After a VERY long lead in time it was great to be at the ceremony to mark the building of the SportPark at Loughborough University.

We often talk about partnership working and how great it is. The reality is often far form that. This is a project which all of the partners wanted but it has still been difficult to birth! I have been involved in so many meetings where we needed just one more big push or we needed more money to get enough to carry on. There are too many people to mention who have done all the hard work on details. I guess my role is to deal with vision and big picture and negotiate with government and government agencies to lever the big cash. In this case it was £millions. But funnily enough big millions are sometimes easier than the £10-20,000 needed for a smaller project.

Perhaps like me you were awoken this morning to sounds of even bigger numbers than has become usual. Today it's £250bn for the banks and Iceland has disappeared under debts 7 times bigger than its entire economy. We truly are living in amazing times.

I got into Parliament for an 8.30 start after finishing at 11pm last night. When you are here it really does feel you almost live inside the building.

After a meeting and then some much needed exercise I went into Cabinet Office Questions. Most of them were about volunteering. As I chair a national body on sport volunteering I used it as an opportunity to get a question in about tax breaks for junior subscriptions. It has been a long running campaign and another mention does not harm. However, in the current financial crisis I know there is not a lot of spare cash in the Treasury even for little schemes like this. Protecting revenue is just as important as getting it into the Treasury. I stayed in for PMQs where once again I thought Cameron and his lack of substance stood out. Take away the ability to do cheap one liners in knockabout and he is nothing. Worse was to come - Osborne. In contrast Gordon looks on top of his brief and an international statesman.

I had arranged to do a quick filming of a birthday message from Gordon to a party member who is 100 next month. Under the circumstances I would have not been surprised to have it cancelled. But Gordon was good and gave me my two minutes to film - and then have a quick chat about things. He did seem more relaxed than I have seen him for ages & better than when we worked in the Treasury together. (Photo on Flickr.

Tommy McAvoy, John Spellar and Nick Brown. Who is going to play good cop someone asked me last night in the lobby!?

I am always keen to help some charities and organisations more than others. Breast Cancer is one of those so I am happy to join in the wear it pink campaign. After all if a premiership rugby team can wear pink kit - then surely I can join in too. But as this photo shows I think they are pushing their luck this year!

Whilst waiting for the vote on the Children Bill I had time to read a newspaper. The only one around was The Mail. How on earth can people read so much trash in one newspaper. It pours vile bilge on every page. I have now washed my hands as I felt contaminated by its hate for the world.

The turmoil on the international money markets and in banking has continued apace today. As one Treasury source said to me today - what happens if none of this works? It brings home how powerless one government is against international capital. Even the whole country of Iceland does not appear to be immune - basically becoming bankrupt as a nation. (I thought its ICESAVE interest rates were too good to be true).

Strangely other things continue as normal in here. I did a photo call for wear it Pink to support Breast Cancer awareness and then another similar thing for Interserve - posing across the other side oft he river to have Parliament in the background. I met with the Volunteer coordinator from Sport England and then sat through Foreign & Commonwealth Questions. I has Topical number 2 and asked about Uganda. David Milliband was very good. That is just a comment and don't read anymore into that!

I had a chat with ed Milliband and offered a visit to Loughborough Energy Technology Institute to see how we can play our role in combatting climate change through energy technology.

I have been lobbied hard today on smacking children and the upcoming HFE Bill again. It is a big vote tomorrow and will probably find myself voting against the government whip.

If I hear one more radio presenter say "MPs are returning to Westminster after their break/ holiday etc I will go mad. As you can see from these web pages being in the constituency does not mean the world stops for me! Indeed much of the quality work I can do is during the recess period where I have time to get involved in the community. Yes legislative processes start again but this remains only part of the job description. So as I pack my suitcase and bags of computers and files to move back to the London rat race (under Boris) I will let you know how it goes.

I return a year older than last time and politics has changed somewhat in the last two months - never mind the last year. So it will be fascinating to see how history treats this period. I have often mused over the last few weeks about those in the US in 1929 and if they knew they were at the start of the great depression? I wonder which way we tip in the next 6 months? I will be writing more about the end of this period of over consumption in our history and how I hope this shock may have corrected it.

We had DCMS questions today where I called on the government to find a missing £100m for elite sport. In the circumstances I thought this was not a lot compared to the billions given to elite bankers in the last few weeks across the globe. I use the term elite and bankers loosely.

The Chancellor made a steady and informed Statement and Vince Cable for the Lib Dems as usual gave a reasoned response. But Osborne for the Tories tried to be statesmanlike - but couldn't act for long. How on earth anybody takes this chinless wonder seriously is beyond me. I wouldn't trust him with my children's' savings - never mind those of the nation.

I sat through DCMS questions with a row of ex ministers. It's tough. One minute they have a car and a private office of 8/9 people filling the diary and moving you around. The next minute it has all gone and you are not even allowed into you office to say goodbye and collect the things off your desk. There has to be a better way of doing this. Surely we don't have to be this cruel just because it has always been like this?

Even the pundits are not claiming they knew about the return of Peter Mandelson to the cabinet. So it was genuinely a shock.

I won't rush to judgement. Too many people do that. A bold move one week can look very different a week later in politics. So I will give a cautious nod to Peter and hope he is able to deliver. The one thing that is right about the appointment is the global experience Peter now brings back after heading up EU international trade talks. We live in such a 'globalised and interconnected' world that these will be vital if we are to withstand the massive economic pressures we face.

No call for me again in the reshuffle. As you can see from my FAQs elsewhere on this site I have never really wanted Ministerial office after being a PPS and seeing how it wrecks any chance of having a normal life. I personally value family and friends too much to sacrifice them for politics or a political career. I have no regrets... as many who have just been sacked may find as they wonder what it was all about!"

"I have started to redo this blog as parliament returns and I hope this time to keep it up!"