As it happenedended

Labour conference - LIVE: Corbyn tells Theresa May his MPs will vote with government if she secures soft Brexit deal

Follow all the latest updates from the Labour Party conference in Liverpool

Ashley Cowburn

Political Correspondent

Wednesday 26 September 2018 08:39 EDT

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Jeremy Corbyn has told Theresa May that Labour will support her if she abandons her Chequers plan and agrees to a softer Brexit.

He said his party would vote for a "sensible" deal that kept the UK in a customs union with the EU and guaranteed jobs and workers' rights.

The Labour leader also used his keynote speech to the party's annual conference in Liverpool to promise to fight antisemitism "with every breath I possess".

He told the Jewish community: "We are your ally."

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Shadow equalities minister Dawn Butler said she believed the crowd thought Jeremy Corbyn was "making sense" in his keynote address to the party conference.

She said: "I think people were thinking 'that will help my children, that will help my school, that will help my job'. They were hearing points that made sense."

When asked whether Mr Corbyn made sense on Brexit, Ms Butler said: "What we're trying to do is make clear what's at stake here - we've already said we need to protect our standards and services, workers' rights and jobs.

"The six steps still stand and it is up to the Prime Minister to negotiate a good deal or we will vote it down."

Lizzy Buchan26 September 2018 14:19

Tory chairman Brandon Lewis said the speech showed Jeremy Corbyn was "unfit to govern".

He said: “All he offers are failed ideas that didn’t work in the past and would leave working families paying the price with higher taxes, more debt and more waste – just like last time.

“He confirmed Labour are opening the door to re-running the referendum, which would take us all back to square one.

“And he didn’t even apologise to Jewish people for his total failure to tackle the anti-Jewish racism that is rife in the Labour Party."

Lizzy Buchan26 September 2018 14:25

Watch Jeremy Corbyn give closing address to Labour Party conference

Ashley Cowburn26 September 2018 14:59

Labour MP calls for general strike to 'topple cruel and callous Tory government'Tom Watson says the event was ‘nothing to do with the party’ adding: ‘I’m sure she got a little bit carried away with herself’

Ashley Cowburn26 September 2018 15:05

Labour is moving towards a Final Say – but is Corbyn travelling with them? | Andrew GriceThe Labour leader is worried that the EU could block key elements of his programme, including renationalisation and state aid for industry

Ashley Cowburn26 September 2018 15:12

The inside story of the meeting that decided Labour's Brexit policyThe IndependentDelegates suspected the meeting to set the motion for Labour’s critical conference vote on a new Brexit referendum might be long, but not quite this long. They also expected it to be tough, but nobody going in thought they would end the night having seen a union boss look like he might “burst into tears”. The real giveaway that things were going awry was about an hour-and-a-half in, when a disagreement broke out about the very meaning of the word “consensus”.

Ashley Cowburn26 September 2018 15:36

Always amazed at how quickly conferences get pulled apart... #Labour2018 https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DoByu3SXsAE02wf.jpg

Joe Watts26 September 2018 15:46

Corbyn offers Brexit truce with May if her final deal is 'sensible'Jeremy Corbyn has told Theresa May he will back a Brexit deal she brings back from Europe as long as it means Britain is staying in a customs union, protecting jobs, workers rights and standards for the environment.The Labour leader’s pledge appears to hold out a lifeline to a prime minister who finds herself at the mercy of Tory Brexiteers who have vowed to torpedo her proposals.But it also represents an adjustment in Labour’s Brexit rhetoric, coming after a week in which shadow cabinet minister Sir Keir Starmer indicated his party was likely to vote down any deal Ms May secured. Mr Corbyn also used his conference speech to try and draw a line under the antisemitism row dogging his party, telling the Jewish community “we are your ally” and committing a Labour government to provide resources to protect it. He argued only radical policies promised by Labour in Liverpool could prevent the return of populist xenophobia to the UK, and accused both Theresa May and Boris Johnson of encouraging them.Mr Corbyn’s speech comes after a week in which Sir Keir won a hard fought consensus that the party would back a new referendum if Ms May’s deal is voted down by parliament and there is no general election – though a new row erupted over whether any new vote would contain an option to Remain, with the decision on that deferred.The leader reasserted the position that all options for the referendum remained open, albeit fleetingly and without actually referring to a referendum, before going on to what would be the key Brexit message from his speech.He said: “Let me also reach out to the prime minister, who is currently doing the negotiating.

Ashley Cowburn26 September 2018 16:03

CORBYN SPECH: labour leader offers Brexit truce with May if her final deal is 'sensible' independent.co.uk/news/uk/politi… #PeoplesVote #FinalSay

Joe Watts26 September 2018 16:11

Away from Labour conference....the Budget isn’t far away

Rob Merrick26 September 2018 16:12

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