An interesting day! After a few days out of my running shoes, it was time to don them again and run off some of that festive cheer and New Year celebrations. Once in the Commons, I grabbed a coffee and croissant and chatted to my friend and colleague Patrick Mercer MP in Portcullis House. A former soldier and a man who speaks his mind, it is always enjoyable spending time with Patrick. After Clegg had finished his session, there were two Urgent Questions before my mate Richard Benyon stood up to tell us what progress he'd made on EU fishing matters. Richard is a hard working and conscientious minister, who has time for everyone. He revealed that progress had been made and he hoped that fishing matters could and would be decided regionally and from the bottom-up rather than the other way round. He received the gratitude of all members from around the House. Then, on to the show-stopper, the Welfare Benefits Up-rating Bill, which received its Second Reading. This was always going to be contentious and proposes to cap rises in benefit to 1% over the next three years. Ian Duncan Smith (IDS) has an admirable grip on his brief and gave as good as he got as tempers flared on both sides. The fact is we cannot afford not to control the welfare state. The last government dished out money like water, buying the electorate, in effect. It was a very cunning ploy and made millions of people indebted to the government. IDs stuck to his guns during a stormy debate, which I left after the two main protaganists had delivered their Front Bench speeches. No one likes taking money from people, especially those who rely on benefits, many for good reasons, but ideally the safety net should only include those who really cannot look after themselves. The alternative is a country and its people reliant more and more on state handouts which cannot be right. The votes began at 7pm and the Government won the day. It was an acrimonious debate and I don't believe showed Labour in a good light at all. We simply cannot afford to go on spending more than we earn. Our children and theirs will be affected for decades if we don't sort out the mess we inherited. Back to the office for an hour and then home.