It is becoming an unwelcome feature of those who come and see me at my Surgery in East Grinstead and elsewhere in Mid Sussex, to see evidence of hard working families finding themselves in considerable difficulties with their household budgets.

The cost of utilities; energy, electricity and water alone coupled with considerable inflation in food prices is making life very difficult for many.

It is a fact that we have the highest gas and electricity prices and extra taxes and charges in Europe.

Indeed I was told last week that 25% of all households will next year be paying more than ten per cent of their net income on energy bills.

I fear that in the future we will see an increase in fuel poverty and this is something that all of us need to keep a look out for.

So after the credit crunch comes the energy crunch and nobody seems to have a very clear idea of how to deal with it.

I hope for all our sakes the economy does not slide into recession and that local job security does not become an issue; but many people express to me daily their anxieties about mortgages; about job security and about their ability to maintain their standard of living and quality of life that they are able to enjoy in this marvellous part of the world.

I think it is likely that one of the side effects of all these difficulties will be a reassessment of the scale of development required here in the near future. That could be very welcome.

Indeed a serious economic downturn would give us a very real chance to consider again how we might achieve more realistic housing targets at the same time as providing infrastructure to cope with it.