Rarely has The Sound of Silence been so loud. Anti-Brexit campaigners blasted the Simon and Garfunkel number at almost unbearable decibel levels into Labour’s conference compound on Monday morning. It was as innovative as it was annoying.
Labour conferences always attract demonstrations. Yet in Liverpool this year the parade of myriad malcontents and angry special interest groups – from anti-migrant fringe groups to farmers upset over tax – has seemed more febrile than usual.
It is a reflection, perhaps, of the state of modern Britain, a land that is ill at ease with itself. Labour’s election win last year was meant to help the country find a way forward. So far, the government has failed to chart a coherent path.
In the meantime, a multitude of protest groups have stepped into the void, hawking their competing visions for Britain. Hence the noise at the conference gates.
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Andy Burnham, the Manchester mayor and “King of the North,” has recently been at the centre of a Labour protest movement of sorts – one set against the prime minister. He has carefully cultivated a position as a potential alternative leader to Keir Starmer.
Burnham was all over the conference fringe meetings on Monday making the argument that Starmer’s leadership is too “narrow” in its scope, and has alienated soft left voices.
Yet for all of Burnham’s publicity posturing, Monday at the Labour conference was really a tale of two women: chancellor of the exchequer Rachel Reeves and the newly-installed home secretary, Shabana Mahmood.
The former was a key player on Starmer’s election-winning team, but is now backed into a corner due to Britain’s flaccid economy and, by all accounts, fighting for her future.
The latter’s star, meanwhile, is clearly on the ascent. Mahmood is an immigration hardliner who has been nudged to the front of the pitch by Starmer in recent weeks as part of his pushback against Nigel Farage’s anti-migrant Reform UK.
Reeves gave her speech at noon in the conference main hall. It was light on policy. The heaviest thing in the arena was the metaphorical cloud hanging over Reeves’s head.
Her speech mantra was: “Don’t let anyone tell you there is no difference between a Conservative government and a Labour government.” Reeves must have repeated it more than 10 times, as she highlighted her government’s investment in heavy industries such as shipbuilding, nuclear power and steel.
Yet it fell a little flat in the room. Her best moment by far was when she was confronted by a pro-Palestinian heckler. Reeves quickly reminded him that it was the government she was part of that had chosen to recognise the state of Palestine, and the room gave her a standing ovation as she adroitly handled the disruption.
Party handlers positioned their backbench MPs close to the press section, where presumably journalists were meant to witness up close their enthusiasm for the current leadership. They cheered incessantly. But it all felt a little forced and too on the nose.
For all of Reeves’s talk about the difference between Labour and Conservative governments, Mahmood’s speech more than three hours later was more geared towards the issue that could herald a Reform government: immigration.
Mahmood’s speech was heavier on policy than the chancellor’s: she announced tough new conditions for migrants to attain indefinite leave to remain legally in Britain. In future, the time it takes to gain such status will be doubled to 10 years. Migrants will also have to work, learn English, volunteer for local causes and stay crime-free.
This is uncomfortable ground for many left-leaning Labour members, but Starmer’s leadership team has taken an increasingly tough line to counter Reform. Mahmood, the Muslim daughter of immigrants, has been picked to front the agenda.
For the sake of Starmer, and perhaps also his party’s future in government, she must succeed.
