on the fringes of the party’s conference in Liverpool, Hoey had a message for her critics: there’s no contradiction in backing Brexit and being a leftie. Hoey wasn’t the only Labour MP making that point at last night’s event.

Monday

Brendan O’Neill

Brexit: a beginner’s guide

Americans, I know you are confused about Brexit. Who isn’t? Even us Brits struggle to keep up with the spats, splits, tensions and bitching Brexit has unleashed across Europe. Take last week’s Salzburg showdown, at which the heads of the EU’s 28 member states met to gab about immigration, security and, of course, Brexit in a bizarrely done-up hall that looked like the Death Star conference room from Star Wars. The highlight, or lowlight, was a late-night dinner at which Theresa May had 10 minutes to convince the gathered heads to embrace her Chequers version of Brexit. She failed. The side-eye award went to European Council President Donald Tusk who posted on Instagram a photo of himself offering Theresa May a cake with the caption, ‘No cherries’.

brexit
Isabel Hardman

Labour Left plans to force Jeremy Corbyn into deselection process to make a point

From our UK edition

Jeremy Corbyn could be subject to a trigger ballot designed for the deselection of MPs, under plans discussed tonight by members of one of his most supportive party groups. The Labour Representation Committee, from which both Corbyn and John McDonnell hail, met this evening to discuss how to get its way when it comes to party democracy. Save for when McDonnell popped in to thank the LRC for continuing to organise when it looked as though the Left would never win a foothold in the party, the mood was one of frustration. Members were largely cheerful yet also irritated that plans for ‘open selections’ - more commonly known as mandatory re-selection - hadn’t made it into the party’s rule book this week.

Steerpike

Watch: Labour supporting teacher on getting rid of Tories

From our UK edition

A teacher and Labour party member has just taken to the stage at the party's conference talking of the importance of giving kids a good education. Sensible enough, you might think. Except for the fact that Sion Rickard said that if children were educated properly it would mean that Tories would no longer exist. Here's what he said: 'I've never met a bad four-year-old. I've never met a four-year-old that was evil. So every child has a chance and if we give them a proper education, we'll empty our prisons, we'll have much less problems with our NHS, social issues... We'll probably not have any Tories because we'll have brought up our kids properly.' Mr S wouldn't want to be a kid in his class...

Steerpike

Diane Abbott’s immigration plan fails to add up

From our UK edition

What would the government’s immigration policy look like if Diane Abbott was Home Secretary? Abbott’s speech on the fringe of the Labour conference made it clear what it won’t be, even if what it will be is less certain. It won’t involve immigration detention centres, which Abbott has vowed to shut down. The shadow home secretary expressed her disbelief after her former opposite number Amber Rudd told her that places like Yarl's Wood were necessary because some of those awaiting deportation were violent: ‘I said: ‘How can that be?’ 'Even in the prison estate, the actual prison estate for actual prisoners, only a fraction of them have (been) convicted of violent offences.

Isabel Hardman

John McDonnell’s unashamedly socialist pitch to Labour conference

From our UK edition

John McDonnell started his Labour conference speech with a tribute to his ‘friend’ Jeremy Corbyn, praising the way in which the Labour leader had held his nerve while being attacked in the press. As united as the two men may be, the Shadow Chancellor certainly gave the impression today that the Conservatives would have much more reason to fear a McDonnell-led Labour. His speech contained a cogent analysis of where things were going wrong for the British economy, and a clear explanation of what Labour would do to fix those problems. One of the things that Labour strategists have picked up from recent focus groups in the key seats - particularly towns - where the party needs to do better is a scepticism from voters about the party’s ability to deliver on its promises.

Katy Balls

John McDonnell lends Theresa May a helping hand on Brexit

From our UK edition

There were hopes among pro-Remain MPs that this year's Labour conference would mark a sea change in the party's Brexit policy. Instead, what's been served up is a Brexit fudge that ultimately fails to soften the party position. At last year's conference, the Labour leader managed to keep Brexit off the conference floor. This year around it wasn't possible with pro-EU members and unions – keen for a second referendum – voting for Brexit in the priority ballot. After a six-hour meeting to compose the motion last night, a fudge was agreed. The statement that is to be voted on says that if Theresa May's deal doesn't pass and there is no early election, all options will be left on the table.

Steerpike

Listen: Labour MP blasts Corbynite colleague at Progress rally

From our UK edition

Here we go again. Although Labour conference has become increasingly Corbynite in recent years, the Progress rally can always be relied upon as a safe space for Labour moderates. And so it was that Corbyn-sceptic Labour MPs gathered at the annual event on Sunday night to air their grievances. Wes Streeting – the Labour MP for Ilford North – have a crowd-pleasing speech which took aim at Corbyn ally Chris Williamson, as well as Dawn Butler over her recent Militant comments: 'Good evening Progress – it's great to be here. It's like one of Chris Williamson's democracy tours except about thirty years younger in terms of average age. Here at Progress we don't talk about how we get rid of Labour MPs, we come together to talk about how we elect more Labour MPs.

Isabel Hardman

How Corbyn opponents are now turning to the trade unions

From our UK edition

The Overton Window is a concept beloved particularly by the Left. It's a theory about the range of political ideas that the public will accept, and the reason the Left has been particularly interested in this window in recent years is that there is a belief you can move it in a certain direction so that previously radical and frightening ideas become quite normal. Jeremy Corbyn's supporters certainly believe that their party has succeeded in moving the Overton Window over the past few years, and that the old political adages about the public not wanting an overly left-wing party no longer apply. But within the party itself, there has also been a rather interesting movement of windows.

Tom Goodenough

Momentum’s big worry is that it is failing to capitalise on its success

From our UK edition

What now for Momentum? The grassroots organisation has had extraordinary success over the last few years, not least in shoring up Jeremy Corbyn's position as Labour leader. The World Transformed, Momentum's event down the road from the party’s main conference in Liverpool, is a testament to the group’s growing influence: in its three years of existence, it has morphed into a lively, well-organised festival. Even if you think some of the speakers are barmy, the febrile atmosphere could not be more different from the stale feeling on the Tory fringes. Yet this isn’t a time for celebration for Momentum. Far from it. Indeed the organisation is finding that with clout comes responsibility – and its founder, Jon Lansman, is under pressure.

Nick Cohen

J.K. Rowling and the darkness on the left | 24 September 2018

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!

Steerpike

Labour conference 2018, in pictures

From our UK edition

It's that time of year again: Labour conference. With Jeremy Corbyn's grip on the party tightening in the past year, the conference, too, has taken on a distinctly Corbynista feel. The exhibition hall is made up of a mix of business stands – including Apple – and campaign groups. Meanwhile, over at the sister festival – Momentum's World Transformed festival – pictures of Marx adorn the walls alongside banners making clear Sun journalists are not welcome. Viva la revolución! (Mr S will update this post as the conference goes on.

The Spectator

Labour’s conference, day two: The Spectator guide

From our UK edition

John McDonnell takes centre stage on day two of Labour's conference. The shadow chancellor has recently dismissed reports of a coup against Jeremy Corbyn as 'laughable'. But could his speech today be an audition for the top job when the Labour leader does depart?

Sunday

Isabel Hardman

What Jeremy Corbyn wants to talk about at Labour conference

From our UK edition

A lot of Labour’s energy at the moment seems to be spent on internal battles over which faction wins power on which committee, and whether it should be easier to deselect sitting MPs. A measure of whether its conference is a success is whether it manages to talk about what it wants to do in government. I understand that the leadership’s aim this week is to try to produce an analysis of where society has gone wrong. This sounds rather ‘Broken Britain’, though unsurprisingly the party won’t be using that line. Instead, the tag is ‘rebuilding Britain’, and Jeremy Corbyn and his colleagues will be talking about the impact of eight years of austerity, and post-industrialisation, particularly on parts of the UK that feel left behind.

Matthew Taylor

Sunday shows round-up: Jeremy Corbyn taken to task over anti-Semitism

From our UK edition

Jeremy Corbyn – Anti-Semitism 'is a scourge in any society' With the Labour party conference now in full swing in Liverpool, Jeremy Corbyn met with Andrew Marr for an interview. Marr was keen to challenge Corbyn about the accusations of anti-Semitism against him and the failure to effectively stamp out the problem within the party. Corbyn attempted to set the record straight: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aaiqW2z0_Cw AM: Jeremy Corbyn - are you an anti-Semite? JC: No. I've spent my whole life opposing racism in every form and I will die fighting racism in any form... Anti-Semitism is a scourge in any society. I will oppose it all my life...