Labour Conference 2023: Monday in Liverpool with Alexander Brown
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00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:03 Hello, my name's Alexander Brown.
00:10 I'm the paper's Westminster correspondent.
00:12 And I'm here at Labour Conference in Liverpool,
00:14 where in all my years of coming, I have never
00:16 seen a mood so buoyant.
00:18 Today we heard from Rachel Reeves, we heard from Manas
00:20 Sawa, and we heard from Ian Murray, all of whom
00:23 gave speeches that were incredibly light on policy,
00:25 but extremely high in positive vibes.
00:27 I was actually speaking to one MP earlier,
00:29 and they said it wasn't about the policy,
00:30 it was about the vibes.
00:32 There was a time when the Labour Party had no money here.
00:34 There was very little investment.
00:35 Businesses had not attended.
00:37 That is not the case anymore.
00:38 And in a clear sign of how the party is feeling buoyant,
00:41 after the election win in Rutherglen and Hamilton West,
00:46 Michael Shanks, wherever he goes,
00:47 is getting applauded and cheered,
00:49 and everyone's going absolutely wild.
00:50 It's a bit like Beetlejuice.
00:52 You say his name repeatedly, and he just appears.
00:55 And Scottish Labour have had a very tough time of late.
00:57 They have not won for a long time.
00:59 To have that seat, the mood has now
01:00 changed from thinking they could perhaps win six seats
01:02 at the next election, as Jackie Bailey said,
01:04 to perhaps winning as many as 28.
01:07 That's now the list for target seats,
01:08 but they're not putting a ceiling on it.
01:10 The idea is still 40.
01:11 From Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor
01:13 of the ex-Chequers speech, the main line
01:15 was clearly that we should have got an endorsement
01:17 from Mark Carney, the former governor of the Bank of England.
01:19 Well, it's only going to enrage Brexiteers, who always
01:21 thought he was of the liberal left alignment.
01:24 The fact that she's talking about fiscal discipline
01:27 will only be a boost for business,
01:28 and just shows really why all these people here
01:31 are starting to believe that Labour really
01:32 are the next government and waiting.
01:34 We'll hear whether Sir Keir Starmer can cement that
01:37 tomorrow when he makes his speech.
01:38 And for all that and more, stay tuned to thescotsman.com.
01:41 [MUSIC PLAYING]
01:44 (upbeat music)
01:47 [BLANK_AUDIO]