Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including events from the Labour conference in Brighton
- Jeremy Corbyn’s interview with Andrew Marr – summary
- Labour commits itself to ‘integration’ of private schools into state sector
In her speech to the conference Diane Abbott, the shadow home secretary, said Tory policies were to blame for rising crime. She said:
There is no question that the cuts in police numbers have contributed to the rise in crime. But other contributors are the cuts to education, the increase in school exclusions, all the zero-hours contracts, all the homelessness and inequality. All the cuts in mental health services have also played their part.
And these are all Tory policies. When they say they will lead the fight against crime – do not believe a word of it. They are the ones who have created the conditions for rising serious and violent crime. Senior police officers are increasingly going on record and saying that cuts to public services have created an environment where crime flourishes. Cuts have consequences. You cannot keep people safe on the cheap.
We will welcome refugees, including child refugees.
We will proudly uphold the torture ban and treat the victims of torture with humanity, not detentions and deportations.
Speaking at a fringe meeting about how Labour can win back support in its heartlands, Jon Trickett – shadow Cabinet Office minister and MP for Hemsworth – said he was fed up with the argument that the people who voted for Brexit were from “backwards” communities in the north of England. He said:
Here’s the point I want to make. Those held-back communities – the heartland communities – can be found in Hastings, they can be found in Hackney and they can be found in Hartlepool.
A very senior member of the Labour party, she said to me: ‘Well, no wonder they’re all coming down south, the young people, because you can’t be gay up north.’ That was said by somebody whose name you will have mentioned several times in the past few weeks.
Those people who are suggesting that the people who voted for Brexit did not know what they were voting for infantilises 17 million people.
Continue reading...