Richard Benyon's Westminster Diary, March 5 2009

Richard Benyon MP • Published 5 Mar 2009 12:30 0 Comments

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THE House of Commons sometimes gets it right.

With the sad news of the death of David and Samantha Cameron's six-year-old son it perfectly reflected the mood of deep sadness and sympathy felt in the House and across the country.

Gordon Brown's words were heartfelt and poignant. On his face was etched the loss he still feels for his own daughter who died at just 10 days old. I looked around the Chamber at other MPs who I know feel the same searing loss for their own child.

Moments like this must be painful for so many parents all over the country. When such a tragedy occurs we should also spare a thought for the grandparents. Not only do they feel the loss as much as anyone, they also see their son or daughter enduring unbearable pain.

Fridays in Parliament are usually for private members bills. I mistakenly thought the Autism Bill to be the type of non-controversial measure that goes through on the nod. Wrong.

For reasons nobody seemed to understand, the Government were opposing it. So a full range of usual Friday constituency appointments were cancelled and I went up to help ensure that the usual array of those prepared to do the Labour whips' bidding didn't use the bizarre Parliamentary tactic of talking the Bill out.

There were enough of us there to see the Bill pass this crucial hurdle. It was good to get many supportive emails from parents of autistic children in West Berkshire who know just how necessary this Bill is.

Fred "The Shred" Goodwin's pension grabbed the headlines last week. I am cynical enough to see the dead hand of spin doctors in this. Sir Fred's behaviour gave the press a classic hate figure for the country to vilify while, with less coverage, the Government announced another £25 billion of support for his erstwhile employers.

These horrendous figures have become just noise lately but to put it in context it's equal to the entire defence budget for a year. With further guarantees of RBS' toxic debt of £135 billion it sounds very much as though we are insuring the car after it has crashed.

This blog appeared in Reading Chronicle 05 Mar 09

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