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The RSPCA’s fringe meeting was one of the best attended of Monday evening. Was this because of a burning desire to protect animals? Well, not quite. The conference guide, which advertised the night as “RSPCA free beer and curry night” may have had rather more to do with it. The delegates ran en masse for [...]

The curse of the Milibands’ identity continues to haunt the Cabinet brothers. People just can’t stop mixing them up. Ed regaled delegates attending the Tribune/Compass/Unison rally about Unite’s Tony Woodley seeing double after too many Milibands in one day. He went up to Ed with an apologetic: “David, David, I’m really sorry for calling you [...]

The writing’s on the wall. For the first time in its history the Labour Party did not have a conference bookstall in Bournemouth. It might be in keeping for a leadership which has effectively delivered the last rites to the party conference by abolishing meaningful debate to despatch with reading, life essence of socialism and [...]

Now that Charlie Whelan is taking up a top communications job with Unite, the former Gordon Brown spin doctor had better work on his powers of influence or improve his contacts in higher places. Attempting entry to the TULO reception, a pretty vital destination for anybody with a prospective job in the trade union movement, [...]

Among the numerous stalls at conference (and near one intriguingly named “Respect animals – boycott Canada”) is an expensive looking stand for an organisation called the Association for Better Living and Education – or ABLE. Boasting of its “Narconon” anti-drug therapy and “Applied Scholastics” educational programmes, the group seems to have impeccable credentials, and claims [...]

Dorset Police, ineffably polite to the men in suits going in through the front door of the Bournemouth International Centre, were rather less respectful of the disabled men and women bringing up the rear of the well-attended Remploy march on Sunday afternoon. Mounted police – reminiscent for those with long memories of Orgreave – and [...]

More proof, if any were neeeded, of Ed Balls’ omnipresence. (He is also rumoured to be omnipotent, but this remains unconfirmed.) The hard working minister turns out to have been speaking at two entirely separate meetings – at exactly the same time on Sunday. If that’s how hard he works at the weekend, we can [...]

Brian Wilson and Richard Caborn share fond reminiscences of when CND supported nuclear power and Tony Benn donned lab coats and preached the gospel of plutonium. Wilson, who was energy minister before the last election, now does the same (for the private sector). So he was keen to distance himself from the 2003 energy white [...]

Tribune has uncovered further exciting news about how the next general election is being planned. Stage 1: A tireless, ebullient Neil Lawson appears at the Unison/Tribune/Compass rally and tells delegates that Douglas Alexander has asked him what date might suit him. Stage 2: Within hours, Gordon Brown bounds onto the podium at the Usdaw reception [...]

A GRATIFYING report from a university across the Atlantic has come to Tribune’s attention. It turns out that on a range of measures of intelligence, adaptation to change and judgement, self-identified liberals consistently score better than conservatives.