The consultation on compensation for those affected by HS2 came to an end on 31st January. As I have said before, I still hope that the Government will see sense on this proposed scheme, and I would like readers to be in no doubt that the Department for Transport and HS2 are fully appraised of both my views and the views of my constituents whose letters and emails I have been passing on to the Secretary of State.

The best case scenario is that the scheme is cancelled. However, in the meantime, I have to work on the basis that if it goes ahead, we are in the best position to secure fair financial compensation for Buckingham constituency residents. To that end, I submitted a comprehensive set of requirements and suggestions to the consultation and hosted a meeting in Westminster between the chief executive of HS2, Alison Munro, and representatives from some of the villages worst affected.

We had a long, wide-ranging discussion on the fairest possible outcome in terms of mitigation, and local residents had an opportunity to put across the specific concerns they were aware of in their area.

Again, it is far from ideal. I would prefer to be writing that the proposal is being kicked firmly into the long grass but, sadly, you have to deal with life as it is and work for the best deal you can get.

It is a busy couple of months coming up, both in Parliament and in the Buckingham constituency. After a grim start to the year, weather-wise, it has been pleasant to see that Easter celebrations and summer fetes are already starting to be organised.