I was persuaded by Minsters that we should await the outcome of the Enquiry which started in 2017 into the Contaminated Blood scandal before agreeing full compensation for the victims, and accordingly last night supported the Government in voting against the amendment which would have hastened that compensation in Parliament.

This treatment scandal saw thousands of people infected with contaminated blood and blood products in the 1970s and 80s, leading to deaths and many families left destitute and grief stricken.

I have been contemplating the matter overnight- and rather regret my vote now. The Inquiry seems very unlikely to do anything other than endorse the compensation proposals; and there is therefore merit- after an unreasonable delay already- to confirm the payments and hasten them.

So another time I would have supported the amendments last night (which was, I am glad to say passed by a small majority); I would have rebelled against the three-line whip on the matter; and I commit to doing so if by any mischance the Government or the Lords reverse that decision.

On mature reflection the amendment was perfectly right and I sincerely wish that I had voted for it.

I had very much enjoyed Lord Carrington’s Memorial Service in Westminster Abbey sitting next to a personable old gentleman, with whom I had a number of brief conversations. It was only when his assistant came over at the end of the service addressing him as “Mr Kissinger” that I became aware of my brush with true greatness! I was sorry to see Henry Kissinger’s death this week at the age of 100.

We need diplomatic greatness of his kind at a time like this- to find a peaceful solution

“We honour those who serve” is the motto of Royal Wootton Bassett earned after the long series of Repatriation ceremonies when the town stood still for a few moments with heads bowed to pay tribute to those who had given their lives for their country. True altruistic public service; and it is right to honour it. I was glad to speak at the Cirencester Rotary Club last month and to welcome the Bassett Club to Parliament this week. Their motto “Service before self” says it

I ventured out of Parliament on Thursday evening into the milling crowds of Pro-Palestinian protestors mobbing the Old Palace Yard where only a week ago the Guards stood to attention and saluted as the King’s carriage rumbled by. Passionate and noisy they were but also very polite and courteous making way for a suit-clad and pretty obvious MP. I must have stood out like a sore thumb. One of them kindly gave me their poster. “...

The Autumn Equinox on 22 September always seems to me to be a period of turbulence- sad deaths, warfare, stock exchange collapses, high winds and storms, uncertainty and turmoil. Then last week we marked Hallowe'en, or the evening before All Saints Day. It has been disgracefully Americanised; but its meaning is ancient, (? partly pagan), and it is all to do with remembering the 'Saints' – our ancestors. In Scotland to this day they call it “Hunty Gowk” or “Hunt the ghosties.” Then we only