JEREMY Corbyn received a rapturous reception as he made his first appearance at Labour’s autumn conference and was greeted with chants of “Oh, Jeremy Corbyn”.
Such has been the increase in delegates, the start of proceedings in Brighton had to be delayed for half an hour.
Labour MEP Glenis Willmott, who chairs the party’s ruling National Executive Committee, said the "unprecedented" number of delegates, some 1,500, meant the conference was the "biggest in years".
Len McCluskey, the Unite leader, declared: “In my 47 years in the party, I have never seen it so united,” he said, adding: “I suspect this will be a conference like no other.”
However, criticism arose from some senior figures after the Labour leader last night avoided a potentially divisive clash over Brexit after delegates agreed not to push the Brexit issue to a vote.
Mr Corbyn is resisting pressure from europhiles in the party, who want him to commit Labour to keeping the UK permanently in the European single market and customs union after Brexit.
Former minister Ben Bradshaw claimed the public would not understand that on the biggest issue of the day conference would not express a view on it through a vote.
Meanwhile, the time allocated for one of Labour's city mayors to address conference led to disagreements among delegates with contrasting views on whether or not Sadiq Khan, the London Mayor, should be allocated time.
Elsewhere, John Spellar, the former minister, claimed Labour MPs were being blocked from speaking in debates. He said MPs had been told by stewards to sit in the balcony where they could not be called by the chair in debates, despite having ex-officio "hall" passes that should have given them access to the conference floor.
It comes amid a row over the Labour leader’s drive to devote more speaking time at conference to members rather than set-piece speeches from leading politicians.
One of those who has foregone a keynote speech from the podium is Lesley Laird, the Shadow Scottish Secretary; another is her fellow Scot Barry Gardiner, the Shadow International Trade Secretary.
A party spokesman explained: “Members and delegates have asked the party if they can have more opportunity to contribute in debates and this is something Lesley is more than happy to help facilitate given that the members are the heartbeat of the party.”
Ms Laird is expected to contribute to today’s debate on the economy and will be speaking at a fringe event on federalism.
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