Party conference season is a tiring time - usually involving lots of early starts and late finishes for politicians.

So when Boris Johnson was handed a plastic cup with presumably a piping hot beverage inside after fielding a series of media interviews this morning, he was probably grateful for it.

One aide handed it to him as they walked through the conference centre in Manchester.

And the prime minister gratefully received it, heard briefly by a roving camera saying: "Thank you - what's this?"

But after a split second, another of his advisers snapped the coffee cup off him.


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A confused Mr Johnson waved his hands in the air as he walked, grumbling "woop, woop, woop".

"Oh no - you shouldn't hold that," the aide appeared to mutter as she took hold of the plastic cup.

"Not on camera," she continued under her breath but caught by the microphones.

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Addressing her colleague who had given Mr Johnson the drink, she told him sternly: "No disposable cups."

Stewart Wood, a former adviser to ex-prime minister Gordon Brown, tweeted after: "It has been nearly a decade since I stopped working for PM Gordon Brown, and no one clip has transported me back to those days so vividly as this one.

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"Whoever the woman is who took the cup: those who did the same thing before you salute you."

Sky News understands the aide who gave Mr Johnson the cup has since purchased a re-usable one and a mug from the conference shop.

He later posted a picture of him holding the mug, saying: "I got my coffee in the end."

I got my coffee in the end. pic.twitter.com/F5cDVZHhHA — Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) October 1, 2019

Most politicians have tried to stop being pictured drinking from them, because of the spotlight on the environment and single-use plastic waste.

Earlier this year, 120 MPs took a #PassOnPlastic pledge with Sky's Ocean Rescue campaign, promising to reduce their use of items such as straws and disposable cutlery.

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In Parliament, authorities are planning to virtually eliminate the use of single-use plastic by the end of 2019.

Michael Gove committed when he was environment secretary last year to bring in deposits on plastic bottles to encourage recycling and the government is consulting on taxes and charges on other single-use plastic items.