Conservatives Told To Hide Conference Passes When Walking Around Manchester

David Cameron makes his speech at last year’s Conservative Conference/Rex

Conservatives attending their annual party conference this weekend have been advised to hide their passes when walking around Manchester.

Worried about the threat of hostile protest, Tory bosses have told activists to exercise caution when venturing outside the security ‘ring of steel’ surrounding the Manchester Convention Centre and Midland Hotel where the conference will be held.

Party chairman Lord Feldman sent an email to people attending the conference telling them it was “particularly important” this year to take their Conservative branded identification badges off in town, due to “safety concerns.”

The TUC and People’s Assembly are both planning protests against government’s spending cuts, The Independent reports. Manchester has particularly suffered from the Conservative’s austerity programme - ten borough councils are facing a a £285m budget reduction this year alongside £1.2bn austerity since 2010.

“You may be aware that a protest march planned by the TUC will take place on Sunday 4th October to coincide with the start of our Conference,” Lord Feldman wrote.

“The march will pass close to the Conference venues and I wanted to let you know that there may be road closures and potentially some local travel disruption on the day.

It will be particularly important not to wear your Conference security passes outside the secure zone. I am, as ever, grateful to Greater Manchester Police for all their efforts to put in place measures to secure the smooth running of Conference.”

The conference will be held at the Manchester Convention Centre/David Dixon for Creative Comms

The TUC’s march is planned to conclude with a rally near the Tory Conference, in response to a planned Conservatives clampdown on trade union rights, while the People’s Assembly group has also called a national week of action against austerity cuts during the conference.

A message on their website states: “We will send a clear message that austerity has failed and we demand policies that benefit the majority and not just the few at the top.

“The Tories will be coming to Manchester and taking over the city centre with exclusion zones, security fences & walls of steel. The People’s Assembly is organising a series of actions, protests, demonstrations, political meetings & cultural events every single day the Tories are there - we want to Take Back Manchester!”

The majority of MPs in Manchester are Labour, with just a handful of Conservatives representing the area. Every one of Manchester City Council’s 96 councillors are from the Labour party.

This year’s Tory party conference will be held at Manchester Central convention centre and the Midland Hotel from Sunday October 4th to Wednesday 7th.