Behind the scenes at the Labour Party Conference | Owen Jones talks

As Jeremy Corbyn prepares to deliver his first speech to the Labour conference since being elected leader earlier this month, Owen Jones tests the temperature in Brighton. There is excitement among young, first-time delegates - yet newly-elected MP Cat Smith, a Corbyn supporter, says it’s business as usual. Are there animosities between rival factions? And what signs are there of the ‘new politics’ Corbyn has promised?
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[@jamesBFC1887]

Rest In Peace Jeremy Corbyn It was fun while it lasted

[@utubecomment21]

No one has made me want to vote for the Tories more than Jeremy Corbyn!

[@AdamNigelDark]

He was the best thing that ever happened to the Conservative party! No joke, the absolute best thing ever!

[@utubecomment21]

@@AdamNigelDark I didn't vote for either BTW. As for Brexit, again It doesn't matter, we're screwed either way. Why? They're called politicians!

[@Rhhdtjkudbn]

The real question is, did you get lucky with that blonde guy, Mr Jones?

[@ericvonstarhemberg2837]

+Alistair Wessex I don't think that Owen would ever cheat on Zeph

[@musclerent]

I think they are both looking for the same dominant type of man, so no luck there.

[@-HRH]

+Eric vonStarhemberg Zeph who?

[@ericvonstarhemberg2837]

+Hyden Royce He's rumoured to be Owen's lover

[@-HRH]

Eric vonStarhemberg Not that one wants to wallow in the mire of gossip and backbiting, but are you talking about Benjamin Zephaniah the poet?

[@Vempsterful]

I'm in favour of irradiating Nuclear weapons, if the rest of the world also worked on getting rid of them, not just Britain.

[@AdamNigelDark]

I think you mean eradicating Nuclear weapons not irradiating, nukes do already irradiate people if they go bang. Unilateral Nuclear Disarmament is a police that kept Labour out of power for decades lol

[@richiesquest3283]

The Labour party used to be a working class party they are now regarded by many as a ethnic party and hence their disastrous election campaign.

[@internationalrtg5602]

What do you mean by an ethnic party?

[@jimmygoode9482]

I'm labour and support corbyn, but why would anyone be against brexit???

[@alexfernandes4861]

As a fairly strong remainer, I'm curious to know why anyone would be (and was) for Brexit. I genuinely mean that as an honest question that I would like to hear your response to... Not as some kind of sarcastic youtube comment. To answer your question; I have no strong ties to the EU ideologically, but the kind of shambolic situation we're in right now is exactly what I expected, and why I didn't vote leave. If I felt that we could nail a smooth transition then I may have been swayed, but given the complexity of our economic ties with the EU, that was never going to be the case. I felt that the campaigning on both sides wasn't great, but that a lot of the figures that leave used were completely unfounded (the famous 350 mil for NHS printed on that bus being a prime example - Which Farage himself admitted was false the day after the vote). In addition to false stats, I felt far to much onus was placed on curbing immigration. I tend to read around both right and left wing economists, and the general jist seems to be that it's very hard to prove immigration is a net detriment to the UK. There is even a strong argument that it could be a huge benefit to wealth and job creation Finally, I believe even after leaving, we will still be at the whim of the EU, as our largest trading partner, but with no real power to affect their decision making. Bearing all that in mind, to plunge head first into an incredibly risky bet, that could cause irreparable damage to our countries prosperity, with an incompetent government at the helm (Mays Tory government), did not (and still doesn't) feel like a good idea. As I said though, I'm keen to hear your take on it if you believe voting brexit was an easy decision.

[@alexfernandes4861]

Yeah, fair point. It's part of a general shift in the west away from globalisation. A lot of what Corbyn wants wouldn't work if we still had to focus on remaining competitive with all our EU neighbours. Plus there's a lot of regulation around what we can and can't nationalise/subsidise me thinks....

[@tommiddleton6590]

Nuclear disarmament, what a lark 🤣🤣🤣

[@ChrispyNut]

Thanks guys. Audio was annoying, think I'd have prefered the level to have been set to the lowest source and just turned it up here. As it was, had to keep adjusting.

[@jontibloom]

Having watched this lets raise the voting age to 25

[@DXmYb]

Can't believe people think government are capable of anything.

[@Isleofskye]

A TRUE SOCIALIST ! Shami Chakrabati opposes grammar schools on the grounds of social divisiveness and because she says they enforce segregation; despite this, Chakrabati's son attends the exclusive school Dulwich College.[ DON'T DO AS I DO....DO AS I SAY....:)

[@TheW00dcut]

Where is the full Peter Hitchens interview?

[@scubasausage]

Where is the full Hitchens interview? Come on Owen, you arent a coward are you?

[@fishfoodlad]

The left of the party is the leadership for the "first time ever." WHAT?

[@svprememe]

where's the full Peter Hitchens video?

[@MightyDemocracy]

+countvoncount13 hear hear

[@Greylin91]

+countvoncount13 I DEMAND MORALITY MAN

[@A_massive_wog]

+countvoncount13 The most well-spoken irrellevant person in the UK.

[@Gooner184]

Very disappointed in McCluskey who said Unite wouldn't support scrapping Trident. Did he even bother consulting the members of Unite? Because I bet the majority of them are against nuclear weapons. What a prick.

[@musclerent]

Trouble is our enemies aren't against nuclear weapons. Some would argue a nuclear defence capability and NATO have kept relative peace and prevented a third world war (so far).

[@MattDWardell]

+musclerent Our retention of nuclear weapons has nearly destroyed the planet on numerous occasions.

[@paulmolyneux9503]

+musclerent Trident is an upgrade right? We could keep a nuclear arsenal without upgrading it?

[@musclerent]

+Paul Molyneux Trident is what we already have. The problem is its getting old and near the end of its serviceable life. If it doesn't get replaced we won't have a deterrent. When you hear about the billions it's costing you have to remember to divide that figure by the number of years the system will be in service for.

[@musclerent]

+Matthew Wardell What occasions were these. But I do remember two world wars where millions of people died though.

[@TheDmulcahy]

Woman takes a sneaky picture of Owen at 2:16

[@tobysmith8925]

Can I recommend avoiding backpacks in future, doesn't help with your school boy image!

[@paulmolyneux9503]

Surely it DOES help with the school boy image?

[@tobysmith8925]

+Paul Molyneux I don't think he likes to promote the idea he is a school boy. he looks like he is on a field trip in this video!

[@Liofa73]

Who gives a shit, I'm listening to what he says... Why judge?

[@tobysmith8925]

It's a light hearted joke, nothing more

[@spillage9392]

That guy who said he joined in May because of Jeremy Corbyn... Corbyn didn't even announce his intention to stand until June. Where do you find these people?

[@Cashback13]

+Spillage93 He'd never eve heard of Corbyn in May!

[@bulletproofblouse]

Bloody love you, Owen.

[@bulletproofblouse]

Adam Adams "Spot the Britain First supporter and win £10".

[@smithstaa1988]

Where's the Hitchens interview?

[@owaindavies356]

I like how he simply disregards the stall for the No to EU campaign, a position that labour traditionally held in the past.

[@Independencecheese]

Jones looks like he is on a school outing.

[@samjames2563]

Yo owen, what's the deal with Kurdish anarchists and communists in Syria? No one in the media talks about them, even on the left. Solidarity?

[@paulrymer2614]

I agree with you point, we do have new members starting to feel on the outside. I attended my local Labour party meeting on Friday evening. I don't think the Local party's know what to do with this new energy.

[@Andy-ld9pr]

Higher taxes, mass immigration, higher corporation tax which will be paid for by lower wages or more unemployment and turn business's off domiciling here , printing money leading to devaluation hurting the poorest in society, more market regulation making it harder for small businesses to start up and compete with the giant corporations. He is never going to be able to get his PLP on side.

[@musclerent]

I couldn't agree with you more

[@woodcake274]

+Andy P Higher taxes - raising the top rate of tax from 45p to 50p and stopping the Tories from raising inheritance tax threshold to £1m for a couple. What's wrong with that? Mass immigration - don't we have this already and assuming you're not xenophobic, what's wrong with it? Higher corporation tax - only to the level of other western European countries and the US - Paid for by lower wages - countered by the introduction of a true living wage - more unemployment - or perhaps create more jobs in the public sector with more tax revenue Printing money (only in a recession) - to be spent on the poorest in society. Apparently it's fine to print money and give it to the richest, why not the poorest? Small businesses - possible contradiction with your earlier point on corporation tax. Tax loopholes are far easier for giant corporations to exploit than SMEs, so an aggressive crackdown on said loopholes would be advantageous for to small business. Also, McDonnell talked yesterday about cutting subsidies for big business, which again would make smaller businesses more competitive.

[@musclerent]

+Stephen Wood Without sounding patronizing you sound like a younger person. inheritance tax!, why should any government get their hands on a family's money simply because a family member died. Having said that the bar isn't set particularly high at 1m so what's the problem. Some of my younger family members live in the South East where their homes are creeping close to this figure. In their early 30's they have decent jobs and pay the higher rate of tax...No way are they millionaires so why are they penalized as of they were. ...another thing the rate of growth in the economy is currently close to its maximum long term sustainable average and is far and away better than most similar economies (for now) so why would anyone introduce measures like you describe that would make us less competitive. Don't you think some of these mistakes were tried before under a Labour government? And why do you think Labour moved away from these ideas?...It's simply really, it doesn't work with history providing us with perfect examples.

[@alexanderjaggers2204]

+Andy P The fact that your comment got likes really makes me give up on this world

[@musclerent]

+Alexander Jaggers Because we are living in the real world

[@-HRH]

Good point about maintaining momentum after victory. If one stops now, one will judder and stall. There are many potholes along the road.

[@AdamNigelDark]

There would be only potholes and no road if Labour were to ever win power lol.

[@Sakurayaya]

I didn't check on Owen Jones' update for a week and he video and posted many labour party articles!! Is time for me to read it now!! O.O

[@HRJohn1944]

I may be in a minority, but was non-discussion of Trident such a bad thing? I doubt that, with many if not most CLPs, there was much discussion on the issue before resolutions to conference were submitted or before JC's leadership bid looked like becoming successful. What is certain is that the issue will now be discussed - and discussed seriously, without knee-jerk positions being taken - in branches, with positions ultimately adopted by CLPs being really reflective of the local parties as a whole. This will go for a number of issues raised during the leadership debate on which there were clear divisions. The Labour Party suddenly looks like a place for political discussion once again - something not seen since about 1992.

[@notdaveschannel9843]

Sorry to be pedantic but it's pronounced Bomb-bard-ee-ay not Bomb-buh-dear. It was founded in Quebec.

[@robyourtime]

I know it's said a lot, but Owen Jones looks even more like a school boy than usual. Can you imagine him with a yo-yo and frog?

[@pielord334]

I wish I was there right now, maybe next year. Thanks for bringing us along with you Owen.

[@steveoxo]

Tossa ! 😂

[@rehnafayaz4984]

I think the Labour party is too cynical. At times it feels like blackmail.

[@robertocolanzi]

Lots of people asking and wondering: what happens when as always the 'politics' get difficult and how will the class of 2015 new members respond? will they stick? @robertocolanzi

[@cwBGee]

Fantastic messages coming out of the conference. Well done Jhn McDonnell and Jeremy corbyn

[@yukinakayama6154]

The chap at 0.58 sums up the future of the left. lol.

[@JS-qg1ie]

Yuki Nakayama Did you assume that person’s gender?

[@ShafeesThoughts]

Hey Owen you posed a question which you really didn't answer. "What next for the people who joined Labour because of the hope that Corbyn gave a handle to?" ??

[@AdamNigelDark]

They lost, badly! They have to find a job and get gainful employment. They can't be Statist overlords whipping the peasantry to their will as they hoped. mwahahahaha Jesus, you leftists suck balls so hard.

[@beautyspectrum1819]

Owen, I though your article regarding Labour momentum that needs turning into a movement was great. Sooo much work to do and a lot of people to win over, but based on the conference speech today and a lot of people wanting real change It may be possible. Unbelievable to find the main Tory donors are from hedge fund companies who then regained their money and some through tax relief. Seems like high level elitist corruption. Love the videos and your work.

[@TheArchive]

Heres another fact for you - Most of labour's donations come from unions. Unions are as big business as banks. Politics isn't a black and white issue which many love to paint, it's full of shit tons of grey. Unions are companies and sadly companies run political parties.

[@ladmaster4794]

+The Archive Here Here

[@musclerent]

The Unite union had told the labour party it didn't want them to support the bombing of Syria. Is it back to the old days of the unions running the country?.

[@iofish__]

So what do we do? I'm genuinely looking for answers. I think everyone has a tonne of unconventional ideas about what policies would make Corbyn more popular but there doesn't appear to be a place to discuss these ideas and get them through to the MPs. If he wants to gain ideas from bottom up, how do I submit ideas?

[@5446mick]

That guy was right, Corbyn needs to be more robust, but so too his supporters. Start plans to target to deselect MPs in their constituencies to stand in the next election most vocal in opposing Corbyn

[@cyb0gify]

Hi Owen, Looks like your having fun at conference, hope you're enjoying it. Slightly longer question for you with a few follow ups. Do you think that the Labour party not having a debate about nuclear disarmament is an example of how internally the party is run by the union bosses? And if so do you not think that they're abusing the influence given to them by the mandate of there members to represent workers at the workplace? Those members of a union want the union to represent them on workplace issues, not national issues such as nuclear disarmament. In the public sector it is almost mandatory to join a union given that the environment creates so much peer pressure to do so, I believe the Labour party should do more to ensure that the unions are representing there members and not the political interests/ideals of its leaders. They certainly should not be dictating the party policy of her majesty' opposition and even more so should not be preventing the internal debate AT CONFERENCE! of a political party on issue even less so on such a divisive matter. it undermines the mandate given Jeremy Corbyn that he should be preventing from debating party policy given that he won the leadership election on a platform to change it.

[@ChrisMcSweeney]

+Matt Searle This is entirely anecdotal, but I'm in the under-25 age group - I know several people who work in the public sector. One of them works at the Govt. Procurement Service, and he's recently become the first and only Union rep in his office (of around 2000 people) in numerous years. He's no far-left zealot or anything, he just thought it'd be good for CV points. He mentioned that none of his colleagues were in the PCS and were very ambivalent about joining. Of all the other young civil servants I know (spread across the ONS, IPO and HMRC), none of them have joined unions. The idea that joining a union in the public sector is "almost mandatory due to peer pressure" is in my experience not true at all. The PCS has 220,000 members, but there's 450,000 civil servants. Not sure about elsewhere - I'm sure the NHS, Transport and the Education sector are more likely to be unionised, but in the Civil Service, it certainly isn't the case. -What do Union bosses stand to gain from Britain having a nuclear deterrent? Why would they block a debate on such an issue? Have any Union bosses said anything at all about the nuclear deterrent? Legitimately interested, I've not seen any such statements myself. Is it the Union bosses who are blocking the debate on the issue, or is it Blairite MPs who've grown quite attached to the idea over the years?- EDIT: Touché, just did a googling - ignore my last paragraph! xD

[@cyb0gify]

The culture may be changing, I admit I am speaking as an outsider however my comment was based on friends of mine primarily working in the NHS. I will concede your point about the civil service not creating such and environment however I would like to make a couple of points in response. Firstly I do not believe that if a person needs union representation in the workplace and they therefore pay to join a union should without providing explicit permission a) Have any of their money given to a political party. If I wish to support a political party that is my business I should have to give money to labour or whomever i should happen to support. My wanting to ensure proper representation at a pay review or that I have organised protection for mine and my colleagues pension should not be predicated on my willingness to help finance the political campaign of Tony Blair so we can go to war in Iraq or Gordon Brown so we can sell off gold reserves. Why can't a nurse be a union member and a conservative? Or a liberal? Secondly if like to point out that this is not a new issue, historically unions have automatically signed up workers to there roster, taken money from there pay cheques and given it to the labour party. This has since been changed however all unions now have to do is offer some kind of an opt out for their members if they wish to support a political party, however on numerous occasions members have not been properly informed about or given this option. However I am not trying to bash unions they have an important role in society my question is simply that as a democratic party in a democratic system the unions seem to have a large amount of undemocratically mandated influence over what appears to be the debates help by the labour party. I think this is even more poinient when Jeremy Corbyn having been elected as leader of the labour party may become the first party leader to be forced to rebel against his own party simply because the lobbyist groups that are the unions have determined that he shouldn't be allowed to enact his campaign promise to hold a debate. The unions may if it is in interest of their members join said debate however to dictate that the rest of the party can't hold any kind of debate is a bit ridiculous.

[@cyb0gify]

I apologise there was supposed to be more beliefs in the second paragraph but the comment was becoming very long.

[@alexanderjaggers2204]

+ojc321 You're right, and this is not Socialism. It's Social democracy. It's still capitalist.

[@robertdurdin1606]

Owen, there's been a lot of comparing and idolizing Jeremy Corbyn and the large-scale public investment and nationalisation projects he puts forward with that of the postwar Attlee government and the creation of the welfare state, the National Health Service and nationalisation of industries. As I'm sure you are aware, the Attlee's administration also resided over and encouraged the creation of NATO, the development of Britain's nuclear weapon programme and began the process of rearmament prior to the Korea War. How do you resolve such incoherence in likeness and priorities, without simply cherrypicking socioeconomic feats out of historical context?

[@padrag]

Owen, You speak ALOT about why following the leadership election people need to continue their active support. You should give some time to explaining HOW people can help.

[@Jameskong96]

Owen! Could you recommend some reading materiel about democratic socialism, social democracy and maybe the Nordic model? I am enthusiastic to learn but can't find much on the subjects. I would also like to know what sort of Uni courses I could take to help?

[@mosspally6995]

Gah! Sickened I'm still not in the UK for this!

[@shacklock01]

I'm the least homophobic person but raas how camp was that guy hahahah.

[@laurach81]

Why comment on it? How's it relevant?

[@shacklock01]

Still just find it an oddly joke characteristic. True though, bit of an irrelevant comment ;p Alcohol + internet = irrelevance.

[@laurach81]

+Josh Shacklock but it's not relevant. And does show homophobic tendencies

[@shacklock01]

laurach81 yeah bit of a self fulfilling statement i made :P In fairness though, campness and gayness are, or can be, completly non exclusive. Met plenty of gay guys that are more macho than most straight blokes. Just find overtly camp men funny. I'm a dick ;p

[@yukinakayama6154]

+Josh Shacklock Which one? LOLOLOL

[@samtwist]

Did he just try to use "Kendallistas" in a serious tone?? 😂

[@flybroon]

Special Needs Party.

[@Greylin91]

grudgingly subbing here Owen...i'm not a lefty (i vote UKIP) but the output on your channel has won me over....i enjoy it. keep up the good work.

[@mc-ec3bu]

Show us where they print the voting slips (you know the special ones ).

[@mr.coolmug3181]

Lol. I'm subscribed to TheKnow. I love how Owen is just like Ummm lets ignore that keep moving XD

[@jasonds5043]

!!!Cool reporting Owen!!, But I maintain we need an "alliterative" media source than the Establishment BBC, etc! Russel with the Trews was a start, it would be nice to have a 24/7 TV/Internet station like RT does, News and Documentaries at grass roots level. I nominate YOU and Russel Plus, you must come across many that would join and help, including these new YOUNG LABOUR MEMBERS!!

[@ek04show]

Owen, I think your a strong motivator and should take the lead on organizing members especially online. Have youtube debates with live twitter feed questions etc. Just a though.

[@IsntAliceOriginal]

This years conference is going to sound so different

[@davidedwards1336]

It'll be the same old bullshite, trotted out by the same old bullshitters.

[@colingilbey9799]

I'm a bit worried about this ultra-democracy line. With such a broad spectrum of opinion agreement will be almost impossible. At some point thee has to be leadership.

[@cyohara4961]

But isn't it wonderful to see the rich parading the "Arn't we nice" card for the next election. However I do not think they will ever be able to sweep all the damage they have done, under the carpet.

[@25dimensionsfrancis42]

The conference will help destroy Labour . Labour has only itself to blame.

[@whittlepixels5633]

Gloating over this in 2020 x

[@grade8william]

why is everyone saying that blond guy is camp af? he's really not honey, believe me, he is not nearly as camp as you can get...

[@kingharryannis]

Real hope and change,Not Obomber hope and change.GCHQ is watching.

[@peterroe6233]

Phew. Almost back to the Labour party being pragmatic about winning an election.

[@agentsmith7727]

THE PETER HITCHENS INTERVIEW?????!!

[@paulinebradleycarroll7745]

As always, brilliant compassionate journalism with the touch of a Hugh Laurie...

[@andydunnchops]

The real question is how you ain't cowering after your hatchet job after brexit ?

[@MrDJmarkyspider]

david finkelstein's prediction was spot on

[@yzztzngo6038]

Hey Owen. You should post the full Hitchens vid.

[@ericlovelace6502]

0:02 Yeah don't panic Owen you managed to get the only Black bloke at the conference into shot. Phew!... aaand action.

[@gracegorman642]

Where is this conference being held? It looks like a shopping centre. Still hanging round the coat tails of capitalism, then.

[@markguest77]

why do we have to keep the nukes in subs for? why not just keep them in silo's might be cheaper

[@notdaveschannel9843]

9 months old comment but if they're in silos they're a target and could be destroyed by an enemy nuclear strike. We don't want first-strike capability (because we're not insane) but we need the ability to retaliate if we're attacked.

[@markguest77]

Not Dave's Channel don't u get a early warning system?

[@notdaveschannel9843]

First off I'm not an expert! We used to call it the "four minute warning" here in the UK but I'm not sure if it actually was 4 minutes. We can detect incoming ICBMs but can't stop them. The decision to launch a retaliation has to go through a whole chain of command so there isn't really time to get ours away before we get hit. Or that's the theory anyway.

[@samtwist]

"Look at all these great stands" "Here's one for....the EU?" We don't have a say on this! Quick move along!

[@anythingeyesay]

Vote Red Wigs : MORE LIKE AFRICA, MORE LIKE SAUDI ARABIA

[@mattpuddy4732]

Vote ZAC GOLDSMITH. Vote LEAVE.

[@sfsf4372]

Love ya Owen....you inspire the young to get involved in politics

[@Smitho94]

Confrimed Nazi, you did the salute at 2:47

[@mc-ec3bu]

He likes to live the dream but it is just that a dream....sorry

[@brumav9779]

My worst nightmare.

[@victormedlerew8545]

Nice one Owen. keep em coming!

[@SpelingBeeChampion]

Then they follow him on Twitter and see he's a bit nutty.

[@mosspally6995]

Also Owen. Still a really good series.

[@chippyjohnx7927]

Onwards to victory

[@Greylin91]

i reckon owen had a crack at vox-pox number 2 after the video....go on owen spill the beans

[@alanreader4815]

Oh LOL. Owens got his school bag again.

[@Lolalai]

Owen if you are reading, please put those Benjamin Zephaniah rumors to rest -if they are not true. Personally I would love for it to be true. Ever since I saw your fragile frame and gamine looks for the first time, I have always wondered who you are dating. Go on Owen, put me out of my misery.

[@leavesdropper1821]

Wish I could have been there

[@mirandansa]

2:17

[@TheBrazilianEagle]

Interview Steve Keen.

[@jackrichardson8556]

Hey Owen, apparently you promised to come down to Exeter Uni whilst at conference so make sure you do!

[@jamesfernie8488]

Far left tossers