So far at this Labour conference, most of the fireworks have been on the Blairite side of the party, with figures such as Chuka Umunna, Ivan Lewis, Liz Kendall and John Woodcock making their displeasure known at events last night. But when it comes to Jeremy Corbyn’s frontbench, and some of the issues on which Corbyn himself has strong and controversial views, the conference has seemed surprisingly well-behaved: so far, at least.
The party’s frontbenchers are almost continuing as though nothing has changed: last night at a schools fringe Lucy Powell set out an education policy that sounded roughly familiar to the one the last party leadership pursued: no support for further academisation, a different form of oversight for existing academies and free schools, and a greater emphasis on the early years and post-16 education. At a fringe organised by Sinn Fein, Vernon Coaker stuck to Labour’s long-held position on Northern Ireland.
Many people had turned up to the Sinn Fein event because Corbyn was billed as one of the guests, but Coaker stepped in, giving an impassioned speech about the importance of the Good Friday Agreement and the importance of no side giving up in the current crisis.
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