THERE have been plenty of Labour conferences at Brighton – but none like this one.

It began, not in the conference hall on a Sunday morning with the conference chairman banging the gavel but on the Saturday evening at The Level in Brighton where an estimated 6,000 fans gathered to hear Jeremy Corbyn kick off proceedings.

Come Sunday morning and the city was a bit like the battle of the bands, as rival groups of activists marched around, across and through the city (avoiding, of course, North Street) against Brexit, for the NHS, against austerity and so on.

To add to the merry street mix there were also Geordies en route to the Amex and a few, a little worse for wear, wondering where the Color Run finishing line was.

But the real crowds were outside the conference centre as delegates queued to get in for the start of proceedings.

I played hooky for the first session and went to a fringe meeting about football and politics; and how apt it was to have it in Brighton as the audience heard about the Seagulls’ struggle to find a home, about the Whitehawk Ultras and their commitment to equality and of Lewes FC’s move to pay their men and women players the same.

But the real action, as ever, was not on the fringe, in the hall or the street but on the TV screens as Corbyn and McDonnell sought to try to clarify Labour’s policy on Brexit, which, to put it kindly, is a tad unclear.

The leadership is keen that this isn’t debated this week. That’s because there’s a current stand-off between Leavers and Remainers but for how long?

Maybe Mr Corbyn can avoid Brexit this week, but sooner or later he and his party are going to have to say where they stand.

How well that goes down could decide whether he will be the next PM.

  • Ivor Gaber is professor of political journalism at the University of Sussex