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Comment

I HAVE been guilty of not supporting the Harriers in person much this season. Being in London most of the week and having a number of engagements at weekends, Saturday afternoons are precious but the Harriers vastly improved form with five victories and a veritable bonanza of goals in their last six games will encourage wider support.

Hopefully with the encouragement of larger crowds next season this form will continue, leading to a real chance of promotion.

Last week before our Easter recess I had several valuable meetings. The highly effective All-Party Parliamentary Cancer Group of which I am a vice-chair planned its forthcoming programme.

The West Mercia Area Probation Service held a useful briefing for MPs. The Government has stepped back from privatisation of this service that was on the cards and so the future of the service, coterminous with our police, is secure with exciting developments planned.

I met representatives of Advantage West Midlands and pushed the case for financial help with local developments particularly in Kidderminster as Bewdley and Stourport have had recent, welcome help from the Market Towns initiative.

At a meeting of the Associate All-Party Health Group we heard of the progress of the increasing numbers of hospital trusts that have won Foundation Status. When this idea was originally proposed I was against it as I thought the advantages of the status would lead to a two-tier hospital service.

This has not happened and the freedoms of the status, if the Government will leave Foundation Trusts alone to function according to local needs, do give them advantages that can be shared across the NHS as more and more trusts reach the state of quality of service and financial security that is demanded by the regulator before granting this status.

I attended a meeting organised by Liberal Democrats about plans in America where patients suffering damage from a drug now withdrawn, are being given compensation and to learn why the same is not happening yet in this country.

Previous Health Select Committee inquiries have drawn attention to drug-induced illness and ways of minimising the risks of these disasters that should be avoidable.

After the Lib Dems' meeting, I unknowingly gate-crashed a Labour party briefing on saviour siblings in preparation for the second reading of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill due in May.

This meeting was excellent and gave MPs an understanding of the facts behind this aspect of the Bill. It is only with an accurate appreciation of all the facts that each member will be able to balance them with the complicated ethical issues.

I have had a number of letters about this Bill from both sides of the ethical arguments and like other issues of conscience with two opposing views, I will aim to vote with an understanding of the facts.

I left the meeting having thanked the organisers for letting me attend and pointing out how important it would be to open this sort of briefing meeting to MPs of all parties. I hope to attend further briefings on other aspects of the Bill when they occur.

If readers wish to write to Dr Taylor, they should address correspondence to his constituency office at 137 Franche Road, Kidderminster, Worcestershire, DY11 5AP.

9:03am Wednesday 9th April 2008

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