Conference Diary 2012: Wednesday

NHS Debate

This took up most of the morning , with series of passionate contributions from delegates as well as few famous faces, including Lord Winston and a brilliant speech from Carrie Grant.  Best moment was the elderly delegate from Morecambe who spoke so well -  with some hilarious comparisons of Cameron to various useless medical treatments - used up all her time then pretended she couldn’t hear Angela Eagle (the Chair) when she asked her to wind up and ended up  with the whole conference cheering for her to be allowed to continue.  She got a standing ovation!   

Andy Burnham closed the debate with a barnstorming performance attacking Cameron, Lansley and the “invisible man” new NHS secretary Hunt.  Absolute commitment to reverse the Lansley reforms and take competition out of the NHS.  Standing ovation as he walked onto the stage and when he finished.  I think the opening ovation was for his role in setting up the Hillsborough enquiry as much as his NHS role.  But the comparison between his obvious commitment to the NHS and Jeremy Hunt’s was stark.

Morning session ended with a series of hand and card votes on motions and rule changes.  All passed.

Ed Milliband Q&A

This was better than I expected, with no evidence of planted questions.  Just Ed on his own, no notes, taking questions in sets of 3 or 4, from people he picked himself in the hall.  Some were difficult and off message (Trident, Remploy, public sector wage freeze) but he answered them all.    Maybe all a bit too wide ranging and technical for the TV, but he endeared himself to delegates with his openness.

He seemed to commit himself to looking at the minimum deterrent required to replace Trident and that re-nationalising the railways (after the West Coast line fiasco) was not off the agenda.

Policy Forum: the Green Economy

Made it to this but energy levels were fading fast, so was there more in presence than participation!  Last event I’ll attend as need a quiet night before a work day tomorrow and heading back home Thursday evening.