6 of us went to the Labour Party conference to try to lobby delegates to the conference. We found a brilliant space at the back exit to the hotel, where there were a steady stream of people coming out of the main hall. The pictures of Annociate proved quite effective. We gave out 200 leaflets in all, and some supportive people promised to copy more and distribute inside the conference. I am not particularly good at recognising MP's, but the ones we did speak to included Hazel Blears "Thankyou I will read this" Tony Benn "I will see what I can do", John Cowan (PPC for South Cmbs) "Please keep me informed". We spoke to lots of people. I also spoke on a soapbox outside the hotel, although the audience were mainly policemen- but this did lead to me being introduced to Denis Afernado who was helping to organise a fringe event on "Multiculturalism's role in Modern Society" for which the speakers included Keith Vaz, Doreen Lawrence (mother of Stephen), Pav Akhtar (Unison) Soumaya Ghannoushi (Researcher, School of Oriental and African Studies) Mohammed Azim (NAAR) Before the meeting I was able to speak to Keith Vaz, who was very supportive. He then mentioned Annociate in his speech. After the speeches I asked the first question and talked about Annociate. Everyone was very supportive. Doreen Lawrence said we could use her name as a supporter.I returned to Sheffield feeling much more confident that we can still win this campaign. But now we only have 3 days left. We need to double our efforts!
