MANCHESTER was an interesting choice of location for the Tories to stage their annual conference.
They have no MPs and no councillors in that area, and there doesn’t seem to be very much chance of that changing any time soon.
It could be that the Manchester conference facilities are great, and they are some of the best in the country.
Perhaps the thought of another year in off-season Blackpool or Brighton was simply too much, but it is more likely to do with their commitment to the “northern powerhouse”.
Manchester and Sheffield are to get elected mayors because of the Tories.
The Tories seem genuinely interested and enthusiastic about the north. It is just a shame for them that the feeling is not mutual.
Yesterday, as Tory delegates arrived in the north, the north seemed to arrive at Tory party conference. In fact many were from Scotland, Wales and all over.
Not in years has a Tory party conference had such a welcome. Not since the final years of Tony Blair’s leadership of Labour has a political party’s conference been afforded such a reception. Organisers say 100,000 protesters turned up, police say 60,000.
Yesterday, most media outlets seemed to be taking an average of the two and saying that there were 80,000.
Those protesters were passionate, they were angry and they completely terrified about what the next four-and-a-bit years will bring.
There is a chance that the focus of the protest will be on the idiots who spat at journalists, acted aggressively and shouted “scum” at anyone entering the conference centre, be they Jeremy Hunt or someone working for Shelter. Those idiots are idiots. They should not be allowed to take away from the strength of feeling clearly evident yesterday.
People are worried about their rights at work, they are worried about their Child Tax Credits and they are being ignored by the government.
What separates our political parties is fairness. Each defines it differently.
Traditionally, Labour see fairness as everyone being treated equally. For the SNP it’s about Scotland and the people of Scotland receiving their fair share.
For the Tories it’s about combating the perceived unfairness of the hard-working paying money to let the feckless remain without a feck.
In their rush to implement this idea of fairness, it is the hard-working and the vulnerable who are suffering.
Look at the story of Katie Davidson, a severely disabled woman asked to survive on a pittance.
We hope Katie receives help after our article in today’s paper.
We hope that someone is able to offer her the assistance she needs to sort out her benefits and get all to which she is entitled.
The reality of Cameron’s Britain is that there are thousands more like Katie. Many will be in an even worse position. We will probably never hear about them.
They are scared, confused and left behind by a system designed to create this Tory ideal of fairness.
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