With the announcements of huge investments in our roads and railways, I have been dispatched all around the country, from Edinburgh to Truro, to meet local people and talk about the new projects.

The journeys have all been by train which has enabled me to ride many new routes and visit stations I have not yet visited, and I have also spent two of the last five nights on a sleeper train which would have been a great treat under normal circumstances but was a little less enjoyable given the number of briefings I had to digest.

I was quietly hoping to be one of the team sent to Wiltshire to celebrate the investment that will relieve the notorious congestion on the A303, as it would have meant a night at home, but sadly I was outranked and the Prime Minister got the slot.

Either way, there was plenty to celebrate with the agreement to immediately start the detailed planning to finally dual all of this strategic route, bypass Winterbourne Stoke and create a tunnel around Stonehenge. Not only will this relieve the congestion for people and freight travelling to and from the South West (providing a big economic uplift for our region), but it will also relieve the misery suffered by people living in the south of our constituency who get snarled up in the traffic, or who have to deal with drivers seeking short cuts along inappropriate roads.

The £15 billion of funding to deliver this and other key road schemes is committed legally over the next Parliament meaning that this work will go ahead – finally!

There was more good news last week that the pipeline from Swindon to a reservoir in Oxfordshire will also go ahead and thus reduce abstraction from the precious River Kennet. Thank you to everyone at Action for River Kennet who has campaigned for so long for this.

This weekend it’s Small Business Saturday, so please support our local businesses. I will be doing my usual stint at the Burbage Christmas tree sale.

It has been a sad time at home as we said goodbye to my beloved mother who passed away last week and I am so thankful for all the kind words of support and encouragement received over the last few days.

No matter how old or how grown up we are supposed to be, losing a close family member always hits hard and my thoughts are with other local families who have also lost loved ones recently.