The last twelve months have been lit up by moments that will stay with us forever. When Mo Farah approached the final stretch of the 10,000m final, who wasn't up on their feet, screaming at the TV?

When Nicola Adams beamed at the crowd after winning the first ever women's Olympic boxing, who didn't smile back? I was lucky enough to be there, and that's one I'll never forget.

My office will be closed at 4pm on Friday 21st December 2012 and re-open at 4pm on Wednesday 2nd January 2013.

I have enclosed details of emergency contact number should an emergency arise during the Christmas period.

The National Gas Emergency Line (for gas leaks): 0800 111 999

Yorkshire Water (clean water): 0845 1242424

David Ward MP has visited Royal Mail's Bradford North delivery office to pass on Christmas wishes and encouragement to the postmen and women at their busiest time of year.

Mr Ward was shown round the office by local Delivery Office Manager, Steve Taylor, and was introduced to all the postmen and women who are working hard to sort and deliver all the cards and parcels in the Bradford North area in the run-up to Christmas.

Yesterday we visited the Israeli Foreign Ministry to meet with senior officials and with Mark Regev, the Israeli Prime Minister's Spokesman. The discussions covered child prisoners, settlements, the recent UN resolution, the forthcoming election, the barriers, Hamas and Fatah and much more.

The message that was repeated was that the Israelis were willing to engage in negotiations "any time, any day" and that nothing would be excluded from the negotiations. We pointed out that the expansion of the settlements and indeed so many of the hatred-provoking activities carried out by Israelis, that we had witnessed first-hand, did not provide any firm basis for negotiations.

Bradford MP and car insurance campaigner David Ward has welcomed Government proposals to tackle insurance abuse.

Under Ministry of Justice plans announced today, new panels of medical experts could be created to diagnose which whiplash claims are genuine and which are exaggerated or fraudulent. The Government have also unveiled a range of other measures, including proposals to allow whiplash claims to be challenged in the small claims courts.

Today we meet Mark Regev, the Israeli Prime Minister's Spokesman who once said "the test of democracy is how you treat people incarcerated, people in jail, and especially so with minors". These words have to stand alongside the evidence we heard yesterday from an Australian lawyer who offers support to the Palestinian children who the IDF take by force in the early hours of the morning.

Do you like olives? I know that I do. To some an olive is an olive is an olive. Should it matter where the olives are grown?

Yesterday we visited a small and very old Palestinian village called Kufur Quddum in the northern West Bank. There are less than 4,000 people living in the village and 80% of the land is made up of olive groves.

Yesterday was a deeply depressing day - and I suspect there is more to come. We travelled the length of the Jordan Valley through Jericho and on towards Tubas. This is Area C and that means that it is all under Israeli control. Area C represents 60% of the the West Bank.

This control is exerted in many ways but the two that seemed to be the most cynical in impoverishing the Palestinians is the control over planning and the control over water.

Yesterday night I met with the Consul General based in East Jerusalem to discuss the incredibly complex issue of achieving peace for Israelis and Palestinians. I am reluctant to post my thoughts at this stage as we have so much more to see over the next three days but there is so much that needs to be done to ensure that there is lasting peace in the region. Hopefully the next few days will give me a greater insight into the issues and the solutions.

Bradford MP David Ward has welcomed the unexpected announcement made during the Autumn Statement that in April 2013 the income tax allowance will be raised to £9,440.

A higher personal allowance helps to support those on low and middle incomes as well as making work pay by allowing people to keep more of their earned income. As a result of this change, in 2013 someone working full time on the minimum wage will see their Income Tax bill cut in half compared to what they were paying under Labour. This is a total tax cut of £600 a year for more than 20 million people and the changes will take the 2 million lowest paid taxpayers - most of them women - out of paying tax altogether.