NOBODY can fail to be shocked and appalled by the sheer scale of the recent atrocities in Tunisia.

They underscore the task we face to overcome extremism and I agree with the Prime MinisterPM’s comments this week that this is a battle for hearts and minds that cannot be won on the military front alone or by one isolated reaction.

This week, I attended a conference on radicalisation at the Royal United Services Institute. I also oversaw the first set of questions to the team of business ministers in the chamber. On Monday, I also took the opportunity to asked a question in on the floor of the house seeking assurances from the Department of Communities and Local Government about rural housing and the rigour of the mechanism to ensure that housing association properties bought by their tenants are replaced on a like for like basis.

To me, ensuring that the volume of affordable properties purchased are swiftly replaced with high quality alternatives, is key to the success of this policy. Of course Many rural areas will be exempt and I look forward to the details of the scheme emerging in the autumn – especially how it affects Community Land Trusts, who have offered me sensible observations about the policy.

Another issue which has been under the spotlight this week is that of the possible exit of Greece from the euro. With stock markets falling due to the continuing uncertainty around Greece, it is certainly a time to be grateful that Britain did not join the euro and is somewhat insulated from the full effects of this crisis.

The Greek economy is certainly in dire trouble but Young people currently facing an uphill struggle to find employment in that country are by no means to blame and neither are the ordinary people facing limits on the amount they can withdraw from the banks. They are experiencing the playing out of a situation where their governments have consistently, over many years, been unwilling to face up to the unsustainable nature of their pensions and other financial commitments in order to secure their long-term future.

The British Chancellor is gearing up for the budget next Wednesday to hopefully set out once again how sound stewardship of the British economy can continue. This must involve living within our means so that we remain on course for long-term growth and stability in our public finances.

I also secured a position on the Department of Work and Pensions Select Committee, giving me an opportunity to work across party lines to scrutinise benefit changes.