Over the years, I have been to dozens of party conferences across all the political parties. Given the opportunity, I have always tried to speak up for local government and local economics. However, in an oppressively centralised democracy, economy and media, this is a minority sport.
When a group of Manchester schoolchildren were asked by workers in their Big Local partnership what equipment they wanted in their local park they asked for a zipwire. The workers didn’t consult their lawyers or Health and Safety handbooks, they talked to the council and agreed that if the kids wanted a zipwire they could have a zipwire.