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.  

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!  

There have always been health fads, but rather like the late David Niven observing that Xmas seems to come every three months, the rapidity of different and often contradictory health fads is breathtaking.

Yesterday we heard that rosehip syrup could sort out arthritis and other ailments. Echinacea and St John’s wort all have distinct properties which add to one’s health and wellbeing, as does garlic or ginger. Pomegranate juice is the new elixir of life – apparently.

Somehow with all the ever-changing do’s and don’t’s on offer, it is hardly surprising that we simply give up over Xmas and eat all sorts of things which we shouldn’t. What the faddists forget, I think, is the wonderful sense of wellbeing and satisfaction from eating excessively. Somehow in our subconscious I think we deserve it! The guilt comes later……..