There will be people on both sides, definitely some supporters of the Palestinian cause, wanting the government to go further and talk about genocide or divestment, which isn’t something they’ve done.
On the other side, possibly more muted, there are voices within Labour who have their doubts about the whole thing, and think that there will be a negative impact on Jewish communities in the U.K.
A lot of people are quite hopeful, even if they won’t say this out loud, that it helps bring the Labour Party back together on this issue, or at least starts to bring the party back together, in contrast to where it’s been a really divisive issue for at least the past three years.
London Influence Reporter John Johnston
I’ll be looking at what businesses are hoping to get out of it. It’s obviously a big year for Burnham — his first proper conference. There’s definitely this ambition among businesses to get more of a sense of what Labour under Burnham is going to do for them.
Monday’s business day — where Chancellor John Healey is due to do a behind-the-scenes Q&A — is always a big deal, because that’s when all the chief executives come in. The people who don’t spend any time anywhere else in conference, they’re shepherded in, they do this big program, and then they leave.
There have been struggles with engagement. Obviously, we’ve now got another prime minister, and I think they’re champing at the bit to say, okay, we really need to get a sense of the plan here.
