Summer – a time to take stock

The UK Parliament sits longer and later at night than any other Parliament in Europe. But there was no pleasing the Westminster village journalists (rarely seen after 5 pm!) as they saw us off on our ‘ten week summer holiday’. What a pity no-one told my constituents – with whom I have been in daily contact by e-mail throughout August, with my Salisbury office manned as usual, as I enjoyed a happy break with my family. Holidays are good and I hope you all have your fair share, too.

Travel broadens the mind

I was in France in time to hear the result of the Assemblee Nationale’s verdict on the new President Sarkozy’s first major economic reform. The French economy has been near paralysis as government clock-watchers enforced the 35-hour working week. That could all change as Sarkozy tries to “restore an appetite for work among the French”.

New PM – business as usual

As PM, Harold Macmillan said the most difficult problems facing him were ‘events, dear boy, events’. Gordon Brown certainly had ‘events’ in his first few weeks – terrorists at West End night clubs and Glasgow Airport, two lots of floods and then foot-and-mouth. But in spite of the usual flannel from Downing Street there have been no significant changes as the other half of the Blair Project slipped seamlessly from No 11 to No 10 – with one exception.

With almost indecent haste, the last traces of John Prescott’s empire are to be dismantled. The unlamented Regional Assemblies will disappear, their functions transferred to the completely unelected and mysteriously unaccountable Regional Development Agencies , plus restoration of some functions to local authorities (in our case the controversial Unitary Authority for Wiltshire, if it goes ahead).

Setting priorities

At Westminster, the last three months were dominated for me by defence of the realm and the defence of the human embryo. The science of human reproductive technology moves fast but just because scientists can do something, it doesn’t mean they should. Someone has to draw the line. That should be the role of Parliament – not another appointed quango.

There was virtually no coverage of our deliberations until we produced our Report to both Houses of Parliament. It was a privilege to sit on such a distinguished Committee of both Houses which included a Bishop, a Rabbi, a devout Jew, a devout Roman Catholic, a member of the Synod of the Church of England, a Free Presbyterian ex-Lord Chancellor, the fabled Lord Winston and a representative cross-section of national life and views.

I believe our Report will be far-reaching. We told the Government where their proposed new legislation was wrong. We told them their definitions of hybrids were faulty and unworkable. We advised them they should not abandon the concept of ‘the need for a father’ in IVF cases. Above all, we reaffirmed the moral basis of all our legislation – the Warnock Principles – that all human tissue is different and special, that any experimentation must be limited to 14 days (the appearance of the first brain cells) and that no experimental embryos should ever be implanted in a human female. We said much more – but these were the headlines.

Do you do defence?

As the families of Wiltshire-based service men and women continue to send off their loved-ones to Iraq and Afghanistan, and as the bodies continue to return to RAF Lyneham, it is important to think about why we need military forces at all. I spend much of my time on the Defence Committee thinking about military families, deployments, procurement strategy and tactics – plus our global obligations and requirements. It is easy to forget the big picture in the fog of war – or ‘peacekeeping’. Next month I will return to this. Please watch this space. Meanwhile, in case you think I will still be on that ‘ten week holiday’ let me tell you what September will bring.

A month at home

During September I will meet the Chief Constable of Wiltshire to discuss increasing detention without charge or trial – both of which are apparently on our ‘new’ Prime Minister’s agenda – along with other local policing issues. I will also meet our Chief Fire Officer to explore why we need a rescue boat permanently in Salisbury.

I will meet yet another Heritage Minister at Stonehenge. Residents of a village near Salisbury will show me why they mind about the damage to their local Roman Road. Our local branch of Amnesty International will discuss with me many of our mutual concerns.

At Trowbridge I will discuss the proposed Unitary Authority with the Leader of the doomed County Council and at Salisbury District Hospital I will learn, amongst other things, how the recruitment crisis in Junior Doctors has worked out and how we can rebuild the morale of the nursing staff who felt so cheated by the way their pay deal was handled.

Wiltshire Wildlife Trust will brief me at Langford Lakes and the B & Q superstore will explain their new green policies and product range. I will present new computers for primary schools on behalf of Tesco’s and I will sing songs in the Guildhall to help with our Mayor’s Appeal. Then, at the end of the month, Sue and I will go to Blackpool for a few days for the Conservative Party Conference. After that, the new political year at Westminster will begin.

Robert Key MP