I think the PM was right to say he needs to stay in the UK to work with the Chancellor on a good budget rather than flying to Egypt. It would be better if these conferences to urge us all to travel less  and to burn less fuel were more often conducted on line to set an example on the issue of jet travel and to make their own contribution to reducing CO2 .

COP 27 faces the same big problem COP 26 faced. China generating 30% of the world’s CO 2 intends to  carry on increasing its output for most of this decade. President Xi will not be in Egypt for others to lobby him  to do what western countries are doing to cut their output. Current policy of us closing down energy intensive activities and fossil fuel mines and wells in order to import goods  from China does nothing to cut world CO 2. In many cases it  boosts it as we spend more on transport and on less environmentally friendly production in China. India, Russia and Brazil also are large producers of CO 2.

COP 27 does face a new problem from COP 26. As a result of the war in Ukraine and the need for the EU to cut its use of Russian gas, countries like Germany and Poland will be using more coal. China, facing shortages of power from hydro and renewables has also turned to more coal dependence. This is against the main conclusion of COP 26 that  countries should make rapid progress to eliminate coal, treating gas as a transition fuel whilst renewable electricity was expanded and technologies developed to store it for times when the wind does not blow and the sun does not shine.

It will be interesting to see what solutions they propose to tackle this difficulty.

Please see below my recent interview with Julia Hartley Brewer, Talk TV:

Please see below my recent interview with Julia Hartley Brewer, Talk TV:

It is hard work persuading government to cut out waste and remove marginal or undesirable programmes.

There is a vocal group of MPs who want the rest of HS2 cancelled. The business case was always poor, relying on diverting a lot of passengers from the existing network. The sharp fall in commuting and business travel thanks to lockdowns followed by more home  working further undermines the case. The government does not seem to want to save £100 bn.

This week saw the foolish decision to bankroll the Bank of England to lose £11 bn this year to let them take losses on bonds they do not need to sell.I was  the only MP to say this  was wrong.

There is substantial agreement we should not be adding perhaps £3bn more this year to bills for hotel accommodation for illegal migrants, but still the system resists any Minister and proposals to end the dangerous trade in people.

We continue to spend more than £1 bn a year on free smart meters and their promotion when anyone who wants one now presumably has one.

We spend large sums on maintaining, heating and lighting huge office blocks in expensive city centres when many civil servants now work from home. The estate should be streamlined.

Councils build large commercial property portfolios in their areas on borrowed money in time to lose a lot in a falling property market. Why let them borrow this money?

We spend large sums on benefits for people born and legally settled here whilst inviting in hundreds of thousands of migrants to take the jobs. The state incurs large bills to provide the new arrivals with homes, school places, health facilities etc Let’s get people already here into work.

We still send overseas aid to thug states and countries with expensive weapons programmes.We should confine aid to humanitarian relief in crises and the very poor countries. Trade is often better than aid.

We are now subsidising well off people to burn more energy by price capping power for their heated swimming pools, garden lighting, saunas and the rest instead of limiting the amount of  price capped power each can have to the needs of an average family. Let’s rejig the energy scheme.

On Friday 21 October I visited Bracknell and Wokingham College.  I was pleased to visit as the College does important work in equipping young people with the skills they need to find interesting and worthwhile jobs in our community.

I was shown the new care suite and facilities to train people for jobs in health and personal social services, looking after people and treating them when they face medical traumas.

I talked to a group of students about the role of an MP and what was happening with the change of Prime Ministers. The students asked a range of questions about national politics, social care and matters relating to mental health.

I am grateful to the College for the invitation and opportunity to see what they do. I wish them every success in helping more young people realise their dreams for the future.