Cllr Iain Lindley’s Diary

Having failed miserably to get anywhere near a computer with an internet connection for the last day or two, I’ve now finally made it back home and my Conference Diary is now playing catch-up. I’m in desperate need of some sleep so this will be a little shorter than I would have liked but I would like to make three quick observations about fringe events:

At lunchtime I attended the Tower Hamlets Conservatives reception. Cllr Peter Golds and his team have done a fantastic job in East London by working hard and standing up for local residents who have been let badly down by their Labour Council, and I was keen to go along and learn from the experience they have of taking on Labour (and more importantly, serving their community) in an inner-city area with little history of Conservative support. I must confess I got a certain sense of deja vu when listening to some of the character traits of East London Labour!

In the evening I attended a debate on “the future of Manchester” with Edward Timpson MP, Cllr Faraz Bhatti and a representative from the North West Regional Development Agency on the panel. We had a wide-ranging discussion on a number of topics – unsurprisingly the TIF bid and congestion-charging featured prominently. I made what I hope was a positive contribution about the importance of MediaCity:UK at Salford Quays to the future development of the wider Manchester area – action shot above!

Finally, I must confess I did make time in my schedule late in the evening for Open Europe’s “Beers of Europe reception”. This proved very popular amongst delegates – I can’t possibly think why…

Reaction to Cameron’s speech will have to wait until tomorrow. Sorry.