First day Commons hat trick for Sir Bob!
January 11, 2012 5:07 PM
Originally published by
Bob Russell

Newly-Knighted MP Sir Bob Russell has returned to the House of Commons clearly not intending to alter his reputation for getting involved in debates.
Today, the first day the Commons sat in 2012, Colchester's Liberal Democrat MP spoke three times - receiving a huge cheer when the Speaker, the Rt Hon John Bercow MP, called him during the first of the afternoon's Health Questions. He praised volunteers who assist with non-medical activities in support of patients and visitors.
This was, however, Sir Bob's third contribution of the day. In the morning, during a debate on history in the school curriculum, he made a special plea for local history to be featured - giving several examples about Colchester, Britain's Oldest Recorded Town.
His second speech came to the influential Back Bench Committee which is in charge of non-Government debating time. With colleagues, he successfully argued for a special all-day debate on Wednesday next week about the future of town centre shopping in light of increased pressures from out-of-town retail parks and internet shopping.