A shambolic ‘business day’ at Labour Party conference reveals the government’s true feelings about the City, says Eliot Wilson

Only those addicted to Sir Keir Starmer’s own-brand Flavor Aid would claim that last week’s Labour Party conference was an unqualified success. Assessments were mixed, but it was not the joyful fiesta a new government might have anticipated 11 weeks after sweeping to a landslide election victory.

There were lots of medium-level distractions: rumbling unease at donations to senior ministers, a resolution demanding the restitution of the winter fuel payment, an opinion poll showing a collapse in Starmer’s approval rating. For many in the private sector, however, there was disappointment, dismay and some genuine anger at what the Labour Party offered for the conference’s “business day”.

The pricing was punchy: leading executives paid £3,000 a head to attend and were understandably keen to mix with new ministers from across Whitehall. The world of commerce had given Labour a sympathetic hearing in the run-up to the election, seeing in figures like........

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