The South East Grand Committee comes to Reading
Some laugh at the House of Commons doorkeepers. Their gold-chained splendour seems part of history. But it was the sight of them on the steps of Reading's Old Town Hall that really made the point that Westminster is starting to take the regions more seriously.
The idea of holding regional committees away from London is the same principle we use by holding the South section of the Politics Show on the road whenever possible.
The most important thing is not the surroundings, or the participants - it's the different quality of debate outside of the bubble of Westminster or TV studio.
Taking the train to Reading is a new routine for MPs. It was a strange "back to school" feeling for the politicians who've had a couple of months away from their colleagues. But they soon got back to the rumbling "hear, hears" of Westminster, and the cut and thrust of debate.
Fourteen Conservatives turned up, nine Labour MPs and four Lib Dems.
The South's crowded roads were discussed - why has the £300m Hindhead Tunnel swallowed up so much of the roads budget asked the Conservatives? The pros and cons of housebuilding too, Oxford's plans for 58 new council houses the proud boast of the Labour side.
You can read Hansard's account of the debate, and the previous Grand Committee for the South-West region, here.
But much of it came down to national policy. John Redwood complained that the meeting would take no proper vote, and couldn't really get to the heart of the problems of local businesses without answers from the Chancellor.
So is the Grand Committee just so much grandstanding? Or will the travelling doorkeepers help burst that Westminster bubble?
Welcome to the hustings! I'm Peter Henley, the BBC's political reporter in the south of England. From parish councils in Sussex, to European politics in Oxford, this is the blog for you. 
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