Conference diary
Picture: Getty Images
After standing for half an hour listening to the messages from the stage, we spotted a couple of spare seats on the floor. Creeping forward we were disappointed to find they had 'reserved' labels on them.
"Is there anyone using this seat?", I ask. "Oh yes," comes the reply and we sling back to stand in the shadows.
The next time we look, David Cameron is smiling from the very seats we were trying to pinch.
The mantra this Conference, like the last, is 'don't get caught drinking champagne'.
We are in times of austerity and newspaper pictures of toffs quaffing fizz won't go down well.
I haven't seen any corks popping myself, although the bars are more than busy. The overspill on the pavement outside the conference hotel, The Hyatt, is running into the hundreds.
But one MP told us in the hotel bar that the rule only held for Ministers - mere members didn't matter. No one's offered me a flute yet though.
George Osborne announced to the nation yesterday that he is to end the universal benefit of family allowance, one of the cornerstones of the welfare state established in 1945.
It seems that the last to know of these momentous plans was the deputy leader of the coalition, Nick Clegg.
While being interviewed on radio yesterday he decided he was not well briefed enough to make a comment.
Welcome to the political blog for the East. I'm Deborah McGurran, the Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú's Political Editor for the region. From Lowestoft to Luton, this is the place for politics with an eastern twist.
Comment number 1.
At 6th Oct 2010, john wrote:As a Brummie relocated here in the East I know that the Conference Hall is but a few moments walk from the Birmingham Hall Of Memory . In this place is written the names of all those Birmingham people who died in the wars since 1914 , the pages turned once each day . That he should use the phrase ' Your Country Needs You ' is questionable in these circumstances . The embargo on 'Champers' only serves to remind that whilst the 'Lions led by donkeys' were dying in France the donkeys were making sure that they were al-right . So history repeats itself .
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Comment number 2.
At 6th Oct 2010, john wrote:hello Deborah
There must be some other comments on your pieces - or is it so entrenched in Blue policies that no one ever says anything ( this region I mean) .
Be controversial - put out a piece that outrages someone other than me...
Off to bed now
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