I’m home from York, having had about 7 hours’ sleep in the last two days. That’s not entirely due to hanging round in bars late at night with lovely people. When you are making the most controversial speech of the entire Conference, that tends to dominate.
For the second time in two years, I arrived in York to brilliant sunshine. Sadly, I didn’t get to enjoy any of the city at all. In an ideal world, I would have gone down on Thursday, had some dinner with friends and spent Friday sightseeing. One of these days I will get myself organised so that I’m not still writing speeches and doing all my pre-conference prep right up until the very last minute.
If I find myself in York again, I am definitely going back to the Barbican Guest House. Two minutes’ walk from the Conference Centre, spotlessly clean, comfortable, wonderful breakfast and a dog to pet. What more could anyone possibly want? How about a crystal decanter of sherry in the room? I am not kidding.
Here are some of my best bits of the weekend: