For the veteran anti-nuclear campaigner it was an annual conference like none those present could remember, jam-packed to capacity and with clutches of photographers and camera crews hovering keenly outside the entrance.
They were waiting for Jeremy Corbyn, newly anointed vice-president of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) and credited with galvanising the movement against nuclear weapons.
The organisation has seen recruitment surge since the unveiling of the new Labour leader. Michael Tunsley, who had travelled more than 400 miles from Stirling, Scotland, to attend the conference, was one of many who joined the national CND group in the last two months. “I’m not really into the cult of personality but he’s definitely increased interest,” said the 23-year-old student nurse.
Inside Camden’s Arlington conference centre all 300 seats had been snapped up. Those present had come to hear Corbyn, though the press were told on arrival that they would get no opportunity to hear the Islington North MP reiterate his opposition to the Trident nuclear weapons system, prompting accusations of secrecy from various quarters.
“The event is not secretive, it’s an AGM for members,” said Ian Chamberlain, CND’s communications officer.
Corbyn had originally been due to address the conference on Sunday before cancelling, prompting speculation that he may have wanted to further avoid stoking dismay within his shadow cabinet, many of whom disagree on Corbyn’s staunch opposition to nuclear weapons. However, Chamberlain said Corbyn was unable to speak because of time commitments.
The Arlington conference centre doubles as a hostel for the homeless. Outside, unemployed Dean Murphy, 49, who had been staying there for two years, urged Corbyn to put aside his views on Trident and deliver an ad-hoc speech on addressing homelessness.
