TO my amazement I have now been an MP for six weeks.

The learning process continues with a meeting with representatives of the local medical committee, a very instructive time with Ray Brookes and the other executive officers of Wyre Forest Community Housing, followed by a meeting with the town clerk and then a tour of the new magistrates court on the old cattle market site.

I was also delighted to be asked to talk to assembly at Bewdley High School about being a new boy in Parliament.

The new boy had a very exciting day last Monday. This was the day parliamentary select committees were confirmed.

My name had been put forward for the Health Select Committee, which is the ideal committee for me to serve on and I knew there was a revolt against the present method of appointing MPs to select committees.

The exclusion of Gwyneth Dunwoody and Donald Anderson had raised severe anger about the dictatorial nature of the whips making these appointments unopposed.

I was in a quandary. I did not want to vote against my own appointment to the Health Select Committee but I wanted to support the revolt against what could be seen as an abuse against the executive power.

Thank goodness Mr Speaker came to my rescue as all the select committees that were unopposed were passed without division so my place on the Health Select Committee was secure.

But there were votes on the Transport and Foreign Affairs Committees, and both of these were won by a healthy majority of MPs of all parties who revolted against the Government and thus caused the first two defeats for the Government, I believe, since 1997.

This was a historic moment and I was proud to be part of it.

It shows that even a Government with a huge majority can be defeated.

I took part in a debate on the implications of the Private Finance Initiative and I was delighted with the understanding among the MPs who spoke of the nature of this initiative.

What became absolutely obvious was that the Government's assessment of "best value" is entirely different to the opponents of PFI's understanding of best value.

There must be a correct answer to this question and I just hope somehow to be able to discover this.