Art, industry and medicine

Yesterday, I attended the launch of a biography of the great Australian artist Arthur Boyd, written by Darleen Bungey. Boyd is considered by some people to be the finest artist Australia has ever produced, and indeed I would go further, and suggest that if he had been born in England, or even America, his paintings of Shoalhaven - now legendary in his own country - would be trading for millions of dollars, whereas you can pick up a fine example at the Rebecca Hossack gallery in London for £50,000. If he'd had Damien Hirst's promotional ability, I wouldn't have to explain who he is. I thought I'd share one of my Boyd's with you; this is an oil, painted in 1975, entitled Sandbank with Cattle, Shoalhaven.

Later, I went on to speak at the annual dinner of the Coal Trade Benevolent Association, and spent a happy evening with a bunch of people who could remember when their annual dinner was attended by prime ministers and members of the Royal Family, rather than lowly peers, but in those days the industry employed nearly two million people, and was the cornerstone of our energy policy. Indeed, some of the older members - and I sat next to Dr Glover, a former president- could remember the days when Lord Robbins and Mr Joe Gormley regularly attended meetings at No.10 with Harold Wilson and Jim Callaghan. It was fascinating to be reminded of those days when I was a young Member of Parliament, and was only too aware of the power of the trade union movement.

I got home at 10.50pm, to find my wife had not yet returned from the HSJ awards ceremony at Grosvenor House, and fell asleep long before she turned up. I was woken at 12.45am, to be told that Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (Addenbrooke's) had won, and been voted the finest hospital in the United Kingdom. Having informed me of this, the proud chairman fell into a deep sleep, while I remained awake, with no England v India cricket match to distract me.