A Week in the Life....

ONE OF the privileges of my work is the endless cast of characters I meet.

Looking through the diary covering the couple of weeks since my last column it has included a president, a prime minister, a member of the Royal family, senior people from the world of shipping, and of course scores of constituents all with their wide range of views.

If we begin two weeks ago on the Monday morning it was back to London after a weekend that included a constituency surgery, to Blundell Park to see Town lose to Nuneaton, time to reply to some more of the messages sent before and after the vote on Syria, and on Sunday it was the Mayor of North East Lincolnshire's Civic Service. These civic gatherings are an important part of the life of the Borough and a reminder of the many organisations and people who give so much to enrich the lives of us all.

For that afternoon's Question Time it was the team of Defence ministers answering and the main debates on rural postal services followed by cycling. With public attention focusing as it does on the Wednesday lunchtime gladiatorial contests between Messrs Cameron and Miliband it's often forgotten that each parliamentary day begins with ministers from one department or another facing questions.

Unusually I had to return to the constituency in mid-week as Shand Engineering at Stallingborough were being presented with their second Queen's Award for Industry – a remarkable achievement for one of our long-established local businesses. On this occasion it was the Duke of Kent who was representing the Queen.

I was back in London in good time for the vote at 7pm leaving plenty of time to catch up with the e-mails.

On the Thursday I met with a couple of visiting constituents who, like most visitors to the Palace of Westminster are amazed and taken aback. Later in the day I spoke in a debate on 'Councillors on the Front-line  and with 26 years behind me as a councillor I felt qualified to make a contribution. Many MPs have council experience and of the eight who delivered speeches that afternoon we had well over 100 years of council service.

The Friday and Saturday surgeries provided another opportunity of meeting constituents, some with problems they felt I could help with, others wanting to give me the benefit of their views or to lobby me to support or oppose some proposal or other. It was also my week for doing one of my supermarket surgeries.

Back in London last Monday – that was the day President Abbas of the Palestinian National Authority was in Westminster. Whatever side of dispute between Israel and Palestine you favour like all them this one will eventually be decided around a negotiating table and the President made clear his willingness to talk.

On Tuesday morning the Transport Select Committee held a session with the Shipping Minister.

One of my afternoon meetings was one organised by Dementia Friends which gave us the most fascinating explanation of Alzheimers I have seen.

Also on Wednesday Prime Minister David Cameron held one of his regular meetings with a group of backbench members and since I had been fortunate enough to catch the Speaker's eye during Prime Minister's Questions it provided an opportunity to discuss the delays in determining the Able UK planning application that is presently with the Department of Transport.

I also met with a representative of the Health Lottery – a much smaller operation than The National Lottery but importantly one that has supported a number good causes in my constituency.

Surely there's room for a little competition in the lottery market?

The important thing common to all those I meet is that they have had a story to tell president or pensioner and the more people we meet the more we understand the vast range of issues that face governments across the world and how to deal with the inherent contradiction that people don't like change but want improvements to our schools, the NHS and so much more and improvement means change.