Blair cares only about saving his face instead of lives

Posted by on Oct 31, 2006 in Uncategorized | 19 comments Tony Blair faces his own Halloween showdown tonight from trick or treating MPs who are determined to force his hand for an inquiry into his handling of the no-win war in Iraq. It seems extraordinary that this hasn’t happened before, that this will be the first full Commons debate on Iraq. Blair took us to war on an illegal mandate, it is only right that our elected members should discuss...
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Are carbon footprint passports the way forward?

Posted by on Oct 30, 2006 in Uncategorized | 24 comments It does seem rather incongruous that on the day we are given our most serious warning ever about the potential devastating impact of climate change, that The Times should be encouraging its readers to fly more. In fact, its front page banner offers a flight to Europe for every reader, those who assiduously collect their airmiles. So with a daily circulation of 683,333, that’s an awful lot...
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Government blamed for destroying local democracy

Posted by on Oct 30, 2006 in Uncategorized | 15 comments Cambridgeshire’s most outspoken district councillor – if not in the whole country – is on the verge of resigning after 36 years, blaming political correctness and his denial to the right of free speech. Free speech is the trademark for Robin Page, former presenter of One Man and His Dog, and one of life’s true eccentrics. It is as vital to him as the blood that flows...
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Making the most of the sunshine

Posted by on Oct 29, 2006 in updates | 13 comments It’s time to stretch my legs again, so I’m making the most of today’s glorious sunshine and joining Geoff and his bunch of Cambridge buddies for a day’s walking and stimulating conversation. We are heading off to Castle Acre in Norfolk, for a 15 mile ramble, only I can’t find one of my walking boots, so must...
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Should MPs promote sports cars with high carbon emissions?

Posted by on Oct 28, 2006 in Uncategorized | 22 comments Richard Bacon is a very highly regarded Norfolk MP, and naturally wants to do all he can to promote local businesses. One of those is Lotus and its success is vital to the local workforce’s economy. So when Lotus offered to loan Richard a £33,000 brand new very sporty looking Lotus Europa S on a months trial, he was naturally delighted to accept. My concern is the mixed messages this...
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Lady Ellee has rather a nice ring about it

Posted by on Oct 26, 2006 in updates | 13 comments Are you interested in heraldry and genealogy, in owning an impressive noble title, and price is no object? If so, you may like to know that one of the rarest titles has now come up for sale, complete with royal connections, tragedy and scandal, and can be yours for £100,000 or more. The title of Lordship of Sutton also comes with rare shooting rights and a treasure...
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My thanks to Dell

Posted by on Oct 26, 2006 in updates | 5 comments For those of you who have been following my Dell nightmare saga, there was an incredibly swift response from them once they picked up my complaint via my blog. They collected the faulty laptop on Monday and returned it this morning, having replaced the fan, m/board, palmrest and top cover as the hinges were broken, which I did not realise. So it should be as good as new. I am very grateful and...
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Mid-Norfolk selection embraces new Tory openness

Posted by on Oct 25, 2006 in Uncategorized | 8 comments I must admit I was surprised when I heard Chris Fisher had been invited to question the finalists for the Mid-Norfolk selection. Chris is political editor of Norfolk’s leading paper, the Eastern Daily Press, a paper I admire as a journalist. But it has a reputation of not being Tory friendly, and I must admit I found this to be the case during my role as Eastern Region Press Officer for...
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How will John Reid fine our new migrant workers?

Posted by on Oct 25, 2006 in Uncategorized | 9 comments John Reid simply hasn’t done his homework regarding our new migrant workers from Bulgaria and Romania, I fail to understand why he is introducing a flawed system that he admits is not workable. How exactly is an on-the-spot £1,000 fine going to be enforced against an illegal worker? Does he mean literally “on-the-spot”, because nobody carries that amount of cash. And does he...
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Robert Sturdy increases pressure on Indian Government

Posted by on Oct 24, 2006 in Uncategorized | 6 comments We had a great morning filming with the Politic’s Show in Newmarket today to highlight India’s unfair export ban of horse sales from the UK. Robert Sturdy believes India is the only country in the world to impose this ban and is doing his utmost to have it lifted. He has raised the issue with the WTO and is urging those in the equine industry to lobby the Indian...
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Urgent need to invest more in breast cancer research

Posted by on Oct 24, 2006 in Uncategorized | 4 comments Everyone knows someone who has died tragically of breast cancer, I had a dear friend called Julie who was a victim of this merciless killer, she was always the light and soul of the party and bundles of fun, it’s still impossible to believe that she is no longer with us. Breast cancer is the biggest killer of women between 35-59 and 275,000 new cases are diagnosed in the EU each year. It...
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Uni places should be given on ability, not background

Posted by on Oct 23, 2006 in Uncategorized | 14 comments Lowering university entry requirements by up to two A-level grades would be a travesty of justice to those who have proved their academic abilities, but are rejected to make way for a student with inferior grades simply because he or she is from a deprived background. This is one ploy Labour is no doubt hoping will help overcome its difficulty in filling university...
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Can we protect our goalies?

Posted by on Oct 22, 2006 in updates | 12 comments I spent the morning making teas at my son’s football match where one of the mums expressed concern about her goalie son getting bashed on the head, he’d suffered a bad collision with the goal post last weekend. This topic was highlighted recently by the serious head injury suffered by Chelsea goalie Petr Cech. He sustained a fractured skull, and is unlikely to return...
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Mid-Norfolk goes to George Freeman

Posted by on Oct 21, 2006 in Uncategorized | 7 comments For those of you who have been following James Turmbridge’s Herculean challenge for Mid-Norfolk, I’m afraid it ended with a disappointing result for him today, particularly after his stomach churning fight against the odds to make it through to the final selection. He did brilliantly to stand against 18 A-listers and make it this far, he displayed considerable fortitude,...
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Labour donor speaks out over "witch hunt"

Posted by on Oct 21, 2006 in Uncategorized | 10 comments Gladiatorial Grant Shapps has reminded police to get their act together over the “cash for peerage” investigation, which has already had three extensions. I’m sure one of those under scrutiny, former Cambridge-based biotech millionaire Sir Chris Evans, wishes the same. He hopes to be cleared for what he claims was a straight forward £1 million loan to the Labour Party. He is...
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Body parts trade needs regulating

Posted by on Oct 20, 2006 in Uncategorized | 3 comments The bones of broadcaster Alistair Cooke deserved to be left to rest in peace, as did those other corpses which were mutilated and sold off in an astonishingly lucrative multi-million pound illegal body parts trade. The fact that he was 95 did not deter greedy New York undertakers from their ghoulish and sickening acts of desecration, I can’t imagine his body could have...
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Lib Dems target York Outer on "non-issues"

Posted by on Oct 20, 2006 in Uncategorized | 9 comments There is no shortage of material which Liberal Democrats, like Conservatives, can choose as campaign material. Only the Lib Dems are so short of ideas in York Outer, that they could only think of leafleting householders to let people know that Julian Sturdy lives three miles outside his constituency and, because of this, is not a local man. I cannot believe they went to the time and expense to...
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Will Tesco soon be running our Post Offices?

Posted by on Oct 19, 2006 in Uncategorized | 8 comments With the future of our post offices under threat, I’m wondering how long it will be before they are based at Tesco stores up and down the country. This will be the perfect cop-out for Tony Blair, he can continue to ignore the plight of rural communities struggling to survive without facilities by claiming there is a post office on every street corner – at Tesco. It seems like Blair...
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Norfolk challenges Government over wheelie bin bugs

Posted by on Oct 19, 2006 in Uncategorized | 10 comments It’s interesting how everyone is now talking about rubbish and how it should be disposed of. It is a very hot topic because if the UK fails to meet its recycling targets, then it will be heavily fined. And now the Government has no choice but to act tough because it failed to deal with household waste and landfill diversion over the last decade, it failed to communicate with householders...
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Where were the great British designers?

Posted by on Oct 18, 2006 in Uncategorized | 5 comments This is the snazzy winning logo which beat off 1,700 others to mark the 50th celebrations of the European Union. It was designed by Szymon Skrzypczak (pic), from Poland. It very cleverly picks on different type faces from different countries – I guess the UK is represented by the very arch and angular T from The Times, it denotes the very stiff British upper lip. But why didn’t any...
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Dell investigates my nightmare laptop

Posted by on Oct 18, 2006 in updates | 16 comments Six weeks after describing my nightmare laptop which has been bad news from almost day one, Dell has picked up the link and contacted me. It is now out of warranty, is still overheating and cutting out and we have added an exterior keyboard as that packed up too. Yet it has hardly been used and still looks brand new, a totally different experience to my workhorse Dell desktop which I bought...
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Blunkett – what goes round comes round

Posted by on Oct 17, 2006 in Uncategorized | 8 comments David Blunkett is now seeing that what goes round comes round. A prison chief he criticised in his diaries has retaliated by describing how the former Home Secretary behaved hysterically during a prison riot, urging him to call in the Army and “machine gun” inmates in order to retain control, apparently with no regard for possible loss of life among staff or prisoners. This is an...
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Is electoral reform totally out of the question?

Posted by on Oct 16, 2006 in Uncategorized | 20 comments I am giving Janice Small a guest spot on my blog to highlight the question of electoral reform, is it really an impossibility? Would it help Conservatives sweep to power? Would it encourage more people to vote? Janice was motivated to write about it after meeting Keith Best, who is championing the cause as Chairman of Conservative Action for Electoral Reform and Director of...
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Sophia Loren needs better PR

Posted by on Oct 16, 2006 in updates | 3 comments One would imagine that the Latin screen legend Sophia Loren would be on all the A-lists for star studded parties in her home country. So I can understand why she was disappointed not to have been invited to Rome’s first Film Festival at the weekend, the organisers somehow simply forgot and she declined their last minute invite. Checking out her website, you can see that she uses a very...
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George Galloway praises Cameron’s leadership

Posted by on Oct 15, 2006 in Uncategorized | 12 comments I’m not sure what David Cameron will make of George Galloway’s unexpected declaration of his support, no doubt he will enjoy a wry smile. Whether you love him or loathe him, or just appreciate a laugh at the expense of the controversial Respect MP/Big Brother joker, he makes some salient points: “He is doing and saying the right things. His job is to slay the ghost of Margaret...
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