January 28th, 2003

The diary of a Scottish MEP is never dull; in fact it’s anything but. Like all members of Parliament, engagements create plenty of opportunities to meet people and talk about their concerns. Sometimes people who didn’t even know they were expecting you. Take my recent visit to Brora as an example.

After a crippling Committee week in Brussels I was looking forward to the evening’s engagement in Brora at a local constituency dinner.

The flight from Brussels to Edinburgh was delayed. The connection to Inverness was later still. I drove up the side of the Cromarty Firth like Michael Schumacher. Arriving at my hotel, I raced in, grabbed a quick shower in my room, put on a suit and rushed down to the dining room. Arriving slightly late, but considerably less wind swept than I had been on my arrival I started to mingle with the guests already seated at their tables. I introduced myself and thanked them for coming. Everyone was very welcoming and as I reached the fourth table the headwaiter came over and quietly said to me, 'Mr Stevenson, can I take you downstairs to the Conservative dinner?' I hastily apologised and backed out of the room to join the guests I had been invited to meet. I'm sure some of the good citizens of Brora who had their dinner interrupted in the hotel's main dining room must think that Basil Fawlty lives on!

Managing the diary is clearly very important to any politician! How unfortunate, then, that the Prime Minister decided to hold a meeting with the fisheries leaders in Downing Street on the same day as the much-publicised Fisheries Summit in the European Parliament. Any hope of creating a strong united front in support of our fishermen was thwarted by crucial talks being scheduled to take place on the same day, at the same time, in two different places but with the same group of industry leaders. Am I being paranoid or do I detect the fingerprints of Alistair Campbell?

Struan Stevenson MEP