ConservativeHome v LabourHome

Posted by on Jun 30, 2006 in updates | 2 comments Ros Taylor has enjoyed some “naval gazing”, comparing the innards of ConservativeHome versus the new Labour version; she is the Grauniad feature writer who called me yesterday. She concludes: “The first two waves of British political blogging – led by neoconservatives and Tories – were motivated by decisions that genuinely gripped the political classes: the war in...
read more

G2 and women political bloggers

Posted by on Jun 30, 2006 in updates | 6 comments “Just for the boys?” – what a great headline. And here is the G2 report in today’s Guardian about the dearth of women political bloggers. I’m amazed that no female Tory politicans have embraced this, that I seem to be their authoritive voice on this subject – and I only started blogging five months ago. I do concur with what Ann Widdicombe says on Iain’s...
read more

Ellee is Iain’s Blog of the Week

Posted by on Jun 29, 2006 in updates | 7 comments Alan Rusbridger and I were both on strike together They say good things happen the threes, and at 5.30pm, I’ve only just caught up with the amazing events of the day. Iain hadn’t updated his blog by the time I went out today. Around lunchtime I had a phone call from a Grauniad journalist telling me I was mentioned on Iain’s podcast. I had no idea what she was talking abou; it...
read more

Enterprising Women launch in Cambridge

Posted by on Jun 29, 2006 in updates | 2 comments Inspirational Nina East Anglia could soon be bursting at the seams with female entrepeneurs and successful businesswomen, at least that is the aim of a new organisation called Enterprising Women . I went to their Cambridge launch and it seems really interesting; it fills a much needed gap and provides training, support and advice, as well as networking events – all for free. This includes...
read more

Don’t move to Cambridge if you have an illness

Posted by on Jun 28, 2006 in updates | 6 comments Dr Mary Archer chairs Addenbrooke’s Hospital Best not to move to the Cambridge area if you have an illness, and goodness knows how incumbent residents will cope as GPs in the area have been told to send fewer people to hospital and use cheaper drugs. It follows £28 million cuts to the health service as Cambridge City and South Cambridgeshire Primary Care Trusts struggle with predicted...
read more

My maiden speech – and it went brilliantly!

Posted by on Jun 28, 2006 in updates | 14 comments My first post on this blog was about my fear of public speaking and how I desperately wanted to overcome it. And last night I did it! I made my maiden speech at Cambridge Speakers Club. And it went really well, it went brilliantly in fact, and today I feel 10ft tall. Entitled “Looking Forward Not Back” (and no apologies for its similarity to Labour’s election slogan last...
read more

Will the UK introduce a Neighbourhood Court?

Posted by on Jun 27, 2006 in updates | 5 comments Ramsey Street has its fair share of neighbourhood problems I am fortunate to have great neighbours. I could not bear the thought of us having disputes over petty issues – but some do and it can cause considerable stress and bitterness. How are they resolved? They usually end up in court facing what can be a lengthy legal and costly process if an agreement cannot be reached and matters...
read more

Should overseas staff type our medical notes?

Posted by on Jun 26, 2006 in updates | 10 comments Hospitals are still continuing to look to India to type up medical notes, despite fears that patients’ safety could be at risk through mistyping or misinterpretation. The Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital is the latest to outsource thousands of patient letters to India on a two-month trial, and 214 medical secretaries naturally fear for their jobs. Digitally recorded notes will be...
read more

Conservatives, women and domestic violence

Posted by on Jun 25, 2006 in updates | 9 comments Pocket Opera Fund-raising prosecuting solicitors Debs and Shelley Barbara and Claire helping victims of domestic violence Domestic violence is a subject most people never give a second thought to. It is something that happens to someone else and anyway, if they don’t like they can always leave: this is probably how most people view the situation. Reality is totally different, as I...
read more

My concerns about a smacking ban

Posted by on Jun 24, 2006 in updates | 14 comments Support has doubled for the Government to ban smacking, with 170 cross party MPs in favour. There is also growing international pressure for a smacking ban. It would be interesting to know what effect this has had on parenting in countries where the ban is enforced, including Austria, Norway, Sweden Croatia and Latvia. How many parents have been prosecuted and what was their punishment? What long...
read more

Conservative women have fire in their veins

Posted by on Jun 23, 2006 in updates | 4 comments Theresa May in those famous shoes Wannabe MP Dawn Parry, chairman of Banwell Conservatives, North Somerset Wannabe MP Zoe Wheddon, teaches in Hampshire Tory women mean business, they are getting their act together. And there is no shortage of them wanting to stand as MPs. I met some of them last night at Westminster, and they have fire running through their veins. The Conservative...
read more

Women and 21st Century Politics

Posted by on Jun 22, 2006 in updates | 3 comments Will Theresa pass Carol’s critical opinion? I shall he heading off to Westminster soon to listen to Theresa May speak on “Women & 21st Century Politics”. It is a joint parliamentary reception given by Conservative Future and the Conservative Women’s Organisation and I expect Theresa will mention the new job that has been advertised for a Women’s Officer....
read more

I want real bobbies on my street

Posted by on Jun 22, 2006 in updates | 6 comments Policing on the cheap How can people be fooled into thinking that police community support officers deter crime? They have no real powers, yet the Home Office believes this is the answer to their prayers. Norfolk police have been given an additional £1 million to double the number of their PCSOs to 138 by the end of this year and 189 by next April. They are civilian staff who wear a uniform,...
read more

Brief Encounter 2006

Posted by on Jun 21, 2006 in updates | 4 comments While the rest of the nation was gripped watching England play in the World Cup last night, I curled up on the sofa with the manuscript of a book written by a journalist friend. Award winning business writer Jenny Chapman already has 11 books under her belt and wants to publish her latest via a blog. She has asked Geoff and me to help and suggested we read the story first to see if we were...
read more

Tory MEPs urged not to interfere over EPP dilemma

Posted by on Jun 20, 2006 in updates | 3 comments Robert Sturdy urges fellow MEPs not to interfere The words “rebellion” and “Tory” were used in the same newspaper headline today. It was a report about the proposed withdrawal from the EPP, and two conflicting views of MEPs from the Eastern Region. Christopher Beeley said he wouldn’t quit even if ordered to by David Cameron while Geoffrey Van Orden threatening to...
read more

The burning question about the Miliband blog

Posted by on Jun 19, 2006 in updates | 7 comments Chris Huhne: why are Lib Dems so silent about Miliband’s £40,000k blog? When I first heard about David Miliband’s £40,000 per year blog, my first thought was to trawl the Lib Dem blog sites to see if they had been expressing any indignant views about it, after all, it was their discovery. Not a word. Two days later they are still strangely silent and I find this puzzling....
read more

The reason why more women don’t blog

Posted by on Jun 19, 2006 in updates | 8 comments Where is our UK Arianna? Iain asks today why women don’t blog on political issues, why are 90% of them men. I’ve looked at my blogroll and wondered the same, I only have two women bloggers there, including the USA Queen of Blogs, my Greek Goddess of the Huff Post. The ratio is actually the same as the number of Tory women MPs, of which there are 9%, only 17 in all. The answer...
read more

My call from The Times and internet censorship

Posted by on Jun 19, 2006 in updates | 2 comments I had a call from Will Pavia of The Times yesterday. He wanted a Tory quote about the British film censors’ suggestion that internet sites should have classification similar to films to warn users about porno sites and foul language. He had seen my name at the top of ConservativeHome site regarding my story about David Miliband’s £40,000 p.a. blog, hence the call. My response was...
read more

Today’s literary theme – txt poetry

Posted by on Jun 18, 2006 in updates | 5 comments A txtickle from txtcafe I must admit to being a bit square when it comes to today’s yoof culture and the complicated txt code used on mobile phones. I still stick to the Queen’s English on the whole. Not so award winning poet and author Silver who has penned two poetry books on this theme and I am giving them a plug on behalf of my friend, Simon. These are Silver’s golden...
read more

Shocking true cost of Miliband’s blog is £40,000 p.a.

Posted by on Jun 17, 2006 in updates | 13 comments Do you remember the shockwaves that reverberated when I revealed that Minister Miliband’s blog cost £6,000 to set up while Boris, like the rest of us lesser mortals, blogs for free? It now transpires that he was being economical with the truth. According to Pandora of The Independent, the real figure is closer to £40,000 a year, which equates to £1 per word. These juicy facts were...
read more

Trudy can move mountains

Posted by on Jun 17, 2006 in updates | 2 comments If anyone can move mountains, it is Trudy Lapinskis. In spite of having the UK’s worst case of a rare neurological syndrome and suffering considerable pain, her only thought is to raise awareness among the medical professionals so others are spared the same agony. She enlisted the support of her MP Malcolm Moss. who raised it as a debate in Westminster this week. She wants improved...
read more

Adam Rickitt hoping to turn Norwich blue

Posted by on Jun 17, 2006 in updates | 0 comments Prince Charming in waiting A-lister Adam Rickitt will be hoping to turn Norwich blue when he turns on the charm this Christmas in the city’s panto Cinderella. Norwich has two Labour MPs, including the sacked former Home Secretary Charles Clarke, who is somewhat lacking in this department. Adam will, of course, be playing Prince Charming, great practise for wooing voters, though Norwich may...
read more

“I hope George Osborne reads this blog”

Posted by on Jun 16, 2006 in updates | 1 comment George Osborne hopes Britain will emerge with its own Silicon Valley Earlier this week George Osborne asked why there was no British Yahoo or Google, why we were not home to the fastest growing community websits like MySpace, where were the British giants of cyberspace – and he went to Silicon Valley to find out. Who better to ask than Silicon Valley’s ace professional blogger, and...
read more

Brazil 1 – 0 England for biofuels industry

Posted by on Jun 16, 2006 in updates | 5 comments Our cars could be run on fuel produced from this oil seed rape crop Brazil are already the world leaders when it comes to biofuels – running a third of their cars on “alcohol” - their catchy name for ethanol (we will have to wait and see how they compare to us with the World Cup)! So why is the UK lagging behind? Why can’t we be world leaders when it comes to environmental...
read more

Would you give up your day job to become a professional blogger?

Posted by on Jun 15, 2006 in updates | 8 comments Would you be brave enough to give up your day job to become a professional blogger? That’s what Tom Foremski did two years ago. He followed his gut instinct and gave up a six figure salary and six weeks paid holiday as an FT reporter to do so. His Silicon Valley Watcher weblog is now regarded as one of the most influential blogs in the US. He was the first mainstream media journalist to...
read more