I visited the McDonalds Drive-thru in Eltham and got a briefing on their training opportunities for employees. They employ around 120 people, many on flexible terms to allow them time with their families.

There has been much talk of opinion polls and the potential of a hung parliament in recent days.  There has also, for the first time in years, been discussion about Labour, led by Gordon brown, leading the country beyond the Summer.

Regular readers of this blog will know I never really get very excited about opinion polls.  The people of Eltham will, eventually, have their say and that is the only opinion poll I will take notice of.  But what recent polls do help to do is remind people of the very real choice they face: more of the same tired, discredited, deceitful, incompetent, self-serving bunch led by Gordon Brown.  Or a fresh new government led by a team full of ambition for the people of this country, ready to get our economy moving again by cutting red tape and taxes; a government prepared to tackle immigration and reduce it to levels not seen since the 1990s; an administration ready to put police back on the streets, to fix our schools, to fix our broken society and to safeguard frontline services including the NHS.

Our country needs a change in direction.  We need that change urgently.  I believe people are fed up and angry with Labour and with politicians generally.  It's my hope that I can play a part in restoring our political system and our country.  It won't be easy, but it starts here in Eltham.  It's time for change.  Soon, it will be time to vote for change.  It can't come soon enough.

The Housing Minister who recently visited Eltham in an attempt to spread false accusations about Conservative housing policy has today revealed his true feelings about the record number of people repoesssed in the last year.  In a media interview he said that for some people it "can be the best option".

Tell that to the 46,000 people reposessed in 2009, a 14 year high.  I bet they were really grateful to the lenders who took their homes off them.

With the Shadow Minister Lord Hunt, I was delighted to hear the concerns of local traders who have been deeply affected by the great recession.  Our local High Street has suffered terribly and the failure of local and national government to do more to help, means many local firms will never recover.  At the Tudor Barn, local traders heard Conservative plans to help fix the broken economy.

As we all suddenly realise that Christmas is nearly upon us and there's so much to do / so many cards to write / so many gifts to buy, please spare a moment to consider how fortunate most of us are to consider these as 'problems'. Every day I meet so many people for whom Christmas is a time of great pain and anguish, largely because of the financial burden it places upon them or the unhappy memories it unleashes.  If you have the opportunity, perhaps consider popping into one of the excellent charity shops in our community to make a small donation, buy some of those Christmas cards you've yet to write or even off-load some of those clothes you've been meaning to get rid of.  At this time more than ever, so many of our neighbours are enduring difficult circumstances.  If you could spare them a few minutes to go round to ask how they are, or invite them in for a cup of tea, I'm sure it would be appreciated.

We're all busy people, but just a little thought for others at this time of the year could make such a difference to other people's lives.  Please don't assume someone else will do it.  And I promise you, you'll feel the benefit of doing something good just as much as those on the receiving end of your generosity. 

I visited some of the shops along Bexley Road today with councillor Eileen Glover.  The small businesses there are struggling, no question.  As if the recession wasn't enough, the parking problems caused by an increase in students at the university is causing serious problems.  And now, with proposals for timed parking bays which are meant to help residents living in surrounding roads, there are even greater fears for this parade's future.  As one small business owner said to me this morning, if people only have 20 minutes to pick up a prescription, buy a pint of milk and pay a bill at the Post Office, it'll cost them a £60 fine when they overstay their parking space.

This is a massive problem, for residents and small businesses.  Some said the car parks at the Avery Hill campus are not being used as much as they could be since parking charges were introduced, but when I visited this morning they were both full to bursting.  I'm afraid the problem has been caused by the university expansion.  This is a problem we must solve, and quickly.  Otherwise it won't just be the recession that's to blame for shops closing in this parade.  The effect will be devastating to the whole community.

More than anything else in the news this week, the comments of Alan Sugar irritated me to the point of fury.  His insensitive outburst, in which he accused small businesses of living in Disneyland because they complain about credit being cut off, shows he is not fit to have a role in political life.  Though a good businessman, and a great TV entertainer, his limitations have become all too obvious.  
The small business owners I meet weekly, who have re-mortgaged their homes, sold their cars, borrowed everything their parents had scraped together for a rainy day and still can't manage because of the way our high street banks operate, are living a nightmare, not Disneyland.  Lest Sugar forget, this country's economy is built on small businesses.  How quickly some people forget when they allow success to go to their heads, enjoying all the perks of wealth and fame.  He should spend a day in some of the shops in Eltham High Street or New Eltham or any one of the hundreds of small companies that face being finished because of the lack of credit.  The man's got no place as an Enterprise Tsar.  I don't hear anyone laughing as people are losing their homes, as businesses are closing and employees are losing their jobs.

Not everyone among my friends thought I was right to say the BBC should have Nick Griffin on BBC Question Time.  Some thought it would win him new fans.  It certainly won the BBC more viewers if it's true that more than 8 million people watched last night (compared to about 2.5 million usually).  Personally, I found the programme a bit like the scene of a car accident.  Horrible to look at but impossible to take my eyes away from.  I draw the following conclusions:

1. Mr Griffin failed to deny many of the accusations about his and his party's true agenda or beliefs.  He admitted he was a Holocaust denier, a racist and white supremacist, a homophobe, and an associate of the Ku Klux Klan (though it's news to me that they're a non-violent organisation).
2. The BBC turned the event into the Nick Griffin show.  I had assumed that whilst the first question would centre on him and his party, we would see him invited to answer questions on the broad range of issues the public deserve to know his views on - for example, the continuing recession, youth unemployment, illiterate children, rising taxation.  We did not.
3. The anti-fascist protests outside Television Centre seemed more like anti-freedom of speech protesters. Millions of people are so disillusioned with politics they have supported the BNP.  That's why the BNP have 2 MEPs and nearly 60 councillors.  Denying them a platform has not worked thus far!  And invading the BBC hardly gives them the moral high ground.  The likes of David Lammy and Peter Haine have clearly learned nothing.
4. Jack Straw ducked and dived the question on immigration and social justice.  The fact is this: Labour have been in office over a decade and promised to support the poorest and most vulnerable in society.  Over a million young people are out of work and without training, pensioners are starving or dyeing of hyperthermia, there is a crisis in housing and education.  Is it a coincidence that the BNP has gained ground under Blair and Brown?

If nothing else, this programme made politics a little more interesting for a lot more people.  Suddenly there's a real debate about the future direction of this country.  

I visited the farmers' market today, as I usually do if I'm around when it's on.  However, I think today's market was the smallest yet.  There were so few stalls the entire market neatly fitted in the furthest corner of Passey Place.  That said, I bought some goodies including freshly baked tomato bread, fresh vegetables, garlic cloves in oil and chilli - and a hot sausage baguette!  But my point is this: it seems the market is shrinking and becoming less popular.  Perhaps it is too much of a luxury in the current economic climate or maybe the timing of the market (one Sunday a month) is just not right.  Either way, I fear for the future.

It has been the busiest Conference I have ever attended.  Whilst there has been the usual catching up with old friends and sharing ideas with people from across the country, there have been a large number of meetings.  Many of those meetings have been important in my efforts to ensure Eltham is properly represented and its residents heard.

In policy terms, there have been some very significant announcements.  Among them are serious proposals to clamp down on anti-social behaviour, and an end to the policy of putting the rights of criminals ahead of their victims.  Families and children will receive more help and there will be serious efforts to get people back into work.  Our commitment to a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty has been restated and so has our intention to give troops the support - and the equipment - they need and deserve.  Our longer term commitment to cutting taxes have been repeated but only when the country can afford them.  The first priority is to get this country off its knees and back on the road to recovery.  That is a task we all have to work to achieve - and for the first time, a mainstream political party has set out how it plans to do it.  I expect there will be more concrete proposals in David Cameron's speech.  I am now going over to the conference centre to hear what they are.