Corbyn speaks to Fabians as Dugher says unilateralism will lead to 'electoral disaster' - Politics live

Rolling coverage of the Fabian conference in London, with Jeremy Corbyn's keynote speech

• Corbyn proposes dividend restrictions on firms not paying living wage
• Corbyn's speech - Snap summary
• Dugher says unilateralism will lead to 'electoral disaster'
• Summary

2.45pm GMT

2.26pm GMT

Khan says he wants to win the mayoral election so that he can show how good a Labour administration would be.

2.25pm GMT

Khan says he will never apologise for talking about his background. This is what helps to explain how he is, he says.

He lives five minutes' away from his mum, he says. All her children live nearby. But today's young people in London have no chance of being able to buy homes near their parents, he says.

2.18pm GMT

Khan says Transport for London owns land 16 times the size of Hyde Park. Some of that should be made available for housing, he says. He says the Hong Kong bus company owns more money from property than it does from fares.

2.16pm GMT

Khan says Londoners pay 5m a year towards the cable car launched by Boris Johnson. If it cannot survive without subsidy, he will close it, he says.

2.12pm GMT

Tim Farron, the Lib Dem leader, has issued a statement responding to Jeremy Corbyn's speech.

Corbyn seems committed on ripping apart our business sector in pursuit of an egalitarian fantasy. There is an alternative, we can have a fair society and the economy to support it.

Clearly everyone who works must be paid a living wage and we must fight exploitation in all its forms, but we can achieve this without threatening our economy and making enemies of entrepreneurs and business owners.

2.09pm GMT

Q: What's your relationship with Jeremy Corbyn like? He is not on your leaflets much. Zac Goldsmith is presenting you as a Corbynite.

Khan says we can guess what Goldsmith meant when he called Khan "radical" and "divisive".

2.05pm GMT

Sadiq Khan, the Labour candidate for mayor of London, is being interviewed now by Heather Stewart, the newly-appointed new Guardian political editor (with Anushka Asthana - it's a job share).

Q: Zac Goldsmith says he will be able to work better with a Tory chancellor.

.@SadiqKhan in conversation with the Guardian's @heatherstewart3 #fab16 pic.twitter.com/ZpbhKEAJLj

2.01pm GMT

The Future left panel featured Lisa Nandy, the shadow energy secretary, Sir Keir Starmer, a shadow Home Office minister and Dan Jarvis. All three are seen as potential leadership candidates in the future and so some saw this as an early hustings event.

Awesome panel of @DanJarvisMP @lisanandy and @keirstarmer at #fab16 is cheekily being dubbed 'next leader hustings' pic.twitter.com/KIBYj0Mjjq

Now @Keir_Starmer - Labour only wins when ambitious, when we glimpse the future and then own it, with a bold, radical plan #fab16

We didn't have a bold, ambitious, radical project in 2015 that was rejected. We did not have a project at all. There has been a gap for a long time in our thinking in this party and now is time to fill it.

Only when we're prepared to push power away from ourselves will the public have trust and confidence in us, says @Keir_Starmer #fab16

Dan Jarvis says Labour needs to engender a relationship whereby people "trust us to make difficult decisions". #Fab16

Dan Jarvis: We need to diversify our political gene pool - too many white middle class men. #Fab16

Now @DanJarvisMP - our economy spirals wealth upwards, but we don't yet have a credible alternative - we need responsible capitalism #fab16

.@lisanandy: "When I was born, the self-employed made up 3% of workforce, by time of 2020 election it will be 14%" #fab16 cc @FlipChartRick

I think we've had to little to say to those people who are struggling with globalisation, but also to those people who are trying to harness and utilise it, for their own ends and for the greater good.

A challenge on this scale will require every ounce of dynamism and energy and investment from both the public and the private sector ... As Harold Wilson almost said half a century ago, if there had never been a case for socialism before, global warming would have created it.

.@lisanandy - The challenge is reaching out to people who don't agree with us yet #fab16

1.18pm GMT

Simon Walker, director general of the Institute of Directors, has described Jeremy Corbyn's proposal to curb the right of firms to pay dividends if they do not pay their workers the living wage as "completely potty". According to the Sun, he said:

This is completely potty.

It is hard to believe that any serious politician would suggest something so bizarre and damaging to ordinary people.

1.13pm GMT

Lisa Nandy tells the session that she thinks Labour needs to put the issue of proportional representation on the table. She has some concerns about it, she says. But she thinks the party has to accept the need to work with people who do not identify as Labour. She is currently working on a book on this theme with the Green MP Caroline Lucas, she says.

1.09pm GMT

Dan Jarvis has just told the "Future left" panel that Labour will not win unless it is trusted to manage the country's finances properly and to keep the country safe. That was not a criticism of anyone, he said; just a statement of reality.

1.04pm GMT

Tom Baldwin, who was Ed Miliband's director of communications in the last parliament, gave one of the best speeches in the session just after Jeremy Corbyn's speech. Here are some of the best lines.

I'll say here what I said privately then; that failing to defend our record with consistency and passion was a mistake ... [Failing to defend the party's record] has seen Labour itself contributing to a general undermining of our brand. You would not catch the Tories doing it. Look at how even in the most modernising phases they still celebrate Thatcher, and increasingly Major. You would not catch the Tories doing it any more than you would find a car manufacturer trying to sell you a new model with adverts saying all its recent cars have been crap. But that is what voters hear when three successive Labour leaders have in different ways spent their time telling the world what's wrong with Tony Blair.

If some of these people were car manufacturers, they would be making the Austin Allegro and trying to flog you that.

12.47pm GMT

Lisa Nandy, the shadow energy secretary, has finished her speech at the start of the "Future left" session. Her best line came when she adapted a quote from Harold Wilson; if there wasn't a case for socialism before, climate change would have created it, she said.

12.20pm GMT

In the panel session currently underway the Labour MP Stella Creasy came out with perhaps the most striking fact of the session: that Tony Blair never sent a single email during his term in office. She was making a point about how quickly the world has changed. To back this up, she had two other facts: that a third of divorces involve Facebook, and that she owns jumpers older than the internet.

She said it was important for the party to have a healthy debate.

"We as a political movement have to have a healthy debate" says @stellacreasy #fab16

.@stellacreasy says her drive comes from knowing somebody in her community can cure cancer, and wanting to make sure they can #fab16

Stella Creasy says she wants a nuclear free world and to achieve that you need Trident to be stronger at negotiating table. #fab16

12.10pm GMT

Here is the full text of Jeremy Corbyn's speech.

12.01pm GMT

Michael Dugher, the former shadow culture secretary, has now delivered his full speech to Labour First, a group on the party's right. As well as saying that the May elections would be a decisive test for Jeremy Corbyn (see 10.31am), he also launched a very strong attack on Corbyn's position on Trident. Here are the key points.

We should be taking the fight to the Tories and not picking another fight with ourselves. The decision to open up a divisive debate within the party about the renewal of trident is such an unnecessary distraction ... How many days are we planning to waste having a self-indulgent debate about Trident? ...

I also say this to Jeremy and the party leadership: if you really want to change our policies, pick the issues that matter to people outside the meeting halls, not just to those inside. Pick the issues where we can unite and where we can get back in touch with the public - let's not split the party and drive yet another wedge between the party and the country.

Labour party policy is very, very clear: we are in favour multi-lateral disarmament and the renewal of Trident. We make policy in the party through our democratic structures - not by diktats from the centre. You cannot shortcut the Party's democratic structures - to do so is to perform a grave disservice to our members.

@MichaelDugher addresses #Lab1st2016 pic.twitter.com/7Cs38UbSrY

11.47am GMT

At the conference we're now in the panel session with Owen Jones, Deborah Mattinson, Tom Baldwin and Stella Creasy.

Mattinson, the Britain Thinks pollster who used to do polling for Labour, has just finished her speech. And it was very bleak for the audience. (She got a round of applause at the end, but said she had expected to get booed.) Here are the main points.

Leader ratings have got every general election right since 1979. Voting intention polls have failed in 2 of last 6. pic.twitter.com/2hIBkqugTq

"Do we look like winners?" Asks @debmattinson, "I'd say not" #fab16

11.33am GMT

This is what four other journalists are saying about Jeremy Corbyn's speech on Twitter.

From Channel 4 News's Paul Mason

Corbyn: half standing ovation, half grumpy sitting ovation from #fab2016 -staked out coherent radical social agenda pic.twitter.com/HCvmmMD2RD

Section of Corbyn's speech on fairness/inequality very Miliband-esque but policy far more radical. #fab16

Corbyn hardly behind enemy lines for #fab16 speech but worth noting his delivery is improving

Most arresting thing about Jeremy Corbyn's speech was the huge reception he received from delegates both before and after #Fab16

11.24am GMT

Corbyn's speech - Snap verdict: A bit rambling, I thought, and devoid of rhetorical flourishes (not that that particularly matters), but it was very warmly received. In story terms, Corbyn did not have anything new to say beyond what his office briefed overnight. But the speech was a reminder of just how substantial the Corbyn agenda is, at least potentially. Rail nationalisation, breaking up the energy market with a focus on German-style community provision, a "lifelong education service", an extension of childcare, an extension of workers' rights, a big housebuilding programme - these proposals were all floated by Corbyn during his leadership campaign (the policy documents are still on his website) but they have been overlooked, partly because for some of that campaign Corbyn was not seen as a serious contender. Corbyn still sounds quite tentative about many of his ideas - he kept stressing that they were suggestions, not adopted policy - but they do have genuine transformative potential, and this speech underlined that.

11.04am GMT

Corbyn says his plans to give members a greater role in policy making are similar to Ed Miliband's decision to let more people get involved in selecting the leader.

Ed Miliband expanded the vote to elect the Leader - empowering members and supporters " I want to do the same with our policy-making " We all have ideas, we all have a vision for a fairer Britain and a fairer world "

Labour will be stronger and more in touch with our communities when it hears from its greatest strength " our members, supporters and affiliates.

Only Labour can offer a vision of a fairer Britain " Let's work together to create and deliver that fairer Britain.

11.01am GMT

Corbyn stresses that these are just proposals. Members will make party policy, he says.

These are all only suggestions " You - Labour Party members, affiliates and supporters - in this Hall and beyond " You will decide what our policies are " policy made by small cliques in small rooms often only brings small returns.

11.00am GMT

Corbyn floats the proposals for fixed pay ratios in corporations and a restriction on firms paying dividends if they do not pay the living wage that were briefed in advance. See 9.58am.

And he goes on.

Too much of the proceeds of growth have accumulated to those at the top " Not only is this unfair, it actually holds back growth - as OECD research has found " A more equal society is not only fairer, it does better in terms of economic stability and wealth creation.

10.58am GMT

And he says workers should be protected from exploitation in the workplace from day one.

In workplaces too we must ensure that fairness is hardwired " the scandal of SportsDirect has shocked people " So as well as repealing the Tory Trade Union Act when it becomes law, we need a set of rights for all workers from day one to stop exploitation " It was Beatrice Webb who coined the term 'collective bargaining' - recognising that together we bargain, alone we beg.

10.57am GMT

Corbyn calls for universal childcare, saying fairness should exist in the nursery, not just in the workplace.

10.56am GMT

Corbyn calls for health and social care to be integrated.

And he calls for a lifelong education service.

Creating a lifelong education service, so that opportunity is available to all throughout our lives " recognising that in the modern era we need to be able to re-train and re-skill our workforce as technology evolves, and industries change " Again this is in sharp contrast to this government's unfair slashing of college funding and the adult education budget.

10.56am GMT

Corbyn turns to policy. He stresses that these ideas are "under discussion".

He starts with the railways.

We are committed to a publicly owned railway, to bring down fares and to get investment in a modern railway - which would be governed not remotely from Whitehall, but by passengers, rail workers and politicians (local and national).

To democratic control of energy, not as an end in itself, but to bring down costs and to transition to carbon-free energy " Do you know half of German energy suppliers are owned by local authorities, communities and small businesses " There are now over 180 German towns and cities taking over their local electricity grids, selling themselves cleaner (and cheaper) electricity they increasingly produce for themselves " That is something we as Labour should want to emulate - and the most innovative Labour councils are starting to do so.

10.52am GMT

Corbyn turns to Europe.

Labour backs Britain's continued EU membership as the best framework for trade and co-operation in the 21st-century " along with the protection of human rights through the European Convention.

But we need to make EU decision-making more accountable to its people " put jobs and growth at the heart of European policy " strengthen workers' rights in a real social Europe, and end the pressure to privatise services.

10.51am GMT

Corbyn criticises the Tories for abandoning the steel industry.

Their laissez-faire attitude to the steel industry could let a downturn become a death spiral in that sector " While other governments across Europe acted to protect their industry, the Tories let ours close, let jobs go, let communities suffer.

Look across Europe and the support was there - in some cases they took their plants into public ownership to protect vital industry " they offered schemes to help with energy costs " and they have an industrial strategy and procurement strategies " They don't let whole regions sink into decline.

10.50am GMT

Corbyn is now recalling his visits to people affected by the recent floods.

Hidden among the fake concern for 'balancing the books', is the same hoary old Tory ideology - to shrink the state, to shrink fairness.

Look at the floods - flood defence schemes up and down the country cut back because of a political ideology that says the state must be shrunk.

10.48am GMT

Corbyn says the Tories have a different notion of fairness.

Theirs is the party funded by hedge funds " backed by a press owned by multi-millionaire or even billionaire tax avoiders "

Their concept of fairness is of a very different order to ours " Fairness for only a few is not fairness, but privilege.

10.47am GMT

Corbyn goes on to criticise other Tory moves that will constrain Labour.

By directly attacking Labour's funding through their trade union bill " and by cutting public Short money support for opposition parties' research, they are deliberately setting out to constrain democratic accountability.

Add to that their "gagging law", which prevents charities, unions and thinktanks from taking part in political debate near election time "

10.46am GMT

Corbyn says fair elections are under attack.

Having narrowly won the general election, the Tories are now trying to rig the system to keep themselves in power, and weaken opposition " both inside and outside parliament.

Late last year they drove through a new voter registration scheme that will slash the number of young and inner-city voters " And later this Parliament they will cut the number of parliamentary seats " The Conservatives are gerrymandering the electoral system to benefit themselves.

10.45am GMT

Corbyn says Labour governments have delivered fairness.

Fairness isn't just an abstract morality that we claim, it is something we together - as Labour - have delivered over decades in Britain.

Labour governments only became possible when everyone had the vote " men and women " working class as well as the propertied classes " It was the labour movement, the trade unions, the Suffragettes and our Party that campaigned for that to happen.

10.43am GMT

Corbyn says lack of fairness is what has driven people like him into politics.

David Cameron is burdening today's young adults with more debt than ever " Shackling them with a lifelong fetter on their ability to live independently, to rent or buy their own home, to start a family.

They don't believe it's fair " But many people believe the economic crash means cuts have to be made " Not fair, but necessary.

10.41am GMT

Jeremy Corbyn has arrived. He is getting a very warm welcome.

He says that the first hustings of the campaign took place here, in this very room.

10.38am GMT

At #fab16 - packed, chatty hall awaits Jeremy Corbyn. pic.twitter.com/KzucXSPIwb

10.37am GMT

At the Institute for Education in north London the Fabian Society conference has opened. Andrew Harrop, the society's general secretary, said it was the thinktank's best attended event ever.

He also said its membership, at 7,000, was its highest ever.

Andrew Harrop, Fabian Gen-Sec talks of a "stunned 4 months where Labour's conversation has been about itself, not the country" #fab16

2016 must be the year we look outward to the 9 million who voted for Labour in May, not inward says @andrew_harrop #fab16

10.31am GMT

Michael Dugher, who was sacked as shadow culture secretary last week, will be giving a speech to Labour First, a group on the right of the party, later this morning. Some extracts have been released in advance, and it is clear the speech will contain a warning to Jeremy Corbyn. Here are the key points from the extracts we've seen.

The elections in May are a huge test for all of us in the Party but they will also provide the biggest indication yet as to whether Labour is heading in the right direction. We will be able to see what the answer is to that big question: after last year's devastating defeat in the general election, are we getting back in touch with the country or are we moving even further away from the public?

We face a major electoral test in every corner of the country. The London Mayoral election will be extremely important. We must win in London, but it won't be good enough just to win in London. Labour has to hold onto the Welsh Government. We will also see if Jeremy is right in his conviction that his left wing appeal is the key to turning things around in Scotland. And we have to demonstrate that we are capable under Jeremy's leadership of winning new support and hundreds of new council seats in England. Any Party that really is on its way back to power nationally does so on the back of winning in local government.

Let's turn our fire on the Tories, not on ourselves. No one should be in any doubt that this is the most rotten, callous, incompetent Conservative government that we ever seen ...

I want Labour to become a party again that the Tories genuinely fear. The biggest gift that we can give to the Tories is to deliver a Labour Party that is uncompetitive ...

10.17am GMT

You probably all know this, but here's a quick reminder just in case

10.09am GMT

The conference has not started yet, but the CBI has already criticised Jeremy Corbyn's proposal to prevent firms paying the dividends to shareholders if they are not paying the living wage. This is from Mathew Fell, the CBI's chief of staff.

The idea of politicians stepping into the relationship between a private company and its shareholders would be a significant intervention, and not one that we would support.

9.58am GMT

We have not had a lot of new policy from Labour since Jeremy Corbyn won the leadership, but today he's putting some substantial proposals on equality and low pay on the table. He is the keynote speaker at the Fabian Society conference in London and, as Rowena Mason reports in her preview story, he is going to float two proposals that would put significant constraints on big business. Here's an extract from Rowena's story.

Jeremy Corbyn will show he is ready for battle with big business as he proposes barring companies from distributing dividends unless they pay the living wage, and putting in place salary curbs to stop bosses being paid many times more than workers.

The Labour leader will suggest the ideas in a speech at the Fabian Society conference in London on Saturday, arguing that "too much of the proceeds of growth have accumulated to those at the top".

Related: Jeremy Corbyn to confront big business over living wage