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. Whilst I appreciate all the kind things that have been said, I’m afraid my mind is made up. I’m very much looking forward to the next chapter in my life and to using what skills and experience I’ve amassed to benefit the work of a national charity.

As the headlines over MPs’ expenses continue, it is worth mentioning that the vast majority of MPs are untarred by the disgraceful behaviour of a minority of our colleagues of all parties. I also have to say that some of the so-called “revelations” are nothing short of preposterous. The attacks on Dennis Skinner for making medical alterations to his flat on his doctor’s orders after recovering from a triple heart bypass operation was particularly sickening. Dennis is one of the most principled politicians I have ever met and his low claims show him to have been extremely careful with public money.

Mind you, at the other end of the scale we have seen the revolting spectacle of the already loaded landed gentry enriching themselves at the taxpayers’ expense with some quite outrageous claims to refurbish their third or fourth homes.

It is one of the great ironies, and I write this on the eve of the European elections, that a possible beneficiary of the current crisis could be some of the dodgiest parties in Britain, namely UKIP and the BNP. One of the UKIP MEPs for this region has been jailed for benefit fraud, and another faces trial for fraud and money laundering of his Euro expenses. The BNP are a motley collection of thugs, criminals, racists and Nazi-sympathisers. Most of their leading members and a number of their candidates have pretty serious criminal convictions for offences ranging from the incitement of racial hatred to the desecration of Jewish graves. The problem with the European elections is that insufficient people take them seriously and they provide a perfect opportunity to give the mainstream parties a good kicking.

However, 50 percent of employment in Britain is dependent on our trade with Europe and unfortunately these extreme Euro-sceptics and racists are not so much a joke but more a threat to our jobs and future prosperity.