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Labour's conference is a tale of two tribes - with rebel MPs rallying in a pub while Jeremy Corbyn mulls another leadership victory.

So here's one man who's standing resolutely by his leader - veteran MP Dennis Skinner.

We caught the outspoken Beast of Bolsover drawing a spontaneous crowd as he called for unity at the party's venue in Liverpool.

A thoroughfare got blocked by onlookers yesterday as the 84-year-old MP held forth on Mr Corbyn, "Dodgy Dave" and "Tedious Theresa".

And he pointed out a mostly-missed line from general secretary Iain McNicol - that Labour is now debt-free thanks to a surge in membership, largely attributed to Mr Corbyn.

"That £25m has now been wiped out," he said. "Why? Because of the membership and because of all these people who have joined.

(Image: Dan Bloom)

"They have wiped out a £25m debt. We are the only political party in Britain, maybe Europe, that has got a surplus.

"It's incredible and it's time that the people in the PLP who are Blairites or whatever they call them, who are members of Progress and financed by [donor Lord] Sainsbury.

"It's time they understood that Jeremy is here to stay, he's got the biggest majority of anybody since the second world war.

"Get behind him. Tedious Theresa is worse than Dodgy Dave!

"Taking that election next time will be a relatively easy exercise for a Labour Party that's united.

"People here are united. Why can't they be in the Parliamentary Labour Party ?"

Earlier general secretary Mr McNicol opened the conference by saying times had been "tough".

However, he presented a report to conference showing Labour recorded a £4.3m surplus last year.

"Historic debts totalled almost £25m in 2006," he said.

"But after years of living with that burden, I am delighted to report that at the end of last year we repaid the remainder.

"Becoming debt free coincided with a surge in membership. The money the new members will add to our funds helps put the Party in its strongest financial position for generations.

"We have paid back the loans, we have paid off our debt to the banks. The Labour Party is debt free."