Why Are You Clapping?

All political party conferences are stage managed these days - the aim is to manipulate and control the news agenda - often to the point of stultifying boredom.

So, the best part of the Labour Party conference - so far at least - was the priceless exchange between David Miliband and Harriet Harman - during the Labour leader's speech.

As Ed Miliband declared it was wrong to take the country to war in Iraq - his brother David noticeably failed to support the sentiment.

Better still David Milliband then upbraids the former Deputy Leader - Harriet Harman - sitting next right next to him - and says:

"Why are you clapping, you voted for it?"

Harman responds - without a trace of irony - "I'm clapping because, as you know, I am supporting him."

Now the point is not the rights and wrongs of the war in Iraq - on which everyone has a view.

The point is whether people get away with re-writing history - presenting themselves as opponents of military action in Iraq - when, in fact, they've said nothing of the kind for the past seven years.

So, David Miliband's point - although he obviously never put it this way - is that Harriet Harman and her kind are hypocrites.

Because they have absolutely no compunction about saying one thing - and then doing another.