Martin Salter MP

Stories by Martin Salter MP

Below are recent stories by Martin Salter MP

• Last updated: 11 Mar 2010 08:00

  Martin Salter's Westminster Diary, March 11, 2010

  A little bit of history was made in Parliament this week, when both the Government and Opposition front benches were defeated by a large margin when backbench MPs of all parties determined to wrest control of Commons business from the Whips.

• Last updated: 25 Feb 2010 09:00

  Martin Salter's Westminster Diary, February 25, 2010

  On Sunday we heard the 'shock horror' allegations that the Prime Minister occasionally loses his rag with his civil servants.

• Last updated: 12 Feb 2010 09:00

  Martin Salter's Westminster Diary, February 11, 2010

  AS THE general election draws nearer, there is even more to do than usual as the Government attempts to rush through the final bits of legislation before Parliament is dissolved, and the fun and games begin.

• Last updated: 14 Jan 2010 10:00

  Martin Salter's Westminster Diary, January 14, 2010

  Members of Parliament celebrated new year in a variety of different ways back at Westminster.

• Last updated: 17 Dec 2009 10:00

  Martin Salter's Westminster Diary, December 17, 2009

  The run-up to Christmas is a ridiculously busy time in my constituency office.

• Last updated: 4 Dec 2009 15:00

  Martin Salter's Westminster Diary, December 3, 2009

  I WAS amused at the contortions by David Cameron and his spin doctors to try and "de-posh" the Tory Party.

• Last updated: 19 Nov 2009 08:00

  Martin Salter's Westminster Diary, November 19, 2009

  I COULDN'T help laughing at the pathetic whinging in last week's Chronicle from the Reading Tories...

• Last updated: 6 Nov 2009 14:00

  Martin Salter's Westminster Diary, November 5, 2009

  I'VE SEEN Parliament at its best and worst in recent weeks.

• Last updated: 22 Oct 2009 07:00

  Martin Salter's Westminster Diary, October 22, 2009

  THERE are times when one of my favourite phrases, "gently undulating blobs of impotence", can fairly and aptly describe many of our politicians.

• Last updated: 8 Oct 2009 10:00

  Martin Salter's Westminster Diary, October 8, 2009

  WHILE there is much to be said for being in the 'twilight' of one's political career, I do have to confess to experiencing feelings of nostalgia. None more so than in Brighton last week

• Last updated: 24 Sep 2009 11:00

  Martin Salter's Westminster Diary

  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.

• Last updated: 16 Jul 2009 12:00

  Martin Salter's Westminster Diary, July 16, 2009

  THE summer recess can't come quickly enough for me because the pace of the work here in Westminster shows no sign of abating.

• Last updated: 2 Jul 2009 08:00

  Martin Salter's Westminster Diary, July 2, 2009

  IT was a real privilege last Thursday to be invited to speak at a victory rally for the Gurkhas in London alongside Joanna Lumley and the Gurkha Justice Campaign.

• Last updated: 18 Jun 2009 09:00

  Martin Salter's Westminster Diary, June 18, 2009

  THE European Elections were nowhere near as terrible for Labour in Reading West as elsewhere.

• Last updated: 4 Jun 2009 11:00

  Martin Salter's Westminster Diary, June 4, 2009

  FIRST of all can I say thank you to all those people who have been emailing or calling my office, urging me to reconsider my decision to stand down at the next election after 25 years in public life in Reading.

• Last updated: 21 May 2009 09:00

  Martin Salter's Westminster Diary, May 21, 2009

  IT WAS my sad duty to say goodbye to a much loved figure in Tilehurst and West Berkshire this week.

• Last updated: 7 May 2009 06:00

  Martin Salter's Westminster Diary, May 7, 2009

  IT'S BEEN a fairly hectic period, notwithstanding the welcome May Bank Holiday weekend which saw my beloved Reading Royals fail to take advantage of a wonderful opportunity to return to the Premiership without suffering the vagaries of the play-offs.

• Last updated: 23 Apr 2009 09:00

  Martin Salter's Westminster Diary, April 23, 2009

  BEING Budget week there's half a chance Westminster will actually get back to discussing policies rather than personalities.

• Last updated: 26 Mar 2009 12:30

  Martin Salter's Westminster Diary, March 26, 2009

  I'm not one of Parliament's regular foreign travellers but last Wednesday, due to bad diary planning, my carbon footprint expanded alarmingly.

• Published: 12 Mar 2009 09:30

  Martin Salter's Westminster Diary

  IT'S a funny old job, being an MP.

• Published: 11 Mar 2009 09:00

  Martin Salter's Westminster Diary

  Published: 12 Feb 2009 08:00

  Martin Salter's Westminster Diary

  IT'S BEEN a memorable couple of weeks for all sorts of reasons.

• Last updated: 5 Feb 2009 10:31

  Martin Salter's Westminster Diary

  I WANT to start off this week by congratulating my Conservative neighbour Richard Benyon - the MP for Newbury - on his promotion from the Opposition Whips' Office to the post of Shadow Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Fisheries, Wildlife, and Rural Affairs.

• Last updated: 20 Jan 2009 12:18

  Martin Salter's Westminster Diary

  PARLIAMENT returned on Monday to hear a statement from the Foreign Secretary David Miliband on the appalling slaughter in Gaza and the attempts by the Government to secure an immediate ceasefire though a British sponsored resolution of the United Nations Security Council.

• Published: 18 Dec 2008 16:00

  Martin Salter's Westminster Diary

  AS this is my last Westminster Diary before the Christmas break, I thought I would look back over the past year.

• Last updated: 11 Dec 2008 11:23

  Martin Salter's Westminster Diary

  WITH the Commons prorogued there are normally a couple of days of relative quiet as we get ready for the State Opening of Parliament.

• Published: 20 Nov 2008 09:00

  Martin Salter's Westminster Diary

  LOOKING back over my diary for the last couple of weeks illustrated just what a hectic period we had just experienced.

• Last updated: 6 Nov 2008 15:55

  Martin Salter's Westminster Diary

  THERE is no doubt that the global financial crises put the judgment of our politicians to the test and put the spotlight onto their policies and competence.

• Published: 23 Oct 2008 12:00

  Martin Salter's Westminster Diary

  WELCOME back to Westminster Diary.

• Published: 25 Sep 2008 12:00

  Labour Conference Diary

  WITH almost wholly negative headlines dominating the news agenda coupled with plunging opinion poll ratings, many delegates and Labour MPs approached this week's annual party conference in Manchester with some trepidation.