When Sharon Bowles was responsible for chairing the European Parliament’s economic and monetary affairs committee during the height of the eurozone crisis, she was voted the most influential Briton in Europe.

The 64-year-old may be watching the recent tussling between Europe and the UK from the sidelines, but at least her surroundings have improved. Our meeting place — a wood panelled room off one of the many corridors in the House of Lords, where she is now a peer and a member of the economic affairs committee — is a far cry from the characterless office in Brussels where I first interviewed the former MEP.