The Friday advice session for constituents was at the modern friendly Worthing Public Library. Across the country, members of parliament and their teams are devoted to listening before offering advice or help or comfort.
We liaise with council officers, with national civil servants and with enterprises large and small in the joint endeavour to understand the causes of difficulties and the available solutions. That work is constant. It never ceases. It can be demanding. It is often immensely rewarding. It seldom gains public recognition and constituents rely on us to hold information and confidences.
The Leasehold Reform Bill completed its Commons stages. The minister and MPs across the Chamber said kind words about my constant campaigning. My habit has been to do many things others care not to do or dare not to do.
After the result of the Rochdale by-election, the rule from 1688 applied. Two sitting MPs introduce the successful candidate. This time, those who disagree with George Galloway and those who may agree with him were not volunteering. I was asked to do the duty as Father of the House with Neale Hanvey, elected as an SNP member though now representing the Alba party. The sketch writers had their fun; normal parliamentary life then resumed.
There can be a gap between the issues that fascinate the Westminster political editors and the concerns of Worthing West constituents. This week they included Ukraine topics, appropriate education for pupils with special needs, and whether there had been proper consultation about the cycle lanes by the shops at Worthing station. We had heartfelt discussions about the plight of Gazans.
The all-party group for the Post Office works for justice locally and nationally for those affected by the Horizon scandal. James Arbuthnot and I were at this week’s meeting.
Tim Loughton MP and I received powerful briefing in person on Friday at Worthing’s Fire Station, including on lithium-ion battery dangers. I declined a trip up the 32-metre extending ladder. I can get dizzy standing on my dignity. When responsible for the electrical contractors putting front-of-house displays at West End theatres and cinemas, I did not enjoy swinging in a cradle above Piccadilly Circus, suspended from a pair of telegraph poles counterbalanced by weights. I knew the physics from school. In practice, it was worrying.
Congratulations to the Orchard School’s charity club. The children and their community have raised more than £102,000 over eleven years. The children enjoyed describing their range of activities.
People involved in doing good fall less often into the habits that disturb others. Meeting judges and other guests on Monday at the Central Criminal Courts, I heard prisons are closing in the Netherlands because fewer people are being sentenced to jail. We should be aiming to do the same. Good lives, full of fun and group endeavour, can reduce bad lives, damaging to others in society and to perpetrators of crime and anti-social behaviour.
This Thursday I look forward to opening the Manor Caring Home in West Tarring. There was enjoyment at the ‘topping out’ two years ago. We need more reliable friendly homes for people growing beyond independent living. On behalf on relations and the wider community, I thank everyone giving care and confidence to people at the concluding stages of life.
In recent speeches on housing, I spoke about the benefits of specialist homes the elderly can chose with confidence if they wish. Protection from overpricing, apparent rip-off conditions and the benefit of reliable advice matter. The good charitable activists at the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership also campaign under the description Better Retirement.
Each of the good causes I help includes fine people older and younger than me. We enjoy the battle; we care for the victims; we aim to make a difference.
