BRIGHTON, Sept 28: Stewards ejected an 82-year-old man from the Labour Party’s conference on Wednesday after he heckled Foreign Secretary Jack Straw over the Iraq war.

Walter Wolfgang shouted “liar” and “nonsense” at Straw as he said British troops would remain in Iraq.

Stewards grabbed Wolfgang and physically removed him from the conference hall, prompting another delegate, Steve Forrest, to shout out a complaint about his treatment.

Forrest was also ejected from the hall and the conference centre on Brighton’s seafront.

Labour later apologised to Wolfgang over the incident.

“The Labour Party reserves its rights to remove from the conference site people who cause a persistent disturbance. However it is clear from TV footage that the way in which Mr Wolfgang was removed was inappropriate,” a statement said.

“The Labour Party will apologise to Mr Wolfgang for this.”

Prime Minister Tony Blair’s decision to back the US-led war divided Labour and the British public and anger still remains over the conflict.