All the latest analysis of the day's news and stories
It’s Labour conference and the party is supposed to be setting out its plan for government. Only when it comes to Brexit, no-one is quite sure what that is. In the interest of clarity, Mr S will be running a live blog with the latest twists in the party’s apparent Brexit policy: 11am: Keir Starmer
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
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 –
It’s fair to say to say that the leader of Scottish Labour, Richard Leonard has struggled to make his mark since he was elected in 2017. While the position used to automatically command respect as the figurehead of the dominant party north of the border, after several catastrophic elections, Labour and the position have been
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
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
If Theresa May feels a bit disoriented and lonely – under pressure from her own friends in parliament – she could take some comfort in that she isn’t trying to run a government in Sweden. The country’s election delivered an inconclusive result. Prime Minister Stefan Löfven and his red-green coalition government lost a lot of
Conference, the last two years have not been easy. Like many of you, I was devastated by the referendum result. Like many of you, I’d campaigned passionately to stay in the EU. Not for the technical benefits – important though they are. But because I’m an internationalist. Because I believe that nations achieve more together than they do alone. I
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
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
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
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
It’s Brexit day at Labour conference: Keir Starmer will be on his feet in the conference hall this morning, detailing the party’s plan for leaving the EU. Diane Abbott and Emily Thornberry will also be speaking. And there’s plenty of action on the fringes, including Tom Watson – who was sidelined from the main stage
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
When a politician writes a personal book, it’s normally coded audition for the party leadership. Ruth Davidson launched book, Yes She Can, with a declaration that she didn’t want to be Prime Minister and earlier on this evening she explained why to Andrew Neil. The idea of her as leader was started by David Cameron,
Angela Rayner, one of the ‘rising stars’ of Jeremy Corbyn’s frontbench, received rapt applause from Labour members when she spoke to the conference. It wasn’t just that she gave a passionate, warm and funny speech. It was also that she came armed with policies that the party faithful really liked, such as ending the academisation
Dawn Butler’s decision to back Militant didn’t go down well on the first day of Labour conference, but the shadow equalities minister can still count on Corbyn’s loyal defenders to stick up for her. Former spinner for the Labour leader, Matt Zarb-Cousin, rushed to Butler’s defence on Sky News. But when he was asked to
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
There is widespread, fevered speculation that the prime minister will move away from her Chequers plan for a future relationship with the EU at this afternoon’s Cabinet, under intense pressure from her ministerial colleagues. Having now spoken to several ministers, I am clear that she will stand firm on Chequers, and there probably won’t be
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
This is a slightly misleading headline for today’s Holy Smoke podcast, because Fr Alexander Lucie-Smith, Lara Prendergast and I didn’t spend a lot of time duscussing episcopal rudeness. The episode is actually about snobbery in church circles. Fr Alexander muses on clergy who name-drop like dowagers while Lara picks her way through the minefield of
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
I want to start by thanking the Treasury Team: Peter Dowd, Shadow Chief Secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, Annaliese Dodds, Clive Lewis, Lynne Brown, Lord Dennis Tunnicliffe, Lord Bryan Davies and PPS Thelma Walker who won back Colne Valley from the Tories last year. This month is the 10th anniversary of the financial crash. J.K.Galbraith in his
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
As France prepared to go to the polls in the Spring of 2017, it was already probable that Emmanuel Macron would become president, and that would not be good news for Brexiting Britain. That anybody was shocked that Macron led the autodafé of Theresa May at the European council in Salzburg last week is therefore
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
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
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:
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
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
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
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? Here are the highlights to watch out for today: 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
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.