THE last month in Parliament has been unsurprisingly dominated by the Comprehensive Spending Review.

During the Chancellor’s speech on October 20, we heard a stark reminder of the situation we are dealing with; an inherited deficit that is the largest in the developed world, an interest bill of £120million a day and lots of empty promises made before the election with no money to back them up.

In my view the plans set out in the CSR were sensible and honest but there were some very tough choices made and there are more important details to come early in December when we hear the final settlement for Wiltshire Council, the fire service and police.

As well as financial matters my last few weeks have had a military focus. I have made several visits to Larkhill, held a surgery in Bulford, met the new commanding officer of 4 Rifles to discuss matters of joint concern and visited Tidworth again, where I presented Tesco awards to four local primary schools.

I have also met representatives of the Project 65 charity, which helps disabled soldiers, and popped in to the new Ghurkha shop for a refreshing cup of Nepalese tea. I chatted to many soldiers during the day and discussed the urgent need for better military housing; a topic I have just addressed in an article in the ‘House’ magazine. Last Sunday I also performed my first official wreathlaying at the Remembrance Day service in Devizes and was humbled by the solemnity of the day. My new fullystaffed constituency office is now up and running and if you need my help or would like to come to one of my regular advice sessions then please call the team on 01672 519198 for an appointment. You can always contact me at the House of Commons by letter, by phone on 0207219-7050 or by email at claire.perry.mp@parliament.uk.