Industry chiefs have demanded that plans to introduce charges for journalists attending political parties’ conferences are scrapped.

An “alliance of media and free speech organisations” have united to call for a reversal of the policy, which they have dubbed a “tax on democracy ” and believe will have a “particularly profound impact” on smaller outlets and local journalists.

The Conservatives have imposed a charge of up to £1,250 on media personnel, depending on when they book their place at their forthcoming October conference in Birmingham, with a mininum charge of £125 for those who met an ‘early bird’ deadline of 12 June.

Labour is also advertising a “voluntary charge” of £5 on its website for journalists attending its Liverpool conference in September.

An open letter on the issue has been published today by signatories including the National Union of Journalists, News Media Association and Society of Editors.

It states: “Our organisations, representing print, online, and broadcast media and free speech organisations object to the introduction of charging for media access to the party conferences this autumn.

“A fundamental tenet of a free and democratic society is the principle of open government, and we believe this is best served by enabling journalists to freely report on matters of public interest and to stimulate political debate.

“For any political party to restrict fair access by charging newsgatherers to attend conferences flies in the face of their public commitments to press freedom.

“While we understand staging welladministered and secure events is costly, the news industry already contributess ignificantly by putting its reporting teams on the ground, backed by newsroom operations.

“Admission fees, such as the £125 imposed by the Conservative Party, could have a particularly profound impact on freelance journalists, smaller outlets, local journalists and foreign correspondents.”

“We therefore call upon party conference organisers to commit to enabling a free press to inform society by withdrawing any charges on journalists to attend conferences.

“Any such attendance fees are a tax on democracy, organisers must scrap the media access charges now.

Labour’s voluntary fee is listed as a ‘carbon offsetting charge’ on its website.

A Conservatives spokesman said: “A modest charge was introduced this year to discourage over-accreditation by some media outlets.

“At one recent conference several thousand people who applied for free media accreditation failed to collect their passes, generating large amounts of paper and plastic waste.

“Furthermore, in previous years, police security checks for non-attendees have cost the party tens of thousands of pounds. We do not believe members and other attendees should subsidise this.

“There are a range of exemptions on offer owing to the challenging financial situation many local outlets face and logistical uncertainties for broadcasters. The conference can also be viewed free of charge online.”