Labour conference: Tom Watson says capitalism is not the enemy - as it happened

Sadiq Khan attracted a crowd as he gave interviews after his speech. These are from ITV’s Chris Ship and the Guardian’s Rowena Mason.

In an interview Khan admitted that he had not spoken to Jeremy Corbyn for months.

He also dismissed suggestions he wanted to be Labour leader.

It would be wise to take this final remark with a lorryload of salt. A source points out that Khan recently appeared on a platform with Mauricio Macri, the former mayor of Buenos Aires, and Matteo Renzi, the former mayor of Florence. Both Macri and Renzi told Khan that being mayor was the best job in the world.

That may be so. But Macri is now president of Argentina, and Renzi is prime minister of Italy.

The afternoon conference session has just got going. One of the delegates has just complained strongly about free copies of the Sun being given away at the conference. (See 12.44pm.) Wendy Nichols, who is chairing the afternoon session, said this was being addressed.

This is from Newsweek’s Josh Lowe.

The Unison general secretary Dave Prentis liked Sadiq Khan’s speech.

Here is my colleague Jessica Elgot’s story about the NEC rule changes. Delegates have voted, but it was a card vote and it will take a while before the votes are counted. But Labour officials are very confident the proposals will be agreed.

Shortly before Sadiq Khan addressed the conference, someone on the platform made a joke about his being the son of a bus driver. It was a tribute to the way, during the London mayoral campaign, Khan relentlessly and unashamedly kept going on about his upbringing at every opportunity. It worked, because there is not a soul in London who does not know what Khan’s dad did for a living. Khan is someone who understands the importance of repetition.

But this speech took the art of repetition to a whole new level. At times it was veering into self-parody. Essentially, almost every sentence was about how Labour can only achieve things if it is “in power”. It certainly wasn’t subtle, and some will accuse him of overkill, but if Khan’s only concern was to get his message across, then it was certainly effective.

And what was the message? Khan backed Owen Smith in the leadership contest because he thought Jeremy Corbyn could not win an election. He explained his thinking in an Observer article. In his speech today Khan did not criticise Corbyn directly, and he specifically said that the leadership issue was settled. But he did not retract anything he said during the summer. His focus on the importance of Labour being able to win elections to get things down could be seen as a firm reminder to Corbyn that he will be judged by electoral performance, but it sounded more as if Khan was advertising his own credentials as an election winner. He seemed to be putting down a marker for the future, signalling that if Labour needs an election-winner when the Corbyn era is over, Khan will be available.

Here are the key points.

• Khan said Labour should focus on winning power.

After the election this summer the leadership of our party has now been decided and I congratulate Jeremy on his clear victory. Now it’s time for us all to work together towards the greatest prize: getting Labour back into power.

• He stressed that Labour was in power in local government and in Wales, if not at Westminster.

With Labour in power, Britain is a fairer country - a more equal country and a more just country. And Labour is in power right now - not just in London but in Wales too. Labour re-elected with the First Minister, Carwyn Jones, and in Bristol with the new Mayor, Marvin Rees. Labour is in power right now in Liverpool, Manchester and Southampton; in Newcastle, Glasgow and Cambridge; in Birmingham, Nottingham, Leeds and Cardiff too.

Labour is in power in towns and cities the length and breadth of Britain. And Conference, where Labour is in power it’s thanks to your hard work. Thanks to Labour members, activists and supporters. Thanks to the trade unions and the working people they represent. Thanks to the Labour staff who work so hard for us.

• He explained why being in power was so important.

With Labour out of power, the number of affordable new homes built falls, the cost of rent rockets, and the number of homeless people sleeping on our streets rises. But it’s only with Labour in power that we can make tackling the housing crisis our number one priority; we can create new teams like Homes for Londoners, to get more genuinely affordable homes built; or a new social letting scheme to stop renters being ripped off; we can enact new policies like the London Living Rent to put home ownership back within reach for our young people; and we can make tackling homelessness and rough sleeping a real priority - because it’s a stain on our great nation.

Most of the speech consisted of Khan making this point again and again, but applying it to issues like housing, air pollution, social integration, inequality, education, Brexit and the public services.

• He stressed that EU citizens in Britain are welcome.

I’d like to take a moment to speak to the European citizens living across Britain, and who make a huge contribution to our NHS, schools, on construction sites and in business: you make a massive contribution to our country; economically, socially and culturally. Thank you. Thank you for all that you do to make our country great. You are welcome here.

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I’ve got the full text of Sadiq Khan’s speech.

The word “power” occurs 38 times.

Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, has just finished addressing the conference now. In his speech he focused repeatedly on the need for Labour to get into power.

In fact, he seemed to be trying to set a world record for use of the word “power” in a single speech.

I will post a summary when I’ve got the full text.

An exhibitor at the Labour conference has been told to stop giving away free copies of the Sun, Politics Home report. Labour acted after the Liverpool mayor Joe Anderson protested, saying it was a “disgrace” that the paper was being given away. The Sun is still loathed on Merseyside, and boycotted by newsagents, because of its infamous Hillsborough coverage 27 years ago.

Here are the main points from the speech from Diane Abbott, the shadow health secretary.

• Abbott said Labour would restore bursaries for student nurses.

Many students will not be able to afford to study without the bursary and others will be frightened of debt. I want to make it clear that Labour will restore the bursary.

• She said Labour would set up a new unit to tackle waste in the NHS. It would look at overcharging for PFI contracts, she said. It would also consider reducing or eliminating PFI over time.

• She proposed the “renationalisation” of the NHS. She said Labour would make sure the health secretary was accountable for the NHS, something that was taken away by the Health and Social Care Act. She also said Labour would end “damaging competition and marketisation in the NHS” and remove the private sector “where it is ripping-off the NHS”.

• She said Labour would invest more in mental health services.

Labour in government will put the money behind this. We want an end to shame and an end to the tacit acceptance that the mentally ill are somehow second class citizens in our healthcare system.

• She said Labour would tackle overcharging by big pharmaceutical companies.

It’s Abbott’s birthday and at the end of her speech delegates sang happy birthday to her. This is from the BBC’s Peter Henley.