{"id":95865,"date":"2025-10-01T01:00:22","date_gmt":"2025-10-01T01:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/95865\/"},"modified":"2025-10-01T01:00:22","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T01:00:22","slug":"labour-conference-shows-how-future-of-keir-starmers-government-depends-on-one-woman-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/95865\/","title":{"rendered":"Labour conference shows how future of Keir Starmer\u2019s government depends on one woman \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rarely has The Sound of Silence been so loud. Anti-Brexit campaigners blasted the Simon and Garfunkel number at almost unbearable decibel levels into Labour<\/a>\u2019s conference compound on Monday morning. It was as innovative as it was annoying.<\/p>\n

Labour conferences always attract demonstrations. Yet in Liverpool<\/a> this year the parade of myriad malcontents and angry special interest groups \u2013 from anti-migrant fringe groups to farmers upset over tax \u2013 has seemed more febrile than usual.<\/p>\n

It is a reflection, perhaps, of the state of modern Britain, a land that is ill at ease with itself. Labour\u2019s election win last year was meant to help the country find a way forward. So far, the government has failed to chart a coherent path.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, a multitude of protest groups have stepped into the void, hawking their competing visions for Britain. Hence the noise at the conference gates.<\/p>\n

\"ProtestersProtesters hold placards with slogans that read “no to digital ID” on the opening day of the Labour Party annual conference in Liverpool. Photograph: Chris J. Ratcliffe\/Bloomberg <\/p>\n

Andy Burnham, the Manchester mayor and \u201cKing of the North,\u201d has recently been at the centre of a Labour protest movement of sorts \u2013 one set against the prime minister. He has carefully cultivated a position as a potential alternative leader to Keir Starmer<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Burnham was all over the conference fringe meetings on Monday making the argument that Starmer\u2019s leadership is too \u201cnarrow\u201d in its scope, and has alienated soft left voices.<\/p>\n

Yet for all of Burnham\u2019s publicity posturing, Monday at the Labour conference was really a tale of two women: chancellor of the exchequer Rachel Reeves<\/a> and the newly-installed home secretary, Shabana Mahmood.<\/p>\n

\"MayorMayor of greater Manchester Andy Burnham arriving at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool. Photograph: Peter Byrne\/PA Wire <\/p>\n

The former was a key player on Starmer\u2019s election-winning team, but is now backed into a corner due to Britain\u2019s flaccid economy and, by all accounts, fighting for her future.<\/p>\n

The latter\u2019s star, meanwhile, is clearly on the ascent. Mahmood is an immigration<\/a> hardliner who has been nudged to the front of the pitch by Starmer in recent weeks as part of his pushback against Nigel Farage\u2019s anti-migrant Reform UK.<\/p>\n

Reeves gave her speech at noon in the conference main hall. It was light on policy. The heaviest thing in the arena was the metaphorical cloud hanging over Reeves\u2019s head.<\/p>\n

Her speech mantra was: \u201cDon\u2019t let anyone tell you there is no difference between a Conservative government and a Labour government.\u201d Reeves must have repeated it more than 10 times, as she highlighted her government\u2019s investment in heavy industries such as shipbuilding, nuclear power and steel.<\/p>\n

\"RachelRachel Reeves speaking on stage during day two of the Labour Party conference in Liverpool. Photogrraph: Jeff J Mitchell\/Getty Images \"AA protester holding a Palestinian flag interrupts a speech by Rachel Reeves. Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

Yet it fell a little flat in the room. Her best moment by far was when she was confronted by a pro-Palestinian heckler. Reeves quickly reminded him that it was the government she was part of that had chosen to recognise the state of Palestine, and the room gave her a standing ovation as she adroitly handled the disruption.<\/p>\n

Party handlers positioned their backbench MPs close to the press section, where presumably journalists were meant to witness up close their enthusiasm for the current leadership. They cheered incessantly. But it all felt a little forced and too on the nose.<\/p>\n

For all of Reeves\u2019s talk about the difference between Labour and Conservative governments, Mahmood\u2019s speech more than three hours later was more geared towards the issue that could herald a Reform government: immigration.<\/p>\n

Mahmood\u2019s speech was heavier on policy than the chancellor\u2019s: she announced tough new conditions for migrants to attain indefinite leave to remain legally in Britain. In future, the time it takes to gain such status will be doubled to 10 years. Migrants will also have to work, learn English, volunteer for local causes and stay crime-free.<\/p>\n

\"ShabanaShabana Mahmood speaks on stage during day two of the Labour Party conference in Liverpool. Photograph: Ian Forsyth\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

This is uncomfortable ground for many left-leaning Labour members, but Starmer\u2019s leadership team has taken an increasingly tough line to counter Reform. Mahmood, the Muslim daughter of immigrants, has been picked to front the agenda.<\/p>\n

For the sake of Starmer, and perhaps also his party\u2019s future in government, she must succeed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rarely has The Sound of Silence been so loud. Anti-Brexit campaigners blasted the Simon and Garfunkel number at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":95866,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[9,10,13,14,6,56,5446,20568,11,12,1009,15,16,5,12390,7,8,393,65,66,67],"class_list":{"0":"post-95865","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-breaking-news","9":"tag-breakingnews","10":"tag-featured-news","11":"tag-featurednews","12":"tag-headlines","13":"tag-immigration","14":"tag-keir-starmer","15":"tag-labour-party-uk","16":"tag-latest-news","17":"tag-latestnews","18":"tag-liverpool","19":"tag-main-news","20":"tag-mainnews","21":"tag-news","22":"tag-rachel-reeves","23":"tag-top-stories","24":"tag-topstories","25":"tag-united-kingdom","26":"tag-world","27":"tag-world-news","28":"tag-worldnews"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95865","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95865"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95865\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95866"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}