Below is my speech in the Get Britain Cycling debate in the House of Commons yesterday, as well as the Labour Party’s 8 point plan for cycling.

Last night the Commons voted against Britain taking military action – by accident. It may be an outcome supported by a majority of the public, but it was not what any of the main parties or their leaders wanted.

Police have warned that proposed reductions in street lighting in Exeter could boost crime and increase CO2 emissions as car use would likely go up.

As part of the First World War: Then and Now programme, the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) is making at least £1million a year available until 2019 in small, community grants.

I recently visited the St Loye’s Foundation to find out more about their new Families Action Programme to help people overcome the difficulties they may face in finding work.

More than half of all dementia sufferers in the South West are undiagnosed, with rates of diagnosis being as low as 35% in rural Devon.

I recently spent an hour with the volunteers who run Exeter Foodbank and some of the families who depend on them. I have to say, I found some of the scenes I witnessed and stories I heard shocking in the 21st Century in a relatively affluent city like Exeter in one of the wealthiest countries in the world.

When Ted Heath was elected in 1970, I was 10 years old and my Dad gave me a ten shilling note in celebration. Brought up in a strongly Tory and newly middle class family I never doubted that the welfare state would care for the vulnerable, and when I started to pay my taxes, did so willingly, believing this to be the case.

At yesterday’s Environment, Food and Rural Affairs questions, I asked the minister about protecting our marine environment.

Yesterday I asked the Second Church Estates Commissioner about pastoral care in the Church of England for same sex couples and their children.