Toughest of the tough...

There is so much "tough talking" at Labour conference that I'm starting to feel a bit intimidated.

You can't walk around a corner without a furrow-browed party member jumping out and vowing to fight the Tories to the death.

The most recent offender was Lilian Greenwood, the candidate who will fight to hold Alan Simpson's Nottingham South seat for Labour.

Mr Simpson - whose own tough talking against the Labour leadership has been key to his popularity - will step down at the next election.

If polls this week are anything to go by, which show the city seat as a Tory gain, Ms Greenwood has a fight on her hands.

In her address to conference today she claimed the party had changed the world over the last ten years and praised the Government and city council - and swore, steely faced, to stop the Tories coming back.

The question is whether the people of Nottingham South will mind being represented by someone who talks tough in a different direction.

Joseph Watts
Parliamentary Correspondent