30th September 2023: Conservative Party Conference (North-West HXR)

North West HXR protested at the 2023 Conservative Conference, just after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced a major U-turn on the UK’s climate commitments including extending deadlines for selling new petrol and diesel cars and phasing out of gas boilers. Health professionals marched with a massive group of people from various climate and social justice groups through the city centre to a rally. Afterwards, they walked close to the conference sites, where they were asked to lower their flags and not stop, to hold the banner across an open space in St Peters Square. This was disallowed as well and they had to move to the “designated protest location”. Health professionals attempted to talk to conference delegates with little success, but did have lots of good conversations with local people about the links between climate change and health, which was something new for many people.