Party leader comes to Moss Side!

One of the Major Party Leaders came to Moss Side last night. I'm not sure which one it was, and it was a very fleeting visit, but I expect, not being a marginal or the like, it'll be the nearest we get to a party bigwig (not that that bothers me much).
Hopping my pathetic crippled way up Princess Parkway at about ten thirty, my first thought when a police motorcyclist whizzed past me, lights and siren going, was that someone had shot/stabbed someone else, which is something which, happily, happens round here less often than it used to.
But when about 5 more of them turned up and started blocking the road (maybe I should have though A Coup! and got all excited) it became apparent that something else was up. Then a massive great black 4x4 with tinted windows and a sort of silver people carrier type thing, with police cars too I think, came whizzing past at something that looked well over the speed limit. And I realised that it must have been one of Them, heading back South from the 'Leaders' 'Debate' at Granada Studios. Surely it would be much more cost effective if you're doing a high-security run like that to put the precious cargo in a silver Yaris or a red Fiesta and then no potential attacker would ever be able to track the right car down, and no need for squadrons of coppers.
Needless to say I hadn't been watching the debate, having been busy in the pub catching up on office gossip at Ethical Consumer and debating whether the net effect for the environment of the aeroplane-grounding volcanic eruption was going to be good or bad.
Last time we got a 'senior politician' in Moss Side, of course, they made a total twat of themselves. The Tory shadow home secretary Chris Grayling was taken round the neighbourhood by those sweeties at Greater Manchester Police, and came out with some ridiculous comment about us being 'like The Wire.' At which some enterprising publication got a crime hack over from Baltimore to comment on how his Saturday night out with GMP, where he witnessed some kids cycling suspiciously and someone having a spliff, didn't really compare to his city, with its 350+ a year murder rate.... Grayling, you are a knob. More details here.