Another week, another slew of Westminster-centric stories dominating the news, confirming my view that many politicians and journalists live in a world of their own making.

Did you see any of the good economic news in the last few days? Did you note that public sector borrowing is falling faster than expected? Or that the Governor of the Bank of England made the first positive comments about the British economy in five years? That the housing market is picking up and inflation is falling? Anyone with investments in the stock markets will know that these encouraging signs are priced into many stock prices, which is why the markets are performing so strongly.

However, all we hear about is rival hokey-cokey strategies on Europe and rows about extending marriage rights to same gender couples. Behind the stories are some facts – that the Government has a commitment to renegotiate elements of our relationship with Europe to improve the deal for Britain, and the same gender marriage vote was a free one, where dissenting views were not rebellions, but those are less newsworthy.

Despite the journalists’ wishes, Europe and marriage are not the items that dominate everyday conversation.

People I know talk about housing, petrol costs, schools, railway connections, jobs, taxes, the environment and, at this time of year, the stress of exams for children.

Most are too busy to even think about the big political stories in their rush to get to work, collect children from school, pay bills or care for relatives and I sometimes think that the collective Westminster tribe should be sent out of London on an enforced encounter with the real world.

If that happened, the entire tribe might learn, as I did last week that the most widely read magazine in the UK, with over seven million readers, is the one distributed by Tesco. The lead story in the current edition is ‘How to change your daily routine and feel great’. Perhaps if some politicians and commentators changed their daily routine of self-obsessed navel gazing, they might start to feel a bit better about life.

For those who are interested, I performed what is known as a ‘positive abstention’ on the third reading of the Same Sex Marriage Bill, voting for the legislation as a sign of my personal belief in the legislation, and then against it, as I am not convinced the Bill would be supported by the majority in my constituency, having listened to views on the matter.