Liverpool Labour Party fundraising dinner

You wait for months for a fundraising dinner to come along, and then two arrive together!

On Friday night at least 200 guests were at the dinner at our favourite watering hole, the Devonshire House Hotel, for an evening of dining, speeches and music. NorthWest MP and Blue-nose, Andy Burnham, Secretary of State for Health addressed an audience made up of members, supporters, TUs and workers from the PCT, Alder Hey, the Burns Unit, the Royal and other hospitals and trusts in the area.

Andy congratulated Marie Rimmer, Labour leader of St Helens (who had joined us) and Jane Kennedy for their work in batting back clinicians plans for a Burns Super Unit in Manchester. He said that the NHS is Labour's greatest achievement and that only the day before the NHS 2009 Bill had received Royal Assent and was now an Act enshrining in law the right of all citizens to waiting lists of no longer than 18 weeks, and cancer patients no longer than 2 weeks.

We raised loads of money and I had the added pleasure of sitting next to Michael Shields over dinner, what a fine and decent young man he is. I wish him every luck and good fortune and he puts his life back together. He was telling me about a possible new job he might have secured, which gave me extra reason to be pleased.

There were of course lots of wannabe's at the dinner, as is to be expected, so we shall have all that to go through, I am becoming quite an old hand. But more of all this later.

I was pleased to sell tickets to ScouseBoy (hello ScouseBoy, hope you enjoyed yourself, it was great to see you), my mate Cath from Holmfirth and my mate Luciana from London, so I got rid of my four tickets, as per the leader's instructions, what a good obedient member I am!

Cath and I were both driving so we left reasonably early and went home for a glass of wine and a chat about the political scene in the Colne Valley before bed. I am glad I am here, and not there, when I think about all those hills and steps and villages, I am so pleased I have mainly terraced houses to deal with these days. Happy sigh...