Heavy traffic through villages laid down in the age of the horse and cart is a thorny issue throughout my patch.
For example, a trio of Wiltshire villages – Chapmanslade, Corsley and Maiden Bradley, together with the Deverill Valley – are co-operating against rat-running lorries ignoring the strategic freight route.

Residents have been very patient but enough is enough. The ancient buildings along village roads and the fabric of the streets have had enough, too.
What should happen now is a weight limit on traffic through blighted villages directing lorries to roads built for them. A useful spin-off would be a reduction in the council’s road repair bill caused by destructive heavy traffic, fewer potholes and a saving to Wiltshire’s hard-pressed council tax payers.

Meanwhile, back in the Palace of Varieties, MPs across the House are announcing that they will not stand again. And it’s not just veteran retirees but some of the newbies. What’s going on?
To be honest, being an MP has never been for the faint-hearted – and, contrary to popular belief, it won’t make you rich! In recent times I think people have been reacting to increasing challenges to personal well-being and family life, the heavy and mounting demands of the job, and the inherent insecurity.

On a personal level, I have always considered it an honour and privilege to serve and for me the rewards certainly exceed the cost. I plan to continue for as long as voters want me to.
Inflation, which is bedevilling western economies, has been seriously eroding spending power. So it’s hardly surprising people want more pay. Nurses want 17 per cent.

The difficulty is that sort of figure for a huge workforce like the NHS would have to come from somewhere else or from more taxes, it would bump up inflation significantly and would invite further demands throughout the workforce. We’d then be locked in to an inflationary spiral making everyone poorer.

Striking hurts. Trade unions hope the hurt experienced by the public will persuade politicians to concede. I so appreciate the pressures on daily living that apply across Europe and beyond but would plead with people not to strike and to consider carefully the recommendations of the independent pay review bodies.
The Budget, which was aimed squarely at helping those most affected by the pandemic’s long shadow, Putin’s war and the energy crisis, has given the earliest of glimpses of better times ahead, like snowdrops heralding the spring. For them to be realised we will need patience and restraint, along with a much more benign international backdrop.