First reports on Labour's conference seem to infer a key theme that is likely to manifest itself as major manifesto pledge. "We, and I can't stress this enough, are not the Tories", said Keir Starmer on the first day of the conference. His opening 5 minute welcome speech went on to say or imply this a further 30 times. There was variation to the message such as, "Tory? Not me, mate!" and "Hands up if you're a Tory" after which he comically touches his toes.
Angela Rayner and Lisa Nandy also vociferously confirmed they were not, indeed, Tories with the former telling our reporter to "f*** off" for even suggesting such a thing. Conference seminars seemed to also repeat the theme with Stephen Kinnock's "How to spot if someone thinks you're a Tory" a popular gathering and "10 ways to let someone know you're not a Tory" hosted by David Lammy.
A speech preview of Mr Starmer's closing speech also carried the messaging with key phrases such as "tough of being a Tory, tough on the causes of being a Tory", "NOT A TORY! NOT A TORY! NOT A TORY!" and the slightly more confusing "you be a Tory if you want to, this lady's not for being a Tory".
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author: simonjjames
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