https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/sep/30/keir-starmer-labour-conference-pass-revoked

A party without a soul, a purpose, or tolerance for dissent: that’s the lasting impression of Labour from its annual jamboree in Liverpool.

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I have been covering Labour and Conservative conferences almost every year for the decade and a half. Each year, I confront ministers with uncomfortable questions – on issues such as benefit cuts, sleaze allegations, or broken promises. This year, I questioned Labour grandees, including the foreign secretary, on Britain’s continued sale of crucial components for Israel’s murderous fighter jets. The next day, the party emailed me to revoke my conference pass, citing “complaints” about my “conduct”. It added that: “After careful consideration, we’ve concluded that we cannot continue your attendance while ensuring we meet our safeguarding obligations to all attendees.” Rivkah Brown, another leftwing journalist, from Novara Media, also had her pass cancelled at almost the exact same time.

Invoking “safeguarding” – as though asking uncomfortable questions about genocide somehow threatens safety – resembles Trumpian attempts to portray critique and dissent as incitement to violence. Nigel Farage similarly claims that Keir Starmer labelling his anti-migrant policies as “racist” is inciting violence against his party. A couple of years ago, I and a number of other leftwing journalists abruptly stopped receiving emails from Labour’s press list. Every rightwing media outlet retained its place, and note how GB News has an on-site studio in the conference zone, fuelled by a constant supply of smiling Labour ministers.

Where has this toxic blend of authoritarianism and soullessness left the party? The country seethes with contempt for the governing party. Starmer is the most unpopular new prime minister since records began in the 1980s, plummeting to depths unseen even by Liz Truss, while just 12% approve of the government’s record, compared with 70% who disapprove. As Britain’s pre-eminent pollster, Sir John Curtice, told a room of depressed-looking delegates, the party began its term in office with weak enthusiasm – securing just over a third of the vote amid record low turnout – and it was downhill from there.

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https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/sep/30/keir-starmer-labour-conference-pass-revoked