Good morning from Liverpool. Rachel Reeves delivered her speech yesterday, grinning like someone who had been shown internal polling showing that the government had overdone its “it’s midnight in the United Kingdom” positioning. More importantly, she has opened the possibility of tweaking her fiscal rules so they do not constrain capital spending.

A bumpy start, or just rather flat? Regardless, few at Labour's annual conference in the northern English city of Liverpool are enjoying the kind of celebration they expected from the party's first gathering since its return to power after 14 years.

Reeves says the figures do move around, but she does not contest the broad point Robinson is making. Q: Can you say no department will have its budget cut in real terms? Reeves sa