Labour conference: Phone hacking is urgent debate

Labour delegates have voted to debate phone hacking at the party's annual conference in Liverpool this week.

Local parties and trade unions can submit motions on a topic of their choice along as it is "contemporary" and relates to something that has happened since July this year.

Britain's biggest union Unite wants the Labour party to set up a policy commission to look into the rules that govern media ownership.

It blames the "criminal culture" at News International, parent company of The Sun, The Times, Sunday Times, and the now-defunct News of the World, on a failure to recognise trade unions.

In addition to phone hacking, housing, jobs and growth, public services and health and social care will be debated.

There will be meetings to decide on the text of a single motion on each of the chosen subjects.

These motions, known as composite motions, will then be debated in the conference hall during the week and voted on.

Topics not chosen in the ballot included the riots in August, Libya, high speed rail and the privatisation of Royal Mail.