Commons Cafe

Just returned from lunch at the House of Commons - going to their works canteen is unlike any cafe ever been to.
For a start, on Monday mornings the whole building is packed with tourists in groups of varying sizes being shown round. While loitering in the Central Lobby, I spotted shadow cancellor George Osborne (much taller than you would expect), international development secretary Hilary Benn (very expensive looking suit) and Labour MP Russell Brown (tiny! Blears-esque).
In the canteen, I stared longingly out onto the terrace beside the Thames, but it is reserved for MPs and their guests. The food was like everything sold in the Palace of Westminster ie: 1994 prices. Shockingly cheap.
In the queue I spot former Speaker Bernard Weatherill, looking older but still as dignified as ever - you may remember him as Speaker before Betty Boothroyd - he was the first televised Speaker. I asked him how he is doing - he did his neck in watching the golf, he tells me.
The canteen is an excellent place for MP spotting. There was Piari Khabra, the oldest MP at 82. Oh and Peter Bone, an imposing Tory with a very patrician nose, accompanied by grandee Sir Peter Tapsell. Father of the House Alan Williams wandered past and disappeared into the area closed off for MPs only.
The place was packed with fresh-faced young researchers, and as I discussed my lunch mate's upcoming book, I spotted plenty more MPs who are on my 'to interview' list.
Chris Mullin, former minister, campaigned for the Birmingham Six and successful author, is one of them. The Channel 4 adapatation of his excellent political novel, A Very British Coup, is currently being re-run on ITV3. Or perhaps ITV4.
In any case, it concerns the election of a proper socialist PM in the 1987 election, and the efforts of the security services of the UK and the USA to discredit his goverment. Well worth watching - I highly recommend it.