online diary of Richard Corbett MEP

September 2004

Wednesday 1 September

Press conference to about 30 odd assorted journalists. Inigo Mendez de Vigo of the Christian Democrats and myself have been appointed as the European Parliament's rapporteurs on the new EU constitution. In other words, we will draft Parliament's report on the matter and recommend to Parliament whether it should approve or reject the new constitution. There is therefore considerable interest in our press conference and our approach.

The Constitutional Affairs committee meets in the afternoon to hear our view, which seem to meet with general approval except on the part of the new MEP from the Democratic Unionist Party – Ian Paisley's successor.

Thursday 2 September

Constitutional committee continues in the morning, notably with a hearing of the Dutch European Affairs Minister, Mr Bot. The Dutch currently have the rotating Presidency of the EU Council. The discussion is marked by a brief appearance of Ashley Mote, the disgraced UKIP MEP – who has, I gather, even been thrown out of UKIP! – who makes a few disparaging comments and disappears without waiting to hear Mr Bot's reply.

In the afternoon, return to Yorkshire after a few interviews.

Friday 3 September

Into the office to continue to get on top of the ever increasing pile of casework to respond to. Then off to a meeting of the Yorkshire Coal Task Force. Interesting discussions on energy issues.

Back to the office and then to the Lord Mayor of Sheffield 's Charity dinner. It was held in the Council Chamber of Sheffield Town Hall because the normal room for such functions couldn't be used. This was because the ceiling had collapsed a few days before, bringing tons of stone and masonry crashing down into the room. Fortunately, no-one was hurt, but a group of Japanese tourists had been in the room just moments before – a lucky escape. Hopefully it will at least give some publicity to Sheffield in Japan!

The Lord Mayor's charity this year is a medical one and the speaker was correspondingly a doctor. He gave one of the wittiest speeches I can remember, on medical themes and others.

It was funny being introduced to the Lord Mayor on the grand staircase in all his regalia, only for both of us to realise we already knew each other – from a night on the tiles in Strasbourg!

Monday 6 September

To London , notably for a meeting at Chatham House on the prospects for winning a referendum on the European Constitution. Interesting discussion with academics, journalists, and assorted politicos.

Can a referendum on Europe be won? People remember 1975 with opinion polls favouring a no vote until just six weeks before polling day – yet the result 66% in favour. But a number of things are different: the press was largely in favour, whereas now it is overwhelmingly euro-sceptic. The main opposition party was in favour, whereas it is now against: the “yes” was a vote in favour of the status quo whereas now the “yes” is in favour of change.

Nonetheless, there is a view that a referendum can be won, provided we can get the facts across and overcome the mass of fib and fantasy being put about by eurosceptics.

Tuesday 7 September

To Brussels . I have lunch with Commissioner designate, Peter Mandelson and the number 10 policy advisor on Europe , Roger Liddle, who will be joining Peter in Brussels in his cabinet.

Peter and I are old friends, having been on the Oxford University Labour Club together, as well as the University branch of the European Movement. We reminisce that his first job after University was as an assistant to a Labour MEP, Sir Geoffrey de Freitas, at a time when MPs doubled up as MEPs. Following that, he and I both applied for the same job: I got it and the rest, as they say, is history.

Then off to the new “horizontal working group E” of the Socialist Group. Much as I am in favour of working horizontally, I am not convinced that this particular working group (which brings together socialist members of the parliamentary committees on constitutional affairs, legal affairs, citizen's rights and women's rights) is going to make a significant contribution to our policy making.

Later to a meeting of Bureau of the Socialist Group who I persuade to support the tabling of an oral question with debate next week in Strasbourg on the subject of how member states are going about ratifying the European Constitution. This will be interesting: about 10 countries are holding referenda and some of them want to co-ordinate in order to hold those referenda at the same time. Others don't and seem to want to have their referenda after everyone else – which could give rise to an interesting phenomenon if more than one member state insists on being last!

Then to some drinks (some beer from Saarland , which he represents in the European Parliament) in the office of Joe Leinen MEP, the new Chair of the Constitutional Affairs Committee. Finally to the evening meeting of the EPLP where we first have an interesting hour long discussion with the new Commissioner designate, Peter Mandelson, who surprises many members who did not already know him with his candid comments. The lad will do fine if he is not gunned down by the press. We have to elect a new Chair of the EPLP, as our current Chair, Philip Whitehead MEP, has been elected Chair of the Internal Market and Consumer Protection committee of the Parliament. The EPLP Chair chairs our meetings, as opposed to the Leader who leads (as in the famous quote from Jim Hacker “I'm their leader, I must follow them”). We unanimously elect Robert Evans MEP, the MEP who had all the rotten luck last year, losing the Brent East by-election and then failing to be selected to contest the general election by a majority of 1.

More sadly, we had to approve a new budget for next year, which, with our reduced numbers, involves making some staff redundant.

Wednesday 8 September

Socialist Group meeting in the morning has a lively debate on the constitution, which is still supported by all Socialist parties in Europe , bar some French Socialists who consider it to be insufficiently “social” – for which read protectionist. It seems that Laurent Fabius, who hopes to be their candidate for President of France in two years time, but who is regarded as being on the right-wing of the party, has decided to oppose the constitution in order to appeal to the left-wing of the party. This goes against everything he has stood for in European terms until recently and was harshly criticised as a cynical piece of opportunism by many colleagues. There are enough myths and misrepresentations of the constitution from the right-wing without those who should know better on the left joining in for short-term political advantage.

Then a quick meeting of the GMB MEPs – the first this Parliament. I am re-elected as Chair. Stephen Hughes MEPs was re-elected as Convenor. Kathleen Walker-Shaw from the GMB office showed us some excellent documents that GMB has produced on the subject of the proposed new constitution for the EU, ahead of next weeks TUC Congress.

Then to a meeting with Inigo Mendez de Vigo, my co-rapporteur on the constitution. We worked on our report which will go to the next meeting of the Constitutional Affairs committee for consideration.

During the lunch break, we resumed last nights EPLP meeting to finish our agenda. This included a decision to ask me to be a keynote speaker at our meeting at Party Conference on the subject of the constitution, along with Jack Straw and Marilisa Xenogiannakopoulou from the Greek Socialist Party.

I have a meeting with Philip French and a colleague from the FA Premier League concerning the Commission's investigation into their competitive practices when selling television rights. The Commission is concerned that a block selling of TV rights by the Premier league as a single block is a monopolistic market distortion. The Premier league argues that selling as a block and redistributing money to all clubs in the league is actually better for competition than allowing each individual club to sell its own TV rights which would, as can be seen in Spain, Italy and the Netherlands, bring highly disproportionate revenues to the big clubs only.

In the evening off to a reception at the think-tank called “The Centre” (where I bump into Peter Mandelson – again) and then another one hosted by Solidar, the grouping of social and environmental NGOs.

Thursday 9 September

Off to London again, where I attend the House of Commons debate on the new Constitution. The government has published a white paper showing the benefits of the Constitution and how they managed to achieve every single negotiating objective that they had laid down before the start of the negotiations. The Tories have published a booklet “The truth about the European Constitution” which would better be entitled “Lies about the European Constitution” because it repeats again the myths that they have been peddling for several months now, pandering to the fears (that they have largely stirred up themselves) of eurosceptics.

I hope eurosceptics will read what Oxford University Professor of Constitutional law, Vernon Bogdenor, has written in an article called “Eurosceptic Constitution” which shows that the new Constitution actually addresses many of the traditional criticisms of the EU made by eurosceptics and would actually make it more difficult to move towards the so-called 'super-state'.

Then to a set of briefings in the Foreign Office for MEPs on an all-party basis which enables us to meet virtually all Foreign Office, Treasury, DTI and Home Office senior officials dealing with the European Union as well as to have briefing from all the relevant departmental ministers. I attended a similar event five years ago after the 1999 European elections and it is striking how Whitehall now treats the European Parliament much more seriously than it used to.

We end with a reception with Jack Straw and the ubiquitious Peter Mandelson. Only water and white wine is served: apparently red wine is too risky for staining the marble floor! Then rush off to Kings Cross to catch the last train back to Yorkshire, arriving home just before midnight.

Friday 10 September

Off to the meeting of Leaders of Labour groups in Yorkshire Councils which takes place in Wakefield – an opportunity to compare notes on issues that affect the whole region.

One current issue that some Tories who oppose an elected regional assembly have decided as part of their campaign to try and kill off the current unelected regional assembly which is composed of representatives of local authorities across the region. It currently deals with issues like regional spacial planning, transport, infrastructure development, inward investment and so on and is the democratic watchdog on Yorkshire Forward, the regional development agency. These Tories are trying to get local councils that they control to withdraw their participation and representation in the regional assembly, although until now the regional assembly had all- party support and hasn't been controversial.

Fortunately, not all Tories seem to be following this line, dreamed up by some Tory leaders in East Yorkshire, but there is a real danger that they will waste a lot of everybody's time over a petty political battle that will in the meantime paralyse the useful work done by the regional assembly.

Then back to the office to catch up with the usual mountain of constituents correspondence and take up some of the issues raised before going in the evening to Shipley CLP for a pie and peas event with Ian McCartney, Chair of the Labour Party.

Saturday 11 September

I go to the European Movement's Annual Congress, which this year is being held in Sheffield . Denis McShane MP, Minister for Europe , is the keynote speaker in the morning, and I am on in the afternoon.

The event is well attended with delegates from across the country including a large number of young people. It was also an opportunity to meet many old friends. My speech appears to go down well: I am even asked for my autograph afterwards which doesn't happen very often!

The event is followed by a gala dinner in the evening and I get back to Saltaire pretty late.

Monday 13 September

Off to Strasbourg , journeying part of the way with Charles Tannock MEP, a Conservative initially elected as a euro-sceptic but his views have moderated considerably. I recently heard him extolling the benefits of EU membership to UKIP members, citing as an example how Europe, by standing together, has obliged the USA to rescind its punitive tariffs on European steel – something none of our countries would have had the clout to do individually.

I am amused by Roger Helmer MEP raising on the floor of the European Parliament the issue of the House of Commons vote tomorrow on banning hunting with dogs. This arch eurosceptic Tory MEP seems to want Europe to step in to overrule the House of Commons on a purely domestic issue! He also makes the claim that using the Parliament Act to overrule the House of Lords is somehow undemocratic – yet without the Parliament Act Britain could not claim to be a democracy, as the will of the one elected Chamber could be thwarted indefinitely by an appointed one.

In the evening I and some other Labour MEPs have dinner with our new colleagues from Malta . The Maltese Labour Party had actually opposed Malta's accession to the EU, but now that that issue has been settled by referendum they accept the results and now declare themselves willing to work to improve the EU and will probably support the proposed new constitution. In any event, they are lively and entertaining dinner partners. One is missing as he is off on a two month honeymoon (“will it last?” was one member's reaction to the length of the honeymoon!).

Tuesday 14 September

I have a meeting with Margot Wallström, the Swedish member of the European Commission. If approved by the European Parliament, she is to be responsible for constitutional issues and for communications and media in the next Commission. She is also a charming and delightful lady.

I do several interviews for French radio and television stations on the unfortunate case of Mr Laurent Fabius, former Prime Minister and former MEP who, after changing his position several times, has come out against the constitution – to the consternation of many of his comrades.

I spend much of the day with Inigo Mendez de Vigo. He and I have been charged with drafting Parliament's report on the Constitution and, with the committee secretariat, we make steady progress in our first draft which will go before the constitutional affairs committee.

In the evening I go out for a bite with David Martin, Peter Skinner and Jim Nicholson, the Ulster Unionist MEP, following which we go for a beer in Murphy's, an Irish pub near the cathedral. After a while we become aware that the English speaking group in the corner noisily enjoying themselves are in fact UKIP MEPs, when one of them comes up to me and swears at me. I sometimes wonder if it's worth bothering countering UKIP's bogus arguments – they are well on the way to discrediting themselves without any external assistance!

Wednesday 15 September

More interviews on French television – once you have been on one channel, they all seem to want you – where I make myself simultaneously unpopular with some of my French colleagues and popular with others – as becomes apparent as the day goes on with some of the comments and quizzical looks I get.

I speak in a debate on the issue of the ratification procedures for the new constitution. Some members have suggested that all countries holding a referendum do so on the same day. This would make the debate more transnational, perhaps, but is a totally impracticable idea in practice. At most, a few countries may wish to co-ordinate their dates, but making it a requirement for all is legally and politically impossible. We also discuss what role the European institutions should play in any campaigns: I plead for them to stick to providing factual and accurate information. They should not get involved in open campaigning, but in this case, simply providing the facts is likely to help as the debate is largely one of myth versus reality.

I am amused by a Luxembourg MEP speaking in the debate claiming that she was neither a “neo-fetishist nor a neo-dogmatist”. Political theory must have moved on since I went to university!

We also have one of those exquisite moments when a translation mistake sets the cat among the pigeons. To puzzled looks from his colleagues, Robert Evans MEP, the Chair of the all party group on animal welfare, talks about the protection of animals in space. What can he be talking about? Have rabbits been found on the moon? All becomes clear when it is clarified that he is in fact talking about space as in cages for animals, not animals in outer space!

In the evening I go to discussions with the British Chamber of Commerce. Relieved to see that no UKIP MEPs have bothered to turn up.

Thursday 16 September

More work on my report and then the votes in the House. I note that UKIP MEPs vote against an amending budget designed to refund unspent sums to the member states: surely something they would favour, but they probably haven't even bothered to examine what they are voting on. They seem to vote systematically against everything, when they're there.

Friday 17 September

Back to Yorkshire . Meeting with the CBI Yorkshire to discuss current issues. I'm on a platform with a member of Yorkshire's Westminster MPs: Colin Challen, Bill O'Brien, Ann Cryer, David Curry, and John Greenway. No Lib Dem turned up.

We answer all kinds of quesrtions for two hours and I am delighted that David Curry actually agrees with what I say – a rare example these days of cross-party consensus on Europe!

Saturday 18 September

A couple of things catch my eye in the press clippings.

An article by the Brussels correspondent of the Press Association and newspaper columnist Geoff Mead about the decision by the Heads of Government of the member states to appoint Jose Barroso as Head of the Commission – a job he considers to be a poisoned chalice. Mead writes:

As you know, the Poisoned Chalice Cup is awarded every five years to the man or woman identified by a jury of European leaders as most likely to fall for their flattery and give up a cosy domestic political life to take on the task of being blamed for all the EU's failings. He or she must be someone who has not upset anyone important in the recent past and he or she must not have done anything too embarrassing politically, at least not in such a way that anybody noticed.

The other was a piece in the Yorkshire Post by Michael Meadowcroft illustrating the value of the stability that the EU has helped to bring to Europe as compared with wars and shifting frontiers of the past. He quotes the late Rabbi Hugo Gryn:

A man from Berehovo/Bergsasz arrives in heaven and they say to him that before he can come in he has to tell his life story. ‘Well,' he says, ‘I was born in the Austro-Hungarian Empire – educated in Czechoslovakia – started work in Hungary and was for a time in Germany – spent most of my adult life in the Soviet Union and the end of my retirement, just before coming here, in the Ukrainian Republic'. ‘My goodness,' they said. ‘You must have done a lot of travelling your lifetime'. ‘Not at all,' says the man, ‘I never left Berehovo'.

Monday 20 September

To Brussels. More work with the Secretariat of the Constitutional Affairs Committee on my Report on the draft constitution. Also tried to put pen to paper in response to numerous requests for articles and briefings on the subject. End the day with a UEFA reception to mark the opening of their 50th Anniversary Exhibition on the premises of the Parliament. I am again told that they have my idea on limiting the sizes of squads on their agenda for their next executive committee.

Tuesday 21 September

Finally finish the first draft of my report with Inigo Mendez de Vigo. Go to the first meeting of the Japan Delegation: the group of MEPs charged with maintaining relations with the Japanese Parliament and receiving Japanese visitors. Japan is one of Europe's main trading partners, so the delegation is a busy one - and there may even be a chance over the next five years to visit Japan at the invitation of the Japanese Parliament. Interestingly, two members of the delegation speak fluent Japanese and come from quite opposite ends of the political spectrum: Sylvia Kaufmann from the German PDS party - the former governing party of communist East Germany - and Bruno Gollnisch from the French National Front of Jean-Marie Le Pen. If our Japanese interlocutors listen to them more than to others, they will have a very strange view of European politics!

Then off to a meeting of the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee of which I have just become a (substitute) member. The field of judicial cooperation is an increasingly important area of EU activity and the Parliament's powers of scrutiny in the system will be increased under the new constitution.

Wednesday 22 September

First to the meeting of the Committee on Civil Liberties which is discussing my report for the Constitutional Committee on the European Constitution. They have a contribution to make regarding their sector of the Treaty and for the most part seem highly pleased with the improvements brought about by the draft constitution.

Then to meet my co-authors for planning a sixth edition of our book on the European Parliament. This book (available here) has become the standard textbook on the European Parliament in Universities across Europe, but it now needs updating following the European elections. We quickly agree on a distribution of the workload and plan to finish by Christmas. Quite how I will squeeze this in to my schedule remains to be seen.

I have lunch with members of the UEFA executive committee - still plugging away at my concern that the game is becoming dominated by a small group of ultra-rich clubs. Their executive committee is considering a number of measures, not least my own idea of limiting the size of squads, but also a new licensing system that would oblige clubs to have a properly funded youth scheme in their areas and oblige them to include some "home-grown" players from such schemes in their teams. These measures would certainly help, but do not address the discrepancy in financial resources between the few rich clubs and the bulk of small and medium size clubs.

Then to the Socialist Group Bureau meeting to prepare the confirmation hearings for the candidate commissioners next week.

Thursday 23 September

My attention is drawn to stories appearing on a number of websites referring to the same incident I mentioned in my own blog for Tuesday 14th September when I referred to a UKIP member who swore at me. These websites - actually written by people who are, or at least were, close to UKIP, reveal that the member in question was Godfrey Bloom (famous for his comments last July disparaging women) and revealing that he wanted to hit me.

I don't want to dramatise the incident, but those who want to find out more can visit this blog.

Let me clarify: Godfrey Bloom did not hit me. But I find the very idea of an elected member going up to another one, swearing at him and threatening violence ("I'll smash your fucking jaw") to be distasteful in the extreme.

I would far rather fight UKIP on their ideas - which are mad - by means of political debate. I will also expose their abuses and their closeness to the BNP. I will certainly contribute to the new UKIPwatch website (here) that some enlightened soul has set up. But I will not rise to the bait when it comes to physical abuse.

By chance, there is today another example of curious UKIP behaviour - again involving Godfrey Bloom. All MEPs are entitled to visitors groups from, normally their constituencies, to come and visit the European Parliament. Such groups receive a subsidy to defray, in part, their travel expenses. Members may invite up to 90 people per year in groups of at least 20. Over the years I have myself sponsored in this way, groups from across Yorkshire.

Today, however, Godfrey Bloom's first visitor's group is in Parliament and it is not from Yorkshire at all! It is, in fact, the Cambridge University Women's Rugby Team! It seems that the primary purpose of this curious choice of group is to re-establish Godfrey's credentials among women after the outrageous comments (about how women of child bearing age should not be employed but should stay at home to clean behind the fridge). He is hoping that his sponsorship will earn him some nice quotes from his visitors. Surely Cambridge students won't fall for that one - I'm sure Oxford students wouldn't!

Friday 24 September

Fly back to Yorkshire and go off to a meeting of the Yorkshire Rural Support Network in Harrogate which helps farmers in need. Some very good presentations and speeches - and all commendably short and to the point. One started by saying, "As Henry VIII said to his wife, 'I won't keep you long!'."

After some casework in the office in the afternoon, I go off to Huddersfield to speak at a meeting in the Town Hall with Barry Sheerman MP, who had supplied wine and peanuts for the occasion. Good debate on current European issues.

Saturday 25 September

Drive down to Brighton in appalling weather for Labour Party conference. On the way I browse through my conference papers. I note that I am invited to a reception by "BSA, BBA, CML, IMA, pfeg and PIMA", none of which I have ever heard of. Toby suggests they may be manufacturers of alphabet soup.

Arrive in Brighton, find our little B&B is a 20 minute walk from the conference centre, and go out for an absolutely delicious meal in a little Thai restaurant just around the corner - which turns out to be the only sit-down meal we have, other than breakfast, all week.

Sunday 26 September

I speak at the first big fringe meeting at conference - the EPLP's meeting on the EU constitution. Nearly 200 people turn up to hear me, Gary Titley, Jack Straw and our foreign guest Marilisa Xenogiannakopoulou from the Greek Socialist Party. The audience seems overwhelmingly favourable to the new Constitution, which is encouraging.

Rush off straight after the meeting to get the tail end of the meeting of Yorkshire delegates where Nan Sloane, Regional Director, is briefing delegates on the latest developments before the first session of conference itself at the beginning of the afternoon.

In the evening I speak at another meeting on the Constitution, this time with Peter Mandelson, on how to win the referendum. Again, the meeting room is packed to hear Peter Mandelson, myself and Chris Bryant MP, who is Chairman of the Labour Movement for Europe (the Labour wing of the European Movement) which is organising this particular meeting. Most people are optimistic about the chances of winning the referendum, but paraphrasing Harold Wilson, I declare myself to be an optimist who takes his raincoat.

The rest of the evening can almost be described as "drinking for Europe night" as Britain in Europe and the European Commission both hold their conference receptions on the same evening, one after the other. Both feature passionate, rousing speeches by Neil Kinnock, now just a month away from his retirement as Vice-President of the European Commission.

Monday 27 September

Start the day with two breakfasts, as I didn't realise that the first meeting I went to was a breakfast meeting. This was the Foreign Policy Centre meeting on workers' rights in Europe with Michael Leahy, General Secretary of the ISTC (who started work in the same steel factory as my grandfather!) Kevin Curran, Secretary General of the GMB, my own trade union, and Will Hutton, the famous journalist.

Why are we still lagging behind the rest of Europe when it comes to protection of the workforce? Is it true that flexible labour markets enhance economic growth? Or can the two be reconciled, as seems to be the case in Holland, Finland, Austria, Luxembourg, Denmark and Sweden - all of whom have economic growth rates and unemployment rates that are as good or better than Britain's, combined with high standards of social legislation?

Spend the rest of the morning working on my parliamentary report on the constitution, with faxes and telephone calls going backwards and forwards to Brussels amid puzzled looks from colleagues, not all of whom understand my French.

I keep myself entertained over the lunch break by going to listen to Ed Balls, Gordon Brown's former advisor, who is now our Prospective Candidate for Normanton. Eloquent as ever, he nonetheless fails to explain the Treasury's penchant for lambasting the economic performance of "Europe" - even though Europe contains a range of economies, many of which are doing better than ours, despite our dramatic improvements in recent years.

Following the afternoon session in conference I go to another fringe meeting on the constitution - though this time I'm not a speaker! Instead, Pierre Moscovici MEP (French Socialist), Paul Rasmussen MEP (former Danish Prime Minister), and Charles Grant speak eloquently in favour of the constitution.

Time to relax and I go successively to the receptions organised by Amicus, YTV and the BBC, before strolling back to the B&B along the seafront.

Tuesday 28 September

I sit in the hall for Tony Blair's speech - a tour de force as ever, pitched at just the right level in view of events in Iraq. He was heckled and interrupted by a sole protester on Iraq and then, later, by the pro-fox-torturing lobby, who somehow managed to get a row of seats in the public gallery. It's not so much a breach of security, as they couldn't possibly have smuggled any weapons past the security controls, as a breach of trust, in that they signed up some months ago to join the Labour party.

There was also a massive demonstration by the pro-hunt lobby, who threw eggs at anybody going in and out of the conference centre and who dumped two dead horses, a cow and two calves on the streets of Brighton thereby revealing their true love of animals, or at least of their blood and guts.

These people claim to be speaking for the countryside, yet opinion polls show that even in the countryside the majority of people support the ban on hunting with dogs. They claim that Parliament is being undemocratic in approving this law - yet the issue has been debated in Parliament now for seven years, it was a free (i.e. unwhipped) vote and there was an overwhelming majority in the House of Commons to adopt the ban. What is undemocratic is the attempt to circumvent this through the unelected House of Lords or, even worse, by violence.

After the speech, I go on to the Walkabout café where and John Grogan MP are co-hosting an event promoting British beer. Then to a meeting of the National Council of Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) at which my friend and colleague, Linda McAvan MEP and Paul Nyrup Rasmussen MEP, the former Prime Minister of Denmark and now President of the European Socialist Party, are speaking. After an hour at an event hosted by the Council for Racial Equality I then bump into some of my former colleagues who lost their seats in the European elections: Mark Watts, Brian Simpson, Barbara O'Toole and David Bowe. I am relieved to hear that most of them have already found new jobs.

Finally off to the Daily Telegraph reception at about midnight, where I bump into Brendan Carlin who has just left the Yorkshire Post to join the Daily Telegraph. I wish him good luck - working for the Telegraph he'll need it!

Wednesday 29 September

Up at 5am to catch the first flight out of Gatwick to Brussels where I have a morning meeting with the President of the Parliament to discuss Parliament's media strategy when it comes to my report on the EU constitution. Then do a debate on BBC TV with a Polish eurosceptic member, Michal Tomasz Kaminski. Interestingly, he has a very dim view indeed of UKIP, despite being himself a eurosceptic.

The afternoon meeting of the Constitutional Affairs Committee is devoted entirely to discussing the first draft of my report on the constitution.

Thursday 30 September

Constitutional Committee continues in the morning with its discussion of my draft report, finishing with me responding to the thirty speakers who had made comments or suggestions - or who had opposed the whole report in the case of three members, all from the UK: a UKIP member, an Ulster Unionist (DUP) and one of the eurosceptic Tories. At least this gives the rest of Europe an idea of the unusual kind of debate that we have in the UK on European matters!

In the afternoon is the confirmation hearing for the proposed new Commissioner, Margot Wallström. She is the nominee of the Swedish government and, if the Commission is confirmed by Parliament, will be the Vice-President and be responsible for communication strategy, inter-institutional relations and constitutional issues. She gives the impression of being highly competent and well informed and generally charms the committee.

Then off to the airport to get back to Yorkshire where I am speaking in Easingwold in the evening to Vale of York CLP. Driving back to Saltaire afterwards I hear the news of Tony Blair's operation on Monday and his announcement that he would like to serve a full third term, but not a fourth, if re-elected in the general election. It is creating the usual media frenzy, but it seems to me to be an entirely rational decision. The hospitalisation was bound to fuel speculation that he might be intending to stand down soon, so a clear announcement that he would like to serve a full third term is actually very sensible - as is the announcement that he doesn't want to go on and on forever and serve a fourth term.