Stephen's Week

Written by Stephen Williams MP on Mon 15th May 2006

MONDAY 8th MAY 2006

Up to London on the 10am train. Quite a bit of catching up on paperwork before going to Education & Skills Select Committee. We were looking at the work of OFSTED and had before us the Chief Inspector of Schools and some of his officials.

In the office till midnight, then trundle my suitcase to my flat in Millbank.

TUESDAY 9th MAY

Education team weekly meeting lunchtime. This brings together the Education shadow ministers from the Commons - Sarah Teather (team leader), Greg Mullholand (schools), Annette Brooke (children and families) and me (Colleges and Universities and adult skills as well as Lib Dem rep on the Select Cttee) together with our Lords colleagues Baroness Margaret Sharpe and Baroness Joan Walmsley plus our researchers, external advisers and a reps from local government. We talk about progress on the Education Bill - as usual the govt is making no concessions. I update colleagues on a new think tank report on university funding and select committee work.

In the evening I cross Parliament Square to the Royal Institute of Engineers in Great George St. Several professional bodies have their HQs in Great George St and I often attend meetings there - they are all within division bell range! This evening is related to my pre MP profession -

the annual Chartered Tax Advisers Address by a former institute president on the harmonisation of European taxes. UKIP would have had a fit! There was a dinner for Chartered Tax Institute officers and I am a guest as the only tax qualified MP. Pleasingly, the dining room is dominated by a portrait of Brunel!

Back to the office and work until 12.15am.

WEDNESDAY 10th MAY

Education Select Committee was devoted to bullying. This was a meeting that I requested last year when we discussed our 2006 work programme. We had five witnesses. Two of them were heads, plus a rep of Ofsted, the director of Kidscape, a charity campaigning on all aspects of bullying, plus the chair of EACH. This stands for Education Action Challenging Homophobia. They provide training for schools as well as a helpline for bullied children. And they are based in Clifton! I was really pleased to have played a role in Parliament's first ever serious discussion about bullying. When we interviewed the Children's Commissioner a few months back he confirmed that bullying was the top concern of many children, followed by exam stress.

The key points to arise were that we don't really know the scope and scale of bullying - the collation of statistics is patchy. There is inadequate training in place for heads and teachers on how to recognise and deal with bullying. There is little guidance on how to support the victims of bullying.

Since the meeting there has been a lot of national and local media interest. The press have focused on two aspects - the homophobic bullying that I am well placed to talk about and also the remark by a witness that some of the worst behaved children were posh girls who had been over-indulged by their parents. That's spoilt brats!

PMQs was dominated by Cameron taunting Blair over his departure date. Ming Campbell had a difficult time as he hesitated to look at his notes. As I have commented before, we are all at a disadvantage compared to the Tory front bench as we can't use the table and the dispatch box on it to hold our papers so the use of written prompts is more obvious.

Then to a lunch for SW Lib Dem MPs hosted by the Environment Agency. Most of the topics were of little direct relevance to Bristol West but I was surprised to learn of a recent flood in the Centre at high tide!

In the afternoon I meet with the chair and chief exec of the NHS Blood and Transplant Trust. They have a major presence in Bristol supporting blood transfusions and the organ donor register. Did you know that skin can be transplanted? It can be a temporary fix until a skin graft from your own body can be performed.

Evening back to Great George Street for a presentation by Universities UK on the contribution of higher education to the economy. The Commons votes this evening are on the Police & Justice Bill (yet another Home Office Bill!!) amendments on the extradition treaty with the US and a call for referendums on police force mergers.

Stayed rather too late for my own good in the office, finally leaving at 1.20am.

THURSDAY 11 MAY 2006

Morning meeting with John Dunford, the chief exec of the Association of Colleges. Discuss wide range of issues facing FE colleges. This is a key relationship in my Education team role. Lunchtime down Victoria Street to the HQ of the Engineering Employers Federation for a lunch. I was welcomed and told they were looking forward to my speech. Gulp! I hadn't realised that I was to be the only guest. I suggested an informal question and answer session, prefaced by a recounting of my career before Parliament of advising businesses. Survived the experience and even managed to eat some food! Made contact with someone from Rolls Royce and I hope to visit their Filton plant in the summer.

Back at the Commons for meeting for all SW MPs with First Great Western to discuss their new franchise. They tell us about the new leather seats in first class while MPs are more interested in timetables and services.

Then I'm off to Paddington to savour a FGW experience of a packed train to Oxford that stopped at every station en route! Arrived in warm evening sunshine, Oxford looking beautiful for my first visit in about 12 years. I was the guest of the Oxford Union - the world famous university debating society. They put me up in The Randolph, a smart city centre hotel. I changed into the required formal black tie attire. At 7.15pm there was dinner with the other speakers and some students at the Union. The building is quite amazing - as well as the debating chamber there is a library, dining room and other function rooms. There are pictures and busts of numerous Oxford alumni politicians including Gladstone, Asquith, Edward Heath and Roy Jenkins. After dinner there were several group photos for the archives.

The motion is "This House believes marriage should be between men and women only". The main speaker for the proposition was meant to be Archbishop Cormac Murphy O'Connor but he pulled out. So they were led by Anne Atkins, who you may hear on Radio 4 and perhaps (if you can bear it) read in the Daily Mail and Daily Telegraph. There was also John Hayes MP, the chair of Tory Cornerstone Group who campaign for "faith, family and the flag." For the opposition there is Peter Tatchell and me. The hall was packed out, with about 400 students. The two hour debate was very lively, with some superb student speeches . The opposition won convincingly, by 230 to 36. Then there was the post debate drinks and I eventually crawled into bed at 2am.

FRIDAY 12 MAY

After breakfast walk to Oxford station and get the 9am train to Didcot and then back to Bristol. Picked up by Tim and off to Park Street Oxfam to do a photo op to publicise the campaign against small arms. Then, via a caffeine injection at the cathedral, it's a meeting with NESTA FutureLab in Harbourside. Their mission is to modernise learning through new techniques. I was a bit sceptical. Back over College Green to the Council House and my surgery until 6.15pm.

Have a half hour lie down at home before going to the post election thank you party at Cotham Parish hall. I was pleased to be able to congratulate Rosalie Brown on her retirement after 12 years service to Henleaze and Bristol.

WEEKEND - some rest and domestics, as well as reading and writing.