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Labour’s conference and some merchandising missteps

Steve Reed’s red cap and an unfortunate tote bag turned heads at the party’s conference in Liverpool

Housing secretary Steve Reed at the Labour Party conference. Photo: Ian Forsyth/Getty Images

Some of the merch being given out or sold at Labour’s conference tuned heads – but not always for the right reasons.

The party’s pro-housebuilding, pro-growth YIMBY coalition was flogging red caps styled with a “BUILD, BABY, BUILD” logo, playing on housing secretary Steve Reed’s pronouncement to “Get Britain Building Again”. While the hats were a deliberate play on Donald Trump’s MAGA caps, their red colour was visible from much further away than the logo – guaranteeing a lot of double takes.

HOPE not Hate were giving out tote bags, which when seen close up had a fetching “I’ll Never Vote Nigel Farage” logo surrounding the Reform leader’s face. Unfortunately, when someone was wearing the bag over their shoulder, their arm tended to cover the “I’ll Never” part of the slogan – leading to the unnerving phenomenon of people walking around the secure zone of Labour Party conference wearing “Vote Nigel Farage” bags. Oops.

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