Just as the government sent Parliament away for too long a summer break, a whole series of big issues came up which we need to talk about. I asked the Leader of the House that we should have more time – either in late July or early September – to get to grips with them, but was told that did not suit the government.

First of all we were told that we need a lot more runway capacity at our airports in the South-East. We are asked to choose between another runway at Heathrow, or a new airport at Cliffe in Kent, or a bigger Luton. I am nervous about how we could handle more surface and air transport at Heathrow, and would be interested in constituents' views. I have already told the government that the main constraint on expanding Heathrow is the lack of transport access to the present site and the impact it would have on the environment.

The government announced it is going ahead with changes to the way grant is given to Councils around the country. It appears that Wokingham will be a loser again, getting even less grant than we do at the moment. I fully accept the need for poorer parts of the country to receive more help, as they do. But I am also trying to persuade the government that Wokingham needs a fair settlement to pay the growing bills for public service workers who need enough money to be able to live here.

Next, we learnt through the local Primary Care Trust and the pages of the Wokingham Times that we may also be losing substantial sums of money for our local health service. Whilst we read of billions extra being levied in tax and spent on Health and Education, it appears that we will not be joining in the benefits. I intend to go on repeating to ministers the need for more nurses, doctors and other health professionals in this fast growing part of the country. Our waiting lists are too long and we need more facilities to take care of people.

We were told that there needs to be massive new development in the South-East, with the government planning to force many new houses onto communities that do not think they can cope with the extra. At the same time the government says it wants to see less car use – how on earth do those two policies add up? I see no sign of new railway lines or bus routes to take the strain, and plenty of evidence that as soon as families move into their new home they naturally bring a couple of cars with them so they can get about. We need to defend our greenfields and gaps between settlements.

I will be pursuing all these problems over the summer, however reluctant the government may be to let us talk about them. We are not being treated well. They are taxing us, but not giving us enough of our money back to pay for our local services. They are expecting us to absorb more and more development, without sorting out the transport system first. And then they take our Parliament away for almost three months, whilst ministers sun themselves, making it more difficult for us to put our case.