Breakfast, Bournemouth
I spent part of last evening sitting between two very senior (and very jolly) women social workers who jokingly assured me, "We're social workers, we're here to help you" before my speech to a Guardian co-sponsored dinner at the national children's and adult (they've been split) services conference here.
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I listen and learn about care services about which (at 61) I take an increasing personal interest. The best bit of gossip I hear all evening is a confident assertion made by a Lancashire Tory female activist that Cherie Blair is plotting to take over a safe Labour seat in her native Liverpool - now that Tony is out of the way.
My top source produces no evidence to support her unlikely claim except absolute confidence that it is true. "I'll check it out," I promise gracefully.
"She won't admit it," replies the Top Source. I am grateful for the tip.
My own brief at the dinner is to report what's going on at the top of Westminster politics. I remind my audience that when I was last in the Highcliffe Hotel - just three weeks ago - Gordon Brown was riding high and Sir Ming was still alive as Lib Dem leader. Knives were then being sharpened for Dave.
"It's all very volatile," I bravely explain. People want to know how Mr Brown is going to turn it round. I don't claim to know that either. One cheering note is that the main speaker, Ivan Lewis, the social care minister, shows real passion for his job - and clearly knows his stuff.
That is partly because he used to run the Jewish Care charity in his beloved north Manchester. He calls it "the new Brazil" - or is that a reference to his equally beloved Manchester City FC who have been doing better under Sven?
Ivan got a reference to personalised social care inserted into GB's conference speech - just down the hill from this hotel - and a 1% real terms increase in the budget. It's not enough, but better than a 1% loss.
I wish I could be as convinced that Ivan's boss, health secretary, Alan Johnson, is fired up by his job, I admit to the dinner. Mr Johnson addresses the conference this morning on government plans to shake up care of the elderly, of which there are now so many.
Old ladies still say "I did my bit in the war; now you've got to look after me," one of my new social work friends confides. It's a bit more complicated than that, as they have discovered in Scotland, where "free" personal care is not free.
I am told that the wife of Labour's then-first minister, Henry McLeish, helped chivvy him into conceding the fatal, costly concession to his Scots Lib Dem partners. English Lib Dems have quietly dropped the policy.
With their usual patience and understanding, some of today's sports pages are busy sacking Sven's successor as England manager, Steve McClaren, after the 2-1 defeat on Moscow's Astroturf. God help the rugby team if they lose on Saturday. Sportsmen are treated almost as badly as politicians.
"At least on the rugby pitch the ref's in charge, not like those over-paid footballers," says my taxi driver en route to the station this morning. He is a local, but most of the hotel staff here seem to be mid-European, as in so many places. Why, when youth unemployment is rising?
The sea is absolutely calm as the sun rises over BoMo and South West Trains - usually pretty good - gets us into Waterloo only two minutes late on a lovely autumn day.
If England do lose the World Cup, will it depress house prices? Some of today's papers use an IMF warning that some European housing markets are in even greater need of a "correction" than the US market to talk down confidence.
But the IMF small print seems to concede that local factors vary. The US has a housing glut, many parts of Britain a shortage. And the weird London market is also sustained by a steady flow of foreigners who come for our food and weather. Don't they? But we do love a crisis in Fleet Street.
10.30am, Westminster
I follow a very old lady into parliament from the underground. As she passes another old lady talking to a younger woman she is hailed. "Let me introduce you to this great lady," the forthright older talker says to the younger. "This is Baroness... ( pause)"
"Warsi," says David Cameron's first ethnic minority shadow cabinet recruit, Sayeeda Warsi, the feisty 36-year-old Bradford solicitor. "Baroness Warsi," says the older woman. Thus do peers network.
Steve Webb has just announced he will not run for Lib Dem leader and will support Nick Clegg. As he told me the other day, he admires his strategic sense. Ladbrokes cuts its odds on Clegg to 2/5 favourite (from 4/7) and trim Chris Huhne to 7/4 (from 9/4).
7.30pm, Westminster
Gordon Brown is in Lisbon. Alistair Darling is en route to the IMF in Washington. Harriet Harman, official No 2 in Labour's hierarchy, is addressing a press gallery lunch. Whereas Gordon has four negotiating ''red lines'' at the EU summit, she has only two, she tells us. She will ''take no questions on shoes or handbags.''
As if the hacks would dare with Ms Harman! She gives a robust account of herself as MP for Peckham for nearly 25 years, how she runs a ''Harriet on the High Street'' policy to find out what voters really want - "stopping people in the street, introducing myself and talking about politics".
No media posse, no security; it's all about listening, especially to the voiceless, women, the poor, the newly arrived. Myself, I've always found it hard to get a word in edgeways with Harriet. But perhaps she is practising positive discrimination against me - as one of those people ''with the loudest voices'' she is less keen to listen to.
Despite being elected Labour's deputy leader she is still quite outspoken; Hattie has always been brave. No gaffes or hostages to fortune today, though I wonder if it is wise to argue that Labour needs more inner-city seats because so many of the poor, young and immigrant never get on the electoral roll - as everyone does in Owner-Occupied Land.
Surely, I say, it takes far more votes to elect a Tory MP because they pile up pointlessly in the suburbs and shires? Hence the Commons majority of 67 with just 36% of the 2005 vote. Harriet isn't having it. There should be eight more inner-city MPs and automatic registration, she insists.
Channel 4 News has just led its 7pm main bulletin asking why the police haven't investigated the ITV premium phoneline scam. It bilked viewers of millions of pounds - involving star shows like Ant and Dec's mechanical pig - but only suffered a £2m fine. ITV has shares in ITN, which runs Channel 4 News.
Good stuff. ''Gross deception?'' Jon Snow asks the Tory MP, John Whitingdale, who chairs the Commons culture committee, which started its own investigation last winter. ''Gross investigation... fraud," the MP replies. He predicts that the regulator Ofcom's investigation will produce further pain.
I track down Peter Kilfoyle, the Labour MP for Walton in Liverpool who fell out with Tony Blair years ago over Iraq and much else. What's this about Cherie and a seat?
''I'm confident it's nonsense,'' he says. ''Cherie has been talked about as being shoehorned into any seat, vacant or not.''
He reminds me that ex-minister Stephen Twigg has won the nomination in Liverpool West Derby, where veteran leftwinger Bob Wareing has been deselected. I imagine it may prove a tricky inheritance.
