Cllr Paul Fairweather - The Local Politician's View

In Just Plain Sense it's my aim to feature every side of the enormous conversation around Equality, Diversity and Human Rights in British society. There are plenty of people who can talk about first hand experiences, or advocate on behalf of whole communities; in the last episode we heard from a senior civil servant; so in this episode I'm featuring a speech by an elected city council politician. Councillor Paul Fairweather represents the North Manchester area of Harpurhey. He's an out gay man and this speech is taken from a conference last year on LGBT Health strategy, so his comments about health and more general inclusion reflect that. Nevertheless his point about the role of local political influence -- using scrutiny powers, local area agreements and partnerships -- is just as valid for any group.