Unite general secretary Len McCluskey won prolonged applause from delegates when he defended his union’s role in the Falkirk constituency.

The applause reached a crescendo when Mr McCluskey asked the conference to demonstrate its support for Stevie Deans, former Unite convenor at the Grangemouth oil refinery.

Mr Deans was “a decent working man, a loyal Labour member and a trade unionist” who had been “hounded out of his job,” declared Mr McCluskey.