Are elite planning attack on M'chester..Labour conference?

[mason-free party]

Thought it abit strange that they have switched the conference away from the seaside resorts...a few years ago the GMEX centre was bombed supposedly by the IRA...history to repeat?

by Matthew George
_____________________________________
Published on May 25 2006

© Howard BarlowNORTH WEST ENQUIRER EXCLUSIVE

SECRET plans to protect Tony Blair from Al Qaida terrorists at this year’s Labour conference in Manchester have been revealed in an astonishing security blunder.


The documents – mistakenly left in a city hotel – list ways in which terrorist groups may try to kill the Prime Minister and other senior politicians attending the five-day conference at the G-Mex Centre.

The “attack scenarios” put forward include a car bomb, a mortar attack, use of rocket propelled grenades and July 7-style suicide bombers.

Measures to boost security, including the safest rooms in which to put the most important guests, are all described in detail.

And a map reveals the boundaries of so-called “Tony Town”, the area around which a ring of steel will be erected and only security-cleared pass holders allowed to enter.

The documents were obtained by The Enquirer after being found in a guest area at the Midland Hotel, which is next to the G-Mex Centre.

Compromise


Anyone could easily have removed them, copied them or sold them. We have handed over the files to Greater Manchester Police, having assured officers that nothing will be published that may compromise security for the September conference.

But although the file is now in safe hands, the unbelievable blunder by whoever left it in the hotel is a severe embarrassment to Manchester, which fought off bids from other towns and cities to host the money-spinning Labour party conference for the first time. More than 20,000 MPs, delegates, journalists and lobbyists will attend.

Furthermore, the eyes of the world will be on Manchester as Mr Blair is expected to reveal when he intends to quit Downing Street after nearly a decade in power.

The folder of documents includes the minutes of a “contingencies sub-group”, comprised of representatives from the police, Manchester City Council and hotels close to the GMEX.

Stamped 'Restricted', they describe the police's opinions on previous assessments of the various dangers and the need to update "key task action plans".

Confidential


Potentially even more damaging is a separate document, marked 'Confidential', which lists "suggestions for deflecting and mitigating the effects of terrorist attack on the Midland Hotel".

The "attack scenarios" revealed are:

Internal device/suicide attacker;
External hand placed device/suicide attacker;
Car bomb;
Small van to large lorry bomb;
Improvised mortar;
RPG (rocket propelled grenade);
Among the improvements demanded are action to remove or block up post boxes and litter bins, better staff training, decisions on evacuation areas to be used and restrictions on public access.

The folder also includes a number of handwritten documents, some of them likely to have been notes from the contingencies meeting.

They include reminders of action to be taken, and telephone numbers - including the mobile phone number - of one of the police officers involved in the security operation.

Brighton


Party conferences have been recognised by the police and security services as a prime terrorist target ever since the IRA attack on Margaret Thatcher at the 1984 Conservative conference in Brighton.

The then-Prime Minister narrowly escaped death because she was in her bathroom when the 100lb bomb exploded, but five people, including an MP, were killed.

Afterwards, an IRA statement read: "Today we were unlucky, but remember, we only have to be lucky once; you will have to be lucky always."

Seven years later the IRA also made a spectacular attempt on the life of Mrs Thatcher's successor, John Major, firing three mortars at 10 Downing Street from a stolen van parked in nearby Whitehall.

The attack, on February 7, 1991, saw one of the bombs exploding in the back garden of Downing Street, but although it shattered windows no one was hurt.

The IRA also struck in the North West in the 1990s, detonating the Warrington bomb in 1993, killing Jonathan Ball, aged three, and Tim Parry, 12, as they shopped with friends and family, and also targeting gasometers.

And in 1996 the Arndale Shopping Centre in central Manchester was devastated, causing 200 injuries and millions of pounds of damage that took years to rebuild.

Breakaway groups


The IRA threat has diminished in recent years since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, although there are still concerns about breakaway groups such as the Real or Contingency IRA.

But prompted by the attacks on the US on September 11, 2001, the security forces have focused mainly on Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda network.

And the July 7 suicide bombings in London last year highlighted the danger from British-born fanatics unknown to the security services.

So preparations for this year's Labour conference, which begins on September 24, will be painstaking.

Security will be tighter than ever, with the authorities having to balance the disruption to a large area of the city centre with the need to protect Mr Blair and other VIPs.

There are sure to be thousands of protestors present, campaigning on issues ranging from withdrawing troops from Iraq to pensions and the Private Finance Initiative to council tax.

Free speech


After last year's embarrassment when an elderly CND member was manhandled and dragged from the conference hall for heckling the then Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, the Labour Party will not want to be seen to be restricting free speech.

But the top priority is to guarantee security, which is why the blunder exposed by the Enquirer is so worrying.

Labour has traditionally held its party conference in Blackpool when in the North, and in Brighton and Bournemouth in the South.

But senior party figures have long been looking for alternatives to the seaside resort, unhappy with some of the facilities.

If the autumn event goes well, Manchester is likely to become a fixture on the conference circuit, and could also expect to attract the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats.

The Conservatives held their Spring Conference in Manchester last month, an event used by new leader David Cameron as a statement of intent, given his determination to revive his party in the North West.
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<img src='http://www.team-terror.net/mike/wtc-7.gif'>

[mason-free party]

hmmm...what better time to stage a terror attack..

"Furthermore, the eyes of the world will be on Manchester as Mr Blair is expected to reveal when he intends to quit Downing Street after nearly a decade in power."

[TimmyG]

when is this happening?

is tony blair in manchester now.?.
i've not really been paying attention to the news in the last week or so.

i want to go in town and see if i can spot any mi6 agents being suspicious

[Sinclair]

MFP,

Do you have a link for that story?

Interesting titbits:

This year's annual conference takes place at the GMEX Exhibition Centre, Manchester from Sunday 24th September until Thursday 28th September 2006.


Try googling the headline London FX forum plans CLS payments outage exercise & you'll see that all the links are dead, but an archive copy here has the following story:

[mason-free party]

here's the link..
http://www.nw-enquirer.co.uk/news/politics/labour_conference_security_ fears_after_dossier_debacle_20060526443.html

[Mark Gobell]

c*** up or conspiracy ?

This is a classic candidate for debating that question.

I just love the "astonishing security blunder" tag.

Read: In a deliberate leak that would be sure to be found

Oooooh Tony, you think you look haggard and weary now ?

Will you deliver the goods in September ?

Were you really thinking of reneging of what you have been told ?

Sure ?

Well, look Tone, we er may not be able to protect you now since the er, security blunder.

Blimey what a c*** up.

Sleep well up there in Tony Town Tone.

Sweet dreams.

[mason-free party]

If i was Tony i don't think i would turn up for the Conference...in fact i think he'll be gone before it happens...there is more to his holiday than meets the eye...Murdochs offered him a way out or he could face another way out if he doesn't co-operate

[marky 54]

[mason-free party]

noticed that Blair was in Israel over the weekend hugging his fellow zionists...more pictures to insense the populace...by design i wonder?