Jeremy Corbyn: Speaking to the hall not the nation

Just in case you missed Jeremy Corbyn's speech to Labour conference, here is a brief synopsis:

"I can wear a tie. I can tell a joke. The nasty media have been nasty to me. Thank you everyone for electing me. I won't lead but I will listen. I want a different, kinder politics. But don't forget I have a huge mandate. Labour will oppose austerity. I am not a risk to families' security. It is the Tories who have left families insecure. I will borrow money to invest in infrastructure like housing and broadband. I want local authorities to retake control over schools (big cheer).

Britain needs a strong army but only for peacekeeping. I oppose renewing Trident. Tony Blair took Britain to war in Iraq on a false prospectus. I oppose British airstrikes over Syria.

British politics is changing. My election was a political earthquake. I am popular and authentic. The mainstream media don't get it. Social media is the future. Labour Party members will now have the final say over policy - NB my Cabinet in the Shadows. Grown-up politics allows for disagreement. I won't be rude to people. So, my fellow Corbynistas, don't you be rude either, particularly online.

I will oppose Tory plans to update the electoral register so Labour doesn't lose student votes. I will oppose cuts to tax credits. I am a patriot. I share the same values as the British people. I love my country. I like the NHS and the BBC. I don't like profit.

Self-employed workers should have statutory maternity and paternity pay. The railways should be nationalised. I want to build more council houses and spend more on mental health. You don't have to accept your place in a world shaped by globalisation and competitive markets. Labour is the voice saying you don't have to take what you are given. You don't have to set any limits to your ambition. I am very well read and can quote Maya Angelou and Ben Okri without blushing. Like Chinese communists, I am quite comfortable engaging in mutual applause. And the shadow cabinet should not feel under any pressure to keep clapping until I stop."

Here are a few immediate thoughts:

1. This was a speech directed at the Labour Party itself. Mr Corbyn spoke to the hall rather than the nation. The mood inside was one of communion between leader and membership. I haven't seen that kind of spontaneous applause and standing ovations from Labour's rank and file for their leader since the days of Neil Kinnock. The homespun tone appealed to a party tired of polished soundbites and messaging. His issues are their issues and they liked what they heard. The only time Mr Corbyn challenged his own supporters was when he urged them not to engage in online abuse against their opponents in the parliamentary party.

2. There was not much of a message for the outside world. Mr Corbyn spoke of his love of his country to counter the damage caused by his refusal to sing the national anthem. He promised voters a new, kinder politics. But he did not mention the budget deficit once. Nor did he mention immigration. Or crime. Or Labour's general election defeat. At some point, these are issues that he will need to address. On the basis of this speech, I have no greater idea of how Labour might win in 2020.

3. There was, buried deep in the speech, the germ of an interesting idea. Mr Corbyn said that Labour wanted to ensure that people did not have to accept their lot in life. On one level, this was a familiar leftist moan about the inequities of globalisation and competitive markets. But it also opened the way for Mr Corbyn to talk about aspiration. He said this: "You don't have to set limits on your talent and your ambition", a phrase which any Tory would be happy to repeat. If Mr Corbyn can unite his offer of a new politics with an attractive riff on aspiration, he might surprise us.