Rumour has it that there is an outbreak of tonsilitis in the north-west at the moment…here’s hoping Ed Milliband is being kept in isolation until his leader’s speech this afternoon.

One thing I forgot to mention from last night’s meeting was David Lammy’s comment that the coalition government has yet to put together a convincing narrative for its growth strategy.  We’ll have to see if Ed Milliband is able to do that today?

Meanwhile, I’ve heard positive things so far in terms of his stance on science. He has been interviewed in a special edition of a newsletter from ‘Scientists for Labour’ which is being hawked around here.

Imran Khan who is Director of the Campaign for Science and Engineering (CaSE) has blogged in The Guardian today about the science challenges facing Ed Milliband.

Andrew Miller MP, chair of the Science Select Committee who attended our breakfast this morning, said he was able to discuss life sciences and science strategy with Ed during the Labour leadership race.

The Manchester Town Hall bell tolled ominously as the 31 organisations around the table inside debated and discussed the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR).  But the meeting covered a lot of ground and I hope it was helpful for Andrew to hear how the interplay between different issues is finely poised and fiddled with at the owner (government’s) risk unless based on sound exertise and advice.

One of the industry representatives there said that their global HQ regarded the UK as a ‘problem child’ not only because of the challenges of the spending review but also because of the poor uptake of medicines here. So, in the same vein, I hope that the Science and Technology Select Committee which can roam across all departments will see cause to look at the whole innovation pipeline in due course.

The town hall bell stopped I am pleased to say which gives me some hope that as another participant said ‘there is still all to play for’ ahead of the CSR announcement on 20th October. Indeed, Andrew Miller encouraged us to bombard parliamentarians and others with views and perspectives now and after that date to ensure our concerns are heard.

Remember, Science is Vital.