I was doing a clinic over in Mile Oak yesterday when Lisa sent me this e-mail:

"Sausage casserole is nice and I've left you some in the oven. Unfortunately I've smashed the lid on the casserole dish as I forgot things are hot when they come out of the oven. I have very burnt fingers."

To be honest, it's not the first time she's got her fingers burnt in the kitchen. She needs to stop meddling, and leave it to the professionals. I did GCSE Home Economics, and I knew by the second year that ovens get hot. Although I'm not sure I knew that casserole dishes had lids.

Anyhoo, the sausages were cold by the time I got home, but that's what microwaves are for. And besides, the delay was partly my fault. I drove back from Mile Oak along the seafront, and spotted a camera crew filming outside the Brighton Centre, so I deliberately slowed down in an effort to get into shot. There were two police vans parked nearby, a few coppers wandering around, and when I got to the traffic lights, another TV crew crossed the road in front of me. I almost missed the green light in my attempts to wind down the window and stroke their furry mic.

When I got home and saw the sausages, the incident went right out of my head, but at 10pm I turned on the BBC News and watched their report on Abu Qatada. For some reason (possibly involving armed police) it reminded me of my drive home, so I asked Lisa if she knew what was going on in Brighton. She didn't. So we both wondered aloud what was happening. At which point the Abu Qatada report crossed straight to Brighton for an opinion from Kenneth Clarke.

It seems that most of Europe's top ministers (and Ken Clarke) are currently staying in one of Brighton's uninspiring, airport-lounge-style hotels. A few years ago we had Maastricht, and now we have Brighton. According to that report, delegates from the Council of Europe "were due to end their day's deliberations with a fish and chip supper on Brighton pier", which is enough to make anyone eurosceptic. I've tried those fish & chips and they're dreadful. Apparently relationships had been rocky all day. I think I'll vote UKIP.