It felt like the 1990s this week with another alleged “cash for questions” scandal developing in the House of Commons and spreading to the Lords.

Putting aside the question of why people do these things, it is clearly against the rules of this place and those rules exist for a good reason – to ensure those with the deepest pockets do not buy the biggest influence in our democratic process.

The proposal for a register of lobbyists is back on the table, as are strong and understandable calls to give voters the power to boot out politicians when rules are broken rather than waiting until a general election to clean the Augean stables.

There are good international precedents for the level of voter thresholds that could trigger a recall and it surely should be possible to design a system that is workable, fair and transparent but that gives more power to voters.

Last week was a packed one as I used the Recess to focus on local matters. I helped open the new Marlborough offices for Innecto, a thriving businesses services company, and also planted my first tree as an MP – fittingly an English oak sapling which now joins 30,000 others in the Caen Hill Diamond Jubilee Woodland.

I then joined a meeting with the Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group and the head of Great Western Hospital to discuss progress in local healthcare where we discussed the need for the Devizes Primary Care Centre, the recent rise in A&E visits and the welcome fall in dementia assessment waiting times as a result of assessments now being made in doctors’ surgeries – a change that demonstrates how the new system is focusing on patient need, not central government targets.

On Friday I started in Urchfont to review speed limits and signage with local residents and councillors, and then headed to Trowbridge to hear about the plans to roll out high speed broadband across the county. We are one of the first areas to get the investment and, by March 2016, at least 90 per cent of homes and businesses will be able to access world class broadband speeds.

I also met council heads to discuss progress in improving the adoption system.

This weekend I was delighted to be part of the civic team giving our local regiment, the Rifles, the Freedom of the town of Devizes.

With the dreadful Woolwich murder still fresh in our minds, it was great to show our heartfelt community support for our armed forces and their families.