"I am not in tune with my constituents" - that was Hilary Armstrong admitting at a new report launch last night that people in North West Durham don't have a clue who is responsible for what services in their area
A refreshing bit of honesty from an MP I thought.
Another interesting little insight came from Phil Hope, Minister for Care Services and Minister for East Midlands. The report, the NLGN's Improving Whitehall's Spatial Awareness, surveyed regional ministers to show how much time they devote to their designated areas. The results vary from 50%-20%. You might be wondering what these regional ministers do - well according to Phil Hope, they're currently key to bringing people together to deal with the recession. He's set up a regional economic forum and other regional ministers have followed suit. He said a role that "had been unfairly criticised now had substance and was challenging".
So there you go but why isn't Gordon Brown highlighting their contribution?