Reading West MP Martin Salter yesterday (Thursday) spoke in support a raft of private bills proposing tougher legislation on illegal street trading. The Bills, which passed the third reading stage in the Commons, are now to be scrutinised in the House of Lords.

On Tuesday evening I decided take a busman’s holiday to an event hosted by Centre Forum and the Constitution Society to watch a discussion on “Is the constitution broken?” On the panel was Peter Oborne of the Spectator and numerous other right-wing organs, Phil Cowley professor of politics at Nottingham University who is an acknowledged expert on Parliamentary rebellions and founder of the Revolts website. Also present was my colleague, Natascha Engel MP, with whom I served on the Wright Committee for Reform of the House Commons. I was rather hoping to see the ever so pompous Oborne make a fool of himself and wasn’t disappointed.

It was off to surgeries again this weekend and Friday night’s drop-in session in Whitley threw up a host of issues. I managed to get away in time to have a late dinner with some of the Pakistani community leaders in Reading where we discussed the horrific murder of Asha Muneer. Saturday morning started early with another advice surgery in my constituency office, then it was off to the Mad Stad to see the mighty Reading Royals dump Burnley out of the FA Cup. Why oh why can’t they show this form in the Championship? After the game I went to visit the Muneer family who have been inundated with messages of support from across the community at this horrible time.

A few weeks ago the Prime Minister rightly reminded the House of Commons of the dangers of policies forged “on the playing fields of Eton” and designed to benefit the most privileged and wealthy.

Reading West MP Martin Salter joined the Dean of Reading Canon Brian Shenton to launch a hard-hitting exhibition on the horrors of racism, war and genocide on Monday 25th January at Reading’s Broad Street Mall. The exhibition entitled ‘Anne Frank - A History for Today’ was sponsored by Reading Borough Council and Reading Council for Racial Equality and tells the story of this Jewish girl’s account of the persecution by the Nazis in World War II.

Thanks to an unguarded bumble by “Capt” Bob Ainsworth, we now have confirmed with worst kept political secret in Britain, that the General Election will take place on May 6th. So with just three months to wait and ten points ahead in the polls all should be sweetness and light in the ranks of “Team Dave.” Sadly this is far from the case as recent reports have indicated, whilst behind the scenes my Tory snouts tell of simmering tensions and personal enmities.

As another week draws to a close, I have to say how much I’ve enjoyed my first excursion into the world of blogging for the Torygraph - every MPs favourite paper! Amongst the usual array of frothing, sleep-deprived, right-wingers that inhabit these spaces, it has been rewarding to read some of the more thoughtful comments which these early scribings have inspired. I will try to be stimulating and occasionally amusing as requested by our esteemed editor.

David Cameron has a lot more work to do if he is serious about “de-contaminating the Conservative brand” to quote his election strategist. It seems that as well as an expensive private education and a lucrative personal portfolio of outside business interests, the other factor that binds Dave’s Shadow Cabinet together is a tendency to accept questionable donations from companies best placed to benefit from their policies.

Now I don’t have a lot of time for LibDems as a group, they invariably seem petty and pointless and watching them trying to act collectively is akin to witnessing a Jack Russell trying to herd cats. However, they do occasionally throw up some impressive individuals and I was sad to learn that David Howarth, [...]

Westminster has been buzzing with rumours about George Osborne’s financial plans - not so much what the Shadow Chancellor has in mind for our great nation, rather how he arranged for the taxpayer to help him fund the mortgage on a £450,000 farmhouse in the Peak District National Park. Just the sort of place [...]