Without me, they can cut crime

Conference would not be Conference without administrative hiccup and the odd officious official (which sounds slightly like a tautology).

I attended last night's We Can Cut Crime rally in the hope, among other things, of hearing the Great Leader speak. In times gone by other leaders did not attend the pre-Conference rallies, but now it has been turned into a second opportunity for a leaders speech.

Unfortunately, late in the evening as it was, it followed a couple of jars in the bar at the Holiday Inn, and what goes in must come out. So during the We Can Cut Crime movie, which turned out not to be the usual Political Slot snippet but an epic of Ghandiesque proportions, I popped to the bathroom. Upon my return the Stewards announced that re-entry was strictly forbidden, a policy which Andrew Wiseman later told me was news to the Federal Conference Committee and had probably been made up on the hoof.

So I missed Ming's wise words, and nearly triggered a bomb alert as my bag was still in the hall. Sigh! Not the ideal start to Conference.