Conference news in brief – Sunday

Good morning, and welcome to the first LabourList daily conference brief – a brief round-up of what you need to know at the start of each conference day. For regular updates throughout conference – keep an eye on our Conference Liveblog.

Breaking up the banks – Ed Miliband has said that Banks need to ensure that there is separation between retail and “casino” banks, or Labour will legislate to break them up in the event of a Labour win in 2015. He said:

“Either they can do it themselves – which frankly is not what has happened over the past year – or the next Labour government will, by law, break up retail and investment banks.”

Labour MP Malcolm Wicks passes away – sad news at the start of conference, as it emerged last night that Labour MP Malcolm Wicks has died. Ed Miliband paid tribute to him, saying:

“He was a brilliant energy minister, he was a deep thinker about welfare and pensions, and Labour to his core. Malcolm was also a dedicated constituency MP, always putting the needs of his Croydon constituents first. He was a brilliant campaigner. The way he handled his illness tells you everything about the man. He showed huge dignity and also kept on thinking, writing and advising right to the end. I have lost a wise confidant and, most importantly, a dear friend and the Labour party has lost one of its sharpest thinkers. Our thoughts go to Malcolm’s wife, Margaret, and his family.”

Len McCluskey hits out at “New Labour cuckoos” and commits to kicking them “out of the nest” – Unite General Secretary has hit out at Blairites within the party in an interview with the Sunday Times. McCluskley also says that Unite “should only be supporting those constituencies where their vision of the type of future that we want is in line with ours,” and discusses plans to get 5,000 Unite members to join the party as part of a plan for “reclaiming Labour”.

Shadow Cabinet interviews a go-go – something of a media blitz to launch conference today. There are interviews in today’s papers with Ed Balls, Rachel Reeves, Chuka Umunna and Jim Murphy. Oh – and Ed Miliband. We may even have missed someone (let us know in the comments).