Martin Salter, Labour MP for Reading West, has called on the government to mobilise a ‘hardship fund’ in order to help the children’s hospice Naomi House, a charity tragically affected by the Icelandic banking crisis.

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.

Reading West MP Martin Salter who is also Labour’s Vice Chair for the Environment, made it clear in a speech in the Commons today that he intended to defy a Government three-line whip in order to vote in favour of a motion opposing a third runway at Heathrow.

MPs from across the Thames Valley came together to put pressure on the Home Office to increase the value of the South East pay allowance currently received by police officers in the south of the Thames Valley Force in order to combat the loss of experienced officers to the Metropolitan Police.

Reading West MP Martin Salter has pledged his support to a Parliamentary motion, to be tabled by Richard Burden MP, which calls upon the BBC to air the details of a charity appeal to help those affected by the events in Gaza.

Reading West MP Martin Salter continues to be active in support of the plight of Palestinians, lobbying Government ministers for an aid package to assist the humanitarian relief effort in Gaza and becoming one of the founding members of the new group – Labour Friends of Palestine and the Middle East.

What is happening in the Gaza Strip is an outrage and the indiscriminate bombings, shelling and killings, together with the invasion by Israeli troops must stop - as must the rocket attacks.

Ofsted reports on safeguarding children in Reading and Wokingham, and the forced resignation of Councillor Pete Ruhemann. Statement by Martin Salter MP

Reading West MP Martin Salter has called on Treasury Minister Yvette Cooper to establish a hardship fund for those hit the most severely by the collapse of Equitable Life.