BURNLEY MP Peter Pike has been attending Labour conferences for 41 years - including one visit in 1962 when he went as an anti-nuclear bomb activist. As the latest seaside gathering in Brighton ends he talks to Westminster Reporter BILL JACOBS about how things have changed. . .

THE most memorable moment of Mr Pike's time attending conferences came when Harold Wilson thrust a cigar into his hand and reached for his pipe when a group of well-wishers gathered round his car.

The then Prime Minister was returning from asking the Queen in Balmoral to declare a state of emergency because of a dock strike to Brighton and the young party organiser was in the car with him.

Mr Wilson was smoking a large cigar at the time and as soon as he realised that he had an audience he thrust it into the hand of the then non-smoking Mr Pike and reached for the pipe he only used on public appearances.

The Burnley MP revealed that while he attended the 1962 conference as an anti-bomb activist, he would still like to get rid of all nuclear weapons, but as a veteran MP retiring at the next election it was no longer his top priority.

His first full conference was a year later when he attended a dinner with one of his political heroes, Clement Attlee, whose 1945 government founded the welfare state.

He said that when the general election came -- as it did 12 months later -- he would only attend six meetings because of his great age.

After the applause he rose again and said: "That's six meetings a day," to be greeted by roars of laughter.

Mr Pike, 67, said: "Conferences then were very different from today. They were basically nearly all male working-class.

"There were very few women or representatives of the ethnic minorities.

"A lot of beer and whisky was drunk and there were very few stands attached to the conference.

"Now its all a lot more representative of Britain as a whole and there are hundreds of stands from businesses. When I first went they were all to do with the trade unions and the party.

"Now a lot of wine is drunk which certainly didn't happen in the 1960s.

"Certainly when I first went there were a few times when I had more beer than was wise but I tend to be much more careful these days. It's my age.

"I also think that some of the reasons that delegates end up the worse for wear is that they don't eat properly. It's very easy to go from reception to reception have a nibble here and a drink there but not have a proper meal."

Mr Pike says he regrets the advance of the media which means that any difference is blown up to extraordinary proportions.

And he said of the 1980s: "Sometimes we miss the smell of blood on the floor but we've ripped ourselves apart. It could be exciting but it could be very nasty. We had to change.

"Tony Blair made us electable and although I consider myself to be old Labour he has done more in tackling terms of poverty, helping working people and bringing in the minimum wage than Harold Wilson or Jim Callaghan ever did. The only government that can compare is Attlee's.

"I must admit that sometimes being at conference is like being in the lunar bubble on the moon of science fiction novels. The rest of the world doesn't exist and all that matters is here."

But he does have one good word to say for modern technology.

"Now at last within the bubble I can keep up with what Burnley Football Club are doing - they text my mobile with the results," he said.