Labour's annual conference to focus on austerity and Brexit

For all the pre-event talk about Brexit and internal rules, Labour’s annual conference will have an official focus on boosting living standards and helping communities, themes central to the party’s election campaign last year.

Also echoing the 2017 theme, the conference will partially borrow from the election slogan, with the logo showing the motto: “Rebuilding Britain, for the many, not the few.”

Jeremy Corbyn has regularly attacked the government over austerity and living standards, and Labour is set to continue this at the gathering.

The party will use the conference, which starts on Saturday in Liverpool, to make its “most direct pitch yet to people in post-industrial towns and communities”, a Labour source said, with speeches tackling the impact of deindustrialisation, as well as austerity and precarious living standards.

New policies will also be announced at the event to “empower local communities” and boost neglected areas, the party says.

In a statement released by the party before the conference, Corbyn said cuts and government mismanagement had “left many of our towns and communities hollowed out and without hope”.

He said: “It is Labour’s mission to represent the hopes and aspirations of working-class people in our country. Our country needs to radically change course and this week we’re going to be laying out our plans to rebuild Britain for the many, not the few.

“We’ll show this week how we’re going to transform our broken economic model, have a rebirth of our great public services and give local communities the control they need to make their towns thrive again.”

The focus on austerity and living standards, rather than issues such as Brexit, saw Labour perform better than predicted in last year’s election, eliminating Theresa May’s majority in the Commons.

Nonetheless, Brexit is expected to be discussed at length, after more than 100 constituency Labour parties submitted motions calling for the party to back a referendum on any final Brexit deal.

On Wednesday the Corbyn-supporting campaign group Momentum said it would not block such a debate, making this more likely.

Last year, Momentum steered its delegates to vote on other topics, including housing, the NHS and rail, to swerve a possible vote on single-market membership which could have exposed tensions between the Labour leadership and members.

There will also be discussion about internal Labour rules over areas such as the re-selection of MPs and leadership rules, although the party’s national executive has put off several of these decisions.