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Labour party conference
Live coverage of all sessions of the Labour conference
THE BIG ISSUE
THE BIG ISSUE
Gordon Brown speaks to Andrew Marr
Tax. Chancellor Alistair Darling has ruled out a windfall tax on the energy giants - setting up a showdown with the unions and backbench MPs who are demanding one. There is also real mood among many delegates and MPs that it is time for a rethink on income tax. Jon Cruddas has called for a 45% rate for the highest earners to pay for cuts for low and middle income workers. Bold moves are being called for - a return to core redistributive Labour principles after the caution of the Blair years. But the government may find its hands are tied. Experts are warning that taxes will have to rise as government borrowing soars.
It's the economy, stupid. Or rather, as Gordon Brown rather tortuously put it in his Andrew Marr interview, "it's the global economy, stupid".
MONDAY AT CONFERENCE Timings are approximate 0945 TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber 0955 Building prosperity and fairness at work - John Hutton 1130 Alistair Darling 1244 Votes on windfall tax and other contemporary issues (employment rights, energy regulation, tackling fuel poverty, workers in the global economy) 1415 A Fair World (guest speaker) 1430 Britain in the world (David Miliband, Des Browne, Douglas Alexander) 1540 European Parliament report - Gary Titley MEP 1555 Votes on Britain in World policy document 1600 Conference adjourns WELL, YOU DID ASK
Mr Brown seems bent on placing the blame for Britain's economic woes squarely at the door of "irresponsible" City speculators.
Labour has a "5% to 10%" chance of winning the next election, according to Ben Page of pollsters IPSOS MORI. In fact, he told a fringe meeting, it would be "amazing" if they managed to pull it off. They are even more unpopular than John Major's government in the early 1990s.
This will be music to the ears of the left. Some MPs could barely contain their glee at fringe meetings on Saturday at the "crisis" in global capitalism and the surreal spectacle of a Republican government nationalising banks.
HAVING A MAYOR
Even more mainstream figures see an opportunity to ditch New Labour's free market ideology and tax the super rich.
Boris Johnson is the gift that keeps on giving for Labour. We make it three cabinet ministers now (Smith, Purnell, Miliband since you ask) who have quoted him describing David Cameron's talk of a "broken society" as "piffle".
They also plan to keep pressure on over a windfall tax - after delegates chose it as a contemporary issue for debate later on Monday. Expect fireworks.
COLLAPSE AT CONFERENCE
COMING UP AT CONFERENCE Timings are approximate0945 TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber0955 Building prosperity and fairness at work - John Hutton1130 Alistair Darling1244 Vote son windfall tax and other contemporary issues (employment rights, energy regulation, tackling fuel poverty, workers in the global economy)1415 A Fair World (guest speaker)1430 Britain in the world (David Miliband, Des Browne, Douglas Alexander1540 European Parliament report - Gary Titley MEP1555 Votes on Britain in World policy document1600 Conference adjourns INFAMY, INFAMY!
Former Tory councillor Les Byrom collapsed in the hall just eight minutes after praising Gordon Brown. The councillor from Southport, Merseyside, who defected from the Conservatives in June, had appeared on stage to praise the prime minister as a "considerate and compassionate" man. He was treated at the scene by members of Mr Brown's Special Branch protection detail, before being transferred to a waiting ambulance. He was later reported to be in a "comfortable condition" at the Manchester Royal Infirmary where he is undergoing tests.
It may be all sweetness and light in the conference hall so far - but Gordon Brown's critics never sleep.
BROWNOMETER
Actually, make that critic. Former Home Secretary Charles Clarke, writing in the Sunday Times, said "If Gordon Brown is to remain prime minister and prove wrong those who doubt his capacity to change, he must establish his authority and offer clear leadership.
A combination of the past week's financial turmoil and the natural tendency of Labour conferences to rally behind the leader has probably saved Gordon Brown's skin for now. The cabinet has been trying to rally behind him, with varying degrees of conviction. The big imponderable remains David Miliband. Rumours continue that he has his eye on the top job - despite his increasingly emphatic denials.
"Confident communication, great speeches, a strong and supportive team and a coherent programme of policies flow only from a clear sense of political direction.
"There is no merit in just waiting for further dates or setting future tests.
"Although prevarication and evasion may appear attractive at the moment, they are actually the most dangerous course of all.
"The people we seek to serve will not be helped by a crippling lethargy or by just hoping that something will turn up."
BRUISING ENCOUNTER
Charles Clarke looked genuinely hurt when John Prescott accused him of being one of the "Bitterites," on the Politics Show. "I am not bitter about it," insisted the ex-home secretary. He said he was simply passionate about saving the party from disaster at the next election.
FOCUS GROUP LATEST
Gordon Brown's pollster, Deborah Mattinson, told a meeting of Labour delegates that David Cameron has "not yet sealed the deal" with the electorate. She said recent focus groups had suggested that nearly two thirds of people wanted someone with experience of running the economy to run the country in times of economic difficulty, suggesting that the prime minister therefore did have an opportunity to turn round the recent run of dire polls for Labour.
She said Mr Cameron has "absolutely not won them (the electorate) over", and that according to her recent figures, 55% of voters think the Conservative leader is a 'lightweight'. She also said that at every focus group she conducted, participants mentioned David Cameron being caught cycling to work, followed by a driver. Ms Mattinson suggested that this area of Conservative weakness provided the Labour party with potential lines of attacks, saying for some voters, the best argument to present was a "fear of the alternative." COLLAPSE AT CONFERENCE
Former Tory councillor Les Byrom collapsed in the hall just eight minutes after praising Gordon Brown. The councillor from Southport, Merseyside, who defected from the Conservatives in June, had appeared on stage to praise the prime minister as a "considerate and compassionate" man. He was treated at the scene by members of Mr Brown's Special Branch protection detail, before being transferred to a waiting ambulance. He is in a "comfortable condition" tonight at the Manchester Royal Infirmary where he is undergoing tests. CAN YOU FEEL THE FORCE?
If Gordon Brown is looking for some help to defeat the rebel alliance this week, he could do worse than look up an old comrade from his Treasury days. Anyone watching Shriti Vadera's latest ministerial pronouncement on You Tube will be offered a list of related clips - including one entitled "Darth Vader helmet shaped hot air balloon". We knew she had a fearsome reputation but does she really deserve this?
BROWNWATCH
The prime minister looked a little more relaxed than of late, in his interview with Andrew Marr. Perhaps he feels the immediate threat to his leadership is over.
THE BIG PICTURE
Vision thing: Gordon Brown contemplates the Manchester skyline before his big Marr interview
QUOTE OF THE DAY
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"I am a pretty ordinary guy who managed through an ordinary school to get to university and then I was in a position to do the things I've been able to do," Gordon Brown sounding like Tony Blair in "pretty straight guy" mode.
We have been through this several times and I keep on saying the same thing. I don't support a leadership election, the party needs to pull together, we need to pull together behind Gordon's leadership, we are determined to do so, David Miliband at the World at One fringe meeting.
