I am sure that when the sad news of Mo Mowlem’s death was announced, many of you, like me, remembered the day she came to Southmead.  Mo was an important politician, a cabinet minister who, not long before, had been negotiating peace in Northern Ireland. But Mo never stood on ceremony.  She had just been on a visit to Swindon and was off to a big meeting in the council House with the Prime Minister, but for a couple of hours her one interest was the young people of Southmead – their achievements and their hopes.  Down at the Southmead Youth Project she played pool and table football and kicked a ball around with the girls’ football team.  And she chatted and chatted…..and listened.  I was proud to show her what the people of Southmead had achieved and pleased to be able to give some of you the chance to meet her.  She was a one-off.

Several years before I also had the pleasure of introducing Robin Cook to Southmead when he came to meet staff at Southmead Health Centre, when he was Shadow Health Secretary.  And now he too has died.  I think Robin was the best Health Secretary we never had.  His grasp of policy was unrivalled and he was committed to bring the best health care to all, regardless of income.  He had a wonderful sense of humour, too.   It has been a sad month for the Labour Party and for politics, with the loss of two such unconventional and forward-thinking politicians.