Stephen's Week:

MONDAY 13th NOVEMBER 2006

Parliament not sitting today or tomorrow, ahead of the State Opening on Wednesday. So caught up with things in Bristol before heading off to London on a mid evening train.

TUESDAY 14th NOVEMBER

Into Westminster office first thing then Tube to Kings Cross and train to Luton. As Lib Dem Shadow Higher Education Minister I get many invites to visit colleges and universities. So today I was at the University of Bedfordshire. I was the guest of the Vice Chancellor Prof Les Ebdon and his senior staff for lunch and a discussion on topical HE issues. Luton, like many modern universities, does a great job encouraging local students to attend university. It also has a diverse racial intake. After lunch I went on a tour of some of the university's facilities. They train a lot of people for the media industry so have good studio production suites.

Back to London by 5pm - the worst possible time to take a Tube journey back to Westminster, where I arrived rather unfreshly steamed and pressed.

After an hour signing letters it was back on the Tube again, this time to South Kensington and the Natural History Museum. This was for the launch party of the new Times Education Supplement. It's been sold off by Murdoch and is now independent. Lots of champagne and circulating. But no food so fortunate that colleagues gathering back in town so have a late-night curry with other MPs in Pimlico.

WEDNESDAY 15th NOVEMBER

Next week is anti-bullying week. So first thing this morning record a web cast on homophobic bullying. It should be on the party' national web site on Monday.

By 10.30am the bands were playing outside ahead of the arrival of the Queen. This year in order to get a good view I had applied for a ticket to sit in the Strangers' Gallery of the House of Lords. It was a good decision - where I was sat I not only had a grand view of the peers below but also could see what was going on outside on the BBC screen just to my right. Down below were sat peers and their wives. Now this isn't sexist of me. Male and female peers looked splendid in their ermine rimmed red robes. Plainly dressed (if you ignore the array of posh frocks, pearls and tiaras) wives were also sat on the red benches as guests. But I couldn't see any plain suited husbands.

In fact the seating arrangements below were all quite unfamiliar. The parties were mixed up, so there were plenty of Lib Dems clustered on what are normally the Tory benches. As there was an hour to kill before the Queen arrived I spotted famous figures from my youth...and finally located Thatcher sat on the Lib Dem front bench! This is the first time I have ever seen in the flesh the woman who was PM from when I started secondary school to the first couple of years into my job after graduating from Bristol. The bishops' benches were full of ambassadors in various national garbs.

A hush descended when some heralds entered. I could hear the distant cry of "hats off strangers" which meant the Speaker was on his way to the House of Commons, where many of my colleagues were sat waiting. There being some more time to pass I amused myself reading the Ceremonial to be Observed at the State Opening of Parliament. The Queen is accompanied by some rather strange fellows including Fitzalan Pursuivant Extraordinary, Blue Mantle Pursuivant, Rouge Dragon Pursuivant who I thought must be a Welsh representative until I saw Wales Herald Extraordinary. Helpfully, we are given their normal names too. I guess if you are known to most people as John Robinson it gives you some great satisfaction to announce that your job title is Maltravers Herald Extraordinary.

Anyway, there are many other assorted pursuivants, captains of the guard, heralds and of course the Lord Chancellor. I spot Princess Anne, who for today's ceremony is apparently Gold Stick in Waiting. In comes the Queen, Imperial State Crown on her head and a long train held by four pages who don't look as though they come from Bermondsey.

We stand, the Queen sits, we sit and she nods at the Earl Marshall (the Duke of Norfolk), who holds aloft a long thin pole which is the signal for Black Rod (see last week's note) to march off down to the door of the Commons. On the TV monitor I can see it being slammed in his face before he is allowed in to summon MPs to the House of peers.

Once the MPs are standing at the "bar" of the House of Lords (below where I am sat, so I can only see them on the TV) the Queen reads her thunderously dull speech. She must have used the same phrases about "sound public finances" and "measures will be brought forward.." over and over again in the last 53 years. "A Bill will be brought forward to reform the Further Education system..." means that I will be kept busy.

Then it's all over for another year. I hang around for a bit downstairs in Peers' Lobby and spot some more famous faces but Mrs T slips out by another exit so I don't get to see her at close quarters. One of my Lib Dem Lord friends tells me that the red robes are hired at £117 an hour!

Have lunch with staff plus Cllr Mark Wright and Lena who are up for the day. In the afternoon sit in the Commons for the start of the Queen's Speech debate, which will last for several days. Cameron kicks off with a speech littered with lame jokes, devoid of content. Blair, taking part in his last debate, appears to enjoy the occasion and verbally crushes Cameron, dismissing him as a lightweight.

Then it's Ming Campbell's turn. And here we see what is so unfair about the way he (and us a party) is treated. Tory and Labour MPs pour out, chatting away. What's worse is that the Press Gallery above also empties, having decided in advance that we don't matter. I no longer think that the BBC deserves to be thought of as a public service broadcaster.

Early evening is our normal Parliamentary Party Meeting. I then head off to Park Lane for the Annual Awards of the Times Higher Education Supplement at the Hilton. The awards are after dinner and are conducted with loud music which at times made them look like the Smash Hits Poll winners party. There were apparently 800 people there from most universities in the country. Neither Bristol nor University of the West of England (UWE) win any of the categories. I leave for home at 11.30pm.

THURSDAY 16th NOVEMBER

Quite a bit of time sat in the Chamber today. Each day of the Queen's Speech debate has a theme and today was health and education. But the House quotas on speeches mean that there won't be many Lib Dems so I am just there to support Steve Webb and Sarah Teather.

Mid afternoon over to the Lords for a reception by the Foyer Association. Foyers are hostels for former homeless people where they also teach skills. This particular reception was to celebrate their success at getting some disadvantaged young people into university. I was particularly pleased to discover that the co-ordinator of the project is a Bristol West resident, on secondment from UWE.

Off to Paddington to get a train back to Bristol to arrive in time to speak at the AGM of Bristol West Lib Dems. As we have to get ready for a boundary change at the next general election we were also reconfiguring the organisation.

FRIDAY 17th NOVEMBER

9am to St Werburghs and the Ashley Vale eco homes. I have recently converted my home electric to a "green" supplier - Good Energy. The constituency office has also been converted. So Green Energy were keen to help with a promotion photo. We went to the Ashley Vale houses as they generate their own power from solar panels and sell the surplus to the grid where it feeds companies like Good Energy.

Then drove back home so that I could walk down to the Centre for my next appointment. But as is so often the case, I couldn't find anywhere to park in Kingsdown as it was full of commuters' cars. So I was put in the crazy situation of driving to the Centre, paying £4.40 to park where the commuters who use my road for free parking should have been. One day Bristol will join every other town in the country and have a residents priority parking scheme...

I was in the Centre to make a speech and take part in a meeting organised by the Internet Watch Foundation. They are the independent watchdog for the internet, monitoring it for illegal content. The vast majority of the illegal material is child pornography but there are also sites promoting racial hatred and other hate sites.

Then to the Council House for my surgery until 6.10pm giving me just enough time to get to Whiteladies Health Centre for a question and answer session with their patients forum. We discuss preparations for a flu epidemic, privatisation of some NHS services and financial problems in the health service.

Then to a dinner with some leading anti bullying experts, finally getting home at 10.45pm.

SATURDAY 18th NOVEMBER

Morning down to the Julian Trust Night Shelter in St Pauls. "Caring at Christmas" are getting ready for this year's round the clock help for homeless people over the Christmas period. They provide beds, washing facilities and meals for the day. My Bristol office is supporting them again by collecting essential items. If you can donate food (tinned or packed with sell by date after 31 December), warm clothes, sheets, blankets or soap sachets (the sort of complementary stuff you get in a hotel)then please call Lena in my office on 0117 9423494. We take a picture with staff and also Bristol North West MP Doug Naysmith.

Off to Bradley Stoke Secondary School for the Regional Conference of Western Counties Lib Dems. Speakers included my colleagues Steve Webb and Don Foster. I took part in an "Any Questions" panel discussion with Graham Watson MEP, Cllr Ruth Davis Leader of South Glos and Emma Bone, our Prospective MP for Filton and Bradley Stoke.

And after that I was free for most of Sunday, apart from a bit of work related reading!