This morning I was supporting The White Ribbon Campaign, which is an international campaign working to get men involved to end male violence against women. Every week, 2 women in the UK are killed as a result of domestic violence. Wearing a white ribbon is a pledge never to commit, condone, or remain silent about violence against women.
I joined fellow Lib Dem MPs Sandra Gidley and Annette Brooke to back the campaign.

I spent all of Monday in the Constituency this week so that I could go the funeral of an old family friend. The service was at my Dad's old church in Altrincham, and I've not been there for over 20 years. It seemed a lot smaller than I remember. I met up with a lot of people that I had not seen in a long time, and a few who I'd seen only a few months ago at my Dad's funeral.
This all meant that I didn't travel down to London until this morning, and for the second train journey in a row there was a delay, this time due to high winds bringing down some electricity cables around Hemel Hempstead. Fortunately it didn't delay me too long and I still managed to go and support the "Soup Lunch" hosted by The Salvation Army in Victoria Tower Gardens, and to hear about the excellent work that goes on all year round to support the homeless and the lonely.

This afternoon I was invited to officially open a new takeaway in Chorlton called Chunky Chicken. Some people might question why I agreed to do this when I have regularly argued against more takeaway conversions and the need to retain traditional shops. Nevertheless I think it is important to support local businesses especially during these tough economic times. I have to say that the food was great and if it is like that all the time they will be very successful.

This evening I am at a fundraiser for the Friends of Chorlton Water Park. The Friends group put a lot of hard work in to improve the Water Park and so it's great to see so many people here to help raise some much needed money. Unfortunately I have to give the hotpot a miss, because I am still full from the peri peri chicken this afternoon!

I often drop in to Burnage Community Centre with Cllr John Cameron on a Thursday for their old people's lunch. Cath Biggar has done a brilliant job of building up support (and funding) for the lunch, and there is regularly  a hall full of people.

While I was there today the main topic of conversation was about the PCT's plans to close the walk-in centre next door. People were signing the petition against the closure and saying that it is far too far to be expected to travel to Withington Community Hospital by public transport.

While we were talking about the NHS we got onto talking about the flu jab. After the emergence of swine flu it is even more important that people take the opportunity to have the jab to keep them safe this coming winter. One lady told me that she was booked in for next week. We mustn't forget that about 8000 people in England and Wales die as a result of flu in the winter months, and we need to encourage as many people as possible to have the vaccination.

This morning I met with Jim Martin (Chairman) and Caroline Shaw (Chief Executive) at The Christie Trust Headquarters. They wanted to let me know about their plans to bring a high beam proton therapy service to The Christie. There are likely to be 2 sites, with one in London, and the other in the North. The Christie is the obvious choice, and I will certainly be backing plans to bring it to The Christie.

While I was there I also took the opportunity to raise the on-going problems of parking around the hospital. Although the situation has improved with the introduction of the multi-storey carpark, there are still problems on some of the surrounding streets, while spaces still remain in the new carpark. I've been assured that extra permits have been issued, and there are more to be issued soon. I hope that this will help to alleviate the problem further, because parking problems remain a cause of great concern for those local residents who have cars parked outside their houses from early morning until the evening, often restricting access to their drive.

Before travelling down to London for the Queen's Speech I went to meet some Burnage residents outside the Burnage Health Centre to support the campaign against closing the walk-in centre. Local people are very angry that the PCT have decided to close the walk-in centre without any proper consultation. The first I knew about it was when a constituent rang me. They only knew because they happened to go to the centre and were told about it by staff.

This is no way to treat patients and staff. Nor is it acceptable to try to make these cuts without letting people know what is happening and giving them a chance to object. I know that the Labour Government is desperate to avoid being portrayed as a party of cuts, but the PCT cannot simply cut services and hope that no one will notice.