LIVERPOOL: Britain's opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn will use a keynote speech Wednesday to present himself as the man to lead the country, but is expected to play down the toxic issue of Brexit as he tries to unite rebellious MPs.
The veteran leftist is instead due to advance a "radical plan" built around themes of social justice and environmental sustainability in his address to the party's conference in Liverpool, north west England. He hopes it will appeal to voters, who could be heading to the polls if Prime Minister Theresa May's government collapses under the pressure of Brexit before Britain is set to leave the EU in March.
Corbyn is due to use his speech to promise 400,000 jobs in the green-energy sector to meet low-carbon targets.
He will also announce an expansion of free childcare for poor households, according to extracts of the speech released ahead of his appearance.
"Ten years ago this month, the whole edifice of greed-is-good, deregulated financial capitalism... came crashing to earth, with devastating consequences," he is due to say. "The old way of running things isn't working any more."
Brexit has loomed large over the four-day party event, causing ructions that the leader will be keen to avoid on Wednesday.
"I think Corbyn's speech will be built around the theme of government-in-waiting," Anand Menon, Professor of European Politics and Foreign Affairs at King's College London, told AFP.
With the Brexit negotiations entering their final phase, a conference spat between two senior MPs gave Corbyn a taste of the showdown looming within the party.
Shadow finance minister John McDonnell, a key Corbyn ally, and Brexit secretary Keir Starmer sparred over whether or not to hold another referendum on Britain's EU membership.
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Party delegates voted on Tuesday to support "all options remaining on the table" on Brexit, including campaigning for a second vote if May is unable to get a final deal through parliament.
But veteran leftist McDonnell went off message on Monday, saying the option of staying in the European Union should not be on any ballot paper.
The pro-EU Starmer hit back, receiving rapturous applause from members when he also veered off script to insist that remaining in the bloc was still on the table, exposing the power struggle behind the veneer of party unity.
Corbyn, a long-time eurosceptic, must find a way to reconcile his pro-EU MPs and members with the party's working class voter base, many of whom support Brexit, if he is to capitalise on May's vulnerability.
The leader kept his options open on Tuesday, telling the BBC: "What we've said (is that) all options must be considered if and when this government collapses or its negotiations collapse."
For now, the party can unify around attempts to bring down the government, the first step of which will be voting to reject any deal May strikes with the EU, which Starmer said was "increasingly likely".
May would then need the support of almost all of her MPs to get it through parliament, an unlikely scenario given her own party's divisions.
Labour has also vowed to block a no-deal Brexit, and suggested a general election should be called in such a scenario, but pro-EU David Lammy doubted it would happen.
"Most people here want a general election and want Jeremy Corbyn running the country, in the end that will be down to getting a two-thirds majority in the House of Commons, my own view is that's not likely to happen," he told AFP.
Prime minister May also told reporters in New York on Tuesday that an election before Britain leaves the EU would "not be in the national interest".