Only seconds after the local membership delivered a stinging rebuke to junior defence minister Adam Ingram inside a party meeting intended to push what a party member called "the Blair line", a Labour Party member, some ex-Labour Party Members, students, and a passer-by trapped the minister inside his car in a sit-down action and refused to let him leave to catch his train.

The driver of the car made repeated moves to back over the protestors boxing her in from behind, and at one point nearly ran over a woman in a wheelchair who was holding her ground behind the car. Party loyalists attempted to persuade the protestors to give up the blockade, although they appeared to be more concerned about the form of the protest than the opinions expressed. People leaving the meeting cited an "extraordinary" rejection of the Minister's pro-war position by local party activists.

The minister was finally able to make his getaway after the police arrived, and fled the scene amid cries of "If you don't listen to the people, it's just a dictatorship," and "You've already killed half a million children!"

Local Labour MP Anne Campbell, who was overheard remarking that this was "the most difficult time" that she had ever faced in her political career, reportedly stayed mum during most of the meeting.

The protest took place outside the party offices on Norfolk Street, opposite the Man on the Moon pub.

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