Familiar faces from DC in Manchester

Here’s rather sweet aside from the rain stricken wastes of Manchester.

Last night I ran into David Cameron and his crew, amongst whom was a protection officer from Greater Manchester.

I had met him before. Ivan is one of the longest serving black police officers in the region, 20 years in the force. My earlier meeting? On D Street in Washington DC a few hours before the inauguration of America’s first black President, Barak Obama.

Ivan had spotted me that January day from across the street and ran over to say hello.

“I have come to witness it for my children,” he said. “I want to be able to tell them, I was there.”

I marvelled then that such a man would travel all that way for such an experience and felt the action marked him out as someone special.

And so he proved, now deployed to protect a man who might or might not one day lead his own country. How the world turns.

On Thursday, Channel 4 News online will be providing extended live coverage of David Cameron’s speech to the Conservative conference, including film extracts, expert analysis and Twitter commentary. To watch and contribute, go to www.channel4.com/news from midday on 8 October.