Labour was once triumphant at conference in spite of Brexit – not this time

The last time Labour came to Brighton, two years ago, they were triumphant. The shock election result of that summer had changed everything. Right up until 10pm on 8 June 2017, most of the party, whatever their view of Jeremy Corbyn, foresaw a hammering that would spell his end. It didn’t happen.

On the night before the conference began, a very young crowd gathered for a rally in a local park and waited for Corbyn to stride out into the twilight as if he were a festival headliner.

Times have changed. This is meant to be an advert for a government in waiting. They look nothing of the sort. It is chaos.

Arguably, Labour’s policy of constructive ambiguity on Brexit has served them well so far, but it is falling apart.

On Sunday night, the party spent four hours locked in a room with itself, trying to come to a settled policy in advance of an election they know is imminent. They failed to do it.

Corbyn is still trying to cling to the policy of a general election, with a manifesto commitment to a second referendum, with Labour’s position in that referendum to be worked out later.

There is much to be said for appealing to Leavers and Remainers alike. At some point, someone will have to do it.

But he is appearing increasingly isolated, like a loan Brexiteer in a party that is ever more staunchly Remain. The country’s biggest union, Unison, has openly called for Labour to become an explicitly pro-Remain party.

Momentum, the campaign movement that grew out of the 2015 Corbyn For Leader campaign, has told its members they should vote however they see fit on the question of the Brexit position. Which is to say, they are not openly backing Corbyn’s position. That is a significant shift.

Brexit is a potentially fatal issue for any major party. It has split the country entirely, and as such, splits the two governing parties with equally devastating effect.

But Labour is an instinctively pro-European party. Its Eurosceptics are its exception, not its rule, and Corbyn is one of them.

So far, Labour conference has felt very much like a party being finally pulled back towards its centre of gravity. It is a force its leader may not be able to stop.

Yours,

Tom Peck

Political sketch writer