LABOUR leader Ed Miliband will directly answer questions from Liverpool residents when the party conference is held in the city next month.

Thousands of Merseyside people will receive letters in the next few days inviting them to a special open day at the conference at the Echo Arena and BT Convention Centre.

The Labour party said people were being invited at random, but residents will also be able to apply to attend the ground-breaking meeting via the internet.

It will be the first time the Labour party has opened its conference up to non-members on a large scale.

A party source said it was hoped around 2,000 people would attend the Q and A with Mr Miliband.

The Labour party hope it will show how Mr Miliband is modernising the party and reconnecting with the public.

Last night, he said: “Many of the vital services that we all rely on are under threat from the Tory-led Government.

“Family budgets are being squeezed, young people find themselves with fewer opportunities and the economy continues to stall.

“We need real solutions to the problems we face, not explanations and excuses.