Steerpike Steerpike

Derek Hatton makes a return to Labour conference

Earlier this month, Derek Hatton told Mr S of his dismay after the former deputy leader of Liverpool Council’s application to attend this year’s Labour conference was denied. Although he had just wanted to attend in the capacity of a journalist, the former Militant member — who was expelled from Labour 29 years ago — was told this was not possible:

‘The Liverpool Echo asked me to write a conference diary but I was told two weeks ago the application had been declined. It wasn’t even for a political journal – it was for the Liverpool Echo. It’s not surprising though with the way the party are excluding people at the moment.’

Now with Corbyn’s mandate increased it seems times are a’changing. Labour HQ have performed a u-turn and issued Hatton with a press pass for the event:

While Mr S looks forward to reading Hatton’s conference diary, Steerpike hopes Hatton has a quieter conference than he did back in 1985. At the event, Neil Kinnock used his speech to condemn Hatton’s Labour council for wreaking ‘grotesque chaos’ in Liverpool by ‘hiring taxis to scuttle round a city handing out redundancy notices to its own workers’.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWLN7rIby9s

Vive la Revolution!

Steerpike
Written by
Steerpike

Steerpike is The Spectator's gossip columnist, serving up the latest tittle tattle from Westminster and beyond. Email tips to steerpike@spectator.co.uk or message @MrSteerpike

Topics in this article

Comments