Shadow cabinet minister Diane Abbott has insisted the controversy over who will provide security for Labour’s Liverpool conference next month will NOT see the event cancelled. But it will only be allowed to go ahead if there’s adequate protection for the event, attended by former government ministers and a potential terrorist target.
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G4S has been present at the event for 20 years, but has recently been criticised by party figures for various prison contracts and links to Israel.
Showsec, the company bidding for the security contract, are now embroiled in a dispute with the GMB over union recognition for its staff.
It leaves the party without a security provider and facing the possibility of cancelling the conference or calling the Police in to help at great expense, because of an ongoing row with the only other provider in the running, Showsec.
Eric Alexander, G4S’s managing director for United Kingdom events, told The Telegraph that organizing security procedures for an event the size of Labour’s conference takes “up to a year in advance”.
“Security officers need to be cleared and accredited to work, detailed risk assessments made, safety and security plans with the Home Office and local police forces drawn up and supporting logistics, such as security equipment and staff accommodation, put in place”. Momentum, the socialist pressure group set up to support Corbyn, is organizing its own event that week, under the title “The World Transformed”.
The Shadow Health Secretary said party officials were “working on a solution”, but confirmed it was not possible for the conference to proceed if security could not be organised.
Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal. “Safety for delegates and our staff is our priority and at this late stage and with our teams committed elsewhere, we are not in a position to step in and provide security for the conference”, he said in a statement sent to the Guardian.
The unions are backing opposing candidates in the Labour leadership race, with Unite backing Jeremy Corbyn and the GMB endorsing his rival, Owen Smith.
GMB, which represents security industry workers, has claimed Showsec refused to formally recognise the union to negotiate pay and conditions.
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“I am astonished that we are only four to five weeks to conference and that he has not done so”. The party could hire police officers to staff the event, but at a much higher cost.
