Education seems to have been my thing in the last two weeks or so. I very much enjoy teaching in schools in our area and have fortunately had quite a bit of work in local schools in the last week or two. I'm surprised by how many of the kids keep telling me they have had my leaflets etc! I shall not say which schools or where as I prefer not to blog about my teaching as that is not really what this blog is for!

However, as schools have featured highly in my life in the last couple of weeks I thought I'd say a little about that. Last Friday I did a Question Time event with sixth form students which was really really good fun. The students asked some really tough questions and there was one in particular that I had to confess to the students that I had no idea at all! I think they appreciated the honesty.

On Wednesday I agreed to go into Hymers College in Hull to talk to the sixth form politics students. Apparently, the have Austin Mitchell coming in at some point soon as well as a Lib Dem candidate so I think they are going round all of the parties. They asked me questions about both UK and US politics but the toughest question came at the end.

A couple of the students actually live in the Brigg and Goole constituency and so the final question went to one of these students who asked me "Why should I vote for you then." I had expected questions on everything from local government to US campaign funding but I hadn't expected any potential Brigg and Goole voters to put me on the spot like that. Anyway, I hope he was happy with the response, I guess I will know the next time we go door knocking in his village.

I had never actually been into Hymers before this year despite growing up and going to school in Hull. My school was, to say the least, a little different to Hymers but I was impressed by the school's efforts to open up and reach out to the wider community beyond just those who can afford the fees. I think private schools should do more of this and there is certainly a role for them in providing support to struggling state schools.

Saturday night I went to the Brigg and District Breast Cancer Charity fundraising dinner at the Forest Pines Hotel in Broughton. The night was really good fun and the event raised over £6000 for this important charity. As you can see for the photos, the men were expected to wear pink bow ties! Trying to find one was quite a challenge, I eventually got one in Debenhams but only after visiting every other high street shop. I did worry that I wouldn't get one as we had been out campaigning all day so I didn't start looking until quite late.

Anyway, credit must go to Michelle and the committee for putting on such a good bash and for raising so much money.

We had a really successful Action Day in Snaith yesterday where we managed to get a lot of leaflets delivered in the Snaith and Rawcliffe and Pollington area We also managed to speak to lots of people on the doorstep about a number of local issues.

People were really friendly and seemed genuinely appreciative of the work we have been doing locally on a range of issues. In particular, we have been fighting the Labour Government's River Aire Flood Catchment Plan which wants to increase flooding locally in order that Leeds can be better protected! The clear message again from residents was that they think it's time for a change of Government.

I hope to have an even bigger turnout for next Saturday's Campaign Day!

Yesterday I attended the launch of the Humber Bridge Toll Study at Westminster. The study was paid for by the four Councils in the Humber area and quite cleary shows that the region would benefit to the tune of £1.1 billion pound if the tolls were removed.

The launch event itself was a little taken over by the Labour MPs and Labour run North Lincs Council and the photos in the local press prove this. To actually get into the event you needed special permission from one of the Labour MPs which is a bit rich considering the fuss they created over David Cameron's visit to Brigg!

Anyway, cheap photo opportunities aside, the important thing is that the study shows quite clearly that the regions economy and workforce would benefit from the removal of the tolls. That's why the response of the Government to the study was a little disappointed as they basically said that it was not a matter for them but was a local matter!

We all need to keep pulling in the same direction on this issue although there will come a point if the Government keeps slamming the door in our faces when we may have to look at whether or not that approach is working. For now though we all have to keep pushing for action to remove or reduce the tolls significantly.

There will be further meetings between all the parties in the near future to try to agree our next line of attack. We need to all push in the same direction and speak with one voice and then just possibly the Department for Transport might listen to us.

Credit to the Hull and Humber Chamber of Commerce for all the work they did on this too, and also to the Humber Action Against Tolls campaign group who have been pushing on this for years now.

Photo: Me, Cllr Liz Redfern & Graham Stuart MP (Beverley)  at Westminster with the report.

So there we are, after the long long long taxpayer funded MP's holiday, Parliament finally went back to work today!

Our MP was there, poised ready to ask a question on the burning issues of the day. Could it be a question about the credit crunch, perhaps a question about the local people losing their jobs or perhaps a question seeking help for those struggling to pay their mortgages locally?

Gordon Brown's Labour MP finally got to his feet, the near empty chamber waited with baited breath for our Labour MP to deliver a powerful message  on behalf of the people of Brigg and Goole. And then, our MP rose to ask a question in the Sport and Culture Question Period on the subject of football club ownership!

As important as I am sure these issues are to many, I would have thought that after weeks of financial meltdown, our MP could have found more pressing issues to address!