Richard Spring MP
Member of Parliament for West Suffolk

The actor Daniel Niven once said that as he got older Christmas seemed to come round every three months.

Two nights ago the Speaker kindly asked me to attend a small carols party in Speaker’s House. There was some robust and enjoyable singing of Christmas carols, with such a wonderful view of the Thames. Some years ago his predecessor Betty Boothroyd asked me to the same party. Things were made very cheerful for those present (except me) when she invited me to sing solo. It brought the house down! My singing ability was a source of the greatest joy and merriment.

Our whole culture has been forged by our Christian traditions, and by Anglicanism in particular. It is free of intolerant dogma and has helped to create an extraordinarily free and open society. The celebration of Christmas reminds us of that remarkable tradition which we would lose at our peril. Those who dislike Christianity might just wish to dwell on this at this time.

Happy Christmas to you all - blogging will be restored when Parliament starts up again in January.  

Of course it is desirable for people to be treated at home, and not in hospital; people naturally would prefer not to go into hospital if possible.

However, up and down the country GPs are being pleaded with not to send patients to hospital. In hospitals in Suffolk, beds have been cut by 20% over the past 10 years. This is why our local hospitals are more or less permanently on black alert, why such high bed capacity encourages viruses and bugs. Vomiting and diarrhoea bugs are commonplace and frankly many of my constituents are now scared to go into hospital. Community nurses tell me of patients discharged prematurely, who should still be in hospital. It is a nightmare for our nurses, doctors and ancillary workers.

We are an ageing population. Our NHS is now run by obsessive bureaucracy which tries to fulfil centralised targets. Our health outcomes compare poorly with many of our European counterparts.

Where has all the money gone? Certainly not into hospital beds, which are now chronically in short supply. And fantastically there are now more people managing and organising the NHS then there are beds. You couldn’t make it up.     

If you as a Member of Parliament talk to most Westminster journalists about what is being said in one’s constituency, a sort of glazed look very often descends. What happens within the M25 is reality, not outside. 

Towards the end of last week various commentators wrote about the problem of the Tories being stuck at 40% conveniently forgetting the dramatic move away from Labour only weeks before. However yesterday, surprise, surprise, a poll suggested that the Conservatives were up to 45%. 

The latest edition of the New Statesman had a leader entitled ‘After a traumatic start, is Brown starting to show courage?’ The answer is a definite ‘no.’ On Friday afternoon I went cycling with a police officer in a very rural part of my constituency. We went to a village primary school when the pupils were going home, so I had the chance to talk to parents and the head teacher. The school head made comments about Ed Balls’ ten year plan for young people that he would not have enjoyed hearing. 

Everywhere I went in West Suffolk people expressed their personal distaste for Gordon Brown, and his shambolic Government. Could anybody imagine a more ridiculous lack of judgment as Gordon Brown’s manoeuvrings over the EU treaty? If he wanted to avoid drawing attention to his signing the treaty, he dramatically achieved the reverse effect. He made himself look ridiculous to both the British people and his fellow European Prime Ministers and Presidents. Who is advising him? Whoever it is ought to be sacked. 

What I am trying to say is that on Friday I already knew what the weekend poll would show. I did not need a sophisticated poll to tell me.  If the adage is true that Governments lose elections, then barring something quite extraordinary, Gordon Brown is proving to be a major vote loser. Weak and indecisive, the word hologram springs to mind.

Yesterday I spoke to the Chief Constable, Simon Ash, to express my support for the police in Suffolk. 

What is the point of the Independent Police Arbitration Tribunal if Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, refuses to accept its recommendations? The Government has turned its back on what the police force believed was an agreed deal. It is the first time a Government has not accepted the tribunal’s recommendations for 28 years. 

It is little wonder that the Police Federation, which represents 140,000 officers in England and Wales and who feel so unappreciated by the Government, have passed a vote of no confidence in the Home Secretary. The total saving to the taxpayer of reneging on the deal is only £30 million; set against the fury it has caused. 

At a time when violent crime is spiralling, the bravery and courage of our policemen and women is exceptional. They should be treated fairly, honestly and openly - with the respect they deserve. Instead Jacqui Smith has shown disrespect verging on professional dereliction. 

Here in Suffolk, our police; like every where else, are being hamstrung by inordinate red tape and bureaucracy which prevents them from being on the beat. 

Police officers have written dozens of letter of complaint to me about their sense of betrayal, which I understand and support.

Yesterday, Chris Grayling, the Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, gave a speech on the failings of our welfare system. He argued that benefits should be a safety net rather then a way of life. I for one agree with him. Our welfare expenditure has spiralled. 

In Suffolk, benefits are doing very little to help young people get into real and lasting jobs. Last week it was revealed that the Government’s flagship job scheme, the New Deal for Young People (NDYP) has failed to get many young unemployed people in Suffolk into sustained work. 

Since its formation, more than 9,350 young people in Suffolk have took up NDYP. Statistics show that 41% of New Deal for Young People (NDYP) participants in Suffolk return to receive jobseekers allowance after leaving NDYP within one year, while 25% have returned immediately. 

It is such a shame for the young people of Suffolk, that the Government’s efforts to keep people off welfare have failed so badly and has in fact become a revolving door back into it. The Government has now spent £1.9 billion of taxpayers money on the New Deal for Young People which would be fully justified if people were coming off unemployment benefits and back in to work but this is just not happening. 

There is now an estimated 1,780 16-18 year olds not in education, training or employment in Suffolk. Incredibly, there are now 7.97 million people of working age not in employment today, and the number of those aged 16-24 not in education, employment or training has risen by almost a fifth under Labour and stands at 1.26 million. 

Throwing money at a problem, as with the New Deal, simply does not effectively work. The Government must urgently accept that a new approach is needed in tackling this growing problem. 

I’ve lost count of the amount of times businesses have told me that they are fed up with constant Government interference, regulation and red tape. And who can blame them? 

There have been more than 14 new regulations every working day under Labour. It is estimated that the cost of new regulations on business over the past decade has now topped £56 billion. This means that the average British company has to spend £14,270 a year implementing new legislation. 

The result of this extra burden is that Britain has become less competitive and a less good place to do business. It is then no surprise to see that the UK has slipped from 2^nd to 9^th place in the international competitiveness league.

I was however even a bit cautiously optimistic when Gordon Brown announced the legislative and regulatory reform bill last year. This bill, according to the Prime Minister, would contain ‘radical proposals for changing the way we regulate.’ 

However, the Financial Times reported this week that the law has yet to cut or even amend a single regulation! In fact the Treasury actually increased red tape by 7%. It is yet another example of the need for central power to be dispersed to a more local level. 

Regulation has grown over many years, but it now infects our lives inordinately. However, if we are to deal with it we have to tackle the culture of risk aversion which has so crept into our national life, including hanging baskets falling and grave stones toppling over. As they say the road to hell is paved with good intentions.   

There are many people who think boxing is a dangerous and unsafe sport. However, the one good thing is that it provides an outlet for aggression. During the 20^th century, boxing clubs were set up in the east end of London and other parts of the country. The spirit and atmosphere in these clubs was always positive, and continues to be so today. 

Over the generations, many young men have found in boxing an enjoyable and natural outlet. Ricky Hatton was defeated in Las Vegas by a better boxer but his modesty and engaging personality have caused him to gain an enormous following.   

Sport is in decline in this country, and one of the results of this is that many young people are insufficiently fit. However, let us hope that the role model provided by Ricky Hatton is one in which many can emulate a strong desire to win but gracious in defeat. 

I appreciate that with higher interest rates people’s willingness to spend this Christmas may overall be impaired. 

Yet whether in Suffolk or London the shops are crowded, and the traffic heavy. It is tough to be in retailing, not least because of internet competition, and shop owners are hugely dependent on Christmas trade. 

For me personally, there is no shopping rush as during the year I buy presents and put them aside in a cupboard. Eating a turkey disappeared from the Christmas lunch table when I discovered a delicious beef Wellington made to order by a Bury St Edmunds butcher. Margaret, the pastry chef, deserves a culinary medal. 

In common with other MPs, I send out hundreds of Christmas cards. Last week I was rung up by a local journalist – not in my constituency- to enquire about this. They had received a card from me. The line was apparently going to be that this was all being done at taxpayers’ expense. Well it is not. It is not a refundable item, and nor should it be. 

P.S. I was not thanked for the card either!  

Last month the Government announced its three-year school funding settlement for every Local Education Authority in England. As with most public investment, urban areas continue to be favoured while rural areas like Suffolk are short changed. We are 134th out of 149 Local Education Authorities. 

Each regional chairman of Conservative Business Relations initiates activities in their patch. Two nights ago it was a reception in the Egyptian Embassy, at the behest of the London CBR chairman Paul Shea.

Sayeeda Warsi, just off the plane from Khartoum spoke, as well as John Redwood, and of course the ambassador. It was a hugely well attended event, with a tremendous atmosphere. Already we have had receptions in the Pakistani, Indian and Canadian High Commissions. There are always business people present who have links to the respective countries.

Egypt has liberalised its economy; the UK is the biggest non-Arab investor there. The Egyptian Government has set up nine public free zones in an attempt to attract more foreign capital. These zones provide business with a protected status which reduces the risk associated with the investment.

Business people survey the deteriorating state of the British economy, the incompetence of the Government, and want increasingly to be associated with the Conservatives. We, in turn, want to listen to them, and are doing so in a professional and targeted way. CBR is booming.