Labour party

Tuesday

Steerpike

Keir Starmer goes off script in Brexit conference speech

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. Sir Keir Starmer: "Nobody is ruling out Remain as an option" Shadow #Brexit Secretary receives rapturous applause from #Lab18 on prospect of second Brexit vote https://t.co/l7Mjii6DmY pic.twitter.com/NOMOqu0H2Y — BBC Politics (@BBCPolitics) September 25, 2018 The shadow Brexit secretary was met with applause when he appeared to keep the idea of a second EU referendum on the table

Monday

Isabel Hardman

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

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

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Watch: Labour supporting teacher on getting rid of Tories

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

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

John McDonnell’s unashamedly socialist pitch to Labour conference

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 –

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Listen: Labour MP blasts Corbynite colleague at Progress rally

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

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

How Corbyn opponents are now turning to the trade unions

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

Katy Balls Katy Balls

The latest Labour rift: Momentum vs the trade unions

In the beginning, it seemed as though the Labour civil war consisted of the Corbynistas vs the moderates. Now things aren’t so simple. The first day of Labour conference saw some ugly scenes in the conference floor. However, rather than the hard Left turning on the Blairites, it is a rift between two pro-Corbyn factions: Momentum vs the trade unions. Activists for the pro-Corbyn grassroots campaign group audibly booed the trade unions at several points on Sunday afternoon. Cries of ‘shame!’ were repeatedly heard across the floor. There were two points of disagreement – the democracy review and the priority ballots. Momentum activists were disappointed that the trade union choices

Nick Cohen Nick Cohen

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

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,

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Labour conference 2018, in pictures

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.)

Sunday

Isabel Hardman

What Jeremy Corbyn wants to talk about at Labour conference

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

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Hacks left in the cold at Labour conference

Jeremy Corbyn’s relationship with the MSM has long been a strained one. When the Labour leader isn’t bad-mouthing hacks, he’s telling them that he will ‘democratise’ their publications. So, perhaps it should come as little surprise that journalists have found themselves left out in the cold at this year’s Labour conference. Hacks arrived to find themselves not in the main building but in a tent outside in the cold. Adding insult to injury, to find it one must follow the ‘dog exercise’ area signs. To borrow the words of Chuka Umunna: won’t Corbyn ‘call off the dogs’?

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Labour’s deputy leader move highlights the party’s most interesting split

Generally, talk of a ‘split’ in the Labour Party focuses on the chasm between Jeremy Corbyn’s supporters and those ‘moderate’ MPs who want to leave. But there’s another, bigger split, which is between the Corbynites and a large chunk of MPs, including Deputy Leader Tom Watson, who disagree with the party’s leader but think Labour can change. Watson did go through a phase of staying rather quiet in the months after the last general election, avoiding both party events and interviews where he might be forced to take a stand against the leadership. But he has recently become far more vocal, disagreeing with the Corbynites on a number of key

Robert Peston Robert Peston

Jeremy Corbyn is getting more serious about Brexit and Theresa May ought to worry

The most important statement by Jeremy Corbyn in today’s Sunday Mirror interview is not that Labour’s leader will embrace a so-called People’s Vote if that were what Labour’s conference backs this week. It is that Labour is “not happy” with the PM’s Chequers Brexit plan “and we would vote against it”. This is Labour’s strongest and least ambiguous attack on Chequers. And – as if that were needed – it underwrites the view of many Tory MPs and ministers that the PM’s attempt to sell Chequers to Brussels is even more fatuous than dead-horse flogging, given that some 50 odd True Brexit Conservative backbenchers are adamant that they would vote

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Jeremy Corbyn discovers the art of spin on a second referendum

It’s the first day of Labour conference and Jeremy Corbyn has kicked proceedings off with an appearance on the Andrew Marr show. The Labour leader was grilled on a range of topics from anti-Semitism and ‘English irony’ to his party’s Brexit position. Corbyn put in a relaxed performance, insisting that he loved ‘every minute’ of being Labour leader. However, his sharp intake of breath when he was asked about tricky topics suggest that it isn’t all plain-sailing. While his defence of his response to a variety of anti-Semitic incidents was typically evasive (he admitted he was ‘perhaps too hasty’ in his defence of an anti-Semitic mural), it’s Corbyn’s Brexit comments

Friday

Steerpike

Emily Thornberry risks reigniting Labour’s anti-Semitism row

Is Jeremy Corbyn the victim in Labour’s anti-Semitism scandal? Emily Thornberry seems to think so. The shadow foreign secretary said that the Labour leader was ‘distressed’ by the claims against him and that he found the row ‘very difficult’ to deal with because it went ‘so against his idea of who he is’. In an interview with the Evening Standard, the Corbynite MP said that while the Dear Leader was usually ‘very Zen’ about criticism, ‘calling him an anti-Semite, calling him a racist, that just went straight to the absolute core of him. It really distressed him’. Poor old Jeremy. Mr S isn’t sure that this will help calm tensions

Thursday

James Kirkup

How John McDonnell wooed Mumsnet

As so often these days, if you want real political insight, go to Mumsnet. In a web chat there today, John McDonnell has offered extensive proof that – whatever you think of his politics and policies – he is an extremely professional and skilful political communicator. Mumsnet, as Gordon Brown, Nick Clegg and countless others will remember, is about the toughest gig out there: you’re faced with a bombardment of questions ranging from traditional political analysis to deeply personal issues and of course humour, much of it biscuit-related. Striking the right tone is very, very hard. These days, Mumsnet is even harder for politicians because an awful lot of users

Tuesday

James Kirkup

How John McDonnell wooed Mumsnet | 18 September 2018

As so often these days, if you want real political insight, go to Mumsnet. In a web chat there today, John McDonnell has offered extensive proof that – whatever you think of his politics and policies – he is an extremely professional and skilful political communicator. Mumsnet, as Gordon Brown, Nick Clegg and countless others will remember, is about the toughest gig out there: you’re faced with a bombardment of questions ranging from traditional political analysis to deeply personal issues and of course humour, much of it biscuit-related. Striking the right tone is very, very hard. These days, Mumsnet is even harder for politicians because an awful lot of users

Monday

Ross Clark

Naz Shah needs to make up her mind about abortion

There are a couple of things I just don’t get. Maybe someone of liberal mind can explain them. Didn’t equalities minister Penny Mordaunt back in July throw her weight behind Theresa May’s promise to make it much easier to reassign your own gender? Of the current process (which requires you, for example, to provide medical evidence before being allowed to redefine yourself as a woman) she said: ‘It is overly bureaucratic and it’s highly medicalised with people making decisions about you who have never met you.’ In other words, it’s your life and your decision as to which gender you wish to identify with – the state should keep its nose

Thursday

Steerpike

Peter Willsman welcomed back into the fold at Labour conference

When Peter Willsman was re-elected onto the Labour NEC this month, there was a sense of shock in the party. It wasn’t that it was surprising a Corbyn ally had beaten a moderate in a party vote – that’s now the status quo. Instead, it was curious that Willsman was elected despite being recorded saying that Jewish ‘Trump fanatics’ are ‘making up’ anti-Semitism allegations within the party. The incident led Momentum to revoke their endorsement of his candidacy. So, with Willsman back on the NEC, questions had remained as to how the party would handle his re-election, with many MPs calling on him to stand down and spare the party (any

Monday

Steerpike

Dawn Butler: Labour didn’t lose the general election

It’s been over a year since the last general election, but it looks like there are still some Labour MPs who are confused about their presence on the opposition benches. One such appears to be the shadow minister for women and equalities and Corbyn devotee, Dawn Butler. In an interview on TalkRadio this afternoon, it was put to the MP,  that Labour’s manifesto can’t have been that brilliant if they went on to lose the general election. Butler responded: ‘Well actually, we didn’t lose. We didn’t win, but we didn’t lose the election’ Dawn Butler: "We didn’t lose the election. We didn’t win." Watch ▼@Matthew_Wright | @DawnButlerBrent | @TVKev https://t.co/sv3MZUm41c