The Rutland & Melton constituency is one of the largest seats in England. Predominantly rural, in might loosely be described as East Leicestershire and Rutland. Situated in the East Midlands it comprises all of the county of Rutland (once again a unitary local authority since 1997) with the pretty market towns of Oakham and Uppingham, and the world famous man-made Rutland Water.

The Melton part contains the seat's largest town - Melton Mowbray - famous for its pork pies and Stilton cheese, and includes the Vale of Belvoir with its famous castle (the seat of the Dukes of Rutland) stretching right up to Bottesford on the Nottinghamshire border. Since 1997, a number of picturesque villages previously in the Market Harborough constituency were included in the Rutland & Melton constituency after a redrawing of England's constituency boundaries.

Lying approximately 100 miles due north of London and reached either by the A1 or M1, the Rutland & Melton constituency sits within the surrounding towns of Nottingham, Grantham, Stamford, Corby, Leicester and Loughborough. Its major corporate employers are Masterfoods in Melton Mowbray and Lands' End Direct Merchants in Oakham. The gently undulating country is largely agricultural. Its defence establishments include the St. George's Army Barracks at North Luffenham, the Defence Animal Centre in Melton Mowbray and the Harrier Squadrons at RAF Cottesmore.

RAF Cottesmore, the home of the Harrier force that won the Falklands War, is set to close in 2013.

In response, Alan tabled a Parliamentary Motion condemning the Government's decision to shut RAF Cottesmore which can be found online at the Parliament website.

Alan has also met the Defence Secretary, Bob Ainsworth, in a private meeting. He told Mr Ainsworth that the people of Rutland would not be bullied into accepting the base's closure without a Defence Review. In the meantime, he has secured a commitment from the Ministry of Defence that Rutland Council will have a senior officer or Civil Servant as a direct, dedicated contact for all the implications and decisions that follow from the Government's announcement. Mr Ainsworth has since agreed that Cottesmore will be considered for military usage as part of the forthcoming Defence Review.

Alan argued that ‘The base still has strategic value and I oppose plans for its closure in the strongest possible terms. It is as a result of a catastrophic failure of planning on the Government's part. RAF Cottesmore is being sacrificed because of the Prime Minister's incompetence at managing the economy. The Government needs to get a grip on the situation so that the Royal Air Force and the nation's long term security are not harmed by short-sighted base closures.

‘The people of Rutland have an economic as well as emotional attachment to the base, and I will fight to keep it open. At the very least we would all like it to continue as a defence establishment rather than just be abandoned. Mr Ainsworth's assurance is a hint of light at the end of the tunnel, which I welcome.'

Alan has also signed a petition on the Number 10 website which calls on the Prime Minister to save RAF Cottesmore and he encourages everyone in Rutland to do likewise. So far over 1,800 people have signed this petition. Further support for this campaign can be found on Facebook and Twitter.

While Alan supports this campaign he is not responsible for the content of the external websites.

Alan has appealed for a reasoned discussion on the issue of Post-16 Education in Rutland. He wrote a letter to the Council and to the local press, arguing that both sides need to listen to each other to stop misunderstandings clouding the debate.

In his letter of 27 January, he said:

I have been attempting to mediate between all interested parties and the council in the hope that everyone can begin to understand each other better and that some kind of consensus might emerge which satisfied all concerned.

I have done my best to both understand the council's position - especially in as much as you are constrained by Tresham and the DCSF - but have found that the council's version of events is not recognised or understood by many others in the county. I have to say I have reached the point where I too am finding it difficult to reconcile the two sides of the argument in any meaningful way. This worries me.

RCC's basic position is that if we do not proceed with the CBEC option then Rutland would probably end up with no 6th form provision at all. The unfortunate consequence of going down the CBEC route, however, is that there is going to be enormous unhappiness in most of the county about the structure which is proposed unless we can better explain that the rationale and the benefit of this transition is to move to a new purpose-built facility in Oakham a few years later. This is leading to a seemingly insoluble conflict and a lack of trust.

I think all involved are entitled to a much clearer explanation of the DCSF position and its legality, and a further effort to engage DCSF in discussions which might lead to them agreeing to a stand-alone post-16 college with equal participation from the feeder schools, which is what most people want.

Alan has secured from the Prisons Minister, Maria Eagle, a commitment that HMP Ashwell will not be used to house failed asylum seekers awaiting deportation.

Instead, one of the possible uses would be for the prison to be reclassified to hold foreign ex-offenders waiting to be deported. Prison security would remain comparable to existing levels.

Alan met the Minister on Monday 11th January to discuss the issue of the prison being turned into an Immigration Removal Centre.

He commented, following the meeting: 'I am pleased to say that the threat of Rutland housing the next Sangatte has lifted. We will not now be seeing the prison turned into a stopping point for illegal immigrants on their way home from Britain. This is progress, but the Minister's plans would still mean that Ashwell was no longer a prison.

'If the prison is rebuilt to house foreign offenders this may make sense, as it would have similar security and staffing requirements. As I said in the House of Commons last week, there are far too many foreign nationals in UK prisons and it is high time we acted to deport them humanely and quickly. Any process to reclassify the prison must be done transparently and in consultation with the people of Rutland. My preference remains to keep Ashwell as a Category C prison.'

Further information on this can be found at this Rutland & Stamford Mercury article.