A Week in the Life of an MEP

The BBC has an interesting feature this week in which one of their Westminster-based reporters is going to spend a week as a UK Member of the European Parliament (MEP). Considering that the vast majority of people in the UK are unable to name their own MEP (if they know what an MEP is at all), it's an interesting project. Elections for the European Parliament are coming up in June, and British citizens will shortly be asked to chose a representative from a list of people they've probably never heard of for a job they probably don't understand.

The reporter, Brian Wheeler, is going to be blogging throughout the week, and this morning he hopped on the Eurostar over to Strasbourg to attend one of the monthly assemblies of the Parliament in that city. So for those of you wondering what an MEP actually does (and you have cause to be confused, it's hardly clear), this feature can shed some light on that topic. I know I'll be reading it with interest. This could be even better than the BBC Shipping Box!