They say that travel broadens the mind; I’m sure it does - but not in all cases. Listen to the xenophobic rantings against immigrants, foreigners, and the EU by some of those Brits who left these shores to settle in the sunshine of southern Spain.

Cast your minds back to May 2009 and the height of the furore over MPs’ allowances (I refuse to call what I pay my hard-working staff “expenses”). The talk was of wisteria, duck houses, moats and wide-screen TVs paid for by the taxpayer and exposed by the Telegraph

I don’t always see eye to eye with Justice Secretary Jack Straw, but one area where I am in complete agreement with him is on the issue of the burqa.

Last week I was invited on to the Daily Politics to debate with Tory MP for Mid-Bedfordshire Nadine Dorries on the subject of Speaker John Bercow.

There comes a point when all Cabinet big beasts begin to diminish in size and influence. Either as a result of the advance of other rivals or more usually, due to their own actions or posturing. I’m afraid that much as I like Jack Straw and Clare Short, yet another attempt by them to re-write history at the Chilcot Inquiry has not helped their standing amongst colleagues.

Following on from my post of yesterday, it looks like Commons Leader Harriet Harman has bottled it. In the Business Statement earlier today, she consistently refused to offer a concrete promise on a date for the Commons to vote on the recommendations of the Wright Committee on Reform of the House of Commons.

Members of the Wright Committee on Parliamentary Reform, myself included, have attacked “procedural manoeuvring” by the Government’s business managers and have publicly challenged the Prime Minister to demonstrate that he is serious about delivering the Parliamentary reform promised in his Constitutional Statement on 10th June last year

There were some red faces and much uncomfortable twitching amongst the Tory health team in the Commons last week. Incredibly, in two Opposition Day debates on Health, not a speech was made by Andrew Lansley, the Shadow Health Secretary.

I’ve never been entirely comfortable with the relationship between organised religion and politics. You only have to look across the water at Northern Ireland to understand the minefield that this lethal cocktail can create.

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.