The only way to make Labour Party conference interesting is apparently to speculate on whether Brown will call an election or not.

Brown's political sermons - starting with his school motto and continuing with his reminiscences about catching the school bus, are even more boring and filled with platitudes, than Blair's.

Yet the Labour Party conference has just tried to make itself even less relevant to its party members, if that were at all possible!

Indeed, the last tiny chink which allowed the trade unions to raise issues at the conference is to be closed. The Guardian calls this - with some exaggeration - "sweeping reforms to curb the power of conference over policy making". But then Labour conference's power to make policy was swept away already a long time ago.

And maybe talking up an election is a way to ensure that the unions keep their mouths shut about any disagreements before the vote on the final "reform" shuts them up for good.

Anyway, so far the union leaders promised confrontation with the government - starting at the TUC conference two weeks ago - has proved to be a joke, with union leaders huffing and puffing and then shaking Brown's hand and listening politely to the chairman of the CBI.

That said, there are noises being made by the union leaders about the pay freeze, temporary workers rights and the threatened closures of Remploy factories, which provide jobs for disabled workers. No doubt these issues will be raised at this conference.

But no matter how right the union leaders might be - and they are right, to make a noise (at last) on these issues - their protest at Labour conference is not going to make any difference. Not because of Labour sidelining them, but because this was never the means to change anything. Whether that now becomes more obvious or not, the fact remains that the only chance for change is in the hands of workers themselves, in our collective strength.