Our Man in Westminster

Ineed to start this week by saying a heartfelt thank-you to all those who have sent messages of congratulation following my appointment as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. Politics can sometimes feel like a game of snakes and ladders, so it is important to mark the rare times when you land on a ladder!

It is of course very time-consuming, so it is worth repeating what I said when I become immigration minister in 2010: although I now have new responsibilities, I am still determined to do all I can for people in Ashford. The answer to the question “how do you fit it all in?” is simply to work harder and more efficiently. I rely on some equally hard-working people in my offices in Bethersden and London, so thanks to them as well.

Let me take the chance to reinforce the importance of the Big Friendly Read summer reading challenge. This is designed to encourage children under the age of 11 to borrow and read six library books over the summer, and is fully supported by Kent’s libraries.

The six-week summer holiday is often a time when young children lose the progress they have been making at school, so this sort of scheme is very helpful.

It is also the case that if a child develops a love of books and reading early in life, this is one of the biggest benefits that will serve them well for the rest of their life.

By which I mean not only in terms of learning things that are useful for work, but in providing pleasure and mental stimulation in all areas of life.

I will try to fit in some reading for pleasure in August alongside the hundreds of pages of work reading about the welfare system I have planned. Have a good and peaceful summer break.