Football Debate and Amendments

8.30 I am in the chair for the Lib Dem Parliamentary party meeting. Nothing spectacular, just routine review of the upcoming business and staff positions.

9.00 Telephone discussion with the French Deputy Ambassador to the EU. He wanted to talk to me about patents before the Berlin Conference and we could not schedule a meeting so agreed to have this call to establish contact. Everyone is looking for solutions, and ways to work together, which is good but I am concerned that too much complexity will lead to failure.

9.30 I get to the working group meeting for the discussion of the football reports. Most of the amendments that we submitted have made their way into the compromises so we agree that some of ours can be withdrawn. Just about everything that I submitted is in the compromises, the bits that did not make it are not mine and I reckon of less importance. ALDE, and to a large extent myself, have 24 amendments and co-signed 25 compromises including our amendments. Out of 54 in total I reckon we have done our stuff.

11.00 Meeting with Andrew Cave of the Federation of Small Businesses. They are concerned about Rome 1, which also came up yesterday with UKREP. Seems I will have to look at this.

12.00 I have a photoshoot outside the Parliament.

12.30 Back to the office. I have speaking time in the football debate so start to work out what to say in that and the corresponding press release. Also start to gather papers and thoughts for my session at the Berlin Conference.

15.30 TV Interview with Jim Gibbons on football. Then back to the office and paperwork, keeping an eye on the debates. My speaking time, originally scheduled for around 6pm starts to slip later and later.

18.30 The group has a celebration reception for the EU 50 years. I do not stay long. My speaking time now scheduled for about 8.30pm.

21.30 The football debate finally gets started, I do my speech at about 22.20. Leave Parliament afterwards.