It's been a busy day to end a very hectic week.  With colleagues I spent the day knocking on doors in Middle Park and Eltham West ward, having dropped my partner off at Heathrow early this morning.  I half expected when calling on residents that many people would raise the issue of the NHS.  To see the fuss the BBC made yesterday, anyone would have thought David Cameron had personally pledged to scrap the NHS - as opposed to a minor figure in the European Parliament expressing a personal view across the pond.  Not one resident mentioned the NHS - unless you count the lady who apologised for not being able to stay at the door for long, as she'd just come out of hospital following an operation.  And yes, she's a Conservative supporter.

Along with all Conservatives from David Cameron down, I am fully committed to the NHS.  It is not a perfect organisation, it would benefit from reform, but it provides most of us with a service others around the world can only envy.  It is right that there should be a proper debate about its future, as there should be on every other issue of policy from immigration to transport, housing to education.  It is a pity that some sections of the media have become so lazy they too easily take their lines from increasingly desperate Labour spin doctors, who would prefer no such debate took place lest the failures of Labour's 12 years in power are exposed.  After all, it is Labour policies that have led to services being scrapped at Queen Mary's Hospital.

 David regularly calls on residents across the constituency.  It's the perfect way to keep in touch with people's concerns and their priorities.

Being a parliamentary candidate is never dull!  My doorstep survey continued this weekend with me and my team calling at hundreds of doors in various parts of Eltham and Middle Park.  We stopped for lunch at the New Eltham Conservative Club where a delicious hog roast was being served to the large crowd of locals, many of whom also enjoyed a glass of sangria.  In the evening I watched the new Harry Potter film at the O2 (rather disappointing...) and today enjoyed Tea in the Tarn with many local residents and councillors Glover and Poston.  I've got lots of correspondence to wade through but I think I might have a quiet hour or so before making a start...then its sausage and mash for supper!

I had the pleasure of visiting the Middle Park Community Centre today.  I have wanted to pay a visit for ages but finally made it when invited by one of the managers.  There was a pensioners' group there when I arrived - a good turnout I thought, though I was told it would have been much larger but for a number being away on a trip.

The work this centre does, for people of all ages but especially young people, is staggering.  Yet, the bureaucracy needed to meet the strings attached to funding - and the effort required to obtain funding - ties the limited staff down for far too long.  They need to be freed to spend more time helping their visitors, many of whom need the help and expertise these people can offer.  I applaud what they do and wish we could have more centres like this.

I have been out and about in various parts of the constituency in recent days -

Kidbrooke, Sutcliffe Park, Shooters Hill and Middle Park included.  I

have been struck by some of the sights, from the house which recently saw its tenants evicted, to the horrendous weeds bursting through the pavement to the rubbish piled high in one street I visited with my team.

Sometimes politicians get so hung up on the 'big issues' they overlook the obvious small things which, if sorted, would improve people's lives enormously.