Fall asleep in England. Wake up in Singapore. For three men yesterday, two incidents at England's Labour Party conference must have felt somewhat like the British Airways commercial. Not so much to do with the new Club Class soft beds than the political-police atmosphere. One amateur photographer was taking pictures of the queues while another made an attempt to heckle (a common sight in such conferences in the past I believe) during the conference, accusing Foreign Secretary Jack Straw of lying over Iraq. In both cases, security prompty and efficiently went Singapore on their asses.

BBC News: "Mr Mitchell, a keen amateur photographer, was taking photographs of the queues when stewards demanded to know what he was doing.
He said: "The police were called over and asked if they could look at my pictures. I said of course they could but I did not want the pictures deleted.
"I kept repeating that I did not want the shots deleted and the police officer said it was alright because he didn't know how to use the camera.
"After he handed it back to me I found he had deleted every picture. This is security gone mad. And what's the point."

"The latest incident came on the day serious complaints were made over the heavy-handed way an elderly heckler was bundled out of the conference hall after accusing Foreign Secretary Jack Straw of lying over Iraq.
Walter Wolfgang, who is in his 80s, was grabbed by two security officers and removed from the main hall.
Another man who then attempted to complain about the treatment was also lifted from his feet and ejected.
"They claim it is all about security, but it is really to cover up the chaos and shambles the security is causing," said Mr Mitchell.
The security officers' behaviour was condemned as "very heavy-handed" by Labour MP Linda Riordan, whose own attempt to have Iraq debated was blocked by conference organisers."

Well, it's better than falling asleep England and waking up Germany 1941 anyway.  ¶ posted by Jon at 7:15 PM