Last week began with a huge political shock as David Cameron – now Lord Cameron of Chipping Norton – made a surprise return to frontline politics. His return to government as Foreign Secretary was only made possible because the Prime Minister finally found the courage to sack his dangerous and damaging Home Secretary, triggering a wider reshuffle.

It’s fair to say that Suella Braverman was living on borrowed time following her appalling comments on homelessness and her repeated inflammatory statements about the marches last weekend. Her demonising rhetoric and populist approach won’t be missed in my view, even if her resignation letter was somewhat entertaining…

Much of the public fallout between Sunak and Braverman was a preamble to the Supreme Court’s decision on the Tories’ Rwanda plans. On Wednesday we found out what had always been obvious to me: these proposals aren’t just inhumane they are illegal too. To see The Conservatives scrambling around looking for ways to circumvent or even rewrite the law in this area shows just how desperate they are to demonise refugees rather than address the enormous backlog their cuts have created in the asylum system and is yet another reason why we need to see the back of them after the next election.

Never one to shirk the spotlight on controversial issues such as the Rwanda scheme, the Deputy Chair of the Conservative Party – Lee Anderson – suggested on Wednesday that the Government should ignore the Supreme Court’s ruling and break the law. I asked the Leader of the House about this at Business Questions on Thursday morning: to have senior members of the governing party undermine the rule of law in this sets a terrible precedent and he should be held accountable for such outrageous remarks.

Monday to Wednesday’s business saw the final three days of debate on the King’s Speech. I intervened in Tuesday’s debate around kickstarting our economy to make the case that 13 years of austerity had undermined growth. David Cameron’s return is one thing, but we cannot see a return to the systematic degradation of our public services.

The votes on the King’s Speech came on Wednesday and were dominated by amendments on the subject of the ongoing conflict in Israel and Palestine. This is an odd subject to be debating as part of the King’s Speech as it is obviously not something the Government would be setting out forthcoming legislation about. Nevertheless, the SNP tabled an amendment which was selected for debate calling for an immediate ceasefire. This led to a Labour amendment being added at the last moment which called for a cessation of violence as soon as possible.

I received a great deal of correspondence from constituents both for and against the SNP amendment. The situation is complex, but for me there is little or no difference between a cessation of violence and a ceasefire. Ultimately, I supported the Labour amendment as I didn’t believe that calls for an “immediate” ceasefire were realistic. Such things only ever come about as a result of intense, painstaking and lengthy negotiations and while I hope we reach that point as quickly as possible, I can’t vote for something that I don’t believe to be deliverable regardless of who is in government, or what the UK’s position might be. There are encouraging signs that some sort of agreement may be imminent, and I dearly hope that we see an end to the terrible scenes in Gaza at the earliest possible moment.

After the votes on Wednesday, I headed to the HQ of the Fabian Society where the Fabian Housing and Local Government group was meeting to discuss housing policy. I was pleased to be able to speak to attendees about the housing crisis we face across the country, and to set out some of Labour’s exciting plans to address the shortage of homes. I was back in the constituency over the weekend and yet again housing was a central feature of my advice surgeries, this week in Stretford and Old Trafford. It’s so frustrating to hear from people in such dire housing need and be so limited in what I can do to assist. That’s why I support Labour’s plans to build the houses – including and especially social houses – we need to give people a safe and secure place of their own to call home.