Stephen's week

MONDAY 12th JUNE 2006

8.50am train from Redland to Temple Meads, once again can't buy ticket on train so have to get one at TMs. The 9.30 train to London is suddenly cancelled so get a train to Parkway and pick up the (late) service from Swansea. This train is then delayed by signal problems at Wooton Bassett!!

The journey from Bristol to London is, pound per mile, one of the most expensive in the world. Yet it must also be one of the least reliable services...

At least the train is air conditioned. Paddington was like a green house and the Bakerloo line was like taking a Turkish bath. My Westminster office is in the "Norman Shaw" building, facing the river. The room gets the morning sun and is always hot, today unbearably so. My first meeting is with Tania Branigan, Guardian political correspondent. She suggests lunch in the shade in St James' Park, just behind the Foreign Office.

There is no meeting of Education Select Cttee today so it's back to the office hothouse. In the evening there is a special meeting of the Parliamentary Party to discuss House of Lords reform. My own preference us for a 100% elected Senate, with no reserved places for churches or "experts". I've never accepted the point that expert peers make for good debates in the Lords. If you are a retired Admiral then yes your contribution to the annual discussion of the defence estimates is probably well informed (and biased) but what about your views on sex education, third world aid, transport in rural Devon, etc?? Peers can speak and vote on all our laws, not just those in which they have a special interest. So they should be elected.

TUESDAY 13th JUNE

Morning meeting with Paul Marshall, Director of the "1994 Group" of universities. Britain's universities have several representative groups. The "Russell Group" represents the leading universities with a strong research reputation and includes Bristol as well as lesser institutions such as Oxford, Cambridge, Manchester and Leeds. The Combined Modern Universities" group or CMU represents the new universities, particularly the Polytechnics that gained university status in 1992. This group has a strong teaching ethos. The 1994 group is similar to the Russell Group, except that its members are smaller and stress both research and teaching universities. Many institutions aren't members of any of these groups and some are now forming a "non aligned" group! Anyway, we discussed current issues in HE, especially the changed due to be announced that day in research evaluations.

Late afternoon and evening saw votes on the Electoral Administration Bill. The government rejected moves to combat fraud by having individual, rather than household, registration.

Home to Millbank at midnight, for another largely sleepless night in the intense heat.

WEDNESDAY 14th JUNE

Morning meeting of Education and Skills Select Cttee was with David Bell, the new Permanent Secretary of the DfES. We had seen him before in his previous role as Chief Inspector and head of OFSTED. He was in to answer a range of questions, mainly about expenditure. I ask him two sets of questions. Firstly, about future expenditure. The govt is about to have a Comprehensive Spending Review, "CSR" and Bell admitted that the CSR was likely to be "tight" and "tough" for education. He did not disagree with the Institute of Fiscal Studies figures I put to him that predicted average future growth in spending of 3.4% as opposed to 4.6% in the last 5 years. This could threaten some govt programmes such as getting 50% of people into HE, or closing the gap with the private sector in school spending. I also asked about the changes in university research evaluations - weren't the Treasury in the driving seat? Also fears that arts and humanities might lose out to science. Both denied.

Some media interest afterwards and at 4.30 I toddle off to Millbank to do a live interview for BBC News 24 and a recording for later news bulletins. No doubt poor Mr Bell had been carpeted for being rather too candid at his first appearance as the country's top education civil servant. The Times Higher Education Supplement also wanted to run a story.

Mid afternoon had been to a presentation by the Electoral Reform Society on the 2006 local elections. Several examples of the erratic effect of our "first past the post" election system. In several councils the Lib Dems now do well out of FPTP, in some London boroughs we obtained the most seats despite coming second in votes, eg Brent, Camden and Kingston. Of course, after years of being stuffed by FPTP in Bristol we are now the largest party but based on little over 30% of the vote...

Today was rather cooler - yesterday was the hottest London June day on record! Walk to Victoria and catch a train to Bromley. Canvassing in the by election was quite a pleasant experience in the cool evening air. I go out with Chris Huhne, Tom Brake and a couple of London activists. We get a good reception.

Back at HQ I meet the candidate, Ben Abbotts. Now what are the odds of this...he says "you probably don't remember me"...but he was a Bristol University student and he used to deliver Cabot News when I was a councillor...and he used to live in my current flat! Small political world indeed!

Have a late night pizza with Tim Pollard, our Bristol organiser, who is on leave for a while so he can help out in the election.

THURSDAY 15th JUNE

Education team meeting to discuss our contribution to the document "Meeting the Challenge" to be launched at party conference in September.

Met Clare Morley of the Association of Accounting Technicians to discuss skills training. Later a meeting with Malcolm McVicar, the Vice Chancellor of the University of Central Lancashire. Discuss issues around trends in student applications.

Get 4pm train back to Bristol. Evening at annual dinner for students at Hiatt Baker Hall in Stoke Bishop. After dinner speeches - the Lord Mayor is on safe ground cheering on England in the World Cup. I am initially booed for admitting to be an old boy of Wills Hall!

FRIDAY 16th JUNE

To Industrial Museum to meet the team spearheading the new Museum of Bristol project. I can claim part of the parentage of this, having pushed for the initial study back in 1996. As ever, things in Bristol move at a glacial pace! But the themes for the new Museum look good and I offer several suggestions of my own. The Heritage Lottery Fund will announce their award in late July.

After my surgery it's off to Cotham Parish Hall for the Cabot ward Indian curry night, with food provided by Tiffins on St Michaels Hill. Graham Watson MEP is the guest speaker.

SATURDAY 17th JUNE

Mid morning to mid afternoon at the Vassall Centre in Fishponds for a meeting with carers. The two hour long panel session of questions was hard work. Also there were our own cllr John Kiely, exec member for adult social services and his equivalent from South Glos Council, Maggie Tyrell, also a Lib Dem. To even things up there's Labour MPs Doug Naysmith and Kerry Mcarthy.

SUNDAY 18th JUNE

Afternoon to cathedral for service to mark the Queen's 80th birthday.

Bristol's great and good are there, including Barbara Janke as Leader of the Council. Walton's "Crown Imperial" gave us a rousing finale. Evening with the Harris family - for Ken's 70th birthday party. He and Josephine have over the years stuffed thousands of envelopes and bundled thousands of leaflets for me and for our councillors in Ashley and Lockleaze.