My Week

Even after 27 years I love my job. I still get a thrill of pride and a sense of history every time I walk into the Chamber of the House of Commons. But it’s also the feeling that you can make a real difference on the issues that matter and that you can help people.

Last Monday I chaired the Public Accounts Committee hearing on Dementia. We were grilling Sir David Nicholson the Chief Executive of the NHS. Our committee has done a lot to bring Cinderella type services like Dementia and Stroke to the forefront of NHS thinking: Today I gave a hard time to Sir David on his promise to me, repeated ten times during the last hearing, that dementia was going to be a national priority. It may still not be one, but it is no longer the hidden disease.

On Tuesday I spoke in the Chamber on the Constitutional Reform Bill. I was the only MP arguing that a fully elected second chamber would only reflect the political classes and be stuffed with ministerial job seekers. The House of Lords is filled with experts. The few remaining hereditary peers do a good job and should be left alone. I predict that whatever the major parties say in public, in practice that are quite happy to leave well alone.

On Wednesday it was back to the PAC. We meet twice as often as any other committee. I am proud that in the eight years of my chairmanship working with the National Audit Office we have made recommendations that, having been accepted, have led to savings of £4 billion for the tax-payer. Today we were interrogating the heads of the Naval, Military and Civilian arms of the Ministry of Defence on the £6 billion black hole in their budget. With the NAO we have proved that either a major programme must be scrapped or commitments scaled back, otherwise the black hole will balloon to £30 billion or more.

In the evening I hosted a Cornerstone Group reception for 70 MPs and PPCs (Prospective Parliamentary Candidates). We founded this socially conservative Group seven years ago with just twelve MPs and now have over 30 parliamentary members and an active website. It was a great honour to have Margret Thatcher joins us. She is an inspiration to all who believe in core Conservative values.

On Thursday I returned to the Chamber to make interventions on a Private Bill to regulate Peddlers. A small group of us have used, shall we say, long speeches; filibustering is out of order, to ensure concessions to protect this ancient trade which has no powerful trade unions to represent it.

On Friday I had a busy day working in the constituency. I visited some impressive projects of West Lindsey District Council providing real jobs, not just training schemes, in forestry. We had surgeries in Gainsborough and Market Rasen. I think it is through these surgeries that MPs really can help people with their tax, housing and planning problems and I met with the headmaster of the Grammar school to promise to help his campaign to refurbish his wonderful school.

Do MPs provide value for money? That’s for you to decide. But there are only 646 of us overseeing one of the largest budgets in the world, £600 billion and half a million workers in the public sector would. Would things be any better if the bureaucrats had no scrutiny? I don’t think so.