A foggy day and a friendly dinner

For some reason, like last week, our ECON meetings which used to be at 3pm on Mondays have shifted to Tuesdays. Maybe this is because it is the foggy season when there is a higher incidence of MEPs from somewhere getting stranded on Mondays. Anyway, this is helpful because it means I can get a later flight to Brux and can contact my UK offices before I get into transport mode. I leave for Heathrow at 10.15 and discover the queue for departures stretching the length of the departure hall. I am selected for the ‘full body scan’ by security. Are you supposed to breathe in? Should I have a body image panic? One of my Dutch colleagues (Sophie, a civil liberties champion who is famously, frequently outraged), is outraged that ordinary people are seen naked by such scanners. Anyway the queue moves fast so I get some shopping time.

14.45 We land at I get to the Parliament very quickly. I had not realised how much more civilised it could be at this time of day. I check through papers including on competition (anti trust) damages actions, then at 16.30 have a long discussion on this with the Law Society. I draft most of the amendments I want, deal with emails then go to an early dinner at 18.30 with Lawrence Fullick, a long time Lib Dem friend who also used to organise Lib Dem visitor groups to Brussels. One such group is coming later this week.