Jeremy Corbyn at Labour Conference 2019. Photo by Allstar Picture Library/Alamy Live News
Commons Confessions is a column by political journalist and author Marie Le Conte. Keep reading for more anonymous insight into British politics from those in the know.
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ON PARTY INFIGHTING
“It doesn't feel like anybody's at war; it's a cold war if there is a war.”“I've been going to conference for a long, long time now. And it's quite common for it to get written up as 'Labour at war'. The problem is that you can always find people to feed whatever narrative you want. There will always be delegates who are cross with stuff, you can always interview them, and there will always be disagreements.”“There are two big areas where the Labour At War thing is probably fair: one is over Tom Watson, the attempt to get rid of him just reflects a lot of people who do want to get rid of him… Then the other thing is Europe, where there's a real argument about what Labour should go into the election with and people are really passionate about that on both sides.”
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ON ACTUAL POLICY
ON THE GENERAL VIBE
“What I'm used to is, if this is a pre-election conference, you'd expect it to be rammed because people would want to be making a difference and really feeling that they are shaping the narrative for the election. Also, if it's a pre-election conference with a party that has any expectation or anticipation of winning internally, then lots more people turn up. If you manage to convince the wider public that you are likely to win then more of them turn up now, the public affairs companies and all that, because they're interested in what you're saying. And normally on a Sunday night, at the Grand, it's mobbed. Last night, it was extraordinarily quiet. That is not usual, at this stage.”
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