European Parliament elections

Firstly I must apologise for the paucity of blogs over the last 10 days or so. There were several reasons including breaking my right arm (yes I am right-handed) and having both daughters and their families here to stay at the same time - an event last enjoyed almost 3 years ago. I trust that I'm forgiven for spending some time enjoying their company and the unusually consistent weather.
I havn't been entirely idle politically though - how could I with the Euro elections coming up?
I find it sad that so many politicians of other parties are trying to use this election as a message to Gordon Brown about the abysmal state of the country. That's for the General election when it comes. This one is about who does the best job of representing the North East in Europe. Fiona Hall, the Lib Dem MEP, has worked amazingly hard to help the NE build on our strengths, access support and funding and to shape european policies to help new NE industries such as renewable technologies.
A vote for the Lib Dems in this election really does count because of the fairer voting system used. I hope eveyone will take the opportunity to cast their vote wheter by post or in person and keep that strong representation in Brussels.