WHILE England was trouncing Germany last Saturday, my wife and I were enjoying the Stourport river procession aboard an ocean-going motor yacht.

We were the guests of the commodore of Stourport Yacht Club.

Every goal scored was relayed to us by the cheers from the vast crowd ashore. Many of the highly decorated boats carried flags of St George.

One depicted St George slaying the dragon and broadcast Land of Hope and Glory, while another played Rule Britannia. A small seaplane did pirouettes on the water, the animals on Noah's Ark danced non-stop and Bob the Builder's PR lady called indefatigably on the crowds to sing his song with her.

It was a memorable occasion crowned by a magnificent firework display - England at its best.

August was without parliamentary business due to ministerial holidays.

I have now written twice to ministers requesting the results of the Darzi Report on elective surgery.

It appears that the urgency for the report was not due to recognition of the severe problems that exist for patients in Worcestershire.

I have followed up my meeting with Yvette Cooper on July 19 but have, as yet, had no satisfactory response to the points I raised with her.

I have had useful meetings with the county director of education, the chief superintendent of Kidderminster Police, and representatives of Amnesty International, the Council for the Preservation of Rural England and Wyre Forest Business Forum.

I have met Philip Sherratt of Severn Waste to hear his side of the incinerator argument and I am in discussion with Clare Cassidy of SKI.

A meeting with Sue Hunt, chief executive of the Worcestershire Community and Mental Health Trust, impressed me with her plans and so I have invited Jacqui Smith, MP for Redditch, to visit Kidderminster. She is now minister of state in the Department of Health with responsibility for mental health.

If we could persuade her that Sue Hunt is correct that Investing in Excellence has been superseded as it no longer fits the needs of people with mental health problems then we would help Sue Hunt's plans which I believe are for the good of people in the whole county.

The bread-and-butter work of my new job comes from my surgeries where I have been faced already with a wide range of personal and general problems. I can always listen. I can always advise and attempt to help but, regretfully, I cannot always promise success.