Last week, this newspaper expressed the opinion that both the local Members of Parliament were “out of touch” with the people they represent.

I cannot speak for my friend and colleague, Crispin Blunt, but I have no doubt that he has a similar load of constituency case-work to mine.  Don’t get me wrong, I like my constituency case-work; it is because I felt that politics was a way of helping people to overcome their  problems that I opted for a political career in the first place.

People come to see me in private, and I will never disclose their names and details.  Often, people come to see me as a “last resort”. Their cases do not get reported in this newspaper, or any other; they are not newsworthy.  But they are important anyway.

The people who make the effort to come to my regular surgeries in Oxted and Horley represent the tip of an iceberg.  Many more send me emails and letters – some fifty a day – which demand a response. Thanks to my hard – working staff in Westminster, I hope that they get answered quite quickly.  I know however, that such is the volume of work that some replies take longer than I would wish.

But let me tell you about some of the issues which local people have brought to me  just  within the last three weeks.   Let's set aside perennial threats to the environment, like the proposal to develop the Oxted Sandpit, the Kenley Airfield fence, the abuse of planning law by "travellers", or the saga of Redhill Aerodrome.

There are mothers with children suffering from incurable diseases who need better treatment from the NHS; there are people living in cramped accommodation who need better housing; there are people whose savings have been destroyed who need help from the Government; people suffering from cancer  and worried about their savings ; people whose children cannot get into the schools they need; people with good ideas; people with whacky ideas. 
 
There are people in trouble with the Home Office; people who have done well all their lives and now, fallen on hard times, cannot get help from the Benefits system. There are grumpy old men and women; there are disabled people; there are people without hope; there are sad and angry people; there are people with mental health problems. There are people on very low incomes whose concern is simply to survive; and then there are the wealthy and opinionated people who think they have the answers to  all  the problems of the world.  They all want my help.

I will continue to do all I can to help those who seek or need my support. I will do this for them, as I have always done, regardless of their income,  political beliefs, colour or religious faith.  It’s what makes my job worth doing. I leave it to the electorate to decide whether or not I am "out of touch".