A bit of a barney is breaking out over Labour conference lanyards (those little strings that hold your pass round your neck). In an attempt to plug holes in the coffers, sponsorship of anything that moves is vital, and the organisers have pulled off a coup in getting a company to splurge their name all over these yokes around our necks, hurrah!

The company in question… Mr Murdoch’s Sky. Hmmm… not going down so well with some of the comrades, and the GMB union have decided to offer delegates a nice red GMB campaigning lanyard (advertising their AA dispute campaign), rather than the white Sky ones. A dilemna for delegates. Ordinarily I’d rather have a nice red union one (I generally pack a red tie, so it’d match!), but in usurping the official lanyard, would you be downgrading the value of the sponsorship, and hence the likelihood of scooping the party another big wadge of easy money next year (Don’t know how it can be worth the cash – will anyone be subliminally convinced over the week to go home and buy a Sky dish)?

So, which side are you on – white or red?

I’ve been amused by the developments in lanyard technology over the last few conferences I’ve been to – no longer a humble bit of string, but an increasing waste of time and plastic. They get more and more complex, and now they all seem to have little plastic safety break points to stop strangling you, a plastic-reinforced Y shape join, and metal swivel toggle, to let the pass hang straighter, and a plastic and metal quick release belt loop attachment, so you can stick it somewhere else if you’d rather. Plus they’re getting fatter to accommodate the sponsorship. I fully expect them to be wi-fi enabled by next year’s round of conferences.