Remember, Remember.....

November is a time to remember. The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month is a time to remember what so many others have done for so many of us. I was very moved to see so many with me at the three Remembrance Day services I attended in Newton Abbot, Dawlish and Shaldon. I laid a wreath with great pride. Perhaps best of all was the sight of so many young people and young families. We so often think of them as the generation that knew only peace. Today, sadly that is simply not true.

The last few weeks have been full of reminders of our proud history. Shaldon celebrated Trafalgar Day with a first class dinner in the church hall. As I addressed the dinners, I reminded them why we won..and the French lost. We were a better, well trained force which despite our numbers won the day..and a lot of that was down to morale and sheer will power..to win! And we will do that again when Brown is forced to call the next general election. Gordon missed his chance and it won't come again. David Cameron is moving from strength to strength in the opinion polls and consolidating the vote. Labour will deserve to lose the next election and we will deserve to win it.

Newton Abbot has its own proud history which we also regularly celebrate. The Earl of Devon and I were guests of the Newton Abbot Court Leet at its annual Law Day on 20th October. Reports of all the activities of the year were given - with great hilarity on occasion - and I was asked to deputise for the new Portreeve, Alan Vizor - which included paying his fine for non-attendance!

But most important of all has been the time spent with constituents listening to and helping out with problems. As has already been well publicised on TV I worked with residents of Holcombe village to help them in their battle with the Tax Inspector - and we saved the village £19,000. I have now a number of cases where much to my surprise there is huge discrimination against the young -and disabled. The system seems to cope with disability which is age related but not with a disability such as arthritis when it happens to someone in their twenties. Does it seem right to you that a young 28 year old mother of two should lose all help and financial support when she is lucky enough to find a young man willing to become part of that family and take on many of the burdens. Apart they were twice as well off, together they are struggling to pay for the most basic items of food and clothing.

Planning seems to be the bete noir for many and the present governments approach is most unhelpful. Is it right that loft conversions should be allowed to proliferate at the expense of personal dignity and privacy? I have three cases now in Kingsteignton where loft conversions have seriously affected individual's human rights. It is one thing to find that the privacy you enjoyed to look out into your garden without being overlooked has been eroded. It is quite another to find neighbours turned into "peeping Toms" looking in to watch a family having its evening meal, or worse still to watch an elderly and immobile person receive medical and nursing treatment and support. The police have taken an interest and the Human Rights Act may provide some relief - but surely it should never have come to that.

It was a pleasure to welcome Michael Gove to the constituency with his education brief for the party. Together we visited Coombshead School and I think I can say I was quite simply blown over by the quality of the media studies offering. We watched the children put together a live radio broadcast which goes out not just to the school but to local residents in Newton Abbot. The school has a fully equipped broadcasting facility. The printed daily newsheets and the full blown newspaper they produce are very professional and is produced in conjunction with the Western Morning News. Michael was interviewed by one of the students - bringing back fond memories of his early days as a journalist!

Michael and I were also able to visit The Maltings Drop In Centre - and what a professional first class job they do. Yet again it was clear how completely inappropriate the state system is. We met three young girls, all had been made homeless through no fault of their own, all wanting to get on in life and to study and work. As a young person it is financially not possible to work and study if you want a roof over your head. Because of the way housing support works and education grants work, studying is only affordable if you don't work! Where is the logic in that! I had not appreciated what a housing problem there was for youngsters here. Finding accommodation for children and young adults from broken homes is exceedingly difficult, particularly for those that fall into the gap age between being technically a child and technically an adult.

While Richard Younger-Ross did not not attend, I was able to attend the public meeting at Newton Abbot Racecourse concerning the changes in health care provision for those with Mental Health care needs. The St Michael's ward on the current site is to close when the main hospital is relocated from the centre of Newton Abbot to Jetty Marsh. Inpatient care is to be moved to Torbay. I am disgusted that this has only come to light now with no time to make sensible plans for the change and clearly no will to consult. It is simply not acceptable to say that this is a now cast in stone and cannot be changed. There are safeguards set down in legislation which require any such change to be consulted on and Devon County Council Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee must be held to account to insist on a thorough investigation into the change with an opportunity to refer any change to The Secretary of State for Health. I will hold them to account!

I am delighted to report that I have recently been appointed an Associate School Governor at Rydon School in Kingsteignton. It is a fabulous school with much to be proud of and I very much look forward to my first meeting next week. I am also as you know a member of the Shadow Senior Council for Devon. Slowly but surely we are working towards developing a body to represent the views of those over 50 so that there is a real voice for change. The constitution is now being developed as well as links with other groups, including I am pleased to say the Junior Council. The gap between the generations seems to have widened over recent years which is a real loss to both. A joint meeting between members of the Senior and the Junior Councils is planned next month.

And of course there has been much more activity besides and I have found myself all over the constituency at various events including Kingskerswell , Abbotskerswell, Ogwell, Haccombe and many more. If I have to chose I would rather "do" than write. My apologies to my regular readers for too long a gap since my last entry, but sometimes you have to make a judgement call - and I believe my time has been better spent making a difference rather than writing about it. I hope you agree.