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Labour conference conference - live updates: John McDonnell plans to nationalise key services as Jon Ashworth calls for £500m NHS cash injection

Benjamin Kentish
Brighton
,Joe Watts,Lizzy Buchan,Ashley Cowburn
Saturday 23 September 2017 16:23 BST
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John McDonnell has been outlining Labour's plans for widespread nationalisation of services - including the scrapping of the Private Finance Initiatives (PFI) and moves to bring existing deals back "in house".

The Shadow Chancellor made the announcement during his keynote speech at the party's annual conference in Brighton.

Mr McDonnell confirmed that Labour would nationalise water, rail and energy industries, as well as bringing Royal Mail back under public control.

Elsewhere, the party's National Executive Committee published a statement on its Brexit position after criticism that the issue will not be properly debated at the conference.

Delegates will now be given the opportunity to discuss the current policy but there will be no vote on contentious issues such as whether the UK should remain in the EU's single market.

The truce between Labour's warring factions seems to have held in Brighton so far, but it is clear that a debate over the party’s Brexit policy is looming behind the scenes. One Labour MP, Heidi Alexander, said the failure to fully debate Brexit made the party a "laughing stock".

Earlier in the conference, Jeremy Corbyn suggested he was ready to “listen” to party members who want the UK to stay in the single market. It came after 30 senior figures, including Labour MPs, signed an open letter calling for the party leadership to commit to full and permanent membership of the single market after Britain’s exit from the European Union.

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The second day of Labour's annual conference in Brighton is underway, with the main event being a speech by John McDonnell. The Shadow Chancellor is expected to address party activists shortly after midday.

Kristin Hugo25 September 2017 10:31
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Labour delegates are also set to hold a debate on a motion on Brexit tabled by the party's National Executive Committee.

The party's leadership is defending itself against accusations that it is trying to avoid debate on contentious issues like whether the UK should stay in the single market. On Sunday, it emerged that a motion on Brexit had not been selected for debate by party delegates after the Jeremy Corbyn-supporting Momentum group urged members not to support it.

The debate is therefore likely to focus on Labour's current Brexit policy, with no vote being held on single market membership or other divisive issues.

Kristin Hugo25 September 2017 10:46
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Emily Thornberry is speaking in the conference hall.

Joking about Boris Johnson, she says the Foreign Secretary "does not like paternity tests" but suggested Labour could force him to take one on Brexit.

"We'd take him on Jeremy Kyle and they'd say: 'Sorry Foreign Secretary but this one is yours'", she said.

Kristin Hugo25 September 2017 10:55
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Thornberry says the Conservatives' foreign policy has been reduced to one that has "no values or ethics, no rules or principles".

Accusing them of "rank hypocrisy", she criticises Theresa May for her failure to criticise alleged rights abuses by Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

Kristin Hugo25 September 2017 11:00
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Elsewhere, Ashley Cowburn reports that Labour will pledge to lower the women's retirement age to 64.

Debbie Abrahams, the party's Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, will make the announcement during her keynote speech to party delegates gathered in Brighton.

In a move likely to be strongly backed by party members, she will accuse the Government of “chaotic mismanagement” over its policy on raising the women's retirement age.

Kristin Hugo25 September 2017 11:04
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Keir Starmer, the Shadow Brexit Secretary, is speaking now. Attacking the Tories' approach to Brexit, he says there is "nothing patriotic about joy-riding our economy off a cliff".

Kristin Hugo25 September 2017 11:12
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Referencing Conservative divisions on Brexit, Starmer says Labour are now "the grown ups in the room".

Kristin Hugo25 September 2017 11:17
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John McDonnell is speaking in the main conference hall. Saying the Conservative Government is teleported from the 18th Century, the Shadow Chancellor criticises a "rentier economy...where wealth is secured not by what you produce, but by the amount of rent you can charge".

Kristin Hugo25 September 2017 12:28
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Calling worldwide floods this year "yet another environmental wake up call", McDonnell criticises ministers for cutting investment in renewable energy.

Kristin Hugo25 September 2017 12:32
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McDonnell takes a strong line on nationalisation of rail, water, energy and mail companies.

Building an economy for the many also means bringing ownership and control of the utilities and key services into the hands of people who use and work in them. Rail, water, energy, Royal Mail: we’re taking them back.

Kristin Hugo25 September 2017 12:33

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