November 2007

I consider it important as an MP to be part of the community which I represent and with my family we rely on the local schools and public services.

Anyone seeing my hand in bandages last week may have wondered whether I had taken the "Punch and Judy" politics of Westminster to a physical level. In fact I had an operation on my hand at North Middlesex Hospital. We can often be critical of hospital services but it is important to give praise where it is due and I am very grateful for the expertise and care of the consultant Mr Gadikopolla and his team. Since becoming an MP I have been admitted now to both Chase Farm and North Mid. One conclusion could be that being an MP is not so good for the health!

Parliament is preparing for a new session which will initially be dominated by the scrutiny of the EU Treaty. However the months of debate will not make up for what such a transfer of powers to Europe demands, namely a referendum.

Arguably the most significant piece of legislation will concern regulation of human embryo/inter-species research. There are also likely to be attempts to change the abortion time limits. Interestingly if we followed the EU in this regard we would be more restrictive with the average time limit for abortions being 13 weeks.

The State Opening of Parliament lost some of its significance since most of the planned legislation has already been announced. Some argue that there should not be a yearly State opening of Parliament. I have sympathy for this view if it meant more time to improve legislation. Since 1997 we have had 3000 new laws and over 30 criminal justice bills of which I am scrutinising the latest in committee. Too little time is given to ensure that legislation is necessary and will achieve its intended purpose.

Remembrances of the great sacrifices made by servicemen and women for our country have been in the forefront of my activities this week. I have visited Wolfson Hillel, St Paul’s and Walker school and been reassured this year about the high level of participation and understanding of young people. The poppy is rightfully the symbol of Remembrance Day inspired by Major John McCrae's poem about poppies growing amongst the soldiers' graves. The poem also refers to another symbol - the torch. It is up to us all to in the words of the poem 'hold it high' standing up for freedom and democracy whether it be in Westminster or Enfield. We must also ensure that we pass on the torch of remembrance to our young people.