Many thanks to Eric Popp, the new vice-chairman of the Diss branch of the National Farmers Union, for hosting a meeting where I met local farmers to hear about current issues.

Top of the agenda was food security. Britain's ability to produce food is being choked by extraordinary levels of regulation.

Whereas France looks out for her farmers when (and if) it applies regulations, British farmers feel that the Government applies EU regulations in the most draconian way possible. We have to start treating domestic food production as a national priority.

I recently put forward another Food Labelling Bill in the Commons. This would ensure all food is clearly marked with both the country of origin and whether or not farm animals were reared to British welfare standards.

At present, 70 per cent of pork and pork products imported into the UK are reared under conditions which would be unlawful here.

Needham extension

I was pleased to officially open the new extension to Needham Village Hall on Saturday.

It is an impressive building with a flint finish, in keeping with the older hall and the nearby church. Plans for an extension have been on the cards for a number of years but the work became urgent when the roof of the loo collapsed!

Well done to George Miller and his dedicated committee for their hard work raising the necessary funding of some £110,000, which has come from a wide variety of sources.

The excellent new facility can now be enjoyed by the Theatre Group, Bowls Club, Wine Guild, Library and Dance Group and other organisations.

New police inspector

On Monday I met the new Diss area police inspector Stuart Chapman.
He tells me extra patrols on Friday and Saturday evenings are helping to cut the recent spate of criminal damage in Diss.

Insp Chapman has arranged for the Matthew Project to talk about drugs and alcohol abuse to the youngsters who hang about Diss railway station car park.

Police are joining the fire service to stage a crashed car reconstruction in Budgen's car park in Harleston on November 21.

They think experiencing what it would be like to be cut out of a crashed car will deter teenagers from speeding around the town. It's good to see that the police are being pro-active and I look forward to hearing how these plans progress.