The Shadow Home Secretary was in Eltham today and spelt out how things would be different if he takes control of the Home Office next year.  Criminals and yobs, you have been warned.  The end of the caution culture is nigh, there will be an end to the early release of prisoners, there will be a tougher approach to anti-social behaviour and the police will be able to take greater control of what cases actually reach the courts.

Chris Grayling heard from a number of residents today who had been victims of crime.  He also got to hear why people are so angry - and fearful of walking the streets.  As he said, it is almost never justified to be carrying a knife on the street - so why, when caught, are so many people getting away with it?  There should be an automatic presumption of a custodial sentence.

So many more people have emailed me or written to say they would have liked to attend today's meeting but could not take a day out of work.  I have passed their comments on and will ask Chris to return to Eltham at the earliest opportunity.  In the meantime, the next public meeting will be with Mark Francois MP at St Luke's Church Hall, Westmount Road on 29th October.  Doors open at 7pm.  Please join us.

The day started well enough.  Dropped off correspondence at the office in Westmount Road for the kind volunteer who has offered to help get me cope with the massive increase in mail I am receiving.  Then we went knocking on doors asking residents for their feedback on a range of issues.  The response was very encouraging - though clearly there remains huge anxiety about crime and road safety in that particular area.

We had lunch at Cafe Dee and then went to the Demelza open day for a tour of the new hospice.  The work that charity does is hugely important and I am delighted to see that such a well equipped facility has been made possible here in Eltham.  Sadly, I was called away urgently by a colleague who had been called - via m neighbour and several other people who didn't know my mobile number - to say there was a strong smell of burning from the flat!  When I got there, feeling as though I'd run a marathon rather than one block, I discovered the washing machine had gone seriously wrong.  It had started a cycle but was just getting hotter and hotter until even the worktop was hot to the touch.  The walls were dripping with the condensation, the smoke alarms were on overdrive! Our neighbours, gathered outside on the landing, must have feared that a major fire was about to break out - they could smell the heat through the letter box and the flat was filled with a cloud.

We don't know what happened, but we have ordered a new washing machine.  And we're just pleased no more serious damage was caused - not least to our neighbours.  I'd like to publicly say a huge thank-you to them all for all their help.  They now have my mobile number - and will soon have keys to the flat, just in case...but I don't think we'll ever go out when the washing machine is on, just in case.

I had a very positive meeting with senior representatives of TfL this week and was pleased to cover a variety of issues relevant to Eltham and surrounding areas.  Among them were the tidal flow through the Blackwall Tunnel, the proposed cycle lane in Green Lane, and overcrowding on commuter services.  We also discussed the behaviour of passengers, especially school students, on buses and trains.  Such meetings are very helpful because they allow both sides to exchange views but also to be better informed of the facts.  I have many more such meetings planned in the coming weeks with a variety of organisations.