Don't get drunk and beware of Tory spies: The rules of Labour party conference
Labour MPs have been warned to keep an eye out for undercover Tories at the upcoming party conference, as well as to lay off the alcohol to avoid public embarrassment.
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In brief…
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- The Labour Party conference runs from 22-25 September in Liverpool, the first it’s held since winning the July general election.
- MPs have been warned about hitting the bar too hard, and that there will be ‘spies’ from the Conservatives looking to record incriminating evidence on Labour MPs.
- Only 100 MPs will be allowed to attend the Prime Minister’s speech at the event, which The News Agents describe as an “odd” move.
Labour MPs head to Liverpool this weekend for the party's annual conference – but they do so with a strict set of rules from the top dogs in the party.
Those rules are simple: Don't get drunk, don't make a fool of yourself and keep an eye out for Tory spies.
It is an unwritten rule in UK politics that party conferences are attended by undercover representatives from the opposing party to gather evidence that can be passed onto newspapers, or squirrelled away to use as ammo at a later date.
"At the Labour conference next week, there will be at least two Conservative Party spies who turn up to just wander around with a little recording device," Aggie Chambre, political correspondent for LBC tells The News Agents.
"They'll be trying to get into little meetings and corners of conference, recording and then leaking that to the papers."
It's a tactic known to be used by both the Tories, and Labour.
"It used to be the case that they would do this completely undercover," Aggie says.
"Now, because they both just do it, they just say, 'okay, yeah, fine. Who are the people you're sending as spies?'"
She adds that at Tory Party conferences, there are photos of the Labour spies on a wall behind the scenes, so members can know who to look out for – and avoid.
During the 2024 election campaign, it's believed that Labour handed out 162 recordings made at the previous Conservative Party conferences, a number Aggie describes as "extraordinary".
"Maybe MI5, MI6, the KGB and the GRU should go to the Labour Party conference and find out how to spy properly," jokes Jon Sopel.
Then, there's the drinking.
Warning MPs not to get drunk and embarrass themselves, Jon believes, is "patronising".
"Surely, these are adults. These are elected members of parliament," he says.
"If they want to go and get drunk, they should be allowed to get drunk."
But Emily Maitlis thinks the party has a "duty of care" towards its newly elected MPs, many of whom are working in frontline politics for the very first time.
"It's a really heady, crazy, odd experience," she says.
"You are buffeted around by people telling you you should be doing things and not really having a guiding steer on what that is."
But there may be some MPs who find they have time on their hands for a drink at the Liverpool conference, because not every MP will be allowed into the main hall for Keir Starmer's speech.
This move strikes Jon as "odd".
"I thought you would want to show this enormous phalanx of MPs who have all made it to Parliament as part of your success story," he says.
Only 100 Labour MPs will be permitted to attend this year, a number Aggie feels may be just enough to show a "supportive momentum" for the new government.