Teachers are leaving the profession "in droves" and recruitment has stalled, Lucy Powell tells activists, insisting a better deal is needed for the profession. A Labour government would ensure a "relentless" focus on improving school standards and promoting "excellence for all", she concludes. 

Shadow education secretary Lucy Powell  opens with a cheeky joke. She says she has three kids "in good state schools" and "none subject to marital disagreement". A dispute over whether to send their child to a grammar school is reported to have been behind the breakdown of Jeremy Corbyn's second marriage.

Lucy Powell starts the substance of her speech with a jibe at her counterpart Nicky Morgan, suggesting the education secretary has "not had a new idea for a very long time". The Conservatives' education policy is "dead", she suggests, with the government regarding the "academisation" of the school system as a "silver bullet" and intent on running thousands of schools from Whitehall while presiding over a crisis in school place numbers. Under Labour, she says academies will be subject to local authority oversight and there will be no more free schools. She also says she will oppose any attempts to allow new grammar schools to open. 

Lucy Powell now comes to the podium, opening by saying she is "delighted" at getting the job of shadow education secretary. She jokes that there is a "old school" network in the shadow cabinet, with her and Lisa Nandy having attended the same school. While the Tory cabinet has "Old Etonians" aplenty, she says Labour's top team has the "Parrs Wood girls".

Deputy leader Tom Watson had been billed to be giving his closing speech to conference about now but that is going to slip a bit as the debate on education is continuing and we have yet to hear from shadow education secretary Lucy Powell. We have witnessed some tubthumping deputy leader speeches in recent years from John Prescott and Harriet Harman. It will be interesting to see how Mr Watson approaches his. Traditionally the deputy leader's job is to tear into the Conservatives and send the party faithful home with a spring in their step. Mr Watson may also choose to reflect on the new world that Labour finds itself in following Jeremy Corbyn's election and how the party goes forward from here.

Speaking to the BBC's Vicki Young, the shadow business secretary Angela Eagle said: "We have Labour Party policy on having a nuclear weapon. I don't think anyone in their right mind would want to get to a situation where it would be used. But I think if you do get to that situation I think you have to be prepared to use it."

Image source, AFP

Addressing other issues in his World at One interview, Mr Burnham says Labour needs to get "on the front foot" on the question of Europe and immigration and defends the party's U-turn on getting rid of police and crime commissioners, saying they are "not perfect" but they are here to stay and there needs to be accountability in policing. He says he regrets he did not win the leadership but Mr Corbyn's victory was the "breath of fresh air" that politics needs and that although there will be difficulties ahead, "good will come of it". He urges Labour colleagues to unite behind Mr Corbyn, saying he will "always be loyal" to whoever leads the party. 

The World at One
BBC Radio 4

Andy Burnham says it would have been "odd" for Jeremy Corbyn to drop his objections to Trident after a lifetime of campaigning for unilateral nuclear disarmament. "People would not have liked that at all," he tells the BBC.

The shadow home secretary says he backs Trident renewal as the threat from terrorism and instability around the world means it "is not the time to drop our defences". However, he says Labour is not doing things in "the old way" now and the fact the party is having an open debate about the issue does not mean it is riven by splits. 

The World at One
BBC Radio 4

GMB leader Paul Kenny says Jeremy Corbyn is "perfectly entitled" to his view on Trident but he does not share it and it is not official Labour policy. He tells the BBC that the UK has to have a defence system and tens of thousands of highly-skilled jobs are dependent on the UK's nuclear weapons system. He suggests Mr Corbyn would have to consider his position if he lost the argument over Trident as it would be matter of personal integrity. The existence of brutal regimes means that any leader of the UK would have to be prepared "to think the unthinkable" about using Trident in exceptional circumstances. "If you are not going to raise a glove, they have nothing to worry about." 

Ross Hawkins
Political correspondent

Jeremy Corbyn has said nuclear weapons didn't do the USA much good on 9/11. Questioned by reporters in the corridors of the Labour conference he asked: "Would anybody press the nuclear button?" He added:

He dismissed any suggestion he would have to resign if his party contradicted him. And he said he would talk to his shadow defence secretary Maria Eagle about her comments.

Speaking on the Daily Politics, shadow justice secretary Lord Falconer is asked if he could see the Labour leader as a future leader of the UK.

David Anderson, Labour MP for Blaydon, says he backs John McDonnell's proposals for "a genuine alternative to a capitalist-based economy that has constantly failed those at the sharp end" during a conference debate on the NHS.

"If capitalism was a nurse or a care worker or theatre orderly, it would have been sacked years ago when it was subjected to a job appraisal," he declares.

"We stand for solidarity, they stand for exploitation," he adds. Of the government's policies on the health service, he says: