Afternoon summary
That’s all from me for today.
Thanks for the comments.
Scott Courtney's speech - Extract
There is always a slot at Labour conference for an international speaker and this year it was Scott Courtney, executive vice president of the Service Employees International Union in the US. He was speaking on behalf of Fight for $15, which started off as a campaign for a $15 an hour minimum wage in the fast food sector but which is now a global minimum wage campaign.
The international speaker rarely receives much attention, and you won’t see any clips from the speech on the news. But it was the probably best speech anyone has delivered so far from the conference platform, and it explained why support for Jeremy Corbyn’s agenda on the left is so strong better than John McDonnell’s speech did.
Unfortunately there isn’t a text, but here are some key quotes.
We have a completely different type of economy today, and you can see it in many industries that once gave people a real shot at the middle class.
If you look at the airports, it used to be if you worked at an airport, you worked for one of the two or three airlines in the US, no matter if you were selling tickets, or taking tickets, or driving the airplane, or serving drinks on the plane. Today, instead of working for those three or four airlines, you work for a contractor of a contractor of a contractor of the airline. You are four or five or six steps removed the real boss and where the real money is and as a result of that those jobs that in 1975 in the airports, those jobs were union, decent wages, had health insurance, today they make $7.25 an hour, no pension, no health insurance, no nothing.
In fact, it’s worse than that in airports. If you push one of the wheelchairs around, you are not allowed to ask for a tip, but you are allowed to accept them, so because of that you’re only paid two bucks an hour. That’s a fact. That’s what it’s like in the US in an industry that was 100% union, where people had decent jobs.
Truck drivers, the same story. 1975, virtually every truck driver in the United States was in the Teamsters union. They weren’t rich, it was hard work, but they had a decent life. They had a fair wage. They could hope, if they did everything right, they played by the rules, they could get their kid into school and their kid would live a better life. Today, because of deregulation, the union has been busted. Almost no truck drivers in the United States are in the Teamsters union today.
These did not happen by accident. They did not happen because we lack money and it did not happen because it was some false choice. These are choices and priorities that our country made. Last year, just to give you a few examples of some of our choices, the money given out in Wall Street bonuses - not pay, bonuses - was more than the total earnings of every American making the minimum wage. That’s a choice.
Today corporate profits make up the largest ever share of the United States economy and wages make up the lowest share. That’s a choice. Today the pay of the average fast food CEO is more than 1,200 times the average fast food worker. That’s also a choice.
Ian Lavery, the shadow minister for trade unions, appealed to delegates in his speech to the conference to contribute to Labour’s Workplace 2020 consultation on what the world of work will look like in the future.
Workplace 2020 ... will be the biggest discussion with working people and employers in a generation. It underlines how serious we are about creating workplaces fit for the future.
Everyone has a story to tell on the world of work and on what it should look like in the future, and Workplace 2020 isn’t about focusing on the negatives. Many people have positive experiences of the workplace. Many people benefit from apprenticeships, training opportunities and additional support.
We want to hear from working people and employers about how we can promote good practice and raise standards. I will be travelling around the UK – to our nations, to our regions, to local communities - because I want to hear from as diverse a group of people as possible. I want to work with employees and employers to create an environment that is fair to all.
But alone, I can only do so much. I need your help. I need you to set up meetings in your workplace, your local community centre, place of worship, local cafe, pub or even your front room. You can hold a Workplace 2020 discussion anywhere. Even online - you can visit www.Workplace2020.org.uk
In her speech to the conference Debbie Abrahams, the shadow work and pensions secretary, said Labour would get rid of the work capability assessment - the much-criticised test used to assess eligibility for disability benefits. She told the conference:
The Labour party has already pledged to get rid of the discriminatory and unfair bedroom tax.
But I want to go further. I want to scrap the discredited Work Capability Assessment and replace it with a system based on personalised, holistic support, one that provides each individual with a tailored plan, building on their strengths and addressing barriers, whether skills, health, care, transport, or housing-related.
This government’s punitive sanctions system must go too, so job centre plus and employment support providers’ performance will not just be assessed on how many people they get off their books.
Updated
In her speech to the conference Kezia Dugdale, the Labour leader in Scotland, challenged the SNP to use the power it has to raise taxes.
Nicola Sturgeon is the most powerful first minister that Scotland has ever had. In her hands, she has more power than any of her predecessors to change our nation. But for a woman who is famous for saying yes, her answer when you ask her to use the powers she has is always no.
Conference, I’m only asking Nicola Sturgeon to do what she’s said she wanted to do her entire political life: to make different choices to the Tories. Labour will not sit back and do nothing.
That is why today I can announce that when the Scottish government presents the budget to parliament in the coming months, we will place amendments to introduce a 50p tax on those earning over £150,000 and to add a penny to income tax to pay for public services.
Making decisions for Scotland that the Tories would never make and using the powers which we have argued for. This, together with our other tax proposals, will enable us to stop further cuts to the public services we all rely on.
Here is our updated story about Clive Lewis, the shadow defence secretary, abandoning plans to scrap the party’s pro-Trident policy.
And here is how it starts.
The shadow defence secretary said he had no intention of trying to reverse Labour’s policy of supporting the renewal of Trident before the next general election, despite Jeremy Corbyn’s opposition to nuclear weapons.
Clive Lewis told the Guardian that the party’s existing pro-renewal policy would remain in place unless there were significant changes, such as spiralling costs.
“I won’t be coming back to conference between now and the next election to try to undo the policy we have on Trident as things stand,” he said, adding that he did, however, plan to “scrutinise and hold the government to account” over the issue.
Lewis’s remarks came after claims that Corbyn’s chief strategist, Seumas Milne, altered his speech on the autocue before he delivered it, taking out a suggestion from Lewis that he “would not seek to change” the party’s existing policy.
In a Facebook post earlier ITV’s Robert Peston said he expected Jeremy Corbyn and his allies to make one final attempt to block a rule change that will allow Labour’s leaders in Scotland and Wales to nominate one person each to sit on the NEC. But Peston now says that Corbyn has conceded defeat, and that tomorrow’s NEC has been cancelled.
Tomorrow's NEC meeting has been cancelled, so @jeremycorbyn concedes loss of his majority on ruling body https://t.co/a4St9L7LPG
— Robert Peston (@Peston) September 26, 2016
And this is what Clive Lewis has told the Sun’s Harry Cole about that speech change video. (See 4.02pm.)
Clive Lewis explains his facial expression: "I was nervous!" Plays down row, suggesting "these things are all done collectively". Hmm...
— Harry Cole (@MrHarryCole) September 26, 2016
According to Kevin Schofield at Politics Home, Clive Lewis, the shadow education secretary, was due to say in his conference speech that he would not seek to change Labour’s existing policy on Trident, which is to back renewal. That would have been quite a concession, which would have amounted to Jeremy Corbyn (who approves shadow cabinet speeches) accepting that Labour will not adopt a policy of unilateral nuclear disarmament.
But, Schofield reports, Lewis was told at the last moment that the text of his speech was being changed. Here’s an extract from Schofield’s story.
PoliticsHome has also learned that Jeremy Corbyn had agreed the original text with Mr Lewis - but appears to have been over-ruled by his chief spin doctor [Seumas] Milne.
Mr Lewis had been due to say he “would not seek to change” his party’s policy of backing renewal of the UK’s Trident submarines.
But that was taken out, meaning he only said it was “clear that our party has a policy for Trident renewal”.
A senior Labour source said: “Clive punched a wall when he came off the stage because Seumas altered his speech on the autocue.
“He was fuming as he sent a post-it note on stage as he was sat there ready to speak and didn’t know what the exact change was. Apparently Clive had agreed it with Jeremy but Seumas changed it.”
ITV’s Chris Ship has posted some video on Twitter that seems to show the moment when Lewis was told about the change.
That sequence when we think @labourlewis got his script changes from Team Corbyn re Trident, moments before he delivered the speech pic.twitter.com/1wgssBYAa5
— Chris Ship (@chrisshipitv) September 26, 2016
And this is from my colleague Anushka Asthana.
Clive Lewis - @labourlewis - tells @GuardianHeather and I that he will not try to overturn Labour Trident policy before next election.
— Anushka Asthana (@GuardianAnushka) September 26, 2016
A Labour source has been in touch to say that, when John McDonnell ruled out an early shadow cabinet reshuffle on the Today programme this morning (see 8.31am), he was not intending to give out that message. So it is possible that we might get a shadow cabinet reshuffle soon after the party conference after all.
McCluskey says 'merchant of doom' Labour MPs should quit
Len McCluskey, the Unite general secretary, gave a passionate, sabre-rattling speech from the conference platform this morning. (I did not cover it at the time because I was otherwise engaged.) And he seemed to be rattling his sabre at Labour MPs who do not support Jeremy Corbyn. They should quit, he said.
Here is the key extract. Arguing that Unite had done what it could to protect workers’ rights at Sports Direct “from the warehouse floor”, he said Labour MPs should show what they could do from the Commons floor.
I now call on Labour MPs to show what they can do from the Commons floor. Unite the party and back its leadership so that we can all fight together for this new economy.
The Tories may steal our language but it is only Labour who can deliver the vision. A vision of socialist change and a rejection of free market capitalism.
It was Harold Wilson who won four general elections, who once said ‘If Labour is not a moral crusade then we’re nothing’.
Now I’ve heard people lecture us about the futility of principles without power. But comrades, we’ve also seen where power without principles leads to.
It leads to disillusionment, disappointment and ultimate defeat. Of course we must win power. But we must also use power for our people, for working people.
So I ask all of you not to be debilitated by the media and those within our own ranks who seek to undermine your confidence in the fight that lies ahead.
So I say to the merchants of doom, in the words of Shakespeare’s Henry V, if you have no stomach for this fight depart the battlefields.
Because sisters and brothers, in my 45 years in our party I have never known such a battle that lies ahead for a better Britain and for our ideals.
What we need now is brave men and women with the courage and commitment to fight for our cause, the cause of true Labour.
David Gauke, the chief secretary to the Treasury, has issued a response to John McDonnell’s speech on behalf of the Conservatives, He said:
Labour would leave working people worse off by spending, borrowing and taxing even more than they did last time.
Our national living wage and cuts to income tax mean more money in the pockets of millions of people.
As we work to build an economy and country that work for everyone, Labour show they are too divided, distracted and incompetent to be a credible alternative government.
Speaking at a fringe meeting Lisa Nandy, the former shadow energy secretary, called for stronger parliamentary scrutiny of Brexit. She told the meeting:
It’s right that we have a Brexit committee but it cannot be limited to shadowing just one department. It must have the power to call the prime minister and we should consider the joint committee on human rights as a model - drawing on the expertise of peers as well as MPs.
She also said the Office for Budget Responsibility should do a proper analysis of Brexit.
The OBR must be tasked with an independent analysis of the impact of any Brexit deal over a 5, 10, 15 year period and there must be proper distributional analysis of the proposals. This kind of scrutiny happens for each spending review and there is no excuse not to do a similar exercise for this.
Business groups give mixed reaction to McDonnell's speech
Business groups have given a mixed reaction to John McDonnell’s speech. Here are three of their responses.
From Carolyn Fairbairn, CBI director general
We welcome the shadow chancellor’s emphasis on entrepreneurship and productivity growth. However, businesses will be wary of his combative tone in places and a focus on extensive intervention.
From Adam Marshall, acting director general of the British Chambers of Commerce
John McDonnell talks of an ‘interventionist’ future Labour government, but needs to remember that there’s both good intervention and bad intervention. Good intervention creates the conditions for all businesses to thrive, but bad intervention ensnares them in red tape and makes them less inclined to employ, train or invest.
Businesses would welcome a massively expanded infrastructure programme because it helps get the fundamentals right, but their confidence would be undermined by a wave of new regulation and compliance regimes.
From Mike Cherry, national chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses
FSB welcomes the high-profile announcement from John McDonnell that the Opposition will look at expanding the employment allowance, which was arguably one of FSB’s biggest wins in recent years.
Our members will also be pleased by moves to create new small business workspaces in local communities, strengthen small business access to finance to enable them to grow, shake-up the energy market to allow small local suppliers to compete and innovate, and bring greater parity between how the welfare system treats the self-employed and the employed.
From Tim Thomas, head of employment and skills policy at EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation
Whilst we are supportive of a national living wage, this proposal [the minimum wage increase] would be extremely damaging. Entry level jobs would be wiped out at a stroke and, the impact on costs for employers through maintaining pay at all levels would be so dramatic that it’s doubtful to see how companies would take on new workers. The impact on job creation and unemployment would be substantial.
Updated
CND accuses Labour of 'disastrous' U-turn on Trident
Turning back to Clive Lewis’s speech (see 12.04pm), and Trident, CND has described it as “disastrous”. This is from Kate Hudson, the CND general secretary.
Clive Lewis has stated this morning that Labour will now prioritise support for multilateral disarmament initiatives. All well and good but what use is that if Labour fails to oppose Trident replacement? How can Labour claim to work for multilateral disarmament if it supports the government building a new nuclear weapons system at a cost of £205bn? This means Labour is supporting nuclear rearmament.
Lewis has clearly signalled that the Labour leadership will not seek to change Labour policy and appears to have abandoned its defence review conducted extensively over the past year. The majority of Labour members oppose Trident replacement, so where is the democracy in that?
Lewis made it clear that this was a decision designed to avoid political attack by the prime minister - but it has merely handed Theresa May support for one of her most controversial projects.
There is enormous opposition to Trident replacement within the Labour party and there will be huge disappointment at this U-turn by Clive Lewis. We have no doubt that Labour members will work to oppose this disastrous announcement and bring a democratic debate to Labour’s conference next year. This issue is too important for Britain’s future to be left to questions of political tactics.
Here is some reaction to the minimum wage (re-)announcement.
From Len McCluskey, the Unite general secretary
This will be music to the ears of the millions of low paid workers who are getting poorer under this government. They can see now that only Labour is the only party that is serious about making work pay in this country.
From Brian Rye, the UCATT acting general secretary
This is a genuinely radical policy which will end the low pay misery experienced by thousands of workers including many in construction. When despite working long hours they still don’t earn enough in order to properly live.
From Alison Garnham, the Child Poverty Action chief executive
Today’s announcement is good news for the legion of working families on the minimum wage who our research shows can’t achieve a basic, no-frills living standard even if two parents work full time.
Here is my colleague Jonathan Freedland on John McDonnell’s speech.
Speech from McDonnell quite effective. Some policy nuggets and good personal passage about his upbringing at the close #lab16
— Jonathan Freedland (@Freedland) September 26, 2016
McDonnell's speech - Verdict
McDonnell’s speech - Verdict: One of the key complaints about Jeremy Corbyn is that he has little interest in developing detailed policy. “I have never seen Jeremy move beyond things you could fit on a T shirt,” Kerry McCarthy, a former member of the shadow cabinet, told the Guardian last week. So the key strength of John McDonnell’s speech was that it contained rather quite a lot of specific policy proposals, on tax avoidance, pay, industrial relations and corporate governance. Some of it sounded a bit technical and dull (or “one for the business pages”, as political reporters would put it) but that level of seriousness is a bonus in a speech from a shadow chancellor. And McDonnell does have a governing philosophy, which he has lifted from Mariana Mazzucato, the economist who sits on Labour’s economic advisory committee. She wrote a well-regarded book called The Entrepreneurial State, which now seems to be McDonnell’s routemap.
But, given the amount of substance in McDonnell’s speech, it was surprising that the party decided to push the £10 minimum wage as his big announcement. Why? Because McDonnell announced this a year ago, in what was described as his first policy announcement as shadow chancellor. There was a tiny bit more detail this year, and the policy plays well with a Labour audience, but it was an old one, and it is already generating significant criticism from business.
Although some of Corbyn’s individual policies are popular, Labour still polls badly compared to the Tories on the issue of economic credibility. This morning McDonnell claimed that Labour and groups like the CBI and the IoD were all “on the same page” in terms of economic policy. (See 10.26am.) If he can prove that is true, those poll numbers may start to shift. McDonnell is not there yet, but now no one can accuse him of not having a clear programme.
Updated
McDonnell says he was born in Liverpool.
My dad was a Liverpool docker and my mum was a cleaner who then served behind the counter at British Homes Stores for 30 years. I was part of the 1960s generation. We lived in what sociological studies have described as some of the worst housing conditions that exist within this country. We just called it home.
As a result of Labour government policies, I remember the day we celebrated moving into our council house. My brother and I had our own bedrooms for the first time. We had a garden front and rear, both of us were born in NHS hospitals, and both of us had a great free education. There was an atmosphere of eternal optimism.
Our generation always thought that from here on there would always be a steady improvement in people’s living standards. We expected the lives of each generation would improve upon the last. Successive Tory governments put an end to that.
McDonnell says Labour wants to recapture that optimism.
Imagine the society that we can create. It’s a society that’s radically transformed, radically fairer, more equal and more democratic. Yes, based upon a prosperous economy but an economy that’s economically and environmentally sustainable and where that prosperity is shared by all.
That’s our vision to rebuild and transform Britain.
In this party you no longer have to whisper it, it’s called Socialism.
And that’s it. McDonnell is now getting a standing ovation.
Updated
McDonnell turns to the role of government.
Good business doesn’t need no government. Good business needs good government. And the best governments today, right across the world, recognise that they need to support their economies because the way the world works is changing.
That means being pro-intervention, he says.
Be certain, the next Labour government will be an interventionist government. We will not stand by like this one has and see our key industries flounder and our future prosperity put at risk.
Labour would introduce a new living wage law, says McDonnell
But we know that small businesses need to be a part of the bargain. That’s why we will also be publishing proposals to help businesses implement the Living Wage, particularly small and medium-sized companies. We will be examining a number of ideas, including the expansion and reform of Employment Allowance, to make sure that this historic step forward in improving the living standards of the poorest paid does not impact on hours or employment.
Updated
McDonnell says Labour is looking at the case for a universal basic income.
And it would strengthen workers’ rights.
But until working people have proper protections at work, the labour market will always work against them. To achieve fair wages, the next Labour government will look to implement the recommendations of the Institute of Employment Rights.
We’ll reintroduce sectoral collective bargaining across the economy, ending the race to the bottom on wages. And let me give you this commitment: in the first hundred days of our Labour government, we’ll repeal the Trade Union Act.
Updated
McDonnell says Labour wants to create “200 local energy companies and 1,000 energy co-operatives, giving power back to local communities and breaking up the monopoly of the Big Six producers.”
And it will introduce a right to own, “giving workers first refusal on a proposal for worker ownership when their company faces a change of ownership or closure”.
Updated
Labour would double size of cooperative sector, says McDonnell
McDonnell turns to cooperative ownership.
Theresa May has spoken about worker representation on boards. It’s good to see her following our lead. We know that when workers own and manage their companies, those businesses last longer and are more productive.
If we want patient, long-term investment, and high-quality firms, what better way to do it than give employees themselves a clear stake in both? Co-operation and collaboration is how the emerging economy of the future functions. We’ll look to at least double our co-operative sector so that it matches those in Germany and the US.
- Labour would double size of cooperative sector, says McDonnell.
McDonnell says Labour would change the way corporations work.
We’ll shake up how our major corporations work and change how our economy is owned and managed. We’ll clamp down on the abuses of power at the very top. There’ll be no more Philip Greens under Labour and we will legislate to rewrite company law to prevent them.
We’ll introduce legislation to ban companies taking on excessive debt to pay out dividends to shareholders. And we’ll rewrite the Takeover Code to make sure every takeover proposal has a clear plan in place to pay workers and pensioners.
McDonnell says Labour focus less on taxing income and more on taxing wealth
McDonnell says Labour would shift the way the tax system works, cutting tax on income and increasing tax on wealth.
The burden of taxation as a whole now falls too heavily on those least able to pay. So let me make it clear: in this coming period we will be developing the policies that will shift the tax burden more fairly, away from those who earn wages and salaries and onto those who hold wealth.
- McDonnell says Labour focus less on taxing income and more on taxing wealth.
McDonnell says Labour would make HM Revenue and Customs better at tackling tax avoidance.
Our review of HMRC has also exposed the corporate capture of the tax system, and how staff cutbacks are undermining our ability to collect the taxes we need. I want to thank PCS, Professor Prem Sikka, John Christiansen and their team for the expertise they have provided us in drawing up this review.
The next stage of our work will be to develop the legislation and international agreements needed to close tax havens and end tax abuse. I’ll give you this assurance that when we go back into government, we’ll make sure HMRC has the staffing, the resources, and the legal powers to close down the tax avoidance industry that has grown up in this country.
Labour would stop tax-dodging companies getting public contracts, McDonnell says
McDonnell says the Panama Papers showed that some of the largest firms in the City are “up to their necks” in tax avoidance.
In government we will end the social scourge of tax avoidance. We will create a new Tax Enforcement Unit at HMRC, doubling the number of staff investigating wealthy tax avoiders. We will ban tax-dodging companies from winning public sector contracts. And we will ensure that all British Crown Dependencies and Overseas Territories introduce a full, public register of company owners and beneficiaries.
- Labour would stop tax-dodging companies getting public contracts, McDonnell says.
McDonnell says Labour wants to tackle tax evasion.
We will rewrite the rules to the benefit of working people on taxes, investment, and how our economic institutions work. So on tax, we know we can’t run the best public services in the world on a flagging economy with a tax system that does not tax fairly or effectively.
I’ll congratulate the Christians on the Left for their campaign promoting the hashtag “patriots pay their taxes”. It’s a great slogan. Patriots should pay their taxes. Labour are already setting the pace on tackling tax avoidance and tax evasion.
McDonnell thanks Owen Smith for helping defeat the Tories on benefit cuts.
And he thanks Labour peers for defeating the government. He says that as someone who has opposed the House of Lords for 30 years, he says. He jokes about having a rethink.
McDonnell says Labour’s next challenge is to oppose austerity.
For Britain to prosper in that new Europe and on the world stage, our next major challenge is to call a halt to this government’s austerity programme.
McDonnell says Labour is opposed to TTIP.
There will be no more support for TTIP or any other trade deal that promotes deregulation and privatisation, here or across Europe. And we’ll make sure any future government has the power to intervene in our economy in the interests of the whole country.
McDonnell says Labour wants the UK to keep its stake in the European Investment Bank.
And he turns to the City.
At the centre of negotiations is Britain’s financial services industry.Our financial services have been placed under threat as a result of the vote to leave. Labour has said we will support access to European markets for financial services. But our financial services must understand that 2008 must never happen again. We will not tolerate a return to the casino economy that contributed to that crash.
McDonnell condemns the xenophobic attacks since the Brexit vote.
We were all appalled at the attacks that took place on the Polish community in our country following the Brexit vote. Let’s be clear that, as a Party, we will always stand up against racism and xenophobia in any form.
Updated
McDonnell says the Tories have “no clue” what to do about Brexit.
And he sets out Labour’s red lines.
Let’s get it straight, we have to protect jobs here. So we will seek to preserve access to the single market for goods and services. Today, access to the single market requires freedom of movement of labour. But we will address the concerns that people have raised in the undercutting of wages and conditions, and the pressure on local public services.
McDonnell says levels of poverty and low wages are unacceptable.
In the real world economy that our people live in wages are still lower than they were before the global financial crisis in 2008. There are now 800,000 people on zero hours contracts, unable to plan from one week to the next, and the number continues to rise. Nearly half a million in bogus self-employment, 86 per cent of austerity cuts fall on women, nearly 4 million of our children are living in poverty.
John McDonnell's speech
John McDonnell starts by describing the state of the economy.
First though, we need to appreciate the mess that the Tories are leaving behind for when we go into government. Six years on from when they promised to eliminate the government’s deficit in five years, they are nowhere near that goal. The national debt burden was supposed to be falling by last year, and it is still rising. In money terms, it now stands at £1.6 trillion. Our productivity has fallen far behind. Each hour worked in the US, Germany or France is one-third more productive than each hour worked here. Our economy is failing on productivity because the Tories are failing to deliver the investment it needs, and government investment is still planned to fall in every remaining year of this parliament.
McDonnell proposes raising minimum wage to £10 an hour
John McDonnell is just starting his conference speech.
He will proposing raising the minimum wage to £10 an hour.
John McDonnell to pledge £10 an hour minimum wage if Labour elected in speech soon
— Nick Eardley (@nickeardleybbc) September 26, 2016
According to Huffington Post’s Paul Waugh, Clive Lewis wanted to include a commitment not to change party policy on Trident in his conference speech - but was over-ruled by Jeremy Corbyn’s office.
Clive Lewis's defence speech - Summary and analysis
Clive Lewis, the shadow defence secretary, also mentioned nuclear disarmament in his speech to the conference. It was a speech that contained various surprises. Here are the key points.
- Lewis said Labour would make multilateral disarmament a priority. Emily Thornberry said the same thing earlier (see 11.01am) and glossed over what this meant for Jeremy Corbyn’s plan to commit Labour to unilateral disarmament too. Lewis was a bit more forthcoming, admitting that Labour is divided on this.
As you know, I am sceptical about Trident renewal, as are many here.
But I am clear that our Party has a policy for Trident renewal.
But I also want to be clear that our Party’s policy is also that we all share the ambition of a nuclear-free world.
So we will take steps to make that ambition a reality.
So we will make our long-standing multilateralism reality, not rhetoric. We will be working with international organisations, including the United Nations General Assembly First Committee on Disarmament and International Security, within the spirit and the letter of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
That will stand in stark contrast to the Tories’ lip service on nuclear disarmament; they have not brought forward a single proposal as to how they intend to achieve it.
This is interesting for two reasons. First, some of Corbyn’s allies have argued that Labour effectively does not have a policy on Trident, because it is subject to review. They made this argument around the time of the Commons vote on Trident. But Lewis is saying that the party does have a policy, and that it is to renew Trident.
Second, by stressing Labour’s commitment to multilateral disarmament, as Thornberry did, Lewis may be pointing to a possible compromise that would enable the party to go into the election with a policy backed by Corbyn and the pro-Trident unions. (A policy that says achieving multilateral disarmament is the priority, allowing Corbyn to say he is still committed to getting rid of the UK’s nuclear weapons, and Unite and the GMB to say that the party would not scrap Trident?)
- Lewis praised Nato, saying it was a body that embodies Labour values. (It was set up partly at the behest of Ernest Bevin, Labour’s post-war foreign secretary.) Lewis said:
Conference, when I look at our key military alliance – NATO – I see an organisation that springs directly from our values: collectivism, internationalism and the strong defending the weak. Its founding charter – a progressive charter – includes standing up for democracy and defending human rights. These are values that I believe go to the core of our political identity.
This is significant because in the past Corbyn has been very sceptical about Nato. During the Labour leadership contest last year he was initially reluctant to commit to keeping the UK in Nato, although he firmed up his support for Nato after his suggestion that Britain could leave the organisation left him exposed to criticism.
- Lewis said that Labour would fulfilling its commitments under Nato, including its collective defence obligations under article 5. He said:
So, of course, a Labour government would fulfil our international commitments, including those under Article 5. But let’s be clear: that means both our military and our diplomatic obligations. We cannot have one without the other, and nor should we.
This sounds like a rebuke to Corbyn who, at a hustings in August, was reluctant to give this commitment. Asked what the UK would do if Russia invaded a fellow Nato member, Corbyn replied:
I don’t wish to go to war. What I want to do is achieve a world where we don’t need to go to war, where there is no need for it. That can be done.
- He said Labour would maintain defence spending at at least 2% of GDP.
Every Labour government since Attlee’s has met NATO’s spending target of at least 2 per cent of GDP, every single year. And I confirm today that the next Labour government will do the same, including our UN and peacekeeping obligations.
This is quite a significant commitment. Even David Cameron was unwilling to make this promise before the 2015 election - although the Tories did make the commitment after the election was over. When Liz Kendall (seen as a dreadful Blairite by many Corbynites) launched her (very unsuccessful) leadership campaign in 2015, she also made spending 2% of GDP on defence one of her key proposals.
- Lewis, a former soldier who served in Afghanistan, said there was no contradiction between being a socialist and serving in the military.
I’ve found there are some who are surprised to find an Army veteran serving as a Labour MP, as if it was somehow against the values we collectively believe in.
But I see no contradiction between my service and my socialism.
Updated
Labour would 'expand' international aid, says Osamor
In her speech to the conference Kate Osamor, the shadow international development secretary, launched a particularly sharp attack on her Tory opposite number which went down well in the hall. It also included a promise to “expand” international aid.
Priti Patel, the new Development Secretary, has said she wants to bring Tory values to the UK’s aid programme.
I know, it sounds like a bad pitch for a new Channel Five reality show.
I can see it now, UK aid being overseen by Philip Green as Ambassador for Ethical Commerce. Mike Ashley, Special Advisor for Equality and Workers’ Rights.
The Tories have never been a fan of international aid. Priti Patel even said she wanted the Department abolished. Labour will never abolish DFID.
We will support it, expand it.
We will help the people of the world who need our help. No ifs, no buts.
Thornberry says achieving nuclear disarmament will be Labour's main foreign policy goal
In her speech to the conference Emily Thornberry, the shadow foreign secretary, said that a Labour government led by Jeremy Corbyn would make achieving nuclear disarmament its key foreign policy goal. Here is the key extract:
It is almost 60 years since a Labour Shadow Foreign Secretary demanded that, when it came to negotiations over nuclear weapons, he not be sent naked into the conference chamber. But people forget what Nye Bevan said beforehand in that famous speech.
He said: “It is not a question of who is in favour of the bomb, but what is the most effective way of getting the damn thing destroyed. It is the most difficult of all problems facing mankind.”
What would Bevan think of the fact that six decades on, we are now further than ever from solving that problem, and that the conference chamber he spoke of lies empty and silent.
We all know how irresponsible it would be to ignore the problem of climate change, allow it to get worse, and leave our children and grand-children to worry about the consequences.
So why don’t we say the same about nuclear weapons which have the power to destroy the world we live in within minutes, not just over decades?
So a future Labour government will not just revive talks on multilateral nuclear disarmament among the world’s great powers, we will make the success of those talks the test of our success on foreign policy.
Thornberry was talking about multilateral nuclear disarmament. Corbyn is also committed to unilateral disarmament (getting rid of Britain’s nuclear deterrent regardless of what other countries do) but he has not yet persuaded the party to adopt this policy and at the moment the issue is still under review. Thornberry’s speech did not say anything about how the party would resolve this issue.
Her speech was also noteworthy for what she said about Corbyn. No other shadow minister speaking from the platform has praised him so lavishly. She told delegates:
Conference, I’m so proud to stand here today in Liverpool: a loyal member of Labour’s shadow cabinet in what is now again Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour party ...
When I was selected for the neighbouring seat [to Corbyn’s] in 2005 we were behind to the Liberals in every poll.
On election day, without anyone asking him to, Jeremy left his own constituency and went round by himself knocking on doors in mine, telling voters: “I know you disagreed with Iraq and so did I, so did Emily, we were on the marches together; you’ve got to get out and vote Labour.” I won by 484 votes.
I’ve got to know Jeremy very well since then and there’s many words I know that sum him up: kindness, generosity, courage. But there’s one above all and that word is integrity.
From the constituents he represents in Ronalds Road to the Labour members he represents throughout this country, he is someone we believe in and someone we trust.
UPDATE: The Telegraph’s Michael Deacon says this passage went down particularly well.
Emily Thornberry speech at #lab16. Remarks on Tories, Brexit, foreign affairs: middling applause. Remarks in praise of Corbyn: loud applause
— Michael Deacon (@MichaelPDeacon) September 26, 2016
Updated
Here is the full text of Emily Thornberry’s speech to the conference. I will post a summary of it in a moment.
Labour would ban fracking, Gardiner to tell conference
Barry Gardiner, the shadow energy secretary, is going to tell the conference in his speech later that a Labour government would ban fracking. My colleague Adam Vaughan has the full story here.
John McDonnell's interviews - Summary
John McDonnell has given at least six interviews this morning. Here are the key points he has made.
- McDonnell ruled out an early shadow cabinet reshuffle. (See 8.31am.)
UPDATE AT 3.35PM: A Labour source has been in touch to say that, when John McDonnell ruled out an early shadow cabinet reshuffle on the Today programme this morning, he was not intending to give out that message. So it is possible that we might get a shadow cabinet reshuffle soon after the party conference after all.
- He said that Jeremy Corbyn did campaign hard for a remain vote in the EU referendum - but that he deliberately avoided being “Europhile”. Alan Johnson, the chair of Labour In Britain, and others have accused Corbyn of adopting a half-hearted approach to campaigning. Leaked emails have shown that Corbyn’s office repeatedly toned down the pro-EU content in Corbyn’s campaign speeches. Asked about this, McDonnell said he was “shocked” by the accusation that Corbyn did not campaign properly for a remain vote.
I was really shocked at that ... Not just Alan ... There was this view Jeremy didn’t do enough during the campaign. I saw what he did. He travelled hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of miles, meetings all around the country. We were knocking on doors all round the country, holding mass meetings as well.
Asked about why draft speeches were altered, McDonnell said he and Corbyn met Hilary Benn, the then shadow foreign secretary, and Angela Eagle, the then shadow business secretary, last September to explain his approach to the referendum.
We explained to them our view was that the best way of campaigning was to remain, but reform as well, because of the criticisms [of the EU]. If we went solely on a Europhile basis we never stood a chance, particularly in areas outside of London and the south east that felt left behind in the economy overall. So our argument was remain but reform, and create a reform agenda.
- McDonnell said that Labour wanted the UK to retain “access” to the single market, casting doubt on the extent of Labour’s opposition to a “hard” Brexit. Yesterday Corbyn told the BBC’s Andrew Marr that he was opposed to a “hard” Brexit, implying the party would fight to retain full single market membership. When asked about this, McDonnell just said the party wanted “access to the single market”. When pressed why he would not commit to opposing a “hard” Brexit, he replied:
We don’t want to restrict ourselves at the moment in the discussions that we are having with our European colleagues.
- McDonnell dismissed David Blunkett’s critique of Jeremy Corbyn (see 9.07am), saying Blunkett was “completely out of touch”.
I have a lot of time for David but I just think he’s completely out of touch. He should come here and talk to us about the policies we are debating at conference, all of which I think have really mass popular support. In addition to that, he should come, just feel the vibe here, because we’ve got a massive new party now with over 600,000 members wanting to get out on the streets campaigning.
- McDonnell suggested Labour would be willing to legislate to ensure better conditions for Uber driver. Asked if Labour supported Uber, as an example of a new, disruptive business start-up, McDonnell said he was concerned that drivers for the company did not have proper job security (because they are self-employed). He said:
So what you try to do is work with that company to ensure that they do abide by basic standards and employment conditions. If they don’t, then you need to legislate.
- He said Labour planned to invest £250bn in the economy. He explained:
We are setting up a national investment bank. We are putting into that bank £100bn. Yes, that will be borrowed, but it will be borrowed at the cheapest rates in our history. That will lever in, at the average leverage rate, another £150bn. And we will use that to invest in our infrastructure, in our skills and we will be working with entrepreneurs.
During his leadership campaign Corbyn talked about a £500bn investment programme. He confirmed this figure on the Marr Show yesterday. Asked why McDonnell was just highlighting the proposed £250bn investment, a spokesman for him said that he was only talking about one aspect of the Corbyn plan. The investment programme has not been cut by £250bn overnight.
McDonnell also insisted his investment plans would not lead higher taxes.
Short term interventions like that do pay dividends pretty quickly. We think we can get growth growing very quickly in this economy and it will then pay for itself. So in the short term, yes there will be some increased costs, but borrowing at the moment is extremely low-cost.
- He said business backed Labour’s general approach to the economy.
I’ve been meeting with the CBI, the Institute of Directors, the Federation of Small Businesses, the Chambers of Commerce, and we are all on the same page. You need government working with the private sector hand in hand, looking at where investment’s needed - particularly in research and development - and then you develop the products and the markets that enable us to compete effectively with our European and other global competitors. I think that’s the modern way of how you do business in government.
- He refused to apologise for calling Esther McVey, the Conservative former disabilities minister, a “stain of inhumanity”. He said he was expressing the anger that people felt about McVey’s disability cuts when he used the phrase in the Commons.
I am not apologising for the words I used in parliamentary debate. Of course you have to be constrained in your language, but also you have to be honest about how you feel. And sometimes there’s such a thing as justifiable anger. That doesn’t justify words like ‘lynching’ or anything else but in the parliamentary debate. if you look at my words. you will see it is an honest expression of the anger and anguish I felt in dealing with these families.
- He claimed Labour was ahead of the Tories in the polls before the leadership contest. This claim is misleading (Anthony Wells explains why here, at UK Polling Report), although, having made the claims in early interviews, McDonnell was more accurate on Today, talking about Labour just being ahead in some polls.
Updated
Politics Home’s Kevin Schofield has more on this morning’s NEC meeting. (See 8.40am.)
BREAKING: Jeremy Corbyn loses fresh attempt to delay moves to give Wales and Scotland two new places on Labour's NEC.
— Kevin Schofield (@PolhomeEditor) September 26, 2016
Welsh Labour leader Carwyn Jones told Mr Corbyn "in no uncertain terms" that a conference vote on new NEC places must take place tomorrow.
— Kevin Schofield (@PolhomeEditor) September 26, 2016
Birmingham Ladywood MP Shabana Mahmood also told Mr Corbyn he was wrong to try to delay giving Wales and Scotland new NEC seats.
— Kevin Schofield (@PolhomeEditor) September 26, 2016
Neither Jeremy Corbyn or Keza Dugdale spoke at this morning's 40-minute NEC meeting.
— Kevin Schofield (@PolhomeEditor) September 26, 2016
Blunkett says Corbyn's re-election as Labour leader 'an utter disaster' for UK
David Blunkett, the Labour former home secretary, has written an excoriating article about Jeremy Corbyn for the Daily Mail. He says that Corbyn is unelectable and that his re-election as Labour leader is “an utter disaster” for the country because Britain needs an effective opposition.
This is about the immediate future of British democracy. There has to be a credible opposition party, one that the wider public can trust.
If not, there will be a permanent Conservative majority in the Commons, with nobody to keep the government honest and accountable.
And even for the most dyed-in-the-wool Tories that is very bad news. For the country, it’s an utter disaster. Everyone should be as concerned as I am.
The Labour party under Corbyn is not electable. I am at a loss to understand what the 313,000 members who voted for him believe they can really achieve in the next three years, and what the eventual outcome will be, other than annihilation at a general election in 2020.
They have shown that they are completely disconnected from the broad electorate and, when that happens to a party, it ceases to be relevant.
That’s my worst political nightmare – a Labour Party that doesn’t connect to the lives of ordinary working people.
Blunkett says Britain would never vote for Corbyn as prime minister because “he has no concept of national security”. Blunkett goes on:
He doesn’t want to fight terrorism – he can’t even bring himself to denounce Palestinian terrorists or the IRA.
He has already said he would never push the nuclear button, and I strongly suspect he could never sanction any kind of war at all. A Britain led by this man would be vulnerable and helpless, and the electorate knows it.
But Blunkett also says he was opposed to the leadership challenger this summer. Corbyn’s critics were not ready to dislodge him, he says.
We hadn’t made enough of an effort to recruit ordinary people to the party, to combat the extremists. And we didn’t have any clear idea of our goals, other than ‘Corbyn must go’.
Updated
Labour’s national executive committee has been meeting this morning. There were reports overnight saying Jeremy Corbyn was going to make a fresh attempt to delay a conference vote on the plans that will give Scotland and Wales a seat each on the NEC. The candidates would be selected by the Labour leaders in Scotland and Wales respectively, who are not Corbyn supporters, and the Corbynites favour an alternative proposal for the new Scottish and Welsh members to be elected by party members, which would increase the chances of pro-Corbyn figures taking those NEC seats.
But, according to Johanna Baxter, a member of the NEC, conference will get to vote on the plans in their current form.
NEC rule changes will go before conference as planned. #Lab16
— Johanna Baxter (@JohannaBaxter) September 26, 2016
McDonnell rules out early shadow cabinet reshuffle
On Saturday Jeremy Corbyn said that a shadow cabinet reshuffle would take place “imminently”. Subsequently aides clarified what he meant, saying a reshuffle was not planned until after the party conference.
But there now seems to have been a change of plan. John McDonnell told Today that he did not expect a reshuffle before the national executive away day, which is expected to take place on 22 November. Asked if the reshuffle would happen before that meeting, McDonnell said: “I can’t see that happening.”
- McDonnell rules out early shadow cabinet reshuffle.
UPDATE AT 3.35PM: A Labour source has been in touch to say that, when John McDonnell ruled out an early shadow cabinet reshuffle on the Today programme this morning, he was not intending to give out that message. So it is possible that we might get a shadow cabinet reshuffle soon after the party conference after all.
Updated
McDonnell says business backs Labour’s interventionist economic stance
After the BBC’s political editor Laura Kuenssberg gives her take on the interview, John McDonnell intervenes again. He says Labour has been discussing its plans with the CBI and other business groups. They are “on the same page”, he says.
- McDonnell says business backs Labour’s interventionist economic stance.
Q: Will there be a shadow cabinet reshuffle?
McDonnell says the NEC will have an away day.
Q: Will there be a reshuffle before then?
McDonnell says he cannot see that happening. The NEC wants to discuss a variety of rule changes. There might have to be a rules revision contest.
Q: So why don’t you offer a job to people who want to come back?
McDonnell says he has said he would like to see them come back.
Q: Who?
Virtually all of them, says McDonnell. He goes further: all of them.
He wants to get back to business, he says.
And that’s it. The interview is over.
Q: How hard did you campaign for Brexit? Alan Johnson said it was not very hard.
McDonnell says he was “shocked” by that. He says Jeremy Corbyn travelled thousands of miles to campaign for the EU.
Q: But it has been revealed that speeches were changed, taking out lines saying Corbyn was personally committed to the EU.
McDonnell says Corbyn did not want to suggest the EU was fine. He had to stress the need for reform.
Q: You are not debating Brexit.
McDonnell says Brexit will be the first item in his speech. So it will come up in the economy debate.
Q: Are you prepared to fight for access to the single market?
We want access to it, says McDonnell.
Q: That’s different.
McDonnell says the government has no strategy. Labour is holding a meeting with European sister parties to explore how it can maintain access to the single market.
Q: Isn’t that a hard Brexit?
McDonnell says he does not want to restrict Labour’s options. If Britain can get access to the single market, it can keep the benefits, while tackling other issues.
Q: You want more digital innovation. So do you welcome the rise of a company like Uber? Are they a positive force?
McDonnell says the US government has become an entrepreneurial state. But there has been some disruption. Government can work with a company like Uber to make sure standards are set.
Q: That does not apply with Uber.
McDonnell says standards should apply. And, if they do not, then the government should legislate.
Q: So Uber are a negative force?
McDonnell says there are lessons to be learnt. Some Uber drivers are concerned about insecurity. An interventionist government would ensure basic standards apply. But that would not hold back development.
John McDonnell's Today interview
Mishal Husain is interviewing John McDonnell.
Q: What does interventionist government mean?
McDonnell says he is trying to modernise government. He has been listening to Mariana Mazzucato and others to develop ideas for entrepreneurial government.
Labour would invest £100bn in infrastructure. That would prize open another £150bn from the private sector.
The government wants to cut state investment. Labour would not do that, he says.
Q: What would you do about Tata steel?
McDonnell says the government should have intervened to support Tata before a buyer became available. Other countries do that, he says.
Q: That would fall foul of EU state aid rules. So are you glad we are leaving the EU?
McDonnell says other EU countries, like Germany, managed to intervene despite the state aid rules.
It’s the economy day at the Labour conference in Liverpool and the key speaker will be John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor. He has been giving interviews this morning and is about to appear on the Today programme. I will be covering that in detail.
Overnight McDonnell and Emily Thornberry, the shadow foreign secretary, have announced that a future Labour government would compensate deprived regions for any funding they will lose when the UK leaves the EU. The government has promised to make good this shortfall up to 2020, but not beyond that. Labour would continue to compensate them “into the 2020s and beyond”.
Making the announcement, Thornberry said:
For the period 2014 to 2020, the UK was allocated €10.8 billion in structural funding for our most deprived regions and communities. The Tories have given an undertaking hedged in conditions that funding up to 2020 will be protected.
For the period after, they have said nothing. That is not good enough. Without long-term certainty over funding, our most deprived regions and communities cannot plan ahead. They cannot attract other investment. They cannot make progress.
So thanks to John McDonnell, Labour’s shadow chancellor, we can guarantee that a future Labour government will make up any shortfall in structural funding into the 2020s and beyond. And the same will go for the funding of peace and reconciliation projects in Northern Ireland.
McDonnell has already given three interviews this morning. He was keen to talk about the funding announcement, but inevitably other topics have come up, and on Sky he found himself having to explain that he was not in favour of lynching the Tory ex-minister Esther McVey. Here are some of the key points he made.
- McDonnell said Labour would take an interventionist stance to economic policy. He was in favour of the “entrepreneurial state”, he said.
Labour will rewrite the rules of our economy to foster a British manufacturing renaissance https://t.co/Pv1u4Bfb8W #Lab16
— John McDonnell MP (@johnmcdonnellMP) September 26, 2016
- He said Labour was ahead of the Tories in the poll before the leadership contest.
- He defended calling McVey a “stain of inhumanity” in a Commons debate. He was reflecting “justifiable anger” about the impact of the disability cuts that McVey was implementing, he said.
John McDonnell unrepentant over Esther McVey attack: "You have to be honest in politics - you have to express how you feel." @GMB
— Kevin Schofield (@PolhomeEditor) September 26, 2016
McDonnell says 'people that ask me to apologise, go and meet the families affected by cuts. I have a justifiable anger' , re Esther McVey
— Anne Alexander (@Annemariealex) September 26, 2016
Here is the agenda for the day.
7.30am: Labour’s national executive committee meets.
9.30am: Conference opens with a debate on international affairs, with speeches from Emily Thornberry, the shadow foreign secretary, Clive Lewis, the shadow defence secretary and Kate Osamor, the shadow international development secretary.
11am: Debate on the economy, with speeches from John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, Debbie Abrahams, the shadow work and pensions secretary, and Jon Trickett, the shadow business secretary.
2.15pm: Debate on the economy continues.
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