In a scathing response to the Prime Minister’s address at the Labour Party conference this afternoon, former leader Jeremy Corbyn has condemned the speech as a “tired formula of buzzwords” and an abdication of the party’s principles, framing it as an urgent call for a new political alternative.
The Prime Minister spoke for nearly an hour, detailing a list of his government’s achievements. However, for Corbyn and his nascent movement, the speech represented a profound failure of ambition and morality.
A list of Starmer’s successes:
A Speech of Missed Opportunities
Corbyn’s rebuttal highlighted what he saw as glaring omissions from the platform. “The Prime Minister could have announced he was finally scrapping the two-child benefit cap, bringing in rent controls, and taking our public services back into public ownership,” he stated. “Instead, he doubled down on the same tired formula.”
The most severe criticism was reserved for the government’s stance on Gaza. Corbyn accused the Prime Minister of being unable to “bring himself to acknowledge the genocide in Gaza,” suggesting the reason was political complicity. “If he acknowledged the truth, he would be admitting his government’s complicity in the greatest crime of our time,” Corbyn wrote.
He concluded his analysis of the conference speech with a damning epithet: “At nearly an hour, this was the longest resignation speech in party-conference history.”
A Promise of a “Very, Very Different” Conference
Positioning his new project, “Your Party,” as the antidote to the current Labour leadership, Corbyn promised a fundamentally different kind of politics. He drew a direct contrast between the two parties, vowing that his movement would not try to silence pro-Palestinian voices, appease Reform, or “give platforms to corporate lobbyists, fossil fuel giants and arms companies.”
Instead, he promised a member-led organisation. “Our conference will empower its members to shape the future of our party and our country,” he asserted.
The article ended with a direct appeal for support, urging readers to become members of yourparty.uk to help “build a real alternative to poverty, inequality and war.”
“This is how we can take on the rich and powerful – and win,” Corbyn concluded. “Real change is coming. Be part of it.”
