Blair’s rapid descent

Posted by on May 18, 2006 in updates | 5 comments I wonder if some clever tekkie could produce a UK version of this screensaver which is sweeping The States. Could it instead feature Tony Blair on his rapid descent? If he gets stuck, just move him with your cursor. Have fun!
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My blog yesterday, The Times today

Posted by on May 18, 2006 in updates | 0 comments I see my report yesterday on Charles Clarke’s condemnation of Tony Blair’s Cabinet reshuffle has appeared in today’s Times and Daily Mail. I guess many of the other dailies too. You read it here first!
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Cabinet reshuffle a failure, says Charles Clarke

Posted by on May 17, 2006 in updates | 1 comment A pensive Charles Clarke Twelve days after his sacking as Home Secretary, Charles Clarke has given an “exclusive interview” to his loyal local rag, the Eastern Daily Press, and criticises Tony Blair’s recent Cabinet reshuffle which cost him his job. He said it was “not as clear as it needed to be”. The stark front page headline reads: “Clarke Takes Swipe At...
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Condoleezza’s top ten favourite music

Posted by on May 16, 2006 in updates | 0 comments Find out which song Condoleeza loves to work out to If Condoleezza Rice ever invited Jack Straw to a private dinner, click here to find out her top ten favourite music that she might have played. It comes courtesy of Bono’s Red Independent published...
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Will there be a 2006 Minister of Drought?

Posted by on May 16, 2006 in updates | 0 comments Somalia’s drought stricken land – will parts of the UK look the same soon? As we head towards a possible summer of standpipes, having to cope with severe restrictions will be totally new experience for today’s have-it-all generation. It will not only mean a summer of discontent, but an uncertain period of counting each drop of precious water (my favourite drink) as our...
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Fretting about farmers again

Posted by on May 15, 2006 in updates | 1 comment Farmers should be paying less for potash It is encouraging to hear the new Environment Secretary David Milliband pledging to resolve the fiasco of belated payments to our farmers as a priority. Only time will tell. There is another important issue which my MEP Robert Sturdy believes he should also be concerned about – the lack of trade competition with potash, an agricultural...
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Sir Terry’s telling porky pies

Posted by on May 14, 2006 in updates | 5 comments Dublin’s fair and clean city If I ever went on Mastermind, my specialist subject would be the successful introduction of the plastic bag levy in the Republic of Ireland.That’s why my ears pricked up a few nights ago when I heard Sir Terry Leahy , head of Tesco’s vast and ever expanding empire, talking about plastic bags on Newsnight. Only it seems he has either not done his...
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My friend Chris and the other A list

Posted by on May 12, 2006 in updates | 0 comments Would you like to join Sir Alan’s A list? I met up with a couple of PR buddies last night, including Chris Dodson, whose business has the brilliant name Mightier Than The Sword. It seems he also tried to get on the other A list which everyone is talking about, but was rejected. For some reason he wanted to join The Apprentice, and this is much harder than getting on to the Tory A list. He...
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Striking a pose at Byron’s Pool

Posted by on May 11, 2006 in updates | 4 comments I couldn’t resist striking a pose at Byron’s Pool Lunch in Grantchester What better way is there to spend your lunch hour than popping into The Orchard in Grantchester and lounging on a deckchair under the apple blossom, especially after a hectic morning. Time has stood still in this delightful corner of England; nobody here was talking about the A list. This little gem is famed for...
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The A list – local candidates must come first

Posted by on May 11, 2006 in updates | 0 comments Julian Sturdy I called Julian Sturdy this morning to check if he was on the A list, he is still waiting to hear, the letter has not yet arrived informing him. Last year he stood in a non-winnable seat in Scunthorpe against Elliot Morley, an Environment Minister, which is great for cutting your teeth, but now he surely deserves something more promising. Julian has already proved himself. He made...
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A ramble on the wild side

Posted by on May 10, 2006 in updates | 2 comments Nesting swans in Wicken Fen Rambling among the Jurassic limestone rocks I bunked off work today, lured by the glorious sunshine and the fact that my name was down in the local Ramblers’ Association booklet to lead their walk today. I was joined by friends Bob and Liz, and Liza too from Tempting Fate, and we set off from Wicken Fen with me at the front, even though I am hopeless with...
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My new Fenny friend

Posted by on May 9, 2006 in updates | 2 comments A view of Wisbech, will it make Alan homesick? I made a new Fenny friend via blogsphere this week. He was even born in the same hospital as me. Alan Drew left our birthplace, Wisbech, the Capital of the Fens, and now teaches and researches physics at a Swiss university. And ajd (as he is known) has just made an excellent web for the British Conservative Association in Switzerland. It was his...
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Winning Minds has the right answers

Posted by on May 9, 2006 in updates | 2 comments Remembering to stay focused during exams Perhaps Labour should turn to therapist Mark Newey of Winning Minds to help boost their flagging popularity. The Times today describes the whacking eight point lead Conservatives have, highlighting Labour’s lowest support since 1992. And the writing is already on the wall as it seems as 65% of people expect Labour to lose the next election. Mark is...
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The dodo will return to Cambridge

Posted by on May 8, 2006 in updates | 9 comments Will we soon see a Cambridge Conservative version of this? While Conservatives in many southern regions celebrated their well deserved success at local elections, those in Cambridge must only have felt despair and wretchedness. They lost their only remaining seat on Cambridge City Council. The 42 members are now made up of 29 Lib Dems and 13 Labour members. Neither are there any Cambridge...
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My allegiance to Horatio Nelson

Posted by on May 6, 2006 in updates | 2 comments John and Liza at The Dyke’s End, Reach I returned to the ancient kingdom of Reach yesterday and was in good spirits following the sweeping success at our local elections. After driving for several miles down a single track farm road alongside tranquil meandering rivers and spring’s finest fenland landscape, I finally arrived at The Dyke’s End. I was joined by fellow hack John...
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Two bearded men waiting for a phone call

Posted by on May 6, 2006 in updates | 0 comments Last month I wrote about how the Seymour family had registered to be extras in a new blockbuster, part of which is to be shot on my home turf near Cambridge. Pale, interesting ladies and men with beards were being sought to play courtiers for the sequal to the Oscar winning Elizabeth, starring Cate Blanchett. Unfortunately, we don’t seem to fit the bill, I haven’t heard a word. That...
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What a difference a day makes

Posted by on May 5, 2006 in updates | 0 comments What a difference a day makes. And the impending Cabinet reshuffle ensures a new set of faces will be jostled into new roles in a desperate attempt to regain the country’s confidence. But first, three cheers for Richard Bailey, who I joined on the campaign trail in Huntingdonshire last weekend, for his resounding and much deserved success. And three cheers for Antony Little too, who was...
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Why today is John Prescott’s day

Posted by on May 5, 2006 in updates | 1 comment Uninhibited blonde celebrates No Pants Day Straight faced “pantless” commuter While Labour reflects on its humiliating defeat in local council elections, John Prescott will no doubt mull over the part his Viagra-charged actions played. And he will need no arm twisting to enjoy the theme of the day being celebrated across the pond – No Pants Day, an event that will raise his...
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One reason why I love Cambridge

Posted by on May 4, 2006 in updates | 0 comments Quentin’s fabulous remote display photo Quentin Stafford-Fraser The fascinating thing about Cambridge is that you never know who the person you are standing next to on the market or in the cinema queue is. The academic city is awash with some of the biggest brains and also has far more than the average number of tekkies and geeks. Astounding new discoveries are made at a faster rate than...
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I’ve taken the plunge

Posted by on May 3, 2006 in updates | 10 comments After weeks of putting it off, I’ve finally taken the plunge and joined Cambridge Speakers’ Club. Their members are the most interesting eclectic mix you could imagine spanning the globe. Just spending the evening with them was one reason I had to go ahead. The club has already transformed my life. My friend Chrissie invited me along and on the first evening I met Geoff who lured me...
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Our coastline is vanishing too…

Posted by on May 2, 2006 in updates | 1 comment A pic I took of coastal erosion in North Norfolk last summer It’s not just immigrants who are vanishing, our unprotected coastline is too. Towns and villages could be at risk, warns Suffolk MP John Gummer. We will soon be Little Britain – literally! Today’s East Anglian Daily Times carries a very worrying and thought provoking report on coastal erosion. It says that every year,...
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Brave Trudy set to get parking bay following blog report

Posted by on May 2, 2006 in updates | 2 comments Trudy Lapinskis Trudy’s shocking illness Good news is in the pipeline for brave Trudy Lapinskis after I reported two weeks ago about the difficulties she was having in getting a disabled parking bay outside her home. Trudy has the worst case in the country of a rare syndrome called Repetitive Sympathetic Dystrophy and is confined to a wheelchair. The use of her other limbs are at risk...
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Andrew Lansley warns of NHS “loss of control”

Posted by on May 1, 2006 in updates | 1 comment Why is it impossible to get a straight answer to a straight question? Surely our government has to be accountable for how it spends of our public money. The housewives favourite Andrew Lansley is quoted in today’s Cambridge Evening News as saying that an inquiry into the scale of health service debts could reflect the Government’s “loss of control” of the NHS. It seems the...
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