I fully appreciate the views of those Mancunian folk who did not like the fact that part of their city centre was turned into a fortress during the Labour Party conference, although given the escaltion of terror threats I suspect it has become something we are going to have to live with. However, it did give thousands of people an opportunity to see the rebirth of Manchester since the heart of the City was ripped out by an IRA bomb ten years ago. I remember going to Glasgow after it had been the City of Culture some 15 years ago and being really impressed with their city centre, and Manchester has done equally well. Of course, there are vast pockets of deprivation in parts of Manchester that you don't get to see by flitting around the centre, but as with Birmingham, a thriving Centre may at least encourage investment and regeneration in a wider area.
So it is probably even more depressing to read that the lazy arsed useless Tory Council and their little puppy Lib Dem partners were too dozy to even bother to put in a tender for such a prestgious conference in 2010.
