Martin Salter's Westminster Diary

Martin Salter MP • Published 24 Sep 2009 11:00 0 Comments

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LAST Friday we launched the new All Party Parliamentary Group on the Thames which grew out of last year's successful MPs' campaign against lock-house closures.

Despite the attraction of a very pleasant cruise from Runnymede to Windsor on a beautiful 90-year-old Thames steamer provided by French Brothers, it was a devil of a job persuading my fellow MPs to leave the bosom of their constituencies, even for a few hours.

In the end we had a respectable turnout from among the 25 MPs who have agreed to join. It was particularly nice to meet my Reading West predecessor, Sir Anthony Durant, who has done such sterling work as President of the River Thames Society.

We may come from different sides of the political divide but share a common love of rivers and the wider Thames Valley.

I have always wanted to do a parachute jump and my big day dawned on Sunday with a 10,000ft free-fall over Salisbury Plain.

The guys at Skydive South Coast were incredibly professional and really put us nervous first-timers at ease. A tandem skydive requires remarkably little training. Just a short briefing on body positions for jumping, falling and landing. The worst part was the long wait caused by a bank of cloud that refused to move and grounded flights for several hours. Eventually the sun broke through and, accompanied by my instructor Gordon and a crazy cameraman called Finch, we boarded the little Cessna and began our ascent to the drop zone.

I cannot begin to describe the incredible experience of leaping into mid-air and travelling at 120mph towards earth. We even managed a mid-air handshake with Finch who was falling alongside us taking pictures and laughing like a madman. There was an obvious sense of relief when the parachute opened but I did love that freefalling sensation and would do it again tomorrow. I've put the photographs on my website at www.martin

salter.com for anyone interested and will also be including the video footage when it arrives.

Best of all, the jump looks like raising more than £1,000 for the Alzheimer's Society and I would like to thank everyone for their generous sponsorship. You can still support the appeal at www.justgiving.com/martinsalterMP

My next plan is to organise an annual parliamentary charity skydive where MPs can raise money for good causes and test their nerves at the same time.

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