Charity staff 'bewildered' by ban

The leader of the War on Want charity today protested after being "harassed" and personally searched under anti-terrorism legislation at the Labour conference.

Staff from the charity had their passes taken away at the Brighton gathering. Chief executive Louise Richards has made a formal complaint, saying she is " bewildered" as to why she and her organisation were apparently singled out by police and security staff.

Labour refused to answer any questions about the issue today. However, some War on Want staff were told they were being ejected for planning a protest during yesterday's speech by rock star Bono, an allegation they strongly denied.

Ms Richardson said: "We are a reputable charity with strong historic and current links to the Labour Party. Nobody will give me an explanation.

"For some reason they seemed to think we were going to disrupt Bono's speech, which is ridiculous because he is one of our supporters and we supported everything he said about helping Africa."

The charity has always been on good terms with Labour. Ms Richardson shared a platform at the conference two days ago with International Development Secretary Hilary Benn. But she cancelled plans to buy a stand at the conference exhibition because Labour was charging ?5,500 - money she felt should be spent on aid.

A Labour Party spokesman said: "We have no comment to make."