Enhanced security ahead of Labour Party conference

About 20,000 delegates and visitors are expected in Liverpool for the opening of the Labour Party conference at the weekend.

It will be held at the Liverpool Experience Campus from Saturday until Wednesday, and there will be a higher police and security presence around the area throughout.

The party's fifth successive conference in the city, it will mark Andy Burnham's first as Prime Minister.

Superintendent Pete Clark, from Merseyside Police's force operations team, said: "In 2024, we had Labour for the first year as the party in power. It definitely does change the dynamic of the operation."

"Being the government, more than anything else they then attract people who don't like some of their policies," he said.

The force worked with protest organisers to "allow them to be able to express their views in a peaceful and lawful way," Clark said.

Access to the conference would be limited to delegates, and there would be a "significant, secure footprint" around the venue.

Drones will be banned from flying in the area of the conference, and "there are many uniform and plainclothes officers aligned to this operation," Clark said.

"Anyone who sees an enhancement of police or security, I would ask that they're not alarmed.

" It's part of what we do to try and reassure you, keep our community safe and to have a smooth event," he added.

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