Why can’t the police say sorry?

Posted by on Jun 14, 2006 in updates | 10 comments Police outside the Kalam house in Forest Gate If police shoot an innocent man, why do they find it so hard to say sorry? Surely an apology has to be genuine and demonstrate remorse. It is such an important word, but it has to be conveyed with sincerity. It took Scotland Yard 12 days to apologise for the “hurt” caused to the Kalam brothers after 250 armed police on an anti-terrorist...
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Built to Last roadshow rolls into East Anglia

Posted by on Jun 13, 2006 in updates | 4 comments David Willetts soaks up the Cambridgeshire sun Tory students Katie and Helen Tories in East Anglia were given the opportunity to challenge the framework for future Conservatism when its fact finding Built to Last roadshow rolled into Cambridgeshire last night. Numbers were disappointingly low, only 30 or so, but impressive for the distance some of them had travelled to hear Shadow Education...
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Veronica sits on TV sofa

Posted by on Jun 12, 2006 in updates | 6 comments Veronica has a lot to smile about since giving up booze I don’t think Veronica ever stops smiling, she is always incredibly cheerful and upbeat. However, life wasn’t always like that for her, she used to be a binge drinker and hit rock bottom. Now she is a recovered alcoholic and living life to its fullest. She was a client earlier this year and we had amazing coverage in the local...
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Meet Orya, my latest client

Posted by on Jun 12, 2006 in updates | 7 comments These cards won’t behave, but doesn’t Orya have a great smile? Orya and his business partnerMartin hope to become king of online greeting cards. Their unique feature is that they handwrite the message and post them to the recipient. Having recently launched Scribble.co.uk, Orya has been amazed by the power of viral marketing. As a result of being mentioned on a top US blogsite, he...
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Politicans should be wary of UK political bloggers

Posted by on Jun 12, 2006 in updates | 2 comments The Yearly Kos convention How long will it be before our political candidates actively woo the UK’s leading political bloggers for favourable coverage? How many of them will be the centre of a sensational weblog revelation in the run up to the next general election? Have they been keeping a close watch on the USA’s wanna-be Democratic candidates who have actively been courting...
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My rhubarb lasagne recipe request from Canada

Posted by on Jun 11, 2006 in updates | 1 comment Scott eating haggis, but dreaming of my rhubarb lasagna Who could have imagined that a quirky post about my rhubarb lasagne would have aroused so much interest – and globally too! I was a fresh faced blogger when I described how I threw together this pudding for my friend Scott, an American airforceman living in my Cambridgeshire village, before he headed off for promotional training in...
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My mention in The Tribune magazine

Posted by on Jun 11, 2006 in updates | 2 comments I feel greatly privileged to get a mention on Iain’s list of top Tory bloggers, being ranked 9th out of 20th. This is amazing considering I only started blogging four months ago afer meeting up with Geoff in Cambridge one night. The list, as well as bloggers Iain recommends from other political parties, will be published in The Tribune magazine next week. He reckons there are 120 or so Tory...
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My proud mum bit

Posted by on Jun 11, 2006 in updates | 1 comment Award winning James with his football manager If it hadn’t been for the World Cup, I wouldn’t have been posting about my sports mad son’s achievements over the last couple of days. But as footie is a hot topic at the moment, here goes. James, 13, is a very modest lad, not in the slightest bit boastful, and wouldn’t make a big deal about this, but I would like to do my...
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Kate joins world wide knitters today

Posted by on Jun 10, 2006 in updates | 5 comments Kate knits away in Cambridge today Kate promised me that she would position herself in a public place today and get knitting for World Wide Knit In Public Day. And she kept her word. Although a solitary figure, she was joined in spirit by hundreds of others around the globe keen to promote the craft’s revival. It is no longer just enjoyed by grannies as celebs have taken it up, enthused...
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Last Tango comes to Cambridgeshire

Posted by on Jun 10, 2006 in updates | 6 comments Last Tango comes to Cambridgeshire If there was any need to prove that sex sells tickets, then our village play did that last night. The parish room was packed to capacity for Stretham Players’ hilarious rendition of Last Tango in Little Grimley, based around an amateur theatre group desperate for a sell out show. The suggestive and erotic title of the play did the trick. It also worked...
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Fenland abounds with Latin lovers

Posted by on Jun 9, 2006 in updates | 1 comment Ancient Rome inspires council staff to learn Latin Brainy council workers in Fenland are spending their lunch hour swotting up on Latin. Instead of feeding the ducks or heading for the pub, staff from IT, accounts and customer services are getting to grips with this dead, but fascinating, language. It was the brainchild of business analyst Peter Allen who believes learning Latin has far more...
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Nigel Farage is a coward, says EU Commissioner

Posted by on Jun 8, 2006 in updates | 0 comments Margot is fed up with Nigel Farage I have just checked out Margot Wallstrom’s savvy blog, the EU’s Commissioner for Communications, and was very amused by her description of Nigel Farage as “a coward”. It seems she has reached the end of her tether as far as he is concerned. Margot was in London a few days ago at an official function, meeting journalists and also...
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Do we need an obesity conference to spell out common sense?

Posted by on Jun 7, 2006 in updates | 7 comments This woman died aged 34 as a result of her obesity Why have we become obsessed with obesity? Fat people know what healthy foods they should eat, that they should exercise more, they do not need educating about it. They simply lack the motivation and their cravings are fuelled by emotional needs and stress. I hope the Europeon conference on obesity will take this into account when drawing up its ...
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6/6/6/ – and 6 months of Cameron’s leadership

Posted by on Jun 6, 2006 in updates | 1 comment I love the mystique surrounding numbers, and will be disappointed if today’s 6/6/6 does not unfold something special. I do not believe they represent doom and gloom, on the contrary, they are lovely even numbers, it’s a beautiful sunny day – and things can only get better. Today marks the first six months of David Cameron’s Tory leadership and he was born in 1966. We are...
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Should MPs accept free World Cup tickets?

Posted by on Jun 5, 2006 in updates | 4 comments 2002 World Cup winners Brazil If you were offered a free ticket to the World Cup, would you accept it? Especially if it was for England’s opening game in Germany. The chances are you would. It seems MP Dr Ian Gibson refused his invite from one of the sponsors, junk food supremos McDonald’s, on the grounds that it was not acceptable at a time when political judgements have to be...
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The rise of political blogging

Posted by on Jun 5, 2006 in updates | 1 comment David supports ConservativeHome blog I wonder which political party in the UK has the most bloggers? Whatever the numbers are now, it’s a dead cert they will increase dramatically in the run up to the next General Election. Antony Mayfield keeps a scrupulous watch on the world’s blogsphere and asks how long it will be before David Cameron is “begging to hang out with with the...
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My Times letter published today

Posted by on Jun 3, 2006 in updates | 3 comments I have been pottering about and having a very relaxing day and caught up with the papers later than usual. So I was stunned to see my letter about Concorde pubished in The Times today. Before printing anything I had scribbled together, the paper always calls to check, 1. whether the letter was exclusive to them; 2. my marital status; 3, my full address and 4, inform me of any amendments they were...
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The philosopher of happiness is wrong

Posted by on Jun 2, 2006 in updates | 2 comments Philosopher of happiness Alain de Botton I was stunned to hear philosopher Alain de Botton speak so glowingly about John Prescott’s positive influence over planners on Question Time last night. Is this the same man who insists that our buildings play an important role in our happiness, and has even written a book about it? I saw him speak in Cambridge at a literary festival a few weeks ago...
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Gallows man is a sick minded hoaxer

Posted by on Jun 1, 2006 in updates | 0 comments David Lucas had more than his 5 mins of fame by claiming to sell gallows to despotic regimes. But his business partner has revealed it is all a hoax, he is just a petfood salesman with an obsession about capital punishment who has just the one set of gallows he built outside his Suffolk house. How sick is that? What kind of person glorifies in boasting about aiding death? Would you want to...
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Please, let’s bring back Concorde

Posted by on Jun 1, 2006 in updates | 2 comments Concorde – our lost national treasure I half expected David Cameron to make an announcement yesterday supporting plans to bring Concorde out of retirement to lead a fly-past for the opening ceremony of the London Olympics in 2012 – what a brilliant and fantastic idea. He has his finger firmly on the throbbing pulse of the population and must surely also regret the loss of this...
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