Tories accuse police of failing to protect conference delegates from protesters

West Midlands police blame shortchanging by Home Office as party officials report abuse and assaults on delegates

Senior Conservative officials have accused West Midlands police of failing to do enough to keep protesters away from delegates at the party conference, a leaked letter reveals.

The disclosure comes just hours after the police were forced to lock down the conference in central Birmingham for several hours after a security scare. Police say they have been shortchanged by over 500,000 on the costs of keeping the conference in Birmingham secure.