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An interesting - and perhaps unique - experience on Friday; Parliament coming to Middlesbrough.

The first - and possibly last - meeting of the was an odd experience.

At one point, a member of the public wandered into the venue in Middlesbrough Town Hall with their weekly shopping - something I can't quite imagine happening in Westminster.

Its chairman Frank Cook warned us all sternly at the start to silence our mobile phones, only for his to go off in the middle of the meeting!

The whole idea though was to bring politics closer to the people.

And some of the issues that matter most to the region.

There were , , and the .

But although the public could watch, none of them could ask a question.

That left 11 MPs - 10 Labour and 1 Liberal Democrat - to put regional minister Nick Brown through his paces.

Sir Alan Beith, the one Opposition voice, tried his best,

So worthwhile exercise or waste of money? You can see more here, and let me know by posting a comment.

But at least I may have witnessed a little bit of history.

The Conservatives are unlikely to persist with the Grand Committee if they win the next election, making its visit to Middlesbrough a curiosity.

So I may get a souvenir T-shirt printed - "I was there when Parliament came to the 'Boro."

Anyway, I'm heading off to Brighton now for the , full of the man flu germs donated to me by the Liberal Democrats in Bournemouth..

Unlike some of the Labour party I haven't though.

I'll be blogging regularly and you can follow every cough, splutter and tweet on .

I'm hoping for a sea air cure to my malaise. Let's see whether it can help Labour mount a recovery too.

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