The day of the Leaders speech. The media have been speculating for days what would be said, and its significance. For me the day began with the walk into the Conference Centre, this time beginning a little earlier. I arrived at about 7.40 and did a little reading before attending the breakfast fringe event. This was a debate entitled, "Licence to operate? The future of the public affairs/lobbying industry". There were some useful issues discussed - with the audience made up predominantly of lobbying industry professionals. Kelvin Hopkins, a member of the House of Commons Public Administration Committee (http://www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_committees/public_administration_select_committee.cfm), (which has recently undertaken an inquiry into Lobbying - and the report is expected to be published within the next few weeks.) spoke about his concerns. I asked a question about the imbalance of information provision which can arise.
The morning plenary dealt with the treasurer's and auditor's reports. After a while I left to talk to a colleague. Lunchtime was spent queuing. Although I had a ticket for the leader's speech - it was no guarantee of a seat. Eventually I was seated, a few rows back from my usual place. It was a good speech from Gordon Brown. It can be read at http://www.labour.org.uk/gordon_brown_conference or viewed at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/bbc_parliament/ During the speech, I "twittered" - and my comments are recorded at http://twitter.com/jdavidmorgan.
Afterwards - lots of discussion about the speech with colleagues. Later on I went to have my photograph taken with Gordon Brown.
Tonight I attended a meeting about public transport. I then went to an event to celebrate 60 years of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. From there I returned to my accommodation.
