7 Oct 2008
Last week I spent a fascinating few days at the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham.
It was the first time that I have been able to attend a conference and I am pleased that I did because it was a great opportunity to wave the flag for Hounslow.
I suppose that in many ways these events are primarily media events when politicians try to capture our attention for a few minutes and prove that they are the best people to run our country.
Out of the view of the TV cameras hundreds of fringe meetings take place where a variety of think tanks and campaign groups open up their work to a wider audience and you have the chance to debate issues and discuss the future direction of your party.
One of the highlights for me was the Conservative Party's announcement of no to the third runway at Heathrow. This was a great piece of news that would not have happened without the hard work of many of us behind the scenes and I would especially like to thank Cllr Barbara Reid for her efforts here.
Still on the airport theme I was able to question Boris Johnston regarding his apparent plans to close down Heathrow - he has no such plans and the story was due to journalistic excessives!
We aren't against Heathrow - just its expansion! Birmingham is an impressive place where the city centre is a successful combination of old and new. Having said that it was good to return to our bit of London!
Cllr Peter Thompson
Leader
London Borough of Hounslow