Final thoughts on the Conference season

Greater Manchester Police and the large number of officers drafted in from other forces did an excellent job of protecting the Conservative conference this year. There was much less trouble than in 2015.

Nevertheless I think this passage from the Economist's "Bagehot" about his visit to Conservative conference is worth quoting in full, and I apologise for the use of language which I would not normally permit on this blog.

"The first thing I saw on arriving was a large army of angry demonstrators controlled by a smaller army of police, some with horses, a few with machine guns.

One demonstrator greeted me with the refrain “fuck off Tory scum”.

When I explained that I was a journalist he modified his greeting to “fuck off Tory media scum”.

Several delegates were spattered with spit.

It is a fact worth contemplating, particularly in discussions of online vitriol, that the only people who object to the very existence of their opponents, and are willing to express that objection in the form of sometimes violent protests, are on the left."

You can read the full article here.

Comments

Jim said…
The only real things I will remember are the Jeremy corbyn chants. and the fact the PM stood up to do a speech, was handed a P45 in the middle of it, then she lost her voice and the set fell to bits.

Hardly what you would call inspiring stuff really.
Chris Whiteside said…
Don't know which news channel you were watching but sadly quite a few of them seemed far more interested in reporting that kind of trivia than the rather more important policies, love them or hate them, which both parties actually announced.
Jim said…
It was not the best PM speech in the world though was it. Not a lot of substance in there to be honest. Certainly not enough on Brexit either. Very disappointing really.
Chris Whiteside said…
There was quite a bit of substance which our beloved media could not be bothered to report on because they seem to have the bizarre idea that their viewers would find the fact that the PM had a coughing fir was more interesting than her proposals on housing of student debt.

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