HP - Global future on our doorstep

It all felt a bit Doctor Who, but this is in fact Hewlett Packard just near Filton, and I was looking at the Cloud Technology they are developing. I also came to talk about the science outreach programmes they are doing in our local schools and how crucial it is to inspire our next generation of scientists.

Driving towards the ring road, out of Filton, it is easy to forget that research and development of international significance is going on here, pushing forward with virtual management systems handling ever more data.

If you think back over the last decade or so, the technological advances have been extraordinary. When I first started University in 1997 (hey, it's not THAT long ago!), email was a bit new-fangled and I wasn't sure I trusted it, very few people did anything but hand-write all their essays and my mobile phone was a bit of a brick and did not have a text capacity. By the time I finished in 2001, there was suddenly a whole host of things I couldn't live without - internet, search engines, texting... and it's tempting to think that we've seen the biggest acceleration of technology. There is no reason why this should be the case. At places like HP, research is ever pushing forward.

At the moment I don't have an i-pad. I'm guessing in a few years time, I'll be either wondering how I ever lived without one, or even be marveling at how cumbersome, slow and prehistoric i-pads actually were...

It's incredibly exciting to be living in a digital revolution that is possibly changing the face of our existence as much as the Industrial Revolution, and for some of this research and development to be taking place in Bristol itself.

And particularly fascinating is the effect that all this virtuality, and all the instant-gratification an on-line world brings will have on our society, our ideas of ourselves and reality, our notion of action and consequence... that's an issue which will effect our politics possibly just as much as the effects of the industrial revolution.

We can't give in to crime

On Friday I joined residents who have set up a petition to get bus services back to normal in Henbury following a spate of attacks to the buses.

I have to say, I was outraged that First Bus services should be re-directed and stopped in Henbury becuase of a spate of crime.

Ok, I know that First Bus has a duty to protect its drivers.

Ok, I understand the police are stretched, and too much of their time is still spent on administration not the front line.

But giving into crime like this is not on because it gives out completely the wrong signal to criminals - that civilisation will give into them, and change its behaviour because of what they do.

That's a dangerous precedent; It's unfair on residents whose travel is severely disrupted, and all-too-often have to put up with the kind of crime and disruption that the buses are fleeing day-in, day-out.

It's not a question of 'whose fault' this is. It's about making sure things return to normal ASAP and that this never happens again.

Therefore I am meeting the Police and First Bus to work out how in future its the criminals who suffer for their crimes, not the public, and that it is law and order, not louts and criminals, that calls the shots.

Fairbridge: Turning around lives ( and making great cakes)

One of the perks of being an MP is that occasionally it means being forced to sit down to a nice cup of tea and eating some sinfully enormous and rich chocolate cake. I know. Tough, isn't it...

My visit to Fairbridge was one of those tough times: The young people ( some pictured here) many at risk of exclusion, come to Fairbridge for a variety of activities that, in their own words ( and I didn't see any of the staff kicking them under the table to say this!) - really has turned their lives around.

One of my young constituents in Southmead had made an obscenely superb chocolate cake for the occasion - and cooking is one of the activities that the Fairbridge centre offers. It had banana and chocolate goo in the middle, and over cake and tea we discussed what the young people had gained from the scheme, what their future plans were, and I spoke to one young man who had benefited from Fairbridge, who has now come back to help and plans to be a youth worker. That, and the views of the young people themselves, is testament enough to the great work the organisation does.

Southmead takes its protest to No.10

Community Groups up and down Bristol have been protesting about the Council's plans to sell off tracts of our green space which they deem as 'disposable', but in reality, is anything but.

The other week, I joined a group from Southmead, who have been doing brilliant work making the case for the old Dunmail School site to be kept.

The group, led by local people, had compiled a petition of hundreds of signatures, as well as collecting scores of responses to the council's plans, and came up to London to present them to no.10.

I was proud to be there as we handed in the petition to No.10 Downing Street.

Afterwards, we went on a bit of a tour around Westminster and had a cup of tea before the coach back to Bristol arrived. ( Thanks to our superb volunteer photographer for the Big Ben photo!)

If local democracy means anything, it means listening to residents' views on our green space - who have taken the battle to save Bristol's Green Spaces all the way to Westminster. Well done to everyone involved for your sturdy campaign, standing up for local people.

Southmead Green Space: Listen to the people who know best...

It's such a shame. The Council's parks and green spaces strategy is supposed to improve green space for the people of Bristol. The problem is, that the proposals put forward do not seem to reflect at all the real needs of local people.

I've been supporting dozens of protests and picnics across my constituency, set up by people who do not object to maximizing the benefits of our green space, but who do object to council plans that seem out of touch with what's needed.

I've not spoken to anyone for example who actually supports the so called proposed 'improvements' to Glencoyne Square as local people say the proposals will make things less safe, and the square less usuable... and it's "improvements" like this, which I have yet to find public support for, which are what areas of much valued land are to be sold off for...

This protest was against plans to get rid of the play area at Embleton Park, off the Square. If you feel strongly, sign the petition for saving genuinely needed community green space at www.savebristolgreenspaces.bristolpetitions.com .