Friday 1st December

Another hectic week comes to an end. The highlights were a couple of very special events with which I was closely involved. On Monday the Prime Minister opened a special archives exhibition in the Upper Waiting Hall – a splendidly fruitful collaboration between the History of Parliament Trust, the Parliamentary Archives, and Churchill College, Cambridge. The star guest was Baroness Thatcher and, for the first time in the parliamentary precincts, they were photographed together. That in itself was a notable addition to the archives. On Wednesday The Princess Royal presented the FIRST Award for Responsible Capitalism to Ratan Tata. It is the first time, in six years, that we have had a winner from the Indian Subcontinent and it was a very remarkable occasion, with a notable speech from The Princess Royal and a very gracious reply from the winner.

Today, for the first time, I take some time off to do some Christmas shopping as I am not going back to the constituency because of tomorrow’s and Sunday’s engagements. But more time is spent in the office than in the shops. Where does all the paper come from?

Saturday 2nd December

There are carol singers in the Kings Road but I return in good time to get to the Abbey for the installation of John Hall as Dean. I am several rows back in the Lantern so do not see a great deal. The compensation is the company. I find myself sitting next to Donald Sinden. Dean Hall’s sermon is well-crafted and more memorable than sermons often are on these great occasions. But then comes my most embarrassing moment in years. My mobile phone rings! I never have it switched on. I do not even know its number. But somehow I must have pressed the wrong button. I later discover it was a call from O2 asking if I would like to upgrade! Some chance.

Sunday 3rd December

To Heathrow and we sit on the tarmac for nearly an hour before the plane to Belfast is allowed to take off. Eventually I arrive and am able to have a session with my papers, a quiet dinner and a reasonably early night.

Monday 4th December

Up just after 6am to prepare for a full day of visits and evidence taking sessions.

The Northern Ireland Affairs Committee is over to complete its inquiry into Community Restorative Justice Schemes. We begin, shortly after 8am, with a visit to Impact on the Kilcooley Estate – the third largest estate in Northern Ireland and one which, until relatively recently, was notorious for lawlessness and punishment beatings. Over the last few years community leaders have come together and produced an atmosphere of constructive calm. There is still some paramilitary influence on the estate but a number of the former terrorists have seen the error of their ways. There has not been a punishment beating for a cou