Publications

Walking along the Cotswold Way recently one is struck by the monument that you find close to the Haresfield junction that commemorates the Siege of Gloucester 1643. This recognises the key part that Gloucester played during the English Civil War being the site of the besieging of the city by the Royalist forces of the troops of the Parliamentary side.

One of the noticeable things about this recession besides the steepness of the decline has been the unpredictable way in which the jobs market has performed. In previous downturns the unskilled and semi-skilled have been disproportionately affected whereas this time there have been higher numbers of professional workers impacted upon.

Two issues dominated the last week’s deliberations, namely Cadbury’s and the case of the two children in Doncaster. I make no apology that for once I will talk about both in this column.

The world has been convulsed over the last week understandably by the impact of the earthquake in Haiti. This tragedy has been of biblical proportions given the numbers killed, injured, orphaned or made destitute and though we have all given to try to provide immediate charity the difficulties in getting that help there on the ground are now well known.

The only topic at present seems to be the weather. I was too young to remember the great winter of 1947 (just), but vividly recall that other great landmark, the one of 1963 and the lesser event of 1981.

The Flood and Water Bill hast just started the Committee stages through the House of Commons. Of course this is a piece of legislation of key importance to the Stroud constituency given what happened in July 2007 and since.

For many the Christmas/New Year period can be the best of times; sadly for others it can become the worst of times. The police have always said to me that it is the time of the year that they dread most because of the rise in the number of domestic incidents that tend to occur at year’s end.

I still try to set a resolution each year but admit that unless they are relatively trivial I more often than not fail to keep to them. However I also try at this time of year to muse on how we can collectively make some resolutions.

The old adage that we live in interesting times could never be more appropriately applied than today. It goes without saying that this has been a very tough year for individuals, households, businesses, communities and the nation state. Clearly Stroud has not been immune from this and I have seen first-hand some of problems that people have faced.

Besides being a Labour MP I am also a Co-operative MP, something I am immensely proud of. The two Parties are sister Parties given that the Co-operative Movement was along with the Trade Unions the founding fathers of the Labour Party.