Last night Parliament voted against the amendment tabled by the SNP calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. I cannot pretend that any votes, debates or correspondence with constituents on this issue is easy.
It was a privilege this week to play a part in the annual service at Westminster Abbey when a torch is lit at the tomb of the Unknown Warrior by the Dean of Westminster. The British Torch of Remembrance then is transported as part of a pilgrimage of Remembrance to key ceremonies in Belgium.
This week is Parliament Week, and schools and other groups of young people are always encouraged to use it as an opportunity to inform children about our democracy and how Parliament works.
I am writing this whilst waiting for the worst of Storm Ciaran to hit and I guess this really could be described as the lull before the storm. The Met Office has put out an Amber Weather Warning and the Environment Agency has its Romsey control room up and running in readiness.
I was really pleased to be able to attend the event in Parliament last week with the High Seas Alliance and Great Blue Ocean to talk about the Global Ocean Treaty.
I am not sure you can get more of a contrast than last week's Ethelflaeda Festival lecture and this week's Nomads performance at Woodley Village Hall. But one was very enjoyable and I am sure the other one will be this weekend.
This week is National Lorry Week 2023 and to mark the importance of road haulage to our local and national economy I visited Meachers Global Logistics at Nursling to talk about the challenges the sector faces.
Today I will be wearing red for "Show Racism the Red Card" an All Party Parliamentary Group I have long been a supporter of. There is sometimes criticism of these groups, but ones like SRtRC bring Parliamentarians together on a cross party basis to tackle issues that are not Party political.
