As the general election draws nearer, there is even more to do than usual as the Government attempts to rush through the final bits of legislation before Parliament is dissolved, and the electoral fun and games begins.

One casualty of this period - known as the “wash up” - could be the recommendations of the Wright Committee on Parliamentary Reform, upon which I was elected to serve. Time and time again, Gordon Brown and Harriet Harman have stated their commitment to Parliamentary reform as a means, especially following the expenses scandal, of helping restore trust in our political system. But yet again, the business managers and the whips are doing all they can to put the breaks on these urgent reforms recommended by the Wright Committee by insisting on a bizarre procedural motion that means that the recommendation will fall if a single Member yells “object”. No doubt a suitable stooge can be prevailed upon to oblige them.

At midday last Thursday 4^th, there was an emergency meeting of the Wright Committee at which, in the absence of clarity from the Government, we agreed to summon Harriet Harman and Sir George Young to appear before us in public. Hopefully this will concentrate minds and Harriet Harman in particular, will now reflect on how close the Government are coming to snatching defeat from the jaws of victory on the reform agenda.

But it’s not all been bad news from Parliament. In the last week of January, a Bill brought forward by Reading Borough Council to toughen up legislation on illegal street trading passed its third reading stage in the Commons and is now off to be scrutinised in the Lords. The proposed legislation would give police special powers which have proved effective in other areas of the country, such as limiting the activities of pedlars from trading house to house and seizing counterfeit or faulty products. I have no desire to limit the activities of genuine hawkers but I am concerned that consumers in Reading are not ripped off and that legitimate traders do not face unfair competition from fly-by-night operators.

Finally, congratulations to Geoffrey Field Junior head Charlie Clare, and Bath Road Reservoir campaigner Mel Woodward, who met with Prime Minister Gordon Brown at a reception for “Community Champions.” “I always enjoy taking people from Reading West to Number 10, and I thought it appropriate to nominate two people with whom I’ve been working closely over the last couple of years on campaigns that are both important to Reading and close to my heart. I desperately want to see the Ufton Court summer camp project succeed in providing affordable outdoor education opportunities for youngsters from disadvantaged backgrounds and I firmly believe that the Bath Road Reservoir site should become a local environmental amenity. Both Mel and Charlie have been at the centre of these projects and thoroughly deserve this wonderful opportunity to look behind Britain’s most famous front door.