Labour conference 2012: day two live - Telegraph.co.uk

Singing "assiduously" sounds like it's slightly under duress, though.

1741 Douglas Alexander dodges a bullet on PM when asked what's wrong with Ed Miliband.

His personal flaws? I think that's a question you'd better direct at Ed.

1738 Labour's Jim Murphy has just told the BBC that there should be a referendum on Europe at some point. His party will campaign wholeheartedly to stay in the European Union, of course.

I think at some point there will have to be a referendum on the EU. I don't think it's for today or for the next year, but I think it should happen.

1650 There's a lot of debate about this mystical £4 billion due to be raised from the auction of 4G mobile phone spectrum. Ed Balls says we should spend it on new homes. Matthew Hancock, Tory MP and new business minister, says much of it has been allocated to other sources already. The PM's spokesman says we don't yet know how much will be raised. And since the auction hasn't actually happened yet, it's all slightly academic.

1702 Here's a bit worth noting from earlier - Alistair Campbell turned unlikely trade union apologist on Sky News.

My point is that you can say it's all about what you call 'manipulation' by the trade unions. The trade unions now, particularly with so many people worried about their jobs, they've got a point and they're entitled to make that point.

1650 There's a lot of debate about this mystical £4 billion due to be raised from the auction of 4G mobile phone spectrum. Ed Balls says we should spend it on new homes. Matthew Hancock, Tory MP and new business minister, says much of it has been allocated to other sources already. The PM's spokesman says we don't yet know how much will be raised. And since the auction hasn't actually happened yet, it's all slightly academic.

ITV's Chris Ship does the sums here.

1617 The main conference has been adjourned for the day, after predictably passing all motions. I forgot to mention earlier that the one opposing a public sector pay freeze was watered down - presumably to avoid embarrassing the leadership. It seems the Labour party faithful are more obedient than the Lib Dem grassroots, who kept voting down Nick Clegg's beloved policies.

1601 If Ed needs a hand, Peter Kellner, one of Britain's best known pollster, gives him some new tips on winning over floating voters here. Apparently the Labour leader needs a potent combination of "competence, honesty, understanding, realism and strength" - a doddle!

1551 Ed Balls has been very vocal, but what of Ed Miliband today? He's sitting down and having a little think.

^{Photo: Rex Features}

1541 She's calling for more action on profiteering by oil companies, an expansion of the rail network beyond HS2 and better cycling facilities. It's the third speech by a Labour woman in a row, after Mary Creagh (rural communities) and Caroline Flint (energy).

1536 Ouch! Maria Eagle, shadow transport secretary, just used Ed Miliband's dreaded "pre-distribution" phrase when talking about getting cheaper bus fares. Someone needs to counter-act it with a quick mention of the word "pleb" immediately.

1523 Caroline Flint, shadow energy secretary, hasn't got her jargon quite right as she urges Labour activists to "make a tweet" on behalf of the party.

She is picking up on a major theme of the conference - that Labour is trying to help people even though it's not in power. Her example is the party's support for collective energy schemes to lower gas and electricity bills.

1508 Eddie Izzard is looking quite distinguished as he joins the debate on sustainability in the main hall. He is talking about squeezed household incomes, claiming:

People are relying on food banks just to have enough to eat.

1506 For those of you who haven't had enough Ed Balls today, the Huffington Post has part two of an interview with the shadow chancellor. The MP once again has to shoot down accusations of being a bully:

Accusing me of doing briefings to journalists about my colleagues is so naïve. There has never been a long run of journalists who have ever come out and said this. If a journalist ever says to me: 'Did you brief against colleagues?', I have to say: 'Have I ever done that to you?' I've asked Andrew Marr, Andrew Neil… Did some of that go on in the Blair years? Of course it would have done. Was I part of it? No. Was I directing it? No.... It's a weak and snake-like way to do politics.

1503 Here's a comprehensive list of fringe events from the aptly-named Fringe List. Ed Balls is the star of the show, they reckon. His event in conversation with the New Statesman is the most popular of the whole conference, according to pre-registrations. Guido Fawkes has the top five here.

1445 Peter Mandelson and Alistair Campbell have been hosting a fascinating fringe event in memory of Philip Gould, one of the late architects of New Labour. Lord Mandelson seems to be saying that Ed Miliband is heading for a defeat on current form:

1430 Paul Kenny from the GMB is up now. He's the man that yesterday described Ed Balls as someone who would "give an aspirin a headache". He calls on the Government to stop giving contracts to any company that blacklists union members.

1428 It seems Ed Balls has a novel way of filling his party's coffers - charging £2 for a copy of his conference speech. I make that 0.02p per word. Or you could get a free copy here.

1418 A nice image from Len McCluskey, the Unite boss, who accuses New Labour of treating the unions like a "nutty relative in the attic who pushed cheques under the door".

1416 Delegates have now been asked to take their seats for this afternoon's session on jobs, work and prosperity, followed by a debate on sustainability.

1409 Here's an interesting poll on the welfare state while we wait for the speakers to return. Demos, a think-tank, has found the majority of people favour some kind of state control on how benefits are spent. This could mean a ban on state payments being spent on alcohol, cigarettes and junk food. It's a divisive idea and due to be debated at the Labour conference later today.

1355 Speaking of Jon Cruddas, he's coming out with some corkers at a lunchtime fringe event. Take this tweet by Richard Darlington of the IPPR:

He also says your have to have a "subtle conception of Blair in order to reclaim the best bits and move on from the worst".

1351 Freudian slip of the day - two Labour politicians have now confused David Cameron and David Miliband. Well done to Harriet Harman, deputy Labour leader, and Jon Cruddas, head of Labour policy review.

1332 Channel 4's Michael Crick makes a joke that was just waiting to happen:

1328 This will have George Osborne choking on his lunch. Ed Balls has popped back up again on Sky News calling on the Chancellor to "shoot my fox" - ie. accept his idea for spending billions of pounds on new homes is a clever idea.

I want George Osborne to shoot my fox, I want him to steal my thunder. George Osborne can take this plan and do it in a week's time, or a month's time. That would be fabulous.

We'd never hear the end of Labour's gloating if that happened....

1320 Here's some good break-time reading from Iain Martin, who asks why a clever man like Ed Balls still won't admit his complicity in "the Gordon Brown disaster".

1301Tim Ross, political correspondent, also offers his verdict:

Balls got a standing ovation and immediately went to embrace Ed M, the pair pat each other on the back and smile as the flash bulbs go off. But the biggest cheer of his speech was for the NHS, which Balls called "still today the greatest health service in all the world".

Cheekily, he claimed Danny Boyle's Olympic opening ceremony as a Labour triumph for celebrating the NHS. Some Tories feared as much at the time.

1259 It's lunch time now. Telegraph sketch writer Michael Deacon has these sage words to offer as everyone departs to hunt down a decent sandwich:

Labour members in good spirits in the main auditorium. Opposition suits them so much better than government does. In government you have to break promises and make compromises and solve problems and everyone hates you. Whereas in Opposition you can have a lovely time deriding the government without offering any proof that you'd do any different. Much nicer

1255 In honour of the end of the shadow chancellor's speech, the live blog brings you this picture:

1250 Ed Balls is over. To recap, he called for:

• A full, open and independent public inquiry into the culture and practices of our banking system.

• Radical reform to separate retail and investment banking.

• Active support for mutuals and co-operatives.

• A comprehensive long-term plan to rebuild Britain's infrastructure for the 21st century, and a cross-party consensus to deliver it.

• 100,000 new homes creating hundreds of thousands of jobs and getting our construction industry moving again

• A stamp duty holiday for first time buyers buying homes up to £250,000

He also revealed that Sir John Armitt, the chair of the Olympic Delivery Authority, will help Labour improve long-term infrastructure decision-making, planning, delivery and finance.

1248 Telegraph political correspondent Tim Ross reports from the front line:

He is Labour's undisputed king of booming partisan rhetoric. But why did he feel the need to tell us all that the other Ed is his "friend"? Is there some doubt about this?

I remember Brown used to say Blair was his "oldest friend in politics". That ended well.

1245 The shadow Chancellor joins Ed Miliband in evoking the spirit of post-Second World War Britain. He says similar "tough and unpopular decisions" were needed back then to help repair a country ravaged by war.

1243 A nice bit of colour on Ed Balls' pre-conference preparation from the BBC's Nick Robinson:

1238 Ed Balls on to the tricky stuff now. He's promising not to "flinch" from balancing the books and taking tough decisions on paying down national debt.

Crucially, he says there "cannot be a post-election spending spree".

1233 Audience clapping along politely to Ed Balls' call for more new homes, which was heavily trailed overnight in the newspapers and on the BBC's Today programme. Patrick O'Flynn of The Daily Express notes he didn't afford Chuka Umunna the same courtesy:

1229 It's really quite odd that they've given him a deep blue background. Telegraph sketch writer Michael Deacon has this to say about the conference decor:

The stage in the main auditorium looks eerily like the set of an ITV game show. Fluorescent blue backdrop, shiny floor, burningly bright lights, airily spacious... Once we've got this dreary old guff about the economy out of the way, Vernon Kay's coming on to offer two families from Leeds the chance to win an Alfa Romeo

1225 Ed Balls claims last budget was the most unfair ever, taxing "pasties, caravans, churches and charities". He's getting pretty shouty - calling David Cameron, George Osborne and Nick Clegg all part of the "same old Tory government".

1222 Mr Balls is on cutting form, laying into the Prime Minister for implying Labour isn't macho enough. He's on a roll but then kills it with a terrible joke about David Cameron and George Osborne being "Butch Cameron and the Flatline Kid".

1220 He's just introduced Ed Miliband as the next prime minister and has this to say of David Cameron's cabinet:

The men get the jobs, the women get the sack and only the chaps get the knighthoods. Let me ask you this: what does it take to get sacked from David Cameron's cabinet?

Swear at a police officer and call him a 'pleb'? And you're defended to the hilt.Get caught red-handed texting market sensitive information to News International? You get promoted.

Flat-line the economy and deliver the most unfair and shambolic Budget in living memory? And you stay in post – more than that, you're allowed to do it part-time.

Do all those things and David Cameron will let you keep your job. But not if you're a woman.

Conference, what kind of Prime Minister thinks it's fair to sack a 54 year old woman from his Cabinet because she's 'too old' - and then give the job to a 56 year old man instead?

1217 Ed Balls time! The shadow Chancellor's theme is "making the case for change".

1205 Chuka pleased the crowds by saying David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Vince Cable are all in it together - unlike the plebs. He's doing no cosying up to the Lib Dems like Ed Balls.

1157 Chuka Umunna, dubbed Britain's "Obama in waiting", is charming delegates in the main hall now. He's considered a pro-business progressive, but is still getting rousing applause mid sentence from the audience. Yesterday he denied being a rival to Ed Miliband for the leadership.

1153 The PM's spokesman is also refusing to say what will happen to the billions raised from a 4G mobile phone auction that Ed Balls wants spent on new homes. He says:

I don't think it's for me to get involved in a debate that is part of the Labour Party conference. Clearly the Government has been taking action to bring down the cost of home ownership. On the 4G auction that hasn't happened and therefore we have not put a figure on it.

1150 Hi all. It's Rowena Mason back again. I've just been at a briefing by the Prime Minister's official spokesman. By his own admission, the Government is "not doing very much this week". A good idea to leave all the airtime to Labour conference?

1140 Len McCluskey's speech was very well received by the Labour faithful, as the Unite union leader called on the party to "reject false choices of jobs and wages."

A public spending squeeze while the City continues to let rip is simply not acceptable. Asking the poorest for further sacrifices for a crisis they did not cause is the road to political ruin and defeat at the next election.

1120 BREAKING The live blog has learned that Eric Hobsbawm, the Marxist historian, has died. Martin Kettle of The Guardian has called Hobsbawm "The most widely read, influential and respected British intellectual and historian from the Marxist tradition" in tribute. I am sure a few glasses will be raised at Labour conference to the author of The Age of Extremes this evening.

1118 Alexander concludes by returning to his globally interconnected theme. "Our fate is bound with those living thousands of miles from our shores," he says. "We understand that. The Conservatives just don't."

1116 Now onto Israel/Palestine. Alexander says: "To continue to build settlements on other people's land is wrong, and it is illegal. And so too is launching rockets into Israel."

1112 Le Monde informs me that a record 18.2 million people are unemployed in the Eurozone. Will Alexander mention this as he argues for greater integration with our continental partners?

1107 Alexander says that a "fundamental flaw" of Conservative foreign policy is that they remain "damagingly unreconciled" to the idea of global interdependence. Interpedendence, he elaborates, means our EU membership. Tweet me @jaomahony or email jennifer.omahony@telegraph.co.uk for your thoughts on this.

1105 Douglas Alexander invokes Mo Farah's sense of British pride to start his speech as Shadow Foreign Secretary to conference.

1051 As mentioned earlier, Ed Balls has been boasting of his two goals in yesterday's football match against the Lobby. Presumably his Ronaldo-like physique was the boost he needed to beat a bunch of journalists (well known for our own commitment to healthy living).

But Balls' prowess on the pitch is legendary. Here he is in 2009:

_{Photo: Eddie Mulholland}

And in 2010, a vintage year for Balls' performance (is he always on one leg?)

_{Photo: Eddie Mulholland}

And from yesterday. He has grown both as a player, and a person.

_{Photo: Eddie Mulholland}

1040 Hi, Jennifer O'Mahony here standing in for Rowena for the next couple of hours.

1031 Back in the conference hall, Mr Murphy - a Scot - says the idea of breaking up the union between England and Scotland is a "19th-century" idea, "ill-suited" to today's world.

1025 Regular tweeter @Keith_VazMP is lying low on Twitter after the Telegraph's story about a Met Police probe into unexplained cash in his bank account. After all this media attention, will he be as exuberant on the dance floor as he was at last year's conference?

1017 He also announces that Labour would launch an independent review of defence spending if it got back into power. NB the party still denies leaving a £38 billion black hole that the Coalition claims it had to clear up.

1016 Jim Murphy believes he's pinpointed two big problems with getting back into power.

The Conservatives think they are born to rule and the Lib Dems refuse to die.

1013 Debate has been a bit sluggish so far this morning. The BBC's Norman Smith might have sleuthed down the reason why:

1010 Jim Murphy, shadow defence secretary, takes to the stage after a video about ex-soldiers who can't get work. He's started off emotively, with praise for those "with the dust of Afghanistan fresh on their boots".

1000 In other conference-related news, Lord Ashcroft, the major Tory donor and policy adviser, has trashed his party's Labour Isn't Learning campaign as unworthy of grown-ups. He says:

It is not clear how much the Conservative Party has paid M&C Saatchi to come up with the daft poster, unveiled over the weekend, depicting Ed Miliband and Ed Balls as gormless schoolboys under the slogan 'Labour Isn't Learning'. Nor do I know how much it cost to hire the ad van to drive the thing pointlessly around Manchester. What I do know is that if I had recently donated funds to the Tories I would be asking what on earth CCHQ thought it was doing with my money.

0954 So how is Mr Miliband's image makeover going? He wants to be seen as an ordinary bloke who understands the problems of ordinary people - unlike the out-of-touch Conservatives. However, those on the left of his party are saying the same about their own leader. Owen Jones argues today in the Independent that:

Part of the problem is that the [Labour] Party leadership is not representative of the people it exists to champion

0952 A key battle today is going to be over the Labour leadership's support for a public sector pay freeze. Union faithfuls are trying to vote down the policy, causing a headache for Ed Miliband.

0944 Carwyn Jones, Welsh first minister, gets a cheap laugh by saying he's "really, really sorry" for not making his traditional joke about Nick Clegg. It wasn't very funny. But the deputy Prime Minister's autotune apology still is.

0939 The main session of the conference is getting rowdy already. Delegates are shouting down the chair when she carries a vote to accept the agenda. It seems they can't even agree on what to talk about....

0932 Political mischief-makers have been trying to make the Ed-David Miliband tension a key theme of the conference. However, in an interview with Newcastle's The Journal, the elder Miliband has said he backs his brother "to the hilt".

0927 Rosa Prince, our online political editor, has the full story on Ed Balls claiming he is "proud" of Labour's record on the economy. His comments are likely to be seized on with delight by architects of the Conservative Party 's new advertising campaign - Labour isn't learning.

0924 It appears Ed Balls has ruffled some Liberal Democrat feathers. Olly Grender, a key aide to Nick Clegg, is irritated by the shadow chancellor's call for the party to leave the Coalition.

She tweets that he "has no place to declare on air what LibDems want if he doesn't have the good grace to find out".

0917 Chuka Umunna, the shadow business secretary, thinks it's worth boasting that Labour has got the largest number of business delegates to attend for years. He's sharing a platform with Unite's Len McCluskey later. Wonder if he'll agree?

0910 Apart from Ed Balls, others lined up to speak are Douglas Alexander, the shadow foreign secretary, Jim Murphy, the shadow defence secretary, Liam Byrne, shadow work and pensions, and Maria Eagle, shadow transport.

0905 Spies for Politics Home have been doing some good eavesdropping in the hotel breakfast rooms:

0902 So far this morning, we've had Ed Balls on the airwaves calling for the Coalition to spend, spend, spend. He was on Radio Four's Today Programme expanding on plans for the Treasury to put around £4 billion from the sale of 4G mobile phone spectrum towards building 100,000 new homes and a stamp duty for first time buyers

The Daily Telegraph's Benedict Brogan says in his daily email that Mr Balls was sounding his usual abrasive self. The Labour heavyweight dismissed those who dislike his bullying style as mischief-makers and refused to apologise for Labour's economic legacy.

0901 To summarise yesterday's fun and games:

• Delegates were baffled to find themselves listening to an hour-long political philosophy lecture by Michael Sandel from Harvard.

• Ed Miliband relaunched his personality to stress that he's a man of the people from a North London comp with a loveable bit of geekiness on the side

• Tensions emerged with the trade unions, with bosses calling on the Labour leader to make a definitive split with New Labour once and for all.

0900 Welcome to the liveblog as Labour conference 2012 prepares for its second day of action in Manchester.