My faux pas with Orlando Bloom

The R word strikes terror into the hearts of ministers and their diary managers alike but spare a thought for the poor people organising events at this year’s Labour party conference after last month’s Shadow Cabinet reshuffle. I am in admiration of the creative energy of the fringe organisers who are desperately trying to hang on to their confirmed speakers. While it might be a bit of a stretch to refocus a debate on local government finance for the newly appointed lead for International Development, God love the lobbyist who tried. 

Having been released from the task of levelling up the country, I am relishing the chance to level up the world. It doesn’t come without challenges. A long-planned trip to Yorkshire to discuss refuse collection had to be binned (sorry) in order to fly to New York for the UN General Assembly and the culture shock was immense. New York traffic and a last-minute flight meant I had a crazy dash across Manhattan to meet senior UN officials and the First Lady, Jill Biden, at a UNICEF event on children’s rights.