Three days of speeches in Birmingham have given us a much clearer picture of the state of Theresa May’s Tory party

Theresa May’s speech on Wednesday may turn out to be the most revealing of the party conference but after three days quite a lot has already emerged about the state of the Conservative party. Here are 10 things we’ve learned.

1: Brexit will be at the harder end of the scale. This was signalled in Theresa May’s speech on Sunday and – judging not least by the market reaction – it is the most important takeaway from the whole conference. Ministers still seem uncertain as to exactly what they want, but the Norway/Switzerland models (soft Brexit) are out and, although May is not planning to simply walk away and slam the door (the hardest possible Brexit) she will prioritise getting control over immigration over single market membership. Brexiters strongly object to the terms hard/soft on the grounds that they are loaded, because hard implies bad (clean/dirty is one alternative formula they prefer), but this terminology is not unreasonable. Economists believe disengaging from the single market will have negative consequences.

Related: Conservative conference: Theresa May’s speech – Politics live

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Rolling coverage of all the developments on the final day of the Conservative conference in Birmingham, including Theresa May’s keynote speech

9.16am BST

This morning we learn that Nigel Farage may still be technically leader of Ukip, even though the party announced a new leader last month. There is no danger of anything like that occurring in the Conservative party. This conference has shown that Theresa May has total control of her party and today, in her keynote speech concluding the event, May will have the chance to tell her party and the country what she stands for. She is still a relatively unknown quantity as a leader, and this will be the speech that defines her in the public mind for the years ahead.

Some extracts from the speech have been released in advance. The Guardian has headlined on May saying she wants to seize a “new centre ground”. Here is our story, and here is our front page.

Wednesday’s Guardian:
May calls on Tories to seize centre ground#tomorrowspaperstoday #bbcpapers http://pic.twitter.com/1x6cRkhfE3

Wednesday’s Daily Mail:
May savages liberal elite#tomorrowspaperstoday #bbcpapers http://pic.twitter.com/XM3UIWDcG6

Wednesday’s Telegraph front page –
May: it is wrong to sneer at patriotism#tomorrowspaperstoday #bbcpapers http://pic.twitter.com/ifX3EIJYAM

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Rolling coverage of all the developments at the Conservative party conference, including

7.40am BST

Theresa May is on BBC News now.

Q: You say your government will help people just about managing. What can you do to help them?

7.35am BST

Theresa May is giving a series of media interviews this morning. She has already been on ITV’s Good Morning Britain and Sky, and one of the most striking quotes was this one.

“Too soft then it’s going to be a bit claggy”
TMay to @piersmorgan on type of Brexit she wants?
Sadly no: type of butter for making scones.

Tuesday’s Guardian:
Hunt promises to end NHS reliance on overseas doctors#tomorrowspaperstoday #bbcpapers http://pic.twitter.com/TPcwba2kz5

Tuesday’s Daily Express front page:
We’ll get more British doctors#tomorrowspaperstoday #bbcpapers http://pic.twitter.com/vdtr9R4d6g

Related: Jeremy Hunt promises to end NHS reliance on overseas doctors after Brexit

Tuesday’s Daily Mail front page:
Soldiers’ victory over legal vultures#tomorrowspaperstoday #bbcpapers http://pic.twitter.com/55ib4KSUu6

Tuesday’s Daily Telegraph front page:
Battlefield justice for our troops#tomorrowspaperstoday #bbcpapers http://pic.twitter.com/XgmfS6IeVC

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Rolling coverage of all the developments at the Conservative party conference in Birmingham, including Philip Hammond’s speech

8.01am BST

Monday tends to be Treasury day at both the Labour and the Tory conference and today’s sessions in Birmingham are both headlined “an economy that works for everyone”. The key speaker is Philip Hammond, the chancellor, who is up just before lunchtime.

Hammond will say that he is abandoning George Osborne’s plan to get the budget back into surplus by 2020. He will say:

The fiscal policies that George Osborne set out were the right ones for that time. But when times change, we must change with them. So we will no longer target a surplus at the end of this parliament.

Related: Philip Hammond to set out his stall for balanced budget at Tory conference

The chancellor is to tell the Conservative party conference that he remains set on achieving a balanced budget, while reiterating that this would happen in a “pragmatic” way without the need for a surplus this parliament.

The scale of the deficit “remains unsustainable”, Philip Hammond is to say on Monday according to extracts of his speech released in advance.

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Rolling coverage of all the day’s developments at the Conservative conference in Birmingham, including Theresa May’s speech on Brexit and her interview with Andrew Marr

8.42am BST

Theresa May became prime minister this summer with voters having only a relatively hazy view as to what her views are. She had been home secretary for six years but she is something of a political introvert and as a cabinet minister she only gave speeches addressing matters outside her home office brief on perhaps two or three occasions. During the Conservative leadership contest she was all set to elaborate on her thinking during the final stage of the contest. But then Andrea Leadsom pulled out, with the result that only one of the series of speeches May was planning, the Birmingham economy speech, actually got delivered.

So that is one reason why this promises to be more interesting than the average Conservative party conference. Normally, if the party leader is prime minister, we already know quite a lot about them. This week, and particularly in her keynote speech on Wednesday, May has the chance to flesh out her politics and to present herself to the country she runs in a sharper focus.

Related: Theresa May to propose ‘great repeal’ bill to unwind EU laws

May and the Brexit secretary, David Davis, will use the opening day of the conference to detail plans for their “great repeal” bill that will allow Britain to “take back control” of its legislation. The bill will repeal the 1972 European Communities Act, which gives direct effect to all EU law, and at the same time convert Brussels regulations into domestic law.

This will give parliament the power to unpick the laws it wants to keep, remove or amend at a later date, in a move that could be welcomed by MPs who are keen to have a say over the terms of Brexit. The move is also designed to give certainty to businesses and protection for workers’ rights that are enshrined in EU law.

#Marr guests tomorrow: @theresa_may & Sir Craig Oliver. Papers with Matthew Parris & @GuardianAnushka + actor @dominiccoop. 9am BBC1 #CPC16 http://pic.twitter.com/allr7gmIvc

All the guests for our #CPC16 special. Chris Grayling @RolandRudd, Sir Ranulph Fiennes @jessphillips, @Anna_Soubry & @thatjanravens 10am ITV http://pic.twitter.com/fltKUbvKUs

First up on #murnaghan tomorrow – International Development Secretary Priti Patel @patel4witham on Brexit and foreign aid http://pic.twitter.com/KksejrlW6A

The view from the backbenches: Iain Duncan Smith on Brexit and benefits, and Theresa Villiers on Heathrow and HS2 #murnaghan http://pic.twitter.com/7azE6hhY2x

A special Pienaar’s Politics from #con16 tomorrow at 10am on @BBC5live with Chris Grayling, Sir Craig Oliver, @Patrick4Dales & @cbicarolyn. http://pic.twitter.com/vzFukiWFTS

Join Andrew Neil and guests live from the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham, 11am BBC1 #bbcsp http://pic.twitter.com/Sntcatps04

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Share breaking news, leave links to interesting articles online and chat about the week’s political events in our open thread

8.27am BST

I’m not writing my usual Politics Live blog today so, as an alternative, here’s Politics Live: readers’ edition. It is intended to be a place where you can catch up with the latest news and find links to good politics blogs and articles on the web.

Please feel free to use this as somewhere you can comment on any of the day’s political stories – just as you do during the daily blog. It would be particularly useful for readers to flag up new material in the comments – breaking news or blogposts or tweets that are worth passing on because someone is going to find them interesting.

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Share breaking news, leave links to interesting articles online and chat about the week’s political events in our open thread

9.16am BST

I’m not writing my usual Politics Live blog today so, as an alternative, here’s Politics Live: readers’ edition. It is intended to be a place where you can catch up with the latest news and find links to good politics blogs and articles on the web.

Please feel free to use this as somewhere you can comment on any of the day’s political stories – just as you do during the daily blog. It would be particularly useful for readers to flag up new material in the comments – breaking news or blogposts or tweets that are worth passing on because someone is going to find them interesting.

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Rolling coverage of all the day’s developments at the Labour conference in Liverpool, including Jeremy Corbyn’s keynote speech

8.01am BST

Jeremy Corbyn will wind up the Labour conference with his keynote speech this afternoon and he wakes up to a row about immigration. Last night his team released some extracts from his speech in advance and, at a briefing, a spokesman said that Corbyn was “not concerned” about the number of EU migrants coming to the UK. The Guardian’s story is here.

Related: Jeremy Corbyn rules out pledge to cut immigration

Wednesday’s Guardian front page:
Corbyn rules out cutting immigration#tomorrowspaperstoday #bbcpapers http://pic.twitter.com/FhB8oVAdB8

Wednesday’s Daily Mail:
Now Mr Corbyn’s in La La Land on migrants#tomorrowspaperstoday #bbcpapers http://pic.twitter.com/JwrlLVlCi0

Migrants make an “enormous contribution” to the UK, @jeremycorbyn tells @MishalHusainBBC: https://t.co/ghzaqUs82a #r4today #Lab16 http://pic.twitter.com/37VYyBxGSQ

“I don’t think Donald Trump and I have much in common on anything,” Jeremy Corbyn tells @MishalHusainBBC https://t.co/JZ56wHpHmQ #r4today http://pic.twitter.com/TEkHTVbDE0

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Rolling coverage of all the developments from the Labour conference in Liverpool, including speeches from Sadiq Khan and Tom Watson

9.05am BST

Labour does not feature much on the newspaper front pages this morning although, given the splash headline on one of the few papers that does lead on Labour, Jeremy Corbyn may consider that a blessing.

Tuesday’s Daily Mail front page:
Labour in la-la-land#tomorrowspaperstoday #bbcpapers http://pic.twitter.com/hjgkCbCMOs

New automated technologies are fusing with the internet, and creating models of work and jobs we haven’t seen before. Daily we hear stories of machines and systems that can do things we thought only humans could do – driving cars, drafting contracts, even composing music.

It’s been called the fourth industrial revolution – a new era of fast, technology-driven change, which we’re beginning to feel in everything we do.

It’s only with Labour in power that we can create a fairer, more equal and more just Britain.

Labour out of power will never, ever be good enough … The people who need us the most are those who suffer the most when Labour is not in power.

Our aim will be to provide the care and support for every child to fulfil their potential, and to help parents back to work. Getting it right will improve the life chances of countless children across the country. That must be our mission.

[Lewis’s] view is that the matter has been decided for the time being. But it is always open for our party members to raise these issues.

Moderate Labour MPs claim that the language used by Mr McDonnell acts as a “nod and a wink” to leftwingers to target them with abuse online.

Some of Mr Corbyn’s closest allies have told the leader that removing his old friend from his post would be the “single best thing” he could do to repair relations in the party …

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Rolling coverage of all the developments at the Labour conference in Liverpool, including John McDonnell’s speech

8.05am BST

It’s the economy day at the Labour conference in Liverpool and the key speaker will be John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor. He has been giving interviews this morning and is about to appear on the Today programme. I will be covering that in detail.

Overnight McDonnell and Emily Thornberry, the shadow foreign secretary, have announced that a future Labour government would compensate deprived regions for any funding they will lose when the UK leaves the EU. The government has promised to make good this shortfall up to 2020, but not beyond that. Labour would continue to compensate them “into the 2020s and beyond”.

For the period 2014 to 2020, the UK was allocated €10.8 billion in structural funding for our most deprived regions and communities. The Tories have given an undertaking hedged in conditions that funding up to 2020 will be protected.

For the period after, they have said nothing. That is not good enough. Without long-term certainty over funding, our most deprived regions and communities cannot plan ahead. They cannot attract other investment. They cannot make progress.

Labour will rewrite the rules of our economy to foster a British manufacturing renaissance https://t.co/Pv1u4Bfb8W #Lab16

John McDonnell unrepentant over Esther McVey attack: “You have to be honest in politics – you have to express how you feel.” @GMB

McDonnell says ‘people that ask me to apologise, go and meet the families affected by cuts. I have a justifiable anger’ , re Esther McVey

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