Labour accreditation
Declassified Media has reported that three of its journalists were refused media passes to this year’s Labour party conference, marking the third consecutive year the outlet says its reporters have been barred from the event. The organisation said the refusals came despite its reporters seeking accreditation in line with normal procedures.
Labour’s accreditation guidance, as quoted in coverage of the case, states: “We reserve the right to reject an application if we cannot find any evidence the applicant is a working journalist or photographer with a political portfolio or working on behalf of a relevant media outlet.” The party has not published further immediate comment in the reports summarising the denials.
Security funding for mosques
In a separate disclosure, The Guardian said it obtained figures showing the Home Office issued a record £66m of emergency security funding for mosques and related community sites when violent disorder spread following the Southport attacks in 2024. The newspaper described those payments as emergency support to help protect places of worship and associated community facilities during a period of heightened risk.
The Guardian also reported exclusive figures indicating roughly £41m was provided for mosques under the Home Office’s protective security scheme for the financial year from April 2025 to April 2026. The newspaper framed both sums as record levels of funding for places of worship and community sites.
Context and implications
The two stories were published in parallel in live political coverage and highlight different areas of scrutiny for the Labour party and the Home Office: media access to political events and government responses to community security needs. The Guardian’s reporting presents the funding figures as part of the government’s response to a specific episode of disorder after the Southport attacks in 2024, while the accreditation dispute raises questions about how political gatherings assess and verify the credentials of journalists and outlets.
Neither Declassified Media nor the Labour party have provided further detailed public comment in the items summarised here. The Home Office figures were reported as obtained exclusively by The Guardian; the department has previously outlined the protective security scheme as a mechanism to support vulnerable community sites, but the reports cited are the primary source for the specific sums noted.