Tom Watson's speech sidelined after court ruling as Jeremy Corbyn steps in
It's the landmark speech that never was.
Tom Watson found himself without a platform at the Labour conference, after he was forced to step aside to make way for Jeremy Corbyn following the early recall of Parliament.
The Labour deputy leader's Tuesday afternoon slot was taken by Mr Corbyn, who had been due to speak tomorrow.
Mr Watson said it was "only right" that the party leader's speech was moved forward, jokingly saying: "I’ll have to save the speech until the next conference."
In some quarters the move has been seen as the latest snub to West Bromwich East MP Mr Watson, after he survived a hard left plot to oust him from office earlier in the conference.
But with pro-Corbyn activists planning a walk-out protest during his speech, his sidelining may well be considered a blessing in disguise.
In his eagerly awaited speech Mr Watson had planned to draw a line under the failed bid to scrap his position by calling for Labour to focus on the country’s ‘greatest danger’ – Mr Johnson.
He was set to deliver a rallying cry to party members at a conference which had been dominated by Brexit-inspired in-fighting, arguing that by "turning on ourselves" Labour members were handing a "gift to the Tories".
Instead the conference chaos was almost forgotten, with members cheering wildly as Mr Corbyn took the stand to call for Mr Johnson's resignation.
Mr Watson had survived a call for his position to be abolished just hours before the party’s conference in Brighton began on Saturday.
The attempt was led by Momentum boss Jon Lansman, but was abandoned after Mr Corbyn intervened and launched a review of the deputy position instead.
Mr Watson has repeatedly clashed with his leader and has been one of Labour's most prominent voices calling for it to be a “party of Remain”.
His speech had been targeted by hard left group Labour Left Alliance, which handed out leaflets to delegates calling on them to show that "Tom Watson does not speak for us".
The leaflet said: "Many delegates and visitors in the hall want to walk out; others may stay and sing "Oh Jeremy Corbyn"; others want to boycott Watson's speech altogether."
The group claims to have the support of 1,300 members across the country.
The conference also saw members vote for Labour to back Mr Corbyn’s position to fight the next general election without a position on Brexit – a decision controversially signed off after a tight show-of-hands vote.
Meanwhile the Commons is due to reconvene tomorrow morning after the Supreme Court ruled against Boris Johnson's prorogation of Parliament.
