An active Member of Parliament has a vast amount of paperwork to deal with – letters from constituents, special interest groups, consultation papers etc etc.  One of my secretaries has worked for me for almost thirty years and tells me the volume has increased fourfold in that time, and we both think she might be underestimating!  That is the main reason that I deplore the recent change in Parliamentary hours.  Even though I am an early riser and am frequently in my office by 7.00am, never after 8.00, the time between then and the sitting of the House at 11.30am gives far too little time to deal with the paper, to make the telephone calls, and to see the multitude of people who request meetings: not to mention the constituents who want tours of the House etc. 

But we still do have the old 2.30pm sitting on a Monday and because Monday is my only clear office morning I find myself, to my own dismay and my wife’s increasing annoyance, coming to London most Sundays.  Indeed I am dictating this piece on Sunday afternoon in my flat. 

Perhaps the only bonus of the Sunday journey is that I get to listen to Desert Island Discs rather more often.  It has always been one of my favourite programmes and this morning it was particularly fascinating, and moving.  The guest was an author, born in Germany in the 1920s and forced to flee, when Hitler came to power, because she and her family were Jewish.  She has made Britain her home and she spoke with passionate affection about our country – and hers.  It made me realise, once again, how exceptionally fortunate we are to live in a country where we so easily take freedom and tolerance, and most of the other civilised virtues, for granted.  It made me glad too that we are now making rather more of becoming a British subject.  I thought last week’s ceremony, attended by the Prince of Wales, was a moving occasion and I congratulate the Home Secretary, with whom I do not always agree, on this particular innovation.  It is good to focus the attention of those who want to become British on just what our British traditions and values are. 

Today many of those values are under siege from the forces of an excessively interfering bureaucracy and from political correctness.  I was reminded of this by a constituency case just a few weeks ago.  Two ladies who give of their time and talents to help run a youth group had suddenly found their lives turned into a nightmare.  One of them had cause to rebuke a young tearaway who was intimidating two other children.  They did not lay a finger on him but he was told to go home and informed that he would not be welcome again at the group.  A little later his belligerent and irate father came round and threateningly accused the ladies of abusing his son.  Although they have been completely exonerated they had to endure a reasonably lengthy inquiry into their conduct. 

In another recent case a twelve year-old, suspended from his school by an excellent Headmaster because of his persistent unruly behaviour, wrote an exceptionally rude letter to the Headmaster, accusing him of abusing his rights etc.  He even sent a copy of his letter of complaint to his Member of Parliament.  I am delighted he did because I was able, putting on the mantle of the former schoolmaster, to send him a letter telling him that his behaviour was intolerable and that he should mend his ways.

I have, of course, deliberately given no clue as to any of the identities of the people concerned.  Indeed, I have slightly altered the facts of the cases so that anyone reading this piece would not recognise who I am writing about.  But it is cases like these – and I get to know of a considerable number during the course of every year – that make me wonder whether we are indeed in danger of losing that British spirit which was so marvellously evoked in that recent television series on Dunkirk, and in danger of forsaking those traditional values and attitudes which have made Britain what it is and which made the contributor to today’s Desert Island Discs so proud to be British.  If Mr Blunkett’s new procedure for those who become British subjects and citizens reminds us all of just how very fortunate we are to live in this country, he will have achieved a great deal.