Labour denies trying to drop Clause Four

LABOUR leaders yesterday denied that a change in the party's rule book was aimed at quietly abandoning its commitment to nationalisation.

Although the party's constitutional commitment to nationalisation is likely to be watered down or dropped in the long term, the revision of the rule book, agreed by the party's national executive, is intended to make the rules 'intelligible', one senior party source said. 'Dropping Clause Four (on nationalisation) would need a full conference debate. That is not what this is about.'