Labour left-winger Jeremy Corbyn offers his views on Labour's annual conference.

Question: The conference has agreed to have the power of the unions at conference curbed. Is that a good move or something that would damage the power of conference in your view?

Jeremy Corbyn: I don't welcome this move at all, because the unions to me are an integral part of the Labour Party and that is the whole ethos of the party and to reduce the influence of the unions in the party still further is not a good move. I think we should remember where our core support and our roots are.

Question: Some people say that with the speculation about the possibility of an early election, the unions and delegates are curbing any protest that they might have made. Do you think Gordon Brown is using that kind of speculation to maintain discipline?

Jeremy Corbyn: We've been here before, every new leader wants to get through changes very quickly. Tony Blair did the same, Neil Kinnock did the same, now Gordon. And secondly, the threat of an election is a very powerful thing over conference, and I suspect this conference would agree to anything the leadership wants.

Question: Do you think that that's a healthy thing? Should Gordon Brown end this speculation one way or the other?

Jeremy Corbyn: He hasn't ended the speculation; he could have done on many occasions over the past 10 days. Therefore, one could only assume that he is very seriously considering a late October/early November poll.

I suspect that is going to dominate the Conservative Party conference as well next week. In some ways, an early poll means that we don't have the torpor of a six-month election campaign and the huge expenditure involved in that. It makes it a fairer field to play on.

Question: Many on the Left hoped that Gordon Brown would be more representative of their views and Old Labour, if we can put it in that way. Are you disappointed by the way he has approached the leadership so far?

Jeremy Corbyn: I'm disappointed by the change he has brought within the party and supported, but there are other sides of things that he has done that are good. The housing green paper and the preparedness to recognise the social housing needs of inner city areas, particularly around London, are welcome, and the fact that the cabinet government is much more operational than before, are welcome. And his constitutional changes he has proposed are welcome.

So, it's not all bad by any means, some of which I am quite pleased about. I do wish, however, he would recognise that, foreign policy is what did for Blair over Iraq, and he should be very careful about getting ever more deeply involved in Afghanistan. I think there are serious problems there.

Question: The atmosphere of conference seems completely different than last year. Is the process of renewal in government working?

Jeremy Corbyn: It is a very different atmosphere and that is, I suggest, because it is a new leader and everyone wants to give him a chance. Renewal is an easy word for leaders to use, I'm not really sure the conference is so far that different.

We're in a pre-election atmosphere even though it's only two years since the last one and therefore the conference is unlikely to do anything that will embarrass the leadership.