The Labour Party Conference was in Liverpool this year. I arrived in this wonderful city a week ago. The last time I visited Liverpool was in 1988. I went to Liverpool with my Gran to buy my 18th birthday dress. I bought a beautiful one, I remember it well. My 18th birthday is significant to me because it was the last time I saw my 19 year old brother. A month later he died. You see Liverpool brings up all those emotions. It is close to my heart.
Yet not only was it significant in 1988 but in 1894 my great, great grandfather and his eldest son sailed from Liverpool. They were going to the USA because their family was poor and they had that spirit to go looking for gold. They sailed from Princes Dock, which just happened to be where our apartment was situated.
I didn’t know this when I booked our apartment. Let’s just say it’s one of those connections in life. It was my great, great grandfathers son that fought in Gallipoli. It was his son, my grandfather who fought for the rights of miners when he became vice president of the Lancashire National Union of Mineworkers. That spirit entered my Mum as she battled and survived Breast cancer twice.
So here am I, and that is why I joined Labour. To me Labour is the only political party that has that fighting spirit. It’s at it’s core. Labour was born from the Union movement, the movement that united people to fight for workers rights.
We fought for a NHS, we fought for the minimum wage, we fought for rights for people, we fought for equality.
So Liverpool was the city where Labour re-discovered it’s fighting spirit . It re-discovered it’s core values .
It has re-founded and it will grow from strength to strength because it is only party that will fight for the people.
Tories should be scared because once we have re discovered our core values, our Fighting spirit there is no political movement like ours.
