Ellee Seymour

Iain Dale is asking bloggers to select the top political bloggers for his 2007 Guide to Political Blogging in the UK. I have written an article on women bloggers for it.

It means that bloggers and blog readers will choose who they feel should be ranked at the top, who are worthy of inclusion. He would like them to make at least 10 nominations and, as an incentive, he is offering £100 of political dvds in a draw for those who take part.

This is where I have to modestly make a pitch and direct you to Iain’s post where you can recommend me if you choose. Alternatively, you can email him at iain AT iaindale DOT com. Even if you are not a regular reader of other political blogs but want to recommend me, I’m sure that will be fine.

The deadline is 15th August.

*For clarification, please click here to vote on Iain’s site.

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I am being pulled in all directions over the next few weeks. The school holidays are special to me because I  feel I only have my boys on borrowed time now, if we can do things together still and enjoy each others company, then I shall make the most of it.

The truth is, as they are teenagers, this  largely involves me being their chauffeur, but I do have a few other plans up my sleeve.

This week is going to be hectic catching up with friends, including Sue’s bereaved husband, who is a bit of a culture vulture and is taking me to see the great soprano Kiri te Kanewa this evening. I have asked him to give me some photos of Sue, including some taken on their wedding day – the only time I ever saw her wear a dress.

And I shall be working hard on my studies too. Tomorrow I have an appointment with Lib Dem MP Lynne Featherstone, the last for my research project on MPs and blogging, which I would like to have well wrapped up before heading to our annual retreat in North Norfolk followed by a week in Centre Parcs (no laptop allowed at either place on strict family orders).

When we last stayed in Centre Parcs two years ago, I was in the spa having a  detox seaweed wrap and had been coated all over with green slimy stuff and wrapped in silver foil, the lights were dimmed, the music played softly and I was dreamily dozing off when the fire alarm suddenly went off. I half hoped/dreaded a hunky fireman would come and rescue me, but I was unceremoniously rushed into the shower by staff and ushered out quickly in a toweling robe; and all for nothing as it turned out to be a false alarm.

This may be a longer break than usual, posts will be intermittent, and I will be trawling your sites when I can.

Here’s wishing you a summer of sun, fun and relaxation, with an adventure or too as well.

Ciao.

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Vicky Ford is writing some brilliant reports on her mission to Africa, to the beautiful country known best for its genocide, to Rwanda where she – and other Conservatives – are helping improve the lives of those living in abject poverty. I know it will be a truly unforgettable and moving experience.

The aspiring MP is among Project Umubano in Rwanda, a team of Shadow Ministers, MPs and volunteers who David Cameron will be joining next week. They are spending two week on activities ranging from rebuilding a school, to teaching football and cricket to young people.

Vicky is enthusiastically helping refurbish the existing classrooms and build a new one. She has been told that in Rwanda, 50% of children never finish primary school, therefore the teachers try to really teach these tiny pre-schoolers as much as academic work as possible even at such a young age.

Project Umubano in Rwanda is a major social action scheme designed to help bridge the “obscene” wealth gap between the world’s richest and poorest nations. This is one of her recent posts, I am in total awe, I would so love to be there too:

“Our project in Rwanda is now moving incredibly quickly. A bit of background information. The Girubuntu project was initially set up in 1994 to provide an orphanage for survivors of the genocide. Some of the orignal survivors still live at the site, others come back during university breaks, others have moved on. Also on the site is the pre-school, currently for 80 children most of whom are orphans themselves.

“Yesterday I met the children. At the pre-schools I have helped in the UK a lot of time is spent in play. We believe that children will learn a lot about themselves, the world, and how to interact with others through playing. In the UK children have lots of time for academic study later. However here in Rwanda I have been told that 50% of children never even finish primary school, therefore the teachers try to really teach these tiny pre-schoolers as much as academic work as possible even at such a young age. They are also being taught English and French – even though outside school they speak “Kinynaranwda”.

“The state of the “classrooms” was really sad with crumbling walls and leaking roofs. Working alongside local people we are completely refurbishing the existing classrooms and building a new one to allow the school to grow. We start at 7am each morning. I have been plastering, helping to put in new electrics and planning decorations which I hope will be fantastic.It is an incredibly interesting country and with 20 different projects going on at the same time the conversation over dinner each evening is non-stop. Some of us are working with the country’s top lawyers, some are working with street children and there is everything in between. What an opportunity to see a country through so many different peoples’ eyes.”

The pic shows Vicky, (she is on the left), and was taken just before her flight to Nairobi with Nicola, a flautist, who will be running a music programme in a school and is equipped with30  recorders and recorder books. And there is also Kitty, who will be working on a VSO project with young people. Her backpack is stuffed full of condoms and educational leaflets.

Vicky kindly put my name forward to join this very special trip, but it was oversubscribed, I was not lucky. But Iain was and I know he will produce some great videos and reports from there. I  felt you would be kicking yourself if you missed out on Vicky’s posts too, they are worth a daily read.

I’m sure many special lifelong friendships will be made from this unforgettable trip, the memories will remain with everyone for ever. And, as Vicky observes, what a different world it is there, it makes me feel ashamed that we take so much for granted when I read something like this:

“Nicola, who came here to teach music, has found herself teaching excel and word every day to 40 pupils in their late teens and twenties. The class shares two ancient computers. She made them some cardboard keyboards last night – they are over the moon! What a different world.”

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I have just returned from an Anglia TV reception in Cambridge with the local great and the good where the company said  they would loan out video cameras if anyone wanted to record an event, encouraging them to be citizen journalists. 

I turned to Bob Pearson, Director of Communications at Cambridgeshire County Council, and described to him my vision for citizen news networking, which could be a vital lifeline to communities during an emergency, from floods and terrorist attacks, to major road accidents and even petrol shortages.

I would like to see a major organisation in each town or city, such as the  local authority or leading newspaper, host a forum where people could interactively communicate and share news during a disaster. This would be used by all the emergency services as well to provide the latest updates.

Local people would be able to report their personal accounts, others would respond with theirs. Even if some people at the centre of a crisis were unable to access it personally, the chances are someone from their family would be able to and could pass on the latest news. The citizen news networking site would be well publicised so everybody knew of it, that it was their key website to turn to during an emergency.

Bob totally dismissed the idea, saying something like this was ”years and years away” and asked: “What about Mabel from Manea?” So I asked him how was she going to get her news anyway and he said from her children. I tried to persuade him he could be the first in the country to do this, but my words fell on deaf ears. He simply could not visualise the benefits of a local authority run interactive forum for communities during an emergency.

Do you think in this digital day and age that such an idea is light years away? Wouldn’t it be so much easier if there was one local site used by all emergency services to provide the latest news bulletins and advice and where people could also interact?

Update: Well done to Cheltenham Borough Council for setting up a blog for flood victims. And well done to Dizzy for spotting it.

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I had been hoping Conservatives would come at least second in the Ealing Southall by-election, but coming third was a bitter blow and a huge embarrassment.

Tony Lit, despite his dashing Bollywood looks and huge popularity was obviously a flawed choice after it became known that he had only joined the Conservative Party shortly before his selection and had donated money to Labour just days before.

Even the five flying visits by David Cameron and highly publicised Labour councillor defections to Conservatives failed to ensure the vital support at the ballot box.

What dedicated political candidates need to do is convince voters of their sincerity by being a visible force and working for their political party even before their selection. I would like to see them holding stalls on market places and in shopping centres, as well as knocking on doors, talking to as many people as possible face to face.  They should be doing this now and not waiting for an election to be called. All too often, people complain they have never heard of the candidates, so can you blame them for being apathetic.

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“Men are nothing but stomachs and we their food. They eat us until they are full and then they belch us.”

I would like to think that times have changed since the great Bard wrote those words in Othello, but what a wonderfully, descriptive way of putting it.

And what kind of guy sits in the theatre and reads the whole play from a book as it is being performed before his very eyes by some of the country’s best actors? This is what the man behind me was doing, he must have missed so much. However, he still seemed to be enjoying it and was smiling.

I give five stars to the brilliant actors who played the wicked and cunning Iago, I loathed him so much I could have spat in his face and he would merely have sneared, as well as the jealous and unfortunate Rodorigo who had a wonderfully witty and playful stage presence, though doomed to face a tragic end. The rest of the cast get four stars.

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 Jovanna Stacey Crawford went missing on June 5, 1981 when she was just two years old. Sometimes, differing information is given about the circumstances of a person’s disappearance, which is the case here.

Some reports state that the last time Jovanna was seen was at her home in Bridgeport, Connecticut in the care of a family friend. The family friend gave the child to a woman who said she was Jovanna’s grandmother.

This report describes how Jovanna was left in the care of her mother’s boyfriend, Ronald Garrett. After she vanished, Garrett told police that a ten- or eleven-year old boy came to the home, telling him that her grandparents had sent for her. He claimed that he had allowed her to go with the boy. His story did not stand up to scrutiny, however, and Garrett was convicted of child endangerment and sentenced to a year in prison. Jovanna has never been seen or heard from again and no evidence has ever been uncovered to indicate what actually happened to her.

Jovanna would now be 27 years old.

In memory of those who are still missing.

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One of my favourite annual excursions is with my Shakespeare buddy son David when we visit The Globe Theatre and today we are going there to see Othello.

I love the wit of Shakespeare and his clever play on words and have yet to see an RSC production I have not enjoyed. I’m sure today will be no exception.

Performers at The Globe bring Shakespeare alive, with minstrels playing in the gallery as you arrive and a bearded man hilariously taking on a female role. I always find it a thrilling experience.

A couple of years ago I bumped into an old friend I had not seen for ages who was leaving the theatre the same as us, he had been standing in the pits (I prefer the wooden benches in the balcony). When I looked at my photos afterwards, sure enough, there he was, but I doubt I would have spotted him otherwise. Last year, a member of the audience fainted due to the unbearable heat while standing for the performance.

I wonder if Shakespeare is really hard for kids to fully appreciate, I enjoy it much more now than as a teenager. But David seems to follow it ok, and says he he will come along with me to anything with me - except opera.

But then I have taken him to countless football matches, so it’s a fair exchange.

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In memory of those who are still missing.This is a local case for me, I remember reading about the mysterious disappearance of Debbie Steel, who ran a pub in Ely, Cambridgeshire with her former partner Brian McDermott. She vanished in December 1997 aged 37.

I remember police digging up the immediate area and scouring the neighbourhood. They also checked CCTV in Ely and on the London underground in case she had gone to visit family there. Nothing has ever been heard since she vanished, though one man reported a possible sighting of her at Ely railway station.

Brian still thinks of Debbie and wonders what happened to her:

“I’m reminded of Debbie constantly and still wonder what happened and why she went missing. It’s a limbo. I don’t know if she’s alive, but I do hope she is.

“I try to make sense of her disappearance, but we’re still looking for an answer. People ask about her and her dad visits from time to time and we talk, but none of us can come up with an answer.

“We’d just like to know what happened now.”

In memory of those who are still missing.

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I have always loved the long summer holidays with my boys, I never wanted them to be over quickly. But I wonder how our “cotton-wool“ kids are going to cope over the next few weeks, my heart goes out to them.

It’s hard to believe that one-third of children aged 7 to 12 are reportedly never allowed to play outside because their parents are so concerned about their safety, that the government feels it needs to launch a public education campaign to encourage parents to let their children play outside.

The fact that so many kids are stuck inside the house so much could be a major reason why our children are so unhappy today. Shouldn’t they be out in the fresh air, going off on their bikes and coming home rosy-cheeked and covered in dirt?

Can they camp out safely in their garden with friends? I remember worrying about this. But what better fun is there for kids than stocking up their tent with goodies and having a torchlight midnight feast?

I’m glad to hear that Ed Balls, the Children, Schools and Families Secretary, is very concerned about our future breed of “cotton-wool” kids and has published a consultation document on the subject. As a father of three young children, he should appreciate the real fears parents have regarding safety and how to balance this so children are not over-protected. I’m glad he hear that he wants schools to allow kids to play conkers and snowball fights again.

I’ve always felt that the most important lessons were learnt in the playground – the social and survival skills that carry you through life. Winning and losing at games comes into it too. Maybe Ed Balls will encourage schools to re-introduce sports days and the traditional egg-and-spoon race, I was always hopeless at it, but always enjoyed it, as well as hopping about in a sack and falling in a heap. Those were the days….

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