Kay Phillips

"I had the pleasure today, after a morning of canvassing, to attend the unveiling of a memorial, on Kersal Moor, Salford, to one of the high points of the Chartist movement.
"During 1838-1839, Kersal Moor was the site of the biggest demonstrations that this country had ever seen, as the Chartist movement mobilised demanding the right to vote.

"Thank you to the friends of Kersal Moor for arranging this, especially to one of the driving forces behind today's commemoration, my fellow Respect candidate, Alice Searle, dressed yesterday, appropriately as a suffragette. A movement that was also born in Manchester at the end of the 19th Century. Alice is standing in the Kersal Ward

"We owe our democratic rights today to the actions of the Chartist and Suffragettes of the past.

"I can't help thinking that if the same events of the past were happening today, the leaders of the 3 main parties would be running in the opposite direction "