It’s been a memorable couple of weeks for all sorts of reasons. On Friday January 30^th I celebrated 25 years of public life in Reading with a reception and party at the South Street Arts Centre. It was great to catch up with old friends and colleagues with whom I’ve worked and campaigned over the years. It was also kind of Sir John Madejski and Feargal Sharkey to come along and give the occasion a little star quality. I was particularly grateful to see councillors attending from across the political divide including the Conservative Leader of Bracknell Council, Paul Bettison, the deputy leader of West Berkshire Council, Pamela Bale, and the former LibDem Mayor of Reading, Bob Green. I’ve always valued being able to work across the party political divide and it was good to see this acknowledged.

Anyway, as people may know by now, I decided some time ago that 25 years was long enough and that it was time for me to do something else with the last nine years of my working life. Therefore, I have announced this week that I will not be seeking a fourth term as a Member of Parliament I am extremely grateful to everyone who has called my office or emailed with their good wishes. It really has been quite overwhelming and many of you have been most kind.

However, it’s a shame that some of my political opponents have been so graceless. I never cast any aspersions on my predecessor, Tony Durant, when he decided to stand down in 1997 after 23 years. Anyone who knows me or has worked with me knows full well that I have never run away from a political fight in my life. I’m not one of those politicians who switches party or changes constituency for personal advantage, as we saw the Tories do in 1997. All I’ve ever wanted to do was to represent my local community and, after 25 years, I feel I’ve done my bit. I first decided to stand down if this Parliament ran its full term when my party was 11 points ahead in the opinion polls and I am announcing my intentions now to give my successor ample time to get established in the community.

With the current economic situation it’s a safe bet that we won’t be having a general election until next year, which means I will be working hard in the constituency and Westminster for a good while yet. In Parliament we have been busy on the Home Affairs Committee trying to get at the true facts behind the controversial arrest last November of the Conservative MP Damian Green for allegedly corrupting a public official. We had a bizarre evidence session with the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson in which he gave us no less than four different versions of who knew what and when and who spoke to who in advance of the MP’s arrest. I find it quite incredible how some politicians seem to think that they are above the law and entitled to preferential treatment from the police.

I have also taken part in two recent debates on policing in the Thames Valley and returned to the long standing battle to stop the Metropolitan Police in London from poaching so many of our experienced police officers. It seems that there is now a real opportunity to make progress on this issue.