Any other business – 24/09
■ Labour MPs have been queuing up to have themselves cast in plastic at their party conference – thanks to a 3D printer stall run by Microsoft. Shadow Northern Ireland secretary Vernon Coaker was among those who were happy to have their likeness printed out using a high-tech camera and a robotic arm. But some Labour MPs may need to work on their image recognition. “Is that John Kennedy?” asked an onlooker of a small plastic model of East Ham MP Stephen Timms.
■ Hell have no fury like a spin doctor scorned. Especially if that spin doctor is Damian McBride, whose revelations of duplicity and vicious briefings during his time as Gordon Brown’s press chief have infected almost every conversation at this year’s Labour conference. McBride’s decision to publish his book during the party’s annual set-piece event has won him few friends but he still decided to brave the critics and turn up in Brighton yesterday afternoon. However, the hard-drinking spinner has not been able to recapture his old ways: while Miliband’s spinners have been holed up in the luxurious Hilton Brighton Metropole, McBride had to fight his way through a media scrum to squeeze into a Travelodge bedroom.