Not a dry eye in the house at Mandela finale

In the final instalment of his conference diary, Labour MP Ben Bradshaw gives an insider's insight into Conference 2000

Ben Bradshaw MP
guardian.co.uk, Friday September 29 2000 12.25 BST

Speculation is mounting that a front-bench Conservative MP is about to be outed. The rumours follow a report in the gay press that a group of "progressive Conservatives" - if that is not a contradiction in terms - plan to out several Tory MPs over the next few weeks. Outing is a difficult one. I tend to think one's private life is nobody else's business. But if you are pretending to be something you are not while standing for public office or if you support anti-gay laws while actually being a closet gay yourself, it's a bit easier to defend. Not according to the BBC who have banned all mention of the rumoured outing on its news broadcasts.

Hardly a dry eye in the house for Nelson Mandela. Even hardened hacks were seen with moistening eyes as the grand old man of the South African liberation struggle walked arm-in-arm with Tony Blair on to the stage. The anti-apartheid struggle was for many of us an important part of our political education. It was an uplifting end to an up-and-down week.

Brighton has a number of advantages over Blackpool, one of which is the weather. Not so this week as storm after storm lashed the south coast. The roof of one hotel housing a number of BBC folk couldn't cope. I hear World At One presenter, Nick Clarke, had to move rooms in the early hours of yesterday because water was pouring through the ceiling on to his bed.

In the aftermath of Wednesday's defeat on pensions, there was much anger directed towards the union baron John Edmonds from ordinary delegates in the hall. Two-thirds of constituency delegates supported the Government's position, but the unions won because of the block vote. This makes it even less likely that the Government will give Edmonds what he wants. Contrast that to the sensible way Bill Morris of the T and G handled the vouchers for asylum seekers issue. His grace and tact are far more likely to extract concessions from ministers.