A belated blog...

Good Lord, it has been a long time since I've posted on here - well overdue for an update into the crazy world of the Catholic Parliamentary Interns!

All four of us have had a very busy few weeks, and now we're almost in November and approaching the completion of our first full month in Westminster - it's absolutely flown by! For me, working in Damian's office has been very varied and hugely rewarding. As Shadow Immigration Minister he has a lot of work to deal with, especially given the recent focus on asylum and immigration issues, on top of his constituency work from Ashford.

I have been focusing on a research project on Identity Cards, Biometrics and Information databases held by the state - the Government's ID Cards Act of last year is in the process of being implemented, and I've been gathering as much information as possible on all the issues and debates on the subject, to inform Damian, and assist the Conservative Party's ongoing campaign to oppose the introduction of this absolutely awful idea! Still... I ought to try and keep political points to a minimum on this page!

In addition to that I have been doing a fair bit of first response to constituent's problems and questions, which involves getting details of their issue so that Damian can better respond to it, as well as more detailed constituency casework. I really enjoy this aspect of the job - talking with members of the public about such a massive range of issues, and attempting to resolve their problems - hugely rewarding.

I will post back with another blog on Friday - to make up for the lack of posts recently (!) - after I get back from a constituency visit to Ashford, in Kent, where I'll be accompanying Damian on visits around the constituency as well as assisting him in his regular surgery at the constituency office. Really looking forward to the visit - i've only ever seen Ashford from the window of the Eurostar - although the 7am train from Charing Cross is going to be a challenging start to the day!

Will