Many charities organise events in the House of Commons to publicise their cause. Often the most useful part of this for me is obtaining the local facts and figures which illustrate how Ashford compares with the rest of the country.

Whatever anyone’s views on Brexit, no one wants to see traffic chaos in Kent after March 29th.

One of the insights I gain from the increasingly heated debate on Brexit is that this has become a rare political issue which engages people across the board. Usually when people in Ashford talk to me in supermarkets or on the street it is about personal issues for them.

Now we have the Christmas decorations firmly packed away for another year, and the New Year Resolutions already looking unrealistic, it is time to look ahead to 2019 and what it holds.

It is difficult for any politician to find a large helping of Christmas cheer when contemplating the state of politics in this country at the moment.

Regular readers of this column will know that I normally only talk about issues affecting Ashford and the surrounding area here. There are many other outlets for national politics.

As the Brexit debate reaches a climax I was one of a group of Kent MPs who visited the port authorities at Dover to receive a practical briefing on the implications of any disruption on the Dover- Calais crossing.

Apart from the obvious B-word issue, the big problem concerning those who contact me is the state of the M20, with three different sets of road works going on at once.

The future of services at the William Harvey Hospital continues to rival Brexit as the main thing people wish to talk to me about. The importance of the hospital issue was illustrated by the full attendance at a “Listening Event” at the Holiday Inn on Canterbury Road last Thursday.

The 100th anniversary of the Armistice was always going to lead to special commemorations, but those of us who attended the service for Ashford’s Poppy Tribute on Sunday evening, culminating in the first lighting of the Ashford Beacon, witnessed a unique event.