Kate Devlin
Sun 8 September 2024
Labour will use its upcoming annual conference to condemn the legacy of 14 years of Conservative rule.
Senior figures including chancellor Rachel Reeves are expected to criticise the Tory party’s record on managing the country over its time in power.
It is understood that Labour’s “inheritance” will be one of the big themes of the event, being held in Liverpool at the end of this month.
The four-day event comes just weeks before Ms Reeves delivers the first ever Budget from a female chancellor.
Sir Keir Starmer has already warned the country will be hit with a “very painful Budget”, as his new Labour administration tries to “fix the rot” left by the Tories.
Rachel Reeves is expected to highlight the legacy left by the Conservative government at the Labour conference (POOL/AFP via Getty)
Within weeks of entering office Ms Reeves also announced she had found a £22bn black hole in the public finances, left by the previous government.
In response, she announced a series of measures including stripping the winter fuel payment from millions of older people, a decision expected to be widely discussed on the conference fringe.
A Labour source said: “There will be a lot of talk about the inheritance the Tories have saddled the country with. You can expect to see that across the piece, from other departments – not just the Treasury.”
Labour sources also downplayed the idea there will be lots of major announcements from secretaries of state during the conference, pointing out that they will have been in office a matter of weeks when the conference opens.
A pro-Corbyn fringe festival held outside the main event is expected to be absent, for the first time in nearly a decade (PA)
The event is expected to feel very different now the party is in power, with less of a presence of the party’s Corbynite left wing. Jeremy Corbyn was re-elected as an MP in July – but as an independent.
And a total of seven MPs on the left of the party, including high-profile names like the former shadow chancellor John McDonnell, are currently suspended after they rebelled to vote for a Commons amendment which would abolish the two-child benefit limit.
A pro-Corbyn fringe festival held outside the main event is expected to be absent, for the first time in nearly a decade.
But Sir Keir is still expected to face opposition from thousands of pro-Gaza marchers who will target the event to demand ministers go further after they suspended some arms exports to Israel.
Yaz Ashmawi apologised for grabbing Starmer during his glitter-throwing stunt last year (PA)
The Labour leader’s conference speech got off to a shaky start last year when a protester stormed onto the stage and covered him in glitter.
The heckler was heard shouting: “We demand a people’s house, we are in crisis – politics needs an update. We are in crisis.”
But Sir Keir was applauded for keeping his cool, removing his jacket and rolling up his sleeves as he told delegates: “If he thinks that bothers me he doesn’t know me. Protest not power, that is why we changed our party conference.”
The annual meeting is due to take place in Liverpool this year between 22 and 25 September.
More than 17,000 attended the conference last year, but that figure is expected to be even larger this year now the party is in government.
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