I remain deeply concerned about the soldiers and airmen who are deployed in both Afghanistan and Iraq, very many of them from this area. I was opposed to the invasion of Iraq and remain concerned about very many aspects of it. I tend to the view that we should find a way of withdrawing from Iraq as soon as some form of stable democracy can be achieved. Afghanistan is different. We have to be there; if we were not Al Qaeda and the Taliban would fill the void which we left.

But in both Iraq and Afghanistan, quite leaving aside the rights and wrongs of the campaign, I am very concerned about the number of troops deployed and some of the deficiencies in equipment with which they are provided.

I was concerned to read the criticism made by an army major of the RAF this week. The Hercules fleet from RAF Lyneham are doing a magnificent job of supply and movement but I am concerned that the army has been supplied with a woefully inadequate number of soldiers and, most important for the areas in which they are deployed, far too few helicopters.

A whole variety of issues and problems were raised with me during my visits around the constituency this week. From lunching at Redland School and visiting the Springboard Pre-school in Chippenham, to attending the outstandingly good Wootton Bassett carnival procession and handing out prizes in the Wootton Bassett in bloom ceremony, it is amazing how often at diverse occasions such as these, people raise their concerns about our current military adventures abroad. I hope that my work and interventions on defence matters on behalf of those most affected will be recognised as being of both constituency and national value.

But it has led me to a few thoughts about the media, and its place in our society. By and large, the reporting of the last week has been accurate and relatively sensitive, if of course deeply painful reading for me. The Wiltshire Gazette & Herald in particular, and its editor, Gary Lawrence, who broke the story, and for which I give him no thanks, nonetheless did it in a responsible and fair way. And I pay tribute to him for that. Radio Wiltshire’s Chippenham reporter, Barbara Gale, and the Western Daily Press’s Tristan Cork are also thoroughly responsible journalists, who handled the matter well. I wish I could say the same about some of the national tabloids, and some of the news agencies, whose reporting was intrusive and unnecessary. At the time, my reaction was to blame them and be really quite upset about the behaviour of some of them.

But then I had a few other thoughts. First of all, had I not done what I did, there wouldn’t have been a story. Second, these people are professional journalists and photographers. Their job is to get a story and a picture. But they are also by and large decent human beings. One of them even rang me the next day to apologise for having turned up at my house with a TV crew! And third, of course, they are merely supplying a market. If we buy newspapers with lurid stories in them, then they will keep trying to track down lurid stories. So maybe we shouldn’t blame the messenger.    

And there’s a wider message here too. People often criticise the media for “being too powerful.” “IT’S THE SUN WOT WON IT”, blared the headline after John Major’s rather surprise General Election victory in 1992. And the same newspaper’s switch to Mr Blair in subsequent General Elections is often credited with helping with his landslide victories. But are the media leading public opinion, or are they reflecting it? Their job is to sell newspapers, and if their reporting or editing or leader writing is too much at odds with the views of the public, then they will fail in that prime duty.

So despite my recent personal experiences, I remain a strong supporter of the freedom of the press to track down stories, to report them and to comment on them in a free and untrammelled way. And despite everything, I remain a firm believer that we enjoy some of the most professional journalists in the world, and some of the best media. So I won’t hold it against any of them, while nonetheless appealing to them, and to all of you, to accept my regrets at what has happened, to allow me to carry on with my job both in the Constituency and in Parliament in as professional way as I can, and above all to leave Sarah and the family in peace.

The World is an ever more dangerous and terrifying place. How many of us will have been reminded of the tragic crash of the Lyneham-based Hercules eighteen months ago when we read of the awful tragedy of the crashed Nimrod in Afghanistan. Our hearts go out to the families of the 14 servicemen killed. An increasingly discredited Mr Blair seems unable to do much about it, but the Labour Party is nonetheless unable to remove him. Surely it’s time for an urgent recall of Parliament, so that at least we can openly discuss what’s happening in the wider Middle East Region?

But locally too, everything seems to be grinding to a halt. The Primary Care Trust are due to announce the outcome of their consultation into the closure of up to 7 of our community hospitals. But now we hear that the Chief Executive is to be promoted within the Health Service three days before it’s announced. She has wreaked havoc with our Health Service but scuttles off to a yet higher salary escaping the fall out from her brief period in office. Our paths may cross in the future.

One of her most damaging legacies was the unilateral withdrawal of funding from various joint services with the County Council Social Services Department. Wiltshire lost up to £5million, which means that they are now having to reassess every single care package, and this week announced the closure of several daycare centres round the County, including the Middlefield centre in Chippenham. There is, not unnaturally, a great degree of concern, especially amongst the most vulnerable people who depend so heavily on some of these services. I have an urgent meeting with the Leader of the Council and her officers, and am reassured that they are striving to put in place services which in the end will be better, and crucially more local to some users, than those currently on offer. But there will be a period of worry and distress in the meantime.

Now it has been announced that the police are to close several of the enquiry desks in their police stations like that in Wootton Bassett. Malmesbury and Corsham have already gone. I admit to being in two minds about this, as I am keen to get as much police resource on the streets fighting crime as we can. But a fascinating chat with some of the people most closely involved in my Surgery on Saturday convinces me that the closure of the enquiry desks will mean more, not less crime, and will in fact remove uniformed officers from the streets rather than vice versa. I write a strong letter to the Chief Constable as a result, asking him at least to try to explain what his plan is. Apart from anything else, it all goes to show that bending the MP’s ear can work – I hope more than sometimes!

As we all return to work after summer holidays, and as the countryside starts to feel distinctly autumnal, there’s a chill wind blowing round the world and locally too. I am beginning to itch to get back to Parliament to speak up for North Wilts, and perhaps just to make some little difference in some of these grave areas of concern.