Tweet or dare at Labour conference
Updated on 29 September 2009
Labour MPs take the Twitter-box quickfire challenge - up against the clock to answer questions sent in via Twitter.
Six Labour MPs all took the challenge at the Labour conference in Brighton.
Click here to find out who took the challenge at the Conservative conference.
Sat in our specially constructed "Twitter-box", each had to answer a quickfire series of questions (sent in via Twitter) before the buzzer sounded.
If you have a question you want the next MPs to enter the Twitter-box to answer then send it via Twitter, tagged #c4quiz.
Angela Eagle MP
Angela Eagle said the war in Afghanistan will end "when there is an agreement to ensure the Afghan people can look after themselves in a democratic way".
The MP for Wallasey said she goes up to her constituency almost every weekend because her constituents "teach me what is really going on on the ground and then I can go back and apply that as a minister in the government."
"We have to ensure that bonuses actually represent real value to the company and aren’t just some sort of gambler's stake," the Treasury minister said.
Eric Joyce MP
Eric Joyce, who resigned as a ministerial aide to the defence secretary over the way British forces are being treated, said "we have to have a limited commitment" to the war in Afghanistan.
"You shouldn't be able to win power just because people think you are the best of a bad bunch," he said. "You need to be putting forward great ideas that excite and enliven people."
He said "we have to move beyond" the scepticism of the expenses scandal, and enthusing people was about ideas.
He described his political career in three words saying "more to come".
Peter Hain MP
Peter Hain said the war in Afghanistan will be ended by transferring security to the local Afghan forces "to make sure we can leave it safe and sound and then withdraw our troops in an orderly way."
"We want to stay in power to protect Britain," the former cabinet minister said, adding that he believed Labour could win the next election. "I think we have got a proud history and we need to fight on that".
He said his achievements in his political career as "fighting for justice".
Kerry McCarthy MP
Kerry McCarthy said the expenses rules had been "very much tightened up" and she stopped having a flat in London over the summer.
Vegan McCarthy said a litre of soya milk was 89p, agreed people should eat less meat to improve their carbon footprint and explained she'd only eaten a bag of crisps because of her diet.
She said management consultants were not a waste of public money "but you have to keep a very tight reign and control over what you do engage them to consult on".
The Labour "Twitter czar" said they were very excited about Facebook and Twitter for the next election to "have a two-way conversation".
Sion Simon MP
Sion Simon said the rules on expenses had changed so "in that sense" he had changed what he claimed for on his MPs' expenses.
He said he thought people should "make their own contribution to reducing their carbon footprint" and "should eat meat as they see fit".
"Management consultants can be very useful," he said. "But it is possible to waste a lot of public money with management consultants."
He illustrated his dissatisfaction with the conference catering saying "I just paid £3.35 for one cup of black coffee."
Tom Watson MP
Tom Watson said he would like the number of people who voted for him at the last election to go up, "but I suspect it might go down a little bit".
The former Cabinet Office minister said he was claiming less on his MPs' expenses. He gave being on WeightWatchers as a reason he should eat less meat. His verdict on the conference catering was that it was "dreadful".
"The very bad" management consultants are a waste of public money, he said, and that "the benefits of social media might just miss this election campaign, although lots of activists are using it to talk to people locally".
He said you tackle the perception that there is one rule for the political class and another for the rest through "deed not word".
