TORY leadership favourite David Cameron was going on patrol with Greater Manchester police today to see how they deal with drinking and anti- social behaviour.
The education spokesman was visiting Manchester during a six-week tour of the country wooing 300,000 Tory members who will choose a successor to Michael Howard.
He was in a Tory-free zone - there are no councillors in Manchester and only one Conservative MP in the area.
Mr Cameron said his party had to expand to win seats in the north.
He said: "I want to get into the cities and all parts of the country. A modern, compassionate party is important so we can win seats in Greater Manchester."
Challenges
Later today, he was meeting Chief Constable Michael Todd before discussing with police officers in Moss Side the challenges facing the modern force.
He was also going to Bootle Street police station to discuss the City Safe project and was joining officers on patrol in the city centre.
"I want to see the pressures police face in one of our great city centres," he said. "I want to get the party into cities like this and I recognise a Tory revival will need policies for urban and city revival and regeneration."
He said that a Tory party led by him would want to tackle the problems of drug abuse, family breakdown, high crime and unemployment.
"In Manchester, I will be looking particularly at the problems of crime and binge drinking," he said.
Eton-educated Mr Cameron supports the government's idea of "trust schools", giving them more power and allowing parents and businesses to take them over.
But he says Education Secretary and Bolton West MP Ruth Kelly has been very timid and disappointing.
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Shouldn't the police have locked Mr Cameron up? After all it was the Tories who presided over the slashing of the police numbers in Greater manchester when Michael Howard was Home Secretary.
What was the pretence for Mr Cameron making this trip out with the police here anyway -other than for padding out his leadership ambitions? He has no Home Secretary role. Perhaps he should be arrested for wasting police time?
Well, Dave of Oldham, Mr Cameron was probably finding out for himself just how Politically Correct our Greater Manchester Police are.
No doubt he quickly learned how far the PC doctrine can infiltrate a large public institution despite all the democratic checks and balances which supposedly exist to prevent such extremist and racist policies being implemented. On the other hand,he may have just wanted to check whether there is any truth in the recent Politeia think tank report that police entrance examination standards have been reduced to below GCSE level and that there is not much difference between criminal and copper. He should read the Manchester Evening News, it would have saved him a journey.