TUC Conference: Labour accused of rigging conference

LABOUR PARTY leaders were last night accused by a Labour MP of rigging the annual party conference to avoid an embarrassing row over the Government's controversial plans to privatise air traffic control.

Martin Salter, MP for Reading West, accused organisers of preventing motions criticising the plans from being debated by slipping in a reference to the sell-off in a document outlining "approved policy".

He said the move had taken place despite the fact that the policy-making body - the National Policy Forum - had never discussed the sell-off plans.

"I am deeply suspicious as to why the NPF report to conference includes a reference to this proposed sell-off when this subject has not even been debated," Mr Salter said.

"This may be a concerted attempt to stifle debate ... by ruling the contemporary motions out of order. This smells to me like an Old Labour fix which goes against the spirit of the new policy-making procedures that many of us actively campaigned for in 1997."

Matters covered by the NPF cannot be raised as "contemporary issues" for emergency debate at the conference in Bournemouth later this month.

At the TUC Congress in Brighton Mr Salter launched a strong attack on the proposals as a "potential disaster".