Remember the date : 24 November 2008

This date will be of great significance in the years to come. It is the date on which commitments to repay massive sums of Government borrowing were made as Labour passes the bill for getting out of their current economic mess on to its successor. It will be, of course, a Conservative Government which will have to start balancing the books and will have to endure a period of unpoularity to do so. Conservatives have done it before and we will once again do the right thing. It looks as though the next Parliament will be pretty interesting. I hope to be there to play my part.

Avon & Swift By-election

We are in the middle of fighting a by-election for the Rugby Borough Council seat of Avon & Swift ward which takes in the villages of Clifton, Newton, Harborough Magna, Easenhall, Churchover, Cathiron and Cosford. The election arises as a result of the sad death of Councillor Hazel Bell, who was a formidable character in Council and highly respected both in the town and in her ward. Our candidate is Helen Walton who lives locally and has been working hard, getting involved in issues there. Helen and I spent yesterday visiting residents and were warmly received wherever we went. We saw the traffic conditions some Clifton drivers have to deal with!

Twickenham

We went to Twickenham on Saturday expecting England to beat Austalia but that didn't happen, Great day out, but I'm afraid the Rugby wasn't brilliant. England don't seem to do well when I am there so I won't be going to the South Africa and New Zealand matches on the coming two weekends.

Chris Grayling in Rugby

Chris Greyling visited us in Rugby this morning. Chris is Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary and so he and I went along to meet David Gooding and his team at the Rugby Office of the Citizens Advice Bureau. The CAB is often the first port of call for people facing hardship and benefit issues and we wanted to understand how their workload is changing as the recession starts to bite. I learnt a great deal including the disadvantage of home owners compared to those in rented accomodation when it comes to support for housing costs and how tough lenders are currently when people fall behind with mortgage payments. We also covered the complexity of the benefit system and the forms that go with it and were shown a new form of almost 40 pages! I wasn't previously aware that it someone comes off a benefit, for example if they move into work, but later return to it perhaps if a new job doesn't work out, then the whole process needs to be re-started with a fresh application in each case. I know that Chris appreciated the very practical examples that the Rugby CAB staff were able to give him. They were very forthcoming about the need for simplification of the process when I asked them what they would like Chris to impliment when he takes up his role in Government!

Remembrance Day

On Sunday I attended Rugby's remembrance day's service held at the memorial gates in Hillmorton Rd which appeared to me to be even better attended than previous years. The more I learn about the armed forces, from both the two world wars and the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, the more I appreciate the importance of the ceremony in keeping alive memories of the fallen. I have just returned from the firing of maroons which are large rockets set off at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month another part of our remembrance.
On my way back to the office I saw what was obviously a primary school trip, walking though the town accompanied by teachers and some parents. Nothing unusual about that, but every child was wearing a dayglow vest in the style of those worn by workers on building site & in warehouses. I know about health & safety requirements, but isn't this a bit over the top?

Defending St Cross

I spent two days last week with Managers and Staff at our local Hospital. I have lived most of my life in Rugby and have attended the hospital both as a patient and a parent. Like the vast majority of people in Rugby I am a great supporter of St. Cross and I am keen to see as many services retained here as possible. I wanted to understand the full range of services that are offered, and so I asked whether I might spend some time on site. I visited every department and was able to see at first hand the services that are provided and meet the staff involved in their delivery. There is some fantastic work going on there and a real sense of teamwork and dedication by staff to provide the best to patients. I learnt, amongst other things about the expertise St. Cross has developed in Orthopaedics; about the specialist work being done in the Diabetes Centre and in Retinal Screening; about the work in the Regional Bowel Screening Hub. I was also shown how the various departments work together to provide the right level of care to meet the needs of patients. It is a fact of life that politicians will always be involved in the delivery of healthcare. I wanted to make sure that when I speak about care in Rugby, I appreciate how it is delivered and the part St. Cross has to play. When it comes to ensuring that St. Cross continues to serve the people here in the way it has done for years, there will be no greater advocate than myself.

Thanks to John Major

By way of a thank you to Sir John for his witty and instructive speech at our Dinner, we chose a gift appropriate for the Prime Minister most enthusiastic about sport. And one appropriate for the constituency he was visiting!