On the benches

Frank Field, former minister for welfare reform and Labour MP for Birkenhead, looks back at the week in politics.

The difference of opinion over genetically modified foods in the Royal Family.

Food is a central part of family life and the Royal Family's disagreement has proved they share the same concerns as the rest of us.

The split in opinion will no doubt help enhance the debate and temper hysteria.

I have to award this one jointly.

First, the death of Brigadier Stephen Saunders who was murdered in Athens. Brigadier Saunders served his country with the utmost skill and dedication.

Our thoughts are with his wife and two children.

My second low point is the passing of the Northern Ireland Policing Bill.

While there is a need for change, the RUC have over the past 30 years been an outstanding public service and this bill is defamatory.

We will not forget those who lost their lives serving the public in Northern Ireland and keeping attacks on the mainland to an absolute minimum.

Both of these incidents are of course about terrorism and whether you can appease it or whether it consumes the appeaser.

David Blunkett. David has pushed through reform after reform on the most ambitious of all the government's programmes.

That he has done so without ever appearing as the "loser of the week" is testimony to his abilities.

This week he made an important speech pushing the welfare reform programme in a more promising direction than of late.

William Hague, who at Prime Minister's Questions didn't press home effectively the PM's discomfort over the Women's Institute speech.

The other thing I've noticed about question time is that the PM has learnt to roll with punches, whereas before he ducked but didn't get out of the way.

Most importantly, Blair has learnt to laugh the attacks off. Hague, who has won admiration for his performances, must now adapt his act.

"He started off quite well and then he deteriorated into politics," from a member of the audience at the Women's Institute conference.

What do you expect when you invite the prime minister to speak?

The star in the House this week was Debra Shipley MP who on Wednesday introduced her bill to allow children conceived using IVF after the father's death to be considered legitimate.

Debra tried to win government support behind the scenes in the most discreet way but was rebuffed by ministers.

In the end there was a need to go public. For me this is a terrific example of somebody diligently pursuing a reform that protects their own constituents and will be of benefit to many others.

People are starting to make the link that those who gave us the Millennium Dome now want to treat us to the euro.

On the 28 June I will introduce a bill to limit MPs from constituencies in Scotland and Wales to voting only on reserved matters at Westminster, thus finally addressing the infamous West Lothian question.

This bill follows naturally from Labour's programme of constitutional reform.

The bill may not become law but the aim is to show how wide support is. Other Labour members from England, Scotland and Wales are co-sponsoring.

This is an area where Labour can seize the initiative and leave the Tories standing.

Watch out for it in the manifesto!