Change has begun for Labour however the get together is already battling a temper of despair

Labour should have been looking forward to the conference in Liverpool. This should have been the moment when the party came together to toast a resounding ­election victory after 14 years in the wilderness.

There will be some celebrations but you cannot avoid the unease which has accompanied delegates as they arrived at Lime Street. They were expecting the government would enter choppy waters at some stage but nobody imagined it would happen so soon.

It is hardly an ideal start to conference when Keir Starmer is having to defend his fondness for freebies and deny claims he has lost control of Number 10. His allies are rightly indignant at the cant of his right-wing critics who turned a blind eye to freeloading by Tory PMs.

But Labour should not only expect to be held to higher ­standards, it should want to uphold higher standards. This government was voted in partly because its supporters had expectations Labour would conduct themselves with an integrity that has been sorely missing for 14 years.

It should have been obvious to Downing Street that it is a terrible look to be pocketing more than £100,000 worth of tickets, dresses, glasses and gifts when you are taking money off pensioners worried about how they are going to heat their homes this winter.

Add the downbeat message on the economy and it’s no surprise that the sunshine is struggling to break through the clouds in Liverpool. The conference slogan is “change begins” but Labour is already battling a mood of despair which opponents stand ready to exploit.

Reform, which took so many Tory votes in the election, now has its sights on Labour. Nigel Farage’s anti-immigration message resonates most strongly among those who have seen no improvement in living standards and whose communities lack decent housing and public services.

This, in part, explains why Starmer travelled to Italy to pick Giorgia Meloni’s brain on how to deal with illegal immigration. But his Roman holiday caused a lot of disquiet among those who believe the party is putting pragmatism before principles.

When it was put to Starmer there was too much doom and gloom, he rolled his eyes. He is well aware the Government needs to inject optimism into its narrative. When he gives his speech on Tuesday he could do worse than remind members of the difference a Labour government can make.

They don’t just want to hear some hope, they also want Labour to be a bit more, well, Labour.