LABOUR will today open what is likely to be its last conference before a general election amid continued fighting over Brexit and catastrophic poll numbers for Jeremy Corbyn.
As delegates gather in Brighton, large sections of the party and the shadow cabinet will try to make Labour an unambiguous party of Remain in the coming electoral fight.
Mr Corbyn wants the party to offer voters a referendum on Brexit if Labour wins the election, but he would then not take a side in the ensuing fight between Remain and Leave.
Although not taking sides would avoid having to resign as Prime Minister in the scenario, EU leaders are unlikely to agree a new deal on Brexit if he is not prepared to get behind it.
The dissent is unlikely to be soothed by a new Ipsos Mori poll for London’s Evening Standard which found Mr Corbyn was the most unpopular opposition leader for 45 years.
Just 16 per cent of voters approved of him, while 76% did not, a net -60.
It means Mr Corbyn is now even less popular than Labour’s Michael Foot, who hit -56 in 1982, before he lost an election the following year.
The same poll also found just 34% of Labour voters had done a good job on Brexit compared to 48% who said he’d done a bad one.
Ipsos Mori research director Keiran Pedley said Mr Corbyn’s rating was “historically dire”, but added: “He was able to significantly improve his personal poll ratings during the 2017 general election campaign so perhaps he will again.”
Shadow Foreign Secretary Emily Thornberry also sparked a row after comparing the LibDems to the Taliban for their new policy of cancelling Brexit without another referendum.
She told the The House magazine: “The Lib Dems have gotten kind of Taliban, haven’t they? They’ve said they’re just going to revoke, there’s not going to be another referendum. I don’t think it’s very democratic to seek to overturn a referendum without asking the people first.”
She also said she would be pushing for Labour to campaign for Remain
“Not everyone agrees with me, so we need to thrash it out. The party has to decide collectively,” she said.
LibDem leader Jo Swinson said the Taliban remark was “ludicrous”.
Meanwhile Harrier Harman is at loggerheads with her local party after it said she should not try to replace John Bercow as Commons Speaker.
The Camberwell & Peckham branch passed a motion saying the seat would lose a voice if its MP gave up her party colours for the role, and hinted Ms Harman could face a Labour opponent if she stood for re-election as Speaker.
Ms Harman, a former deputy leader of the party, and the longest serving female MP, insisted she would be “going for it” regardless.
She tweeted: “I’’ll always be there for the people of Camberwell & Peckham as I have throughout the last 37 years.... my commitment to them will be unshakable if I become Speaker. The overwhelming majority of members of Camberwell & Peckham Labour Party understand the importance of a strong & fair Speaker & support me in this bid. I will not back down! #SpeakHer.”
Scottish Labour will today kick off the conference with a warning that household savings have fallen almost £2,400 since the Tories came to power in 2010, a 62% drop.
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