Freshers fair at london Met, Isligton green Giant Awards and C&P CLP Fundraiser with Lord Kinnock!

The Freshers Fair dominated last week at work for me with hundreds of students to talk to and give away goodies!
looks like a bumper year for students so a really good opportunity to meet them. Two good long days at the Hub and Rocket!!

On Tuesday I attended my first posh dinner of the week at the Islington Council Giant Green Awards where we were nominated for Waste Minimisation and Environmental Champions. We did not win but I learned a lot about what we need to go and it was a nice lunch and Chris Packham was an excellent host!!
It was a busy Council week with OSC Meeting in East Dulwich to talk about Primary school places and I learned about the "bulge" in numbers expected over the next few years and how we need top accommodate it!!

I Chaired Scrutiny A where we interviewed the Executive Member for Community Safety and started scoping the Housing Repairs Scrutiny!!
On Thursday evening we had the Camberwell and Peckham Labour Party Fundraising Dinner in Caravaggio's with Guest Speaker Lord Neil Kinnock who was a truly memorable and inspirational speaker who was just fantastic and makes you remember why you joined the Labour Party! A truly great evening and I even won a Raffle Prize!!!

The impromptu singalong with Joan Amodio was a really special moment and the whole night was fantastic and a real boost for us with some very hard and long Campaigning ahead of us!!

Hibs are still doing well and in third spot after another good win against Kilmarnock with Benji scoring the winner. Good to see Benji and Zemmama back playing after Ramadan and looking fit and in-form!!
We look to have a good squad together so will just have to see how they fare in the winter months but so far are looking good!!!

Conference Season over, Selections underway and Hibs playing well!

Well the Conference Season is over and I got a first hand look at it in Brighton and clealry the battle lines are being drawn and it is interesteing to see how nervous the Tories are as they know the result is not "in the bag"! The austerity promised with savage cuts (I presume supported by Calamity Clegg?) is now in the open for all to see and the choice is now clear which I think is no bad thing! Let battle commence!!!
Southwark Labour Party are now in the miidst of shortlisitng and selection for the 2010 Local Council Elections next may so lots of excellent new members on the list and the Group will have a very diffferent feel to it, not least in terms of age with me definately at the older end of the scale!!!

Some really good Camberwell Branch members up for the fight and hoping to see them all elecetd Councillors in the Chamber next May!!
Hibs decent start to the season continues with a 3-1 win at Motherwell and a 1-1 draw against Dundee United! Good results with a decent sqaud and Zemmama back after Ramadan looking good and scoring a fantastic goal against the Dundee Utd!!

Good to see Riordan back in the Scotland sqaud for the Japan game!!

Day 2 to Day 5 of Conference

My attempts for a daily Blog were blighted by a very slow server at the Hotel so here is a synopsis from Day 2 to the end of Conference!
day 2 started with good sessions on Campaigning and the manifesto from Douglas Alexander and Ed Milliband.
Highlight of the day was a real barnstrorming speech from Lord Mandelson who really got the crowd going and was a real boost to Conference!!
There was a session of the Environment and the Olympics and I voted fro Stephen Twigg for the Conference Arrangements Committee and he was duly Elected alongside Marge Carey!
I attended 2 Fringe Meeting from the Fabian Society and the Fabian Society called "Who are the new Tories" with a very scary Panel of right Wing Tory Lobbyists and Journalists!!!
Day 3 of course was the Leader's Speech Day but started with sessions on Culture,Media and Sport, Local Government and Housing and Crime and Justice.
All building to Gordon Brown's Brilliant speech!
All throughout Conference I kept bumping into Southwark Councillors and members, even met a Constituent who asked me for advice on Brighton Promenade!! Pic here of me and Barrie at the Conference Centre!
Vote on National Constitutional Committee CLP's I voted for John Wiseman and Judith Blake was Elected.
I attended 3 Fringe meetings on Digital Media, IOSH and the Local Government Reception and a visit by Gordon Brown!
I became very familiar with this bridge between the Grand and the Hilton and lost count of how many times I crossed it from Fringe meeting to Fringe Meeting!!

Day 4 began with this front page from the Sun which was a quite disgraceful and pre-planned spoiler from this horrible rag!! Lots of fun throughout the day at their expense and not a Sun to be seen anywhere!!
There was an Emergency Motion on the Post Office pension Defecit which I supported and which was unanimously agreed!
Sessions in NEC Finances, Citizenship and Equalities,Health, Education and skills.
There were a number of votes on the NEC and NFP membership which were all unanimously agreed apart from one on OMOV for NFP which was oppossed by the NEC but which I voted for and it was agreed by 67% of Conference delegates!
Day 5 had Sessions on Northern Ireland, European Parliament, and Britain in the World with an Emergency resolution on keeping the East Coast Main Line in Public ownership which again was agreed! Finished with a great speech from Harriet and a rousing chorus of the Red Flag!!
In conclusion a fantastic experience for me and a really positive Conference with a unified Party fighting back and in good shape for the Elections of 2010!! Fantastic!!

Day 1 at Labour Party Conference in Brighton 2009 - A Delegates Eye View!

Day1 at Labour Party Conference - I arrived yesterday on a beautiful day in Brighton, booked in to the Hotel and made my to the Brighton Conference Centre for the 2pm Opening.
The Key Theme was Operation Fightback and the need to put to the County the clear choice between managing the economic recovery whilst defending all that we have achieved over the past 12 years and the savage cuts and austerity promised by the Tories and Lib Dems!
Ed Milliband made a real rousing speech laying out key Manifesto Policy areas and the stark choiced that the UK electorate will have.
Douglas Alexander talked about Campaigning and highlighted the 3 key areas detailed in the picture opposite.
Basic hard work contacting as many pe3ople as possible and making our Campaining relevant to local people was the key.

There was a Q&A with Gordon Brown chaired by Harriet with PPC's on stage.
Camberwell and Peckham's submitted motion on Rights for Interpreters in the British Army was not chosen as Contemporary Motion to be debated at Conference so my chance to speak at Conference probably gone!!
I voted for our motion of course and for motions on Housing and Public services and the 4 Contemporary Motions chosen were:
Employment Right, Housing, Manufacturing, Public Services and School Meals.
I was actually interviewed by IOSH for their You Tube site so that should be posted later today!
My interview by IOSH at the Labour Party Conference is now on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/ioshchannel about my Fish Farm Placement!
The evening was spent at 3 Receptions, The Gibralter Ambassador, The British Legion and RSPCA.

Day 2 begins with debate on the Economy and Sustainable Communities!!
OPERATION FIGHTBACK CONTINUES!!!!

Me and Mel, Academic Year looms, Theatre week, Brighton calling and Hibs get back on winning track!!

We had a Birthday lunch at work yesterday celebrating 3 Birthday's and I was given this Cartoon which irrefutably proves the family link between me and Mel Gibson, need I say any more!!!!
Work is busy with preparations for the start of the new Academic year and all things going well on Health & Safety, Environment, Business Continuity, Swine Flu and Campus Watch fronts!!

I had a good week of culture going to the Globe to see Troilus and Cressida and following it up on Wednesday with a visit to "An Inspector Calls" a play I did at St. Augustines High School in Edinburgh many years ago!!

Excellent plays and performances all round. Plan to do more Matinee Theatre visits in the future as I have the taste back again!

I am off to Brighton on Sunday for the Labour Party Annual Conference for the first time and I am the Camberwell & Peckham Delegate to boot!!

I am staying at the Brighton Hotel and am looking forward to getting totally immersed in Conference and hope to write a daily Blog with my experiences at Conference IT permitting!!

The Hotel Brighton looks nice so looking forward to spending 4 nights there!

Hibs had a good 3-0 win at home to St. Johnstone with Stokes scoring 2 and looking like he is getting back into the groove! Good result after the poor defeat to Hamilton so lets hope it continues!!

Fantastic Southwark Labour Party Conference, Brighton, the West End and Hibs tripped up!!

The Southwark Labour Party Conference on Saturday was another fantastic day with over 100 Party Members and great speeches from Harriet, Val, Steve Reed and Ed Milliband!
We are all prepared and positive about the elections in 2010 and delivering a Labour Council and a Labour Forth Term ! The prospect of the nightmare scenario of a Cameron Government and a Lib Dem/Tory Council alongside Boris at City Hall is too horrible to contemplate without thoughts of taking your own life!!! We just cant allow that to happen can we!!!!

I am out Campaigning in South Camberwell this weekend as taking all 3 seats there is a vital part of our strategy so vitally important to us!!
I am now all sorted for the Labour Party Annual Conference and looking forward to it as the Camberwell & Peckham Delegate!! Going to be at the Brighton Hotel from Sunday til Thursday!!
Packing my bucket and spade but probably stuck in the Conference Hall for most of the time!!

I have a good theatre week this week with Troilus and Cressida at the Globe Theatre on Sunday and An Inspector Calls on Wednesday

Hibs bubble well and truly burst on Sunday with Nish sent off, Riordan missing a penalty and going down 2-0 to bottom team Hamilton Accies!!!

Time to regroup for St.Johnstone at home on Saturday!!

Southwark Labour Party Conference and Hibs sign Liam Miller!!

Looking forward to the Third Annual Southwark Labour Party Conference tomorrow at the Beomund Centre with Guest Speakers Ed Milliband and Steve Reed. Of course Val, Tessa and Harriet will be there as well as many Southwark Councillors and members so should be a good day preparing for the General and Council Elections in 2010!!

On the Hibs front they have signed ex- Celtic and Man Utd. Midfielder Liam Miller on a 2 year contract. He was a fantastic young player at Celtic and floundered at Manchester but hopefully he can revive his career and alongside other Irish signing Anthony Stokes it looks like some very shrood buying from Yogi Hughes building up a strong squad to get us through a long hard season which has always been our failing in the past. He has cleared out some of the deadwood and looks like he is building a good mix of youth and experience!!

Dungeness, Belfast, Giants Causeway, Brighton and Scotland out of World Cup!!

After my break in Edinburgh and St. Andrews I went away again at the weekend to Broadstairs with Shauna and back to my fast becoming favourite wilderness of Dungeness!!

There is something very quirky and appealing about the place and I cant keep away from it!!

Then off to Belfast for the USHA Autumn Conference and a fantastic trip to Giants Causeway on the North Antrim Coast! A great time and good Conference and some Guinness and Bushmills thrown in for good measure!!Brilliant!!

In the past 2 weeks over 3000 miles travelled so need a bit of a rest and time in the office and at home!!

After some confusion it now appears that I am definitely going to Brighton in a few weeks time for my first ever Labour Party Annual Conference as Camberwell & Peckham Delegate no less!!

I have to attend a briefing at Party HQ next week and am still searching out somewhere to stay!!
Scotland departed the 2010 World Cup Qualifiers in 3rd place with a couple of good performances but too late to recover from the shocking bad one against Norway last month! A good win over Macedonia followed up by a good performance against Holland only to lose by a sucker goal at the end!!

We clearly have some very good players in Brown, Fletcher and

McFaddyen and some good guys behind them in Whittaker and Hutton but some mediocre, and old mediocre at that, at the back and last night that really showed!! Our best attacker will not play for Scotland with Burley in charge so it will be interesting to see if he keeps his job? The last week might just have been enough to keep him hanging on!!