You can’t miss the union jacks. They are everywhere at this year’s Labour party conference. On the walls of the exhibition halls, hung outside the venue and plastered all over the main stage in Liverpool. Everything is red, white and blue. It wouldn’t surprise me if the shadow cabinet weren’t all under instructions to wear union jack pants. No one is going to accuse Labour of not loving the UK in the run-up to the next election. Vote Labour. It’s your patriotic duty.
You also can’t miss the crowds. Unlike the Tory conference last week, which often felt like a dead zone, Labour’s is rammed. The exhibition hall is full of both well-known corporates, like Barclays and Mastercard, and windfarm and hydrogen-car manufacturers, while the main hall is twice the size of the Conservatives’ in Manchester. What’s more, it’s at least three-quarters full for most sessions. Even for the members’ composites. Especially for the members’ composites. Keir Starmer hasn’t yet managed to turn the Labour Liverpool experience into a cheerleading rally. Though he’s working on it.
