On to Blackpool

When I zipped through security, I knew something was up. The conference here is almost dead. The normal buzz of a Tuesday has vanished, even if Brown’s up for a soft focus Q&A with Mariella Frostrup tomorrow few are hanging around to see it. Alan Johnson’s NHS speech was underwhelming.  David Miliband’s speech was full of Blair-style verbless sentences, which made me feel rather nostalgic. But has divided the audience between those who found it odd, and those who saw in him the next leader. But 11 point Labour lead in YouGov’s poll has moved the gossip at the conference on to one topic – what will Cameron do now? How will he recover? His mission is to make “fightback” rather than “mutiny” the motif at Blackpool.