Look out for
In her closing speech to the Labour conference, the party’s deputy leader, Harriet Harman, will accuse the Conservatives of plotting to wipe out millions of Labour’s core votes by pushing people off the electoral register. Plans to introduce voluntary registration would disproportionately affect young, poor, and ethnic minority communties — all more likely to vote Labour.
She will tell party members: “The Lib Dems – to their eternal shame – are colluding with the Tories in changing the law on the electoral register. What they plan to do in the White Paper is going to push people off the electoral register, deny them their vote, deny them their voice.”
Signs of trouble?
As the conference winds to a close, the key issue within the party remains Ed Miliband’s leadership: namely, how far he has managed to clearly set out the direction in which he wishes to take the party, and whether this message will get across to the public.
After an asssured performance yesterday, some delegates are tipping Yvette Cooper as the next leader of the Labour Party, even claiming that it is not the “first post-Brown/Blair conference”, but the “first pre-Cooper conference”.
Conference timetable
Morning – 9.30am: Conference opens
Northern Ireland Report from Shaun Woodward, shadow secretary of state for Northern Ireland
Local Government Report from Councillor Dave Sparks, leader of the LAGA Labour Group
Speech by Caroline Flint MP, shadow secretary of state for communities and local government
Closing Speech from Harriet Harman MP, deputy leader of the Labour Party
12.45pm: Conference closes