Richard Spring MP
Member of Parliament for West Suffolk

Gordon Brown promised in 1998 to deliver a modern welfare state that, instead of trapping people in poverty, provided opportunity for all. Yet he has created a system that has left many more people languishing on benefit.

The former Chancellor’s legacy is clear to see; the tax credits system has cost the public almost £2 billion through overpayments, errors and fraud. 1.25 million young people aged 16-24 are not in work or full-time education. And more and more people are claiming incapacity benefits.

Incapacity is a major contributor to economic inactivity in the UK. Current figures show that  there are 7.9 million adults defined as “inactive.” I have much sympathy for those who are genuinely unable to work. These people are very much entitled to claim benefits but there are so many who are on welfare and are able and want to work. It is thought that one million incapacity benefit claimants want jobs. These people must be given the confidence and help to get back in work.

With incapacity benefits costing the taxpayer more than £7 billion a year I was interested to hear that the number of long term unemployed has soared in recent years. In 1999, 1.8 million people had been on benefits for more than five years. Now the figure is 2.4 million.  In Suffolk, the number has risen by 22% since 2001 from 9,310 to 11,370 this year.

Despite numerous Government pledges and initiatives, incapacity benefit remains a huge problem - not least because over time, those claiming it have less and less will or incentive to find employment. The Government have completely failed in its attempt to get to grips with helping our most vulnerable people who have been left stranded on benefits. And ultimately it is a huge financial drag on the country’s taxpayers.

P.S. Parliament is prorogued until next week, when blogging will resume.

I am half Scottish: my grandfather was a Presbyterian elder and there were many clergymen and theologians in his family. He was a genuinely frugal character. The son of the manse at 10 Downing Street is one of the greatest spendthrifts ever to have been a Chancellor of the Exchequer. So much for being the frugal Presbyterian figure.

He must feel pretty wretched. Alex Salmond tweaks at Gordon Brown relentlessly. The Prime Minister knows that without dozens of Scottish MPs he would not win an election. Yet it really is ridiculous that Scottish residents get 30% more per capita public spending than my constituents – they do not have health crises or massive NHS deficits. Scottish MPs are determining public services in Suffolk. I cannot return the compliment.

Raising this, according to Harriet Harman, will dismantle the United Kingdom. She calls for greater regional affinity in England, which nobody wants, and is a notion totally discredited. It is pathetic.

As with everything, we are discovering that this Government cannot deal with the problems in this country. They are tired and stale, and their response to the Scottish MPs voting issue is another reflection of this. Gordon is between a rock and a hard place, impaled on Hadrian’s Wall.       

This week I attended a dinner for graduates of Magdalene College, Cambridge. There are five of us who are Members of Parliament, which it is alleged, is the highest of any Oxbridge College at Westminster. This is curious as Magdalene was never blessed with brilliant academic success, but since going co-educational has seen a considerable improvement.

Frederic Raphael  wrote a series about the lives of young Cambridge graduates, called The Glittering Prizes, and has now written a sequel. It is indeed interesting to see how we all have got on in life. For instance, I went to a lecture the other day given by a Cambridge contemporary who has led a most successful life! Said individual certainly had a fair share of emotional difficulties in the past! Indeed we all, in our different ways, have had our moments good and bad. Some, whom I knew, who single mindedly planned political careers, never made it to the House of Commons.

I hugely enjoyed the Glittering Prizes mark 1, and will now look forward to the next series. As I have discovered, life is indeed all too often stranger then fiction…..

Yesterday, I hosted a breakfast meeting and was lucky enough to have the  renowned journalist and broadcaster, Andrew Neil, as guest speaker. When he is not on our television screens, Andrew publishes the excellent magazine “The Business” which recently sponsored a Conservative City Future reception.

In this week’s issue, the magazine leads on the topic of population change which has became prominent this week after the Office of National Statistics predicted that the UK population is set to increase by 4.4 million to 65 million by 2016.

The UK is now home to nearly 61 million people, some 20 million more than a century ago and 50 million more than 1801. Record rises in immigration is helping to fuel this surge.

There can be no denying that this country has benefited, and continues to benefit, from immigration. A government report earlier this month attributed about 17 per cent of overall economic growth between 2004 and 2005 to immigration. Last year, migration bought £6 billion into the economy. People born outside of the UK now account for 12.5% of our working population.

However, another report published by the Government this month pointed to the negative affects immigration has brought to the UK. Whilst the Government may be thankful to immigrants for boosting our economy, it has failed to address serious issues that a growing population brings - mainly the pressures on our inadequate public services such as housing, healthcare and education. For example, in the East of England, migration has led to a clear and at times difficult increase in GP caseloads and at accident and emergency departments.

If there is no proper balance, public opinion will be increasingly disaffected by the rapid and noticeable increase in our population.

Yesterday I was delighted to take part in a lively debate, hosted by the Conservative Friends of Israel, on the sensitive issue of ‘Israel’s relations with the Arab world.’ Also on the panel were Majalli Whbee MK (the Israeli deputy foreign minister), Peter Oborne (journalist, commentator and author) and Ran Gidor (Israeli Embassy).

David Cameron said a few months ago that there is something deep in our Party’s DNA that believes in the stability and security of Israel. This is something I passionately believe in.

However, although facing a delicate and risky situation Israel must be careful that it does not become too self defeatingly inward looking. It should move on from the view that you should not talk to any neighbouring country or group that you distrust or dislike, no matter how unpalatable.

It is most unlikely that Israel and the Palestinians can come to an enduring agreement without the involvement of Hamas. It was a mistake for the Israeli Government or others to refuse to acknowledge the Palestinian election result. Instead, there should have been a pause for reflection before imposing conditions.

Syria has also offered Israel unconditional talks which it has up to now refused. I cannot see any reason as to why the Israeli Government should not road test this offer. There is little to lose and much to gain. It is difficult to see the downside – if Syria is insincere, it will soon become apparent.

We all owe the US an enormous amount of gratitude but their advice has not always been perfect and ultimately to Israel’s advantage. It is now time for Israel to make a new assessment of its relationships with its neighbours and consider taking a fresh approach.

Israelis now feel less secure then they did 10 or 20 years ago. I want to see that cloud of anxiety and concern lifted as best as it can be, in the interests of Israel itself and all in the region.    

It was very interesting to be in the Chamber yesterday to witness Gordon Brown’s attempt to defend his stance on the EU Reform Treaty. We heard a lot of waffle about competitiveness, prosperity, climate change and jobs as if it were these issues that were at the forefront of the agenda discussed in Portugal last weekend. They were clearly not.

What was extraordinary was the relative silence in which Gordon Brown was heard. The problem is that successive Governments have not been truthful with the British people on the subject of Europe. There is nothing wrong in comprehensively debating the right and wrongs of the EU but it must be based on truth. Time and time again, we have been told of triumphal negotiations that will defend British national interests yet this is in total contrast to the views of our European neighbours about the very same meeting!

I saw this problem highlighted yesterday. Nobody believes the so called red lines will hold given the opinions of most EU leaders and the way in which the red lines will inevitably be contested in the courts. It will  be some time before we see how the courts will judge these red lines but history shows us that they are unlikely to be sustained.

That is why Gordon Brown’s statement had such an unenthusiastic reaction from his own side in the Chamber yesterday. We have been here so often before. 

When Charles II first came to Newmarket some 250 years ago he could hardly have imagined that the arguably world headquarters of horseracing would evolve there. Today there are 40 race meetings per year – in the summer on the July course and in the spring and autumn on the Rowley Mile.

We nearly lost the racing industry after the introduction of the Single European Act in 1993, because our VAT rate of 17.5% was hugely higher than the special low rate negotiated by the French and Irish. I was a new Member of Parliament and this was a potential catastrophe in my constituency. Mercifully we found a way round it, something which racing has not forgotten. Since then we have introduced Sunday racing and made race going much more appealing. So attendances keep rising, as do the number of horses in training. It is a major British exporting success story.  There remain issues like how racing is financed and the future of the Tote. The trouble is that bloodstock prices have soared and prize money has not kept pace, and it is expensive to own and keep a racehorse.

Nevertheless on Friday the Shadow Chancellor George Osborne came to Newmarket, watched the bloodstock sales at Tattersalls, and had an enjoyable afternoon’s racing, meeting trainers like Michael Stoute, Henry Cecil, Willy Haggas and Michael Bell, and the irrepressible Frankie Dettori. He was given the warmest possible welcome by everyone. More and more people want to get rid of this tired government! I was delighted so many people were to be able to tell George this in person.    

Yesterday, Gordon Brown arrived in Lisbon with other EU leaders for his first European summit to discuss the revival of the Constitution. Rejected by both France and the Netherlands, our PM has made sure this result will not be repeated in the UK by denying the British people a say.

His attempt to kill off any kind off a Treaty referendum has not duped the British people. Opinion polls show that only 6% of voters believe the Government’s argument that the Reform Treaty is different to the EU Constitution. He is yet to even convince his own side.

This Treaty has significant consequences for Britain’s ability to make its own laws in vital areas including health and tax and to pursue our own foreign policy. The European Court of Justice would become superior to our own judiciary. The opt-outs and ‘red lines’ which the Government will claim it has secured are already crumbling and, investigated by a cross-party group of MPs, revealed as likely to be ineffective.

We can look forward to reports of how hard our PM is fighting for our interests. But the reality will be much different. He is preparing the ground to cave in.

The PM’s argument will be based on the hotly disputed claim that the document he’s about to sign is different from the original Constitution. Yet detailed analysis has found that the two documents are 96% similar. The only substantive differences are the removal of the word ‘constitution’ and the scrapping of symbols such as an anthem. Every other European leader (except for Gordon Brown) agrees.

Gordon Brown began his reign as Prime Minister claiming he wanted to listen and trust the people. Up to now he has failed. But by sticking by his 2005 manifesto promise of a referendum and letting the British people have the final say, our PM could start to rebuild trust, which is now sadly lacking, with the people of Britain.

I hope that Ming Campbell does not think that all political careers end in failure because I suspect that he will be remembered less for his leadership interregnum, but for his important and thoughtful contributions to parliamentary life.

Today there is a memorial service for a remarkable politician, about whom the word failure could never be written. To put his name formally, he is the Rt Hon Lord Renton PC, KBE, TD, QC, DL, who was born in 1908. He was MP for Huntingdonshire from 1945 to 1979 and was a distinguished Government Minister. His successor as MP was John Major, who will give the address. It was he who introduced the young Margaret Roberts to the Bar: as Baroness Thatcher, she will be there too. A vast congregation is expected and I am honoured to have been asked to be an usher.

I played tennis with him when he was 90. He was charming, modest and funny, and if people think that all politicians are unworthy, then the life of David Renton proves the most honourable possible exception to that view.      

It would be impossible for any of us around twenty years ago to forget this time of year. We had stock markets crashing world wide. I was working in the City, having started a new business the year before. It was going swimmingly well but after that it was pretty tough. The excesses of the 1980s were demolished very quickly indeed.

The famous hurricane ripped up thousands of trees in Suffolk, as elsewhere. It was the week of my son’s christening and I had to drive between London and Suffolk to collect some plates, knifes and forks for the lunch afterwards. It was a difficult drive what with the uprooted trees and debris everywhere. 

But renewal is extraordinary. New trees were planted extensively, and have flourished. The world’s economy eventually recovered and we have had 15 years of economic growth.

In the last few days, however, I have been wondering whether Gordon has thought that a hurricane has ripped through his life again. It must feel like it.