The Parliamentary session resumed yesterday and we are straight back into the legislative process. This week sees the second reading of the Armed Forces Bill, consideration by a committee of the whole House of Commons of the European Union Bill and the final stages of the Postal Services and National Insurance Bills.
According to the weekend press, the European Union Bill is getting some people very excited, while the Postal Services Bill will determine the ownership of our mail service, which we all depend on and feel quite protective of, in the future.
Just before Christmas, I was really pleased to visit the Loughborough sorting office.
I visited at 7.30am and the office was incredibly busy as the postmen and women dealt with thousands and thousands of letters, cards and packages.
It was probably going to be their busiest day of the festive season.
Of course, this is also the first week back since Vince Cable and some of his fellow Liberal Democrat ministers were recorded giving their views on aspects of the Coalition Government and the Conservatives.
I was not particularly surprised by those comments and would just reiterate that, from my perspective in meetings at the BIS Department as PPS to the Conservative Minister for Universities and Science, I see a team of ministers with different backgrounds and policy inclinations, working very hard to ensure Britain has the stable and competent Government it needs in order to sort out the budget deficit.
I do, however, think the actions of the Daily Telegraph will mean the open relationship between constituents attending a surgery and their MP has been changed.
This week also sees the Oldham East and Saddleworth by-election take place.
I believe the circumstances of why the election is taking place – (the elected Labour MP was forced from office after having been found guilty of "knowingly making false statements" about his Liberal Democrat opponent) – will determine the result as much as the current political context – meaning it is impossible to predict the outcome.
In terms of what 2011 holds both nationally and locally, I see part of my role being to help support any local groups or residents who are adversely affected by the forthcoming spending cuts.
I was pleased to see, in late December, the Government announce it had rethought its plans for the funding of School Sports Partnerships.
This was on a day when I was visiting the Youth Sport Trust Talent Camp at Loughborough University and hearing from the elite athletes there just how hard they had needed to work to get to the top of their sport.
Although less than the current funding, the revised plans do mean that the structure of SSPs can remain in place if that is what schools want.
Other key issues locally will be the levels of funding for our schools, the future of the AstraZeneca site in Loughborough, what the changes to the NHS will mean for local patients and what implications the forthcoming White Paper on Higher Education has for Loughborough University and other universities in the East Midlands.
On an international scale, I know there are soldiers from our local Territorial Army who are being deployed overseas and my thoughts are with them.
And I grow increasingly concerned about the safety of Christians in various countries – the murders in Egypt being the latest in a worrying trend of violence towards those who want to practise their faith.
As we took for granted being able to sing carols and attend church over Christmas if we wanted to do so, it is hard to believe that for some communities they literally take their lives in their hands by getting together to worship.
If You would like to contact Nicky Morgan MP, telephone her on 01509 262 723, or e-mail:
nicky.morgan.mp@parliament.co.uk
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