Jeremy Corbyn's 'new common sense' pitch

  • Published
Jeremy CorbynImage source, Getty Images

Eleven ovations, the obligatory singing of the White Stripes-inspired 'oh, Jeremy Corbyn' anthem, with the man himself joining in, a bit of impromptu whistling from Barry Gardiner, one of his staunchest defenders, and just over an hour.

The Labour leader has left the platform after his fourth keynote conference speech.

And it was classic comfort zone Corbyn, cheered by party members, explaining his core belief that Britain is not fair, and that a bigger state with Labour at the helm is the way to fix it.

We heard some of his greatest hits for party members - criticisms of the Tories' links to billionaires, huge cheers for his staunch defence of Palestinian rights, long passages about how the economy, in his view, is dramatically skewed towards the wealthy, that promise to expand childcare, green energy, and to build more social housing.

There was also an important request to the conference floor for more tolerance of each other, a plea to "shout less and listen more", with an admission of the hurt the row over anti-Semitism has caused Jews, although there was no apology for what's gone wrong.

And in his final flourish, he reiterated the demand he has made previously in Westminster, that if Theresa May can't get a decent deal from the EU, she ought to "get out of the way", and give Labour a shot at power.

There is no change in the party's policy, but Mr Corbyn does not want to be seen as if he is trying to block Brexit, so he made clear that if the prime minister can meet Labour's conditions, they will vote for her deal.

Except, remember, few right now believe that will happen.

And only yesterday the message that went far and wide from the conference was that the party is preparing to vote down the deal. Insiders suggest he is trying to throw the gauntlet down to the prime minister ahead of what will almost inevitably be a torrid week at her party conference.

The Labour conference is more at ease with itself this year, and this speech was designed to show the rest of the country that that party has solid, credible, worked-out answers for the questions of the day.

Scepticism about his programme still runs far and wide in the parliamentary party at Westminster.

But this Liverpool gathering has more or less, despite tensions over the EU, shown that Labour has moved on from the turmoil when Mr Corbyn first took over.

Party conferences are always a shop window for leaders to show their wares to the rest of the country.

Labour's top team is convinced, completely, that the country has moved to the left since the crash, that sentiment is shifting towards a desire for a bigger state, for a new settlement.

Today, Mr Corbyn tried to portray himself as the definer of what he described as "new common sense". Ultimately of course, it's voters that get to decide.