OK, so I’ve spent most of the day in London at a House of Lords reception hosted by the university Chancellor, Baroness Lockwood (read: the Department of Marketing and Corporate Communications). It was actually quite impressive; from what I can gather they have an event every year, with a rotating focus on different departments, somewhat nullifying my expectations of a corrupt jolly for School of Social and International Studies staff and a host of international diplomats. Baroness Amos, the keynote speaker, said nice things both about Bradford and about foreign policy — which I’m sure can’t quite match the government’s official line. Unfortunately I didn’t get the opportunity to give her a grilling about what happened in Cancun, but it was kind of fun.

Anyway, the main reason for the urgency of this post: While I was in London I apparently missed a good deal of local media coverage of the unveiling of Bradford’s new town centre redevelopment plan. I’ve heard speculation that it’s a hoax, but it’s scarily real. There’s coverage at the Telegraph and Argus, the BBC and the Guardian. I’ve not had time to read much of it yet, but I’m not sure of the way the whole focus of the project seems to be Leeds, not Bradford. I’ll have to take a trip to the exhibition on Market Street on Saturday.