Sitting in Conference Hall with Andrew Gwynne MP. First the old phone started bleeping, then the netbook made logging off sounds and then the Blackberry rang... Any more of this and I'm going to be evicted! Andrew has just described me on Twitter as the e-Walter Wolfgang. Ed Miliband and Pat McFadden will be speaking soon, about the policy-making process and the next manifesto, and then Douglas is giving an update on the election campaign planning, and then Gordon and Harriet are doing a Q and A.
At the moment it's the Welsh affairs debate, and Rhodri Morgan has just delivered the soundbite of the day, talking about "blending the mushy peas of Old Labour with the guacamole of New Labour". It's his last speech as Welsh First Minister as he's standing down soon, and he's just been given a standing ovation.
Earlier today I went along to the Scouts Speak Out event, which I really enjoyed. Chance to catch up with some Labour PPCs too - Stella Creasy from Walthamstow, Andrew Pakes from Milton Keynes North, and Daniel Zeichner from Cambridge. Then, heading back into the Conference centre I bumped into Lucy Powell, who's standing in Manchester Withington and is 10 weeks away from having her first baby. Typical Lucy - she's very organised - slotting a baby in before the election campaign starts!
Last night was the Go Fourth Tweet for Victory rally. I somehow found myself on stage introducing the master of modern campaigning, John Prescott, who gave a phenomenal speech - 'stop complaining, start campaigning!' Villain of the conference seems already to have been awarded to Charles Clarke, the mere mention of whose name elicits boos and hisses. Runner up place goes to Compass who have in their wisdom decided to invite Caroline Lucas, who is standing for the Green Party in Brighton Pavilion, to speak at their conference rally. That's a Labour conference rally... looks like the energy-saving lightbulbs are on at Compass but there's no-one there.
We had a mini tweet-up after the Go Fourth rally; really good to meet some of the regular Labour activists from Twitter. Tom Watson seems to have arranged another tweet-up now, and told all and sundry that I'm buying the drinks. Quite happy to get the wallet out on condition they all drink the same as me - soda water + lime!
6 comments:
"decided to invite Caroline Lucas, who is standing for the Green Party in Brighton Pavilion, to speak at their conference rally. That's a Labour conference rally..."
You don't have to have closed minds, Kerry. You might even learn something from Caroline.
Green Party conferences regularly have fringe meetings with guest speakers from other parties. The most impressive one I remember was Labour's Alan Simpson MP talking about the virtues of a Tobin Tax. Certainly convinced me. If only he'd convince you lot.
'...Compass who have in their wisdom decided to invite Caroline Lucas, who is standing for the Green Party in Brighton Pavilion, to speak at their conference rally. That's a Labour conference rally... looks like the energy-saving lightbulbs are on at Compass but there's no-one there.'
Lighten up Kerry I've seen speakers from Labour and other parties speaking at Green Party conferences. I thought Labour welcomed all talents??
No, you've both missed the point - it's not a fringe meeting where, as you say, there is quite often cross-party debate. In fact I shared a platform with a Tory PPC yesterday. It's a rally. And a rally at a Labour conference should be a Labour rally.
Rally or fringe meeting - I would not have a problem with speakers from other parties. Seems to me that revival, arousal and reinvigoration are what progressive politics badly needs - and I think Caroline Lucas can certainly make a big contribution to that. The labour and green movements have a lot to learn from each other.
Ah right, it was a rally. Glad we've got that sorted. So there's a meeting associated with the Labour Conference taking place at the Labour Conference, in front of an audience comprised of people who've come to the Labour Conference. But its a rally, not a fringe. So, thinking through this, what's the difference between a rally a fringe? Is a rally a fringe without a mirror?
Rally, meeting, whatever... it was organised by Tribune and Compass and the speaker list included John Denham, John Cruddas, David Lammy, Douglas Alexander, and Harriet Harman (though possibly she didn't turn up?) as well as Caroline. According to Tribune:
"A surprise addition to the panel of speakers was Green Party leader Caroline Lucas, whose insistence that a transformation was needed in the financial markets was applauded, as was her call for increased taxation on land and more “qualitative development”.
Ms Lucas, whose very presence was greeted with scepticism in some quarters, indicated that her party now had more in common with Labour than with the Liberal Democrats following what she termed “Nick Clegg’s lurch to the right”. Certainly, her scathing attack on fuel poverty struck a chord with many at the rally."
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