Liz Truss's conference song was performed by the mother of a Labour councillor

Prime minister Liz Truss has taken to the stage for her speech to the Conservative Party conference in Birmingham with 'Moving On Up' playing as her intro music – a song by the mother of a Labour councillor.

Heather Small, a member of the 90s music group M People, is the mother of James Small-Edwards, who was elected as a member of the City of Westminster council in May. The 25-year-old claimed victory in the Bayswater ward, one of three Labour candidates to take a seat in the area.

He took to Twitter, writing at the time: "Absolutely delighted to have won Bayswater from the Conservatives, turning the ward red for the first time since the 1980s. Thanks so much to my family, friends and fellow candidates for all the love and support over the past few months!"

The song choice garnered much attention from social media, with the M People founder, Mike Pickering, calling the song choice "very weird!"

He said: "So sad it got used by this shower of a government. BTW Truss labour used it with permission in 90's. I don't want my song being a soundtrack to lies."

One Twitter user humoured: "Reminder that Moving On Up lyrics start: 'You've done me wrong, your time is up You took a sip from the devil's cup'".

Another said, "Please God don't let her dance", to which one Twitter user responded: "Nah, they should let her. Maybe if it turns into a massive meme, i.e. May walking on stage, more people will like her?"

One remarked: "A Tory source muses: ‘I wonder if they’ve paid for the rights this time… or M people’s lawyers are typing up their letter as we speak.’"

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The prime minister's address comes as Labour's Gordon Brown warned of a "national uprising" if Truss fails to uprate universal credit in line with inflation.

Appearing on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Brown said it would be “immoral” not to increase benefits alongside inflation, which has soared in recent months to levels unseen in generations.

"It’s divisive because we’re not in this together anymore. It’s anti-work because 40% of those who would suffer are people on low-pay in work. It’s anti-family because five million children would be in poverty," he said.

"And I think most of all, it’s immoral. It’s asking the poor to bear the burden for the crisis that we face in this country and for mistakes that other people have made, and it’s a scar on the soul of our country, it’s a stain on our conscience."

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