Daily Summary – Day 4

Today the Labour Party Conference culminated in the leader’s speech. Jeremy Corbyn opened by emphasising that although Labour had not won the election, it was now the ‘government-in-waiting’. Moving on to the Government, he accused Theresa May of having found the ‘magic money tree’ and using it to fund her deal with the DUP, and of having a ‘coalition of chaos’ just in her own cabinet. He criticised the Conservatives’ ‘callous and calculating’ record and suggested that Labour had managed to make them drop many policies. Talking about the election, he praised the Labour manifesto and campaigners, whilst criticising the media (especially the Daily Mail) and abusive commentators online.

Moving on to Brexit, he criticised the Conservatives for their ‘bungling’ and gave a full guarantee to EU citizens. He described a Conservative Brexit as a ‘real threat’ to the economy, and promised that a Labour government would stay within the ‘basic terms’ of the single market and customs union for a limited transition period. He said that Labour was the only party which could unite leave and remain voters. He promised to use powers returned from Brussels to support a new industrial strategy, emphasising that it ‘isn’t migrants who drive down wages and conditions’.

Corbyn spoke of the need to replaced Margaret Thatcher’s ‘broken model’. He called for a more active role for the government in the economy, criticising the Conservatives for their ‘extractive’ economic approach. Citing the example of Grenfell Tower, he argued for decent homes for all, including through ‘rent controls’ and reformed regeneration. He paid tribute to public service workers and identified the challenges posed by automation, suggesting that ‘technological advances’ be ‘publicly managed’ and that a National Education Service be established to reskill the workforce. He insisted that democracy must mean listening to people, increasing accountability and democratisation of local services. He attacked human rights abuses abroad and condemned Trump’s speech at the United Nations last week.

Concluding, he said that a ‘new consensus is emerging from the great economic crash’ and that Labour is ‘now the political mainstream.’ His closing words were that ‘Labour can and will deliver a Britain for the many not just the few.’

Daily Summary – Day 3

The penultimate day of the conference began with Shadow Health Secretary Jon Ashworth intending to speak about his plans for the NHS, however the conversations he had were largely focussed on anti-Semitism. This came as the party debated rule changes relating to anti-Semitism which had been proposed by the Jewish Labour Movement. Ashworth did eventually get the chance to speak about the NHS, downplaying remarks made by John McDonnell yesterday relating to PFI agreements and saying only a ‘handful’ of contracts would need looking at. John Prescott, who was deputy prime minister under Tony Blair, said the Blair government was wrong to bring PFI agreements into place.

By far the biggest issue of the day was the proposed rule change on anti-Semitism, which was backed by Corbyn and the NEC. The party agreed to tough new rules that would help tackle anti-Semitism after a very heated debate. Tom Watson said the party would have to look at how a speaker named Miko Peled was given a platform at a conference fringe event, after he stated that people should be allowed to question whether the Holocaust had taken place.

During his speech, Owen Smith proposed that Northern Ireland could remain part of the EU even with the rest of the UK leaving. Rebecca Long-Bailey also spoke, saying the UK was on the cusp of the fourth industrial revolution. She claimed that the industrial strategy proposed by the party would “eclipse the new deal set out by Franklin D Roosevelt in the history books”. Angela Rayner spoke of how Labour will reverse £500m cuts in funding for Sure Start centres, and would provide all the funding that schools need to modernise their buildings.

Daily Summary – Day 2

Day two of the Labour Conference began with discussions on the party’s position on the UK’s membership of the European Single Market. The Mayor of London Sadiq Khan chimed into the debate by saying that he would like the UK to remain permanently in the single market. John McDonnell said the party needs to make sure it takes into account the concerns of those who voted to leave.

Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry aimed parts of her speech at Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, claiming that Johnson should take a paternity test to see the true origin of the arguments and false claims surrounding Brexit. Shadow Brexit Secretary Keir Starmer said this is a tragic moment for the Government, and it does not have the strength to govern. Johnson was also a feature of Starmer’s speech, in which he was listed alongside David Cameron and Theresa May as the authors of the Brexit tragedy. Starmer also touched upon the subject of the day, saying that Labour could keep the UK in a reformed single market and a form of customs union.

Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell delivered the keynote speech of the day and will have made some headlines with his pledge to end new Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contracts and bring existing ones back ‘in-house’. McDonnell also said that he would attempt to introduce cap on the interest payments on credit cards.