On the campaign trail

Posted by on Apr 30, 2006 in updates | 5 comments Richard Bailey hoping to turn Buckden blue What difference will Labour’s black week make at the local ballot boxes next week? I personally think the recent headlines has turned people off politics even more. But what does the man or woman on the street think? I joined Richard Bailey on the campaign trail in Buckden this weekend to find out. It is a pretty village and has a fabulous...
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My cover girl Marie

Posted by on Apr 29, 2006 in updates | 0 comments Marie Munro Max Clifford couldn’t have done better. One of my new clients Marie Munro is a cover girl in today’s Cambridge Evening News Living & Life supplement, as well as colour coverage on two inside pages. When we met at Cambridge Toastmasters and she told me about her work as a coach for teenagers, I knew we had to do some positive PR together. Marie also coaches teens in...
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Should our ministers hug more?

Posted by on Apr 28, 2006 in updates | 4 comments Why not make today World Hug Day? It must be a fairly remote existence for those at the top. Maybe our beleaguered ministers need to take some take out for a bonding hug from time to time – and not with any floozy! They could get some practise this weekend at the Global World Hug Day which takes place in Nottingham on Sunday, planned to be “a group embrace of epic proportions”,...
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Don’t bungle bird flu, my MEP warns government

Posted by on Apr 27, 2006 in updates | 1 comment Tony Blair’s mind must have been firmly fixed on his Black Wednesday. Things couldn’t possibly get worse, he probably thought. Then along came bird flu. And right on my doorstep too, right in the heart of my MEP Robert Sturdy’s constituency in Norfolk. Being an early bird myself, I called him in Brussels at 6.15am (7.15am his time) to tell him the bad news. He had not yet...
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Women on Top – why it’s not for me

Posted by on Apr 26, 2006 in updates | 2 comments How many networking groups does a PR woman need to belong to? I already belong to a couple of female only groups, plus one with men in suits, and am not a regular attender due to more pressing commitments. So when an invitation came along to the launch of Women on Top in Cambridge today, I wondered if this group had anything different to offer to tempt me to join. My first impression was that...
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Ellee and Geoff’s blogging column takes off

Posted by on Apr 25, 2006 in updates | 1 comment Blogging is bound to take off in East Anglia now. Once a totally alien word, it will soon be THE buzzword as new enthusiasts sign up with blogger.com by the dozen. Ellee and Geoff’s second blog column has appeared in tonight’s Cambridge Evening News business supplement, which attracts a wealth of readers from local entrepeneurs, the movers, shakers and go-getters. We had virtually a...
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A visit from the Russians

Posted by on Apr 25, 2006 in updates | 0 comments I could understand why the Russian Federation wanted to know what I was up to. Here I am writing openly about David Milliband’s new ministerial website which he has disguised as a blog, only most of us are not fooled by it. And it has cost taxpayers a whopping £6,000 too. Then there is the headline hitting Shadow Minister (perhaps they think that means shady for other reasons too). But at...
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Are the UK’s leading green campaigners turning blue?

Posted by on Apr 23, 2006 in updates | 0 comments Even Google has gone green today. They must have heard about Jeremy Leggett and Tony Juniper’s visit to Cambridge yesterday. Jeremy sits on the government’s renewables advisory board. But he says nobody listens to him and he is in angry and frustrated at their lack of support. Tony is executive director of Friends of the Earth and insists he will force through a Private...
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The pressure’s on

Posted by on Apr 23, 2006 in updates | 0 comments The pressure’s on now I have been elevated to Iain Dale’s daily reading list of blogs. I am fairly high up too, nestled between Conservative Home Front Page and Guido’s award winning blog of parliamentary plots, rumours and conspiracy, due to the letter of my first name. Thanks Iain, I’m glad you enjoy my reports of this government’s mismanagement, as well as some...
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Is this the most awful picture you have ever seen?

Posted by on Apr 21, 2006 in updates | 6 comments Trudy’s ravaged foot Trudy and Malcolm at No 10. This is a picture of Trudy Lapinskis foot ravaged by a devastating neurological syndrome called Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy. According to her consultant, it is believed to be the worst case of its kind in the country. It’s impossible to believe that people in the United Kingdom, in this modern day and age, with our brilliant...
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Farmers could still wait months for farm payments

Posted by on Apr 21, 2006 in updates | 0 comments My MEP Robert Sturdy is today meeting farmers in his constituency in Norfolk and one subject will be at the top of the agenda – the shambolic handling by Environment Secretary Margaret Beckett over the new style farm support payments. Mrs Beckett has conceded that some payments will still be outstanding when the European Union’s deadline expires at the end of June, hence the...
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Charles Clarke faces tough time in Cambridge tonight

Posted by on Apr 20, 2006 in updates | 3 comments David Dimbley will he hosting Question Time in Cambridge this evening Home Secretary Charles Clarke Home Secretary Charles Clarke faces a tough time tonight when he appears on BBC’s Question Time which is being recorded live in Cambridge. Fellow guests include baby faced Shadow Chancellor George Osborne, the Lib Dem deputy leader Vincent Cable and journalist Janet Daley. Charles...
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Cherie Blair wouldn’t come clean about nappies either

Posted by on Apr 19, 2006 in updates | 6 comments Will baby Arthur have a “green” bottom? This PA pic was taken by a former colleague and friend Andrew Parsons What nappies did baby Leo wear? So blue is the new green, but is the blue brigade true to this? As press officer for East Anglia’s leading recycling roadshow Slim Your Bin, I once contacted Cherie Blair’s office in the run up to Nappy Week to ask if baby Leo...
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Millions more of us are doing it..

Posted by on Apr 18, 2006 in updates | 1 comment Millions more of us are doing it, we simply can’t resist. Blogging is soaring to incredible new heights, according to Technorati with blogsphere now an incredible 60 times bigger than it was only three years ago. According to David Sifry’s excellent report on this, the blogosphere continues to grow at an amazing rate. Technorati currently tracks 35.3 Million weblogs, and numbers...
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Thanks to Iain Dale

Posted by on Apr 17, 2006 in updates | 3 comments My recent post bemoaning the loss of my daily newspaper delivery due to heavy handed nanny state legislation has been given a plug today by Iain Dale who was also incredulous. A good point was raised by Neil Craig about how it had helped boost the coffers of our young people who are wrapped in cotton wool by bureaucracy. It’s like another age old tradition that has come to an end. Thanks...
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Margaret Thatcher’s passion about climate change

Posted by on Apr 17, 2006 in updates | 2 comments When I was interviewed by Conservatives for my job in the run up to last year’s general election as press officer for the Eastern Region, I was asked what I thought about their immigration policy. Although I agreed there were concerns about this, I told them I felt there was one important issue we should be taking on board – the environment. I asked why we were not championing...
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Is 60 too old to work?

Posted by on Apr 15, 2006 in updates | 9 comments Our much loved GP Pam Kenny is being forced to retire because she has reached 60. Her request to continue working just one day a week and provide holiday cover has fallen on deaf ears. Such was the outrage in my community which she has served for 32 years that villagers rallied together and collected a petition with more than 750 signatures. All to no avail. Dr Kenny gave my family the utmost...
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My daily treat sadly comes to an end

Posted by on Apr 13, 2006 in updates | 2 comments I don’t have many luxuries in life, regular treats that I look forward to. Except one, which is my delivery each morning of four daily newspapers, plus an evening one too. Now, thanks to the unreasonable bureaucratic demands placed on my local newsagent, this is to come to an end this weekend. Legislation demands that he is personally responsible for the safety of his delivery boys’...
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Married to blogsphere

Posted by on Apr 13, 2006 in updates | 0 comments Better to warn her in advance. Sadly, too late for my husband…… Brilliant cartoon from the creative genius of Hugh Macleod, of gapingvoid Thanks to Geoff, who brought this to my attention on his snowboarding trip to the French...
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Calling all dynamic Conservatives

Posted by on Apr 12, 2006 in updates | 3 comments I have been asked to give this competition a plug. Fame and fortune (hopefully), as well as a much coveteted award fromConservativeHome.com, are up for grabs for anyone with inspiring ideas on promoting the Conservative cause. Editor Tim Montomery has launched the Inaugural Conservative Movement Awards and is placing a special emphasis on internet technologies, hoping to encourage a stronger and...
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Ellee and Geoff hit the headlines

Posted by on Apr 11, 2006 in updates | 3 comments The Cambridge Evening News business supplement has today published a story I wrote about business and blogging. It describes how I became hooked after meeting Geoff and how we have team up together as consultants. The Biz News Editor Jenny Chapman readily agreed to my suggestion to run a weekly column compiled by us featuring extracts from local biz blogs – and our first deadline is this...
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The Irish way of handling death, by Slugger O’Toole

Posted by on Apr 10, 2006 in updates | 0 comments It seems embalming in the EU is at risk as the EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas considers withdrawing an embalming chemical, according to The Times today. It was great reading about this on the EU Referendum blogspot and coming across Slugger O’Toole’s report, excellent comments posted too. Slugger explains how It seems half the bodies in Ireland are embalmed after death....
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I met two guys called Richard Bailey in blogsphere

Posted by on Apr 10, 2006 in updates | 3 comments I love the way that links can lead you to so much interesting information – and people. Yesterday I was checking out some Conservative leads and came across Richard Bailey who, like me, cares passionately about environmental issues. He is also a former Conservative Press Officer, who is currently standing in his local elections and lives nearby. I then came another Richard Bailey who is a...
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Palestinian threatens to cut off Bush’s manhood – Boris beware!

Posted by on Apr 9, 2006 in updates | 0 comments Just checked out The Greek Goddess’ blog and noticed she has splashed with this story about a Palestinian who threatened to cut off President George Bush’s manhood. Ouch! Oooooo! Aaaaaah! Arafat Nijmeh, a mental patient, told federal agents he did not believe it was “too harsh” considering what Bush has done to his country. Nijmeh has been charged on two counts of...
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In memory of David Breeden

Posted by on Apr 9, 2006 in updates | 0 comments I always remember him wearing his blue suede shoes on Christmas Day when we met up for drinks. He often wore a red woolly hat too, though not at the same time. David was a brilliant portrait photographer, unbelievably patient with kids who blinked and fidgeted, but he always ended up with a brilliant shot. We have many of them. David was my neighbour and we ofte gossiped over the garden wall....
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