Many people like to use breaks from work to travel abroad. Since I spend most of the year doing that, however, it was nice this month to spend some time with the family at home in Yorkshire, complemented by occasional forays to the Lake District.

It was particularly good to be able to explore the region at a more relaxed pace than that which MEPs are usually forced to adopt when they’re working, due to the vast size of their constituencies. The weather has also been wonderful, and I’ve ended up at least as tanned as those people who’ve flown to Spain at great expense!

Anyway, MEPs are back to work today (despite it being a bank holiday in the UK!). Without wishing to make too much of a meal of this point, our summer recess is a whopping five weeks shorter than Westminster's…