Lib Dem leader Tim Farron praises Tony Blair and appeals to Labour voters in his speech to the party conference in Brighton.

Here's a recap of the day's big political stories at the close of the Liberal Democrats' autumn conference:

• Lib Dem leader Tim Farron praised some of Tony Blair's policies and appealed to Labour voters in his speech to the party conference - watch the full speech here
• Deputy leader Tom Watson has called for Labour's leadership election rules to be changed to exclude registered supporters who pay a one-off fee to vote
• Jeremy Corbyn's challenger, Owen Smith, says he will carry on speaking out from the Labour backbenches if he loses the party's leadership contest
• Tony Blair has said he is winding up most of his commercial ventures to focus on not-for-profit work
• Theresa May has defended UK involvement in Syria, saying it was working as part of a coalition against the Islamic State group
• Labour in Wales will keep its election promises despite uncertainty over Brexit, but cuts to some services are inevitable, the first minister has warned

Image source, PA

Tony Blair has said he is winding up most of his commercial ventures to focus on not-for-profit work.

The ex-Labour prime minister is closing his lobbying and consultancy business, Tony Blair Associates, and associated companies Windrush and Firerush.

In an email to staff, he said while he would retain a small number of commercial contracts, 80% of his time would be spent on not-for-profit work.

He has been criticised for the amount of income the ventures have generated. Mr Blair, who left frontline politics in 2007, is reported to have made millions advising a number of foreign governments and multinational firms.

Read more.

Johanna Baxter, who is a representative of the Constituency Labour Parties on the National Executive Committee, told the BBC she had been against the introduction of the registered supporters' scheme when it was originally raised.

The system allowing people to sign up as a registered supporter for £3 was introduced before Jeremy Corbyn was elected leader in 2015.

"When the proposal was first put to the national executive in 2011, I felt that it diminished the rights of members," she said.

"Jeremy [Corbyn] got on to the ballot paper, not through the votes of registered supporters, but by votes from the PLP initially.

"I don't think it's about getting one wing or the other onto the ballot paper. It's about enshrining in our rules the duty that the NEC has to ensure balance between all sections of our party - the members, our trade unions and the Parliamentary Labour Party."

Earlier, Labour National Executive Committee member Johanna Baxter called for a clear statement that abuse will not be tolerated in the Labour party.

"When I first joined the NEC in 2010, there was no such abuse, certainly not on the scale that it currently is," she said.

"The level of abuse we've seen this summer is deeply, deeply unhealthy for our party. It's not enough simply to say that we're against it.

"We must be prepared to take action where we see it."

Image source, PA

New UKIP leader Diane James will meet the party's assembly members to try to end the in-fighting that has dogged the group since May's election.

UKIP Wales leader Nathan Gill now sits as an independent AM, while rival Neil Hamilton leads UKIP's assembly group.

On being elected leader on Friday, Ms James removed Mr Hamilton from the Bournemouth party conference programme.

She gave the slot to Mr Gill instead, saying he was a "very, very valued" MEP and had her "100% support".

Read more.

The Scottish government calls on the UK Treasury to increase capital spending to help boost growth in the wake of the Brexit vote.

The news that Angelina Jolie is filing for divorce from Brad Pitt may have distracted one Labour MP from politics.

The Conservatives have focused on Tim Farron's commitment to raise taxes to pay for health and social care if necessary and the Lib Dems have taken to Twitter to respond.

Image source, Getty Images

Construction work has begun on a UK-funded wall near the so-called Jungle migrant camp in Calais.

Dubbed the "Great Wall of Calais", external by some media, it is an attempt to prevent migrants from trying to stow away on trucks heading for Britain.

The 4m (13ft) barrier will run for 1km (0.6 miles) along both sides of the main road to the northern French port.

The UK government has said that while it provides money for security, French authorities choose how to spend it.

Read more.

We've been zeroing in on Tim Farron's speech for the last hour or so but, don't worry, you haven't missed any major developments in Labour's latest debates over its future internal structures.

The National Executive Committee meeting is continuing with, according to the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg, no expectation of an early finish.

She quotes someone in the room as saying "we’re all going to be here in for a long time" while talk of Mr Corbyn making a campaign visit to one of his phone banks early this evening seems to be subsiding.

What did party members make of Tim Farron's closing speech to the Lib Dem conference?

"It was barnstorming!" says Brenda. "He made it clear he wants to become the official opposition."

Aria Dinakara Babu is also delighted. Mr Farron said "pretty much exactly what I wanted him to say", she tells me - that the Tories "aren't economically strong" and that "we're more socially conscientious than Labour".

The speech also went down well with member Stuart Wheatcroft: "Tim set out that we're the only party focused on being a credible opposition to the Conservative government, with Labour more interested in infighting."

It would seem that many members here are walking away with a spring in their step.

Image source, Getty Images

Liberal Democrat party members file out of the hall, this year's conference done and dusted.

So what did people make of Tim Farron's speech?

Former Lib Dem health minister Norman Lamb offers his thoughts. "It was an excellently delivered speech," he says.

He thinks there were a lot of "really significant and important things" in the speech, particularly welcoming the NHS theme "in terms of the work I've been doing".

Mr Lamb, who ran against Tim Farron in the contest to replace Nick Clegg as leader, says Mr Farron also addressed the "crisis in progressive politics".