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• Blair on stage So Tony Blair is on stage at the moment and I?m sat in the basement of ippr?s hotel watching him on tv. He's already been heckled and first impression is that he sounds very nervous. from : paulmiller 28th September 2004
• The Blair-Brown dynamic - from David Charter Can't help feeling that this is all overdone. One minister stops me on the way to breakfast this morning to accuse the papers of being out of touch. But another Labour MP has a different take - Andrew Mackinlay (Thurrock) says the Blair/Brown tension is good for Labour and good for the country because it shows that Blair does not have a free hand to do whatever he wants. Domestic policies have to be run past Gordon and that ensures better decision-making. And all the coverage of Blair v Brown... from : alistairdavidson 28th September 2004
• Single Malt Politics I'd be intrigued to see the cost-benefit analysis that led the Scotch Whisky Association to spend however many thousand pounds getting a stand at Labour Party Conference.The story's not as straightforward as corporate sponsorship - a number of local authorities are also advertising their municipal wares, and some of the shiniest stands belong to trade unions. The effect is less bazaar than bizarre, with an arms race for better freebies and flashier AV. Maybe it's no bad thing, but it just... from : pauljoseph 28th September 2004
• Thoroughly unrewarding - from Chris Holt Then it was on to hear Greg Dyke lay into Tony Blair at the Arts for Labour event, with Estelle Morris sitting on the front row.“Looking forward to a bust-up?” I overheard a delegate asking as the jazz band faded and the lights went down.The chairman warned us that Estelle would have to leave early and this shouldn’t be misinterpreted. Sure enough she crept out after about 15 minutes, just as Dyke was getting to grips with the Gilligan affair: “one of the political and... from : alistairdavidson 28th September 2004
• More Brighton blogging As the posts come in from Brighton, it seems that the Labour Party itself is getting in on the act. Party Chairman Ian McCartney is one of three delegates keeping an online conference diary. from : duncanoleary 27th September 2004
• Gordon's Powers - from Chris Holt He flattered and praised his audience of charity workers and volunteers. Many of us were tireless veterans of Jubilee Debt campaigning since the mid 1990s and he told us what we wanted to hear? that we had made a difference, that we were powerful, that our long days and nights of struggle had been worth it?."On debt I can tell you that in Jubilee 2000 by your actions you achieved more in one or two years than governments acting on their own would have achieved in 100 hundred years," he... from : alistairdavidson 27th September 2004
• A tense start to conference - from David Charter The first day of conference on Sunday was overshadowed by two things - the Ken Bigley hostage drama and Gordon Brown's interview in the Sunday Telegraph which was interpreted as deepening the Blair-Brown difficulties. In the evening I went to an emotion-charged fringe meeting of Labour Against the War which had a telephone link with Ken Bigley's brother Paul. As the packed meeting listened in pin-drop silence, Paul Bigley made increasingly desperate appeals for the Labour conference somehow to... from : alistairdavidson 27th September 2004
• Conference Inside and Out - from Catherine Atkinson, Labour PPC for Kensington and Chelsea On this nearly sunny Sunday of conference, as the FairTrade protesters gather outside we inside? are almost living in a parellel universe divorced from the real life and colour of Brighton.? Outside there are drums, horns, whistles and people banging saucepans together. It was much noiser and much much more cheerful.?A very elaborate security system divides the two universes.On the inside everyone seems serious and suited and the atmosphere is formal, businesslike and efficient. While out on... from : alistairdavidson 27th September 2004
• Ballot on the Beach - from Chris Holt of Cafod On the train I get one of those lump-in-the-throat moments when I walk past a group of grey-haired ladies in Trade Justice badges and scarves, like me making their way to Vote for Trade Justice in Brighton. Today I?m not just an activist banging away at government; I?m part of a big movement of thousands of people. They?ve got the fliers and the emails and they?re here?Only trouble is the two journos in our train carriage seem more interested in the hunting protest planned for later in the... from : alistairdavidson 26th September 2004
• The full guest bloggers line-up Catherine Atkinson is the final guest blogger to join the Greenhouse for Labour Party conference. Catherine is the prospective parliamentary candidate for Labour for Kensington and Chelsea at the next election. She's also 24.Just to recap, she joins:Douglas Alexander MP, Minister of State in the Foreign OfficeDavid Charter, Chief Political Correspondent for the TimesDavid Lammy MP, Minister for Consitutional AffairsChris Holt from the campaigns team at Cafod.Plus a few postings from the Demos... from : paulmiller 24th September 2004

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