TONY Blair has criticised the "doom merchants'' who claimed Manchester's Commonwealth Games would be a flop.
The Prime Minister had Manchester on his mind this week when Labour returned to Blackpool for the first time in four years.
On the way up to the resort Mr Blair called in on families in Beswick and in his keynote speech on Tuesday he used his visit to demonstrate how things can improve with concentrated effort.
As the conference came to a close Mr Blair was guest of honour at the North West reception in the Winter Gardens and this time it was the Commonwealth Games which were on his mind.
"Congratulations to Manchester. The merchants of doom predicted the Commonwealth Games would be a flop,'' said the Prime Minister.
"They were a huge success, a credit to Manchester, to the North West and to the whole country,'' he added.
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