Alok Sharma's Westminster Diary, July 22, 2010
Alok Sharma MP • Published 22 Jul 2010 19:30
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IT'S almost the end of the summer term in Parliament, with recess starting at the end of next Tuesday, but the pace certainly does not seem to be slowing down.
The Finance Bill, which followed the emergency Budget, is going through its final stages and the Academies Bill is expected to become law before Parliament rises. Select Committees have started to meet and as a member of the Science and Technology Select Committee, I am looking forward to the work which this will entail. There have also been quite a few late night votes so far and old hands tell me that we will have a very busy autumn session.
I have not been spending as much time in the Commons Chamber as I would like – my top priority has been to get on top of constituency work and local issues, but the time I have spent in the Chamber has been fascinating. There really are some excellent debaters and speakers on both sides with real knowledge about specific subjects and listening to a whole debate can be very informative. Mixed with this is, of course, the Punch and Judy politics which can sometimes be pretty unedifying and tiresome.
I have only been an MP for around ten weeks now but the General Election seems like an age ago. Apart from the work up in Parliament, I have been going round meeting local community organisations in Reading. Over the past few weeks I have visited 12 schools, three of which have already been up to visit me in Parliament, and had a tour round the place. I have formally opened a couple of local new businesses, attended quite a few local fetes and dropped in on a number of public and private sector organisations. Together with local residents I have also been involved in a couple of public meetings in the constituency relating to overdevelopment and crime respectively. Constituency surgeries also seem to be working well and I now hold a surgery every Friday afternoon. Overall it’s been a busy start to my life as an MP!
Constituents will be pleased to learn that this year, recess will not go on until October and MPs will be back in Parliament on September 6. Over recess I plan to take a week off in Cornwall with the family, let’s hope the good weather lasts, but otherwise I will be using the time to be out and about in my constituency meeting local groups and local residents.
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