Well, how do I begin to describe yesterday? I gave a speech to the tyre manufacturing industry yesterday in Manchester. It is the first time I have faced the industry itself and it wont be my last. I made a decision on the last minute to use images, something I havent done before because I cant bear to look at them. I also put up pictures of Michael and Kerry and a separate one with all 3 of them including Colin. I wanted them to feel the pain and see the people as I suspect they are read as statistics which turns my stomach. I know you can all imagine how draining it is to tell this story from beginning to end, as every time I do it I feel a deeper pain at how senseless this was and I get more angry with the lack of response from the government, especially Patrick McLoughlin himself. There was a Q&A session after my speech and all I can say is I stunned them into silence. This is now becoming a very serious debate for the industry and gaining momentum thanks to Steve Rotherham MPs involvement. I was told I have moved a debate on in one year further than some campaigners have in the last ten. The Fire and Rescue Services have massively helped with my cause to do this. I also know that the public response is making a significant impact and that is down to you and those on other social media channels. There are some very scary statistics out there about part worn tyres alone and my campaign has opened up the tyre ageing debate alongside it. There was trade press from all over the world and all of them have covered the story. I had a queue of people coming up to me afterwards who were shocked at what they were hearing about 20 year old tyres and I gained a lot more support and a promise to campaign alongside me. Some presenters even used my speech in their presentations later in the day. What was an overwhelming agreement by all is that The Hannells got away with manslaughter. They are the lowest form of life from where I am and I havent finished with them either. In summary, I achieved what I set out to do yesterday and there was a reality in the audience that this issue is not going away whilst I am here. I made it very clear; I will not give up, and I will not give in, no matter what they throw at me. The support I have had on here and other social media pages is amazing and I get a lot of strength from the comments and support given, so I thank you from the bottom of my heart. My ending line on my speech yesterday was this: Michael should have returned home safely to me with muddy boots, dirty clothes and the exhaustion that goes along with an amazing weekend away at a music festival. He was on the cusp of being signed for a music deal and he was heading home excited at the prospect of this. He never made it. To lose him is life changing; to find out it was because of an old tyre and so preventable is excruciating to live with; It will be my torture forever. And that is the hardest part of it all.....x
Posted on: Thu, 09 Oct 2014 07:33:37 +0000
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