Westminster Diary - 21st December 2006

Thursday, 21st December 2006

Christmas is a time for gratitude. We are grateful for the chance to be with family at this time of year. We are grateful (with varying degrees of sincerity) for the socks, bath salts and other treasures awaiting us under the tree. We may even just be grateful for the chance to take a break from work but we should be grateful too for those who will not be doing so. Those who work in the emergency services or in the NHS may well be working to ensure we stay safe and healthy throughout the Christmas period, just as they do the rest of the year. Let’s remember too those who volunteer to spend part of their Christmas not with their families but with those who would otherwise be alone – shelters and other welfare services will be open to the homeless and desperate and they have to be staffed. We all have cause to be thankful for the compassion and dedication of those who will do so.

For many of us the days leading up to Christmas are a chance to enjoy the occasional short day or long lunch, perhaps a Christmas party or two. For others though, Christmas is the busiest time of the year. Yes, Santa and his elves, obviously, but I also had in mind those who work in the postal service or the retail sector. Rugby is a centre for the distribution industry and with the rise of internet shopping they are busier than ever.

You may say that they are paid to work hard, but my job enables me to meet so many people in so many fields who work much harder than they are paid to – at all times of the year. I meet public servants who come in early and stay late because they are proud to give the best to the people they serve. I meet people of all ages and backgrounds who give up their time and talents to improve their communities and I meet carers who receive little or no payment for the tireless support they give, incidentally saving us all a great deal of money in the process.

I want to take this opportunity at this time of year to thank them all for what they do on behalf of us all – for working harder than they are paid to do. Even if the presents under the tree don’t give us more than we expect this Christmas, I think we all know of volunteers, public servants or carers who will.

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Updated on Thursday, 21st December 2006