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I was removing the last crusty flakes of mascara when I saw IT through the mirror - and froze.
A spider the size of a dinner plate attached to the side of my bed. I could feel the ends of my hairs tightening in shock.
Equipped for such an emergency, I silently inched my way towards the spider catcher perched on my en-suite shelf, keeping my eyes firmly fixed on this unwanted leggy guest.
The spider catcher has an eight inch plastic handle with a shovel underneath to trap such dark creatures, then whoosh, I close the trap door, and release it out into the moonlit night from my bedroom window, open wide and ready.
Only, of course, this guy is too big and quick and, in a flash, runs for his life under the bed.
I summon tired husband from downstairs, just back from an office wedding party, who grumbles and asks why I didn’t call him in the first place. He was too far away, I was alone and had to act quickly.
Tired husband (it is 1am) picks up a coathanger and aimlessly flings it under the bed. The confused spider dashes out and then back again, seeking sanctuary in his safe darkness under the bed. Under a kingsize bed which is virtually rooted to the floor.
He is safe.
"That’s it, I’m sleeping in the spare room."
Tired husband was fed-up husband by then.
Where do I sleep tonight? How will I know this unwanted fellow has moved on? Will he be casting webs under my bed? Is it my imagination, are spiders getting BIGGER?
I’m thrilled and delighted to be ranked at No 10 in Iain’s 2007 Guide to Political Blogging voted for by fellow bloggers and readers. It includes a list of 500. A thousand thanks to you all.
What particularly thrills me is that my blog is enjoyed by a wide spectrum of people from different backgrounds - not just Conservatives. For example, there is Linda Jones, who admits to having different political views, but is a valued reader. And leading PR blogger Heather Yaxley confesses she is not a follower of political blogs, but she enjoys mine. These are the people I enjoy reaching out to.
In spite of our different political backgrounds, I am also included on the blogroll of Foreign Secretary David Miliband.
I am also ranked as a top green blogger because of my environmental posts. And I received an email this week to say my blog was being monitored every few hours by a new PR website called PR Voices as it was considered one of the top 20 PR blogs in the country 15 PR blogs globally.
My posts on missing people are picked up by influential bloggers, including David Brain and Richard Sambrook.
I’m also tickled to know that my blog is banned in China. But on the other hand, it will last for posterity as it is being archived by The British Library.
I have Geoff to thank for everything. He launched me as a blogger in February 2006 and provides me with valuable technical support. When I started, I had absolutely no idea how my blog was going to evolve, that it would take on these different dimensions. Now I can’t imagine life without it - or the new friends I have made as a result.
Here is Iain’s top 300 political bloggers voted for by bloggers and readers:
1 Iain Dale’s Diary
2 Guido Fawkes
3 Dizzy Thinks
4 ConservativeHome
5 Political Betting
6 Devil’s Kitchen
7 Croydonian
8 Nick Robinson
9 Spectator Coffee House
10 Ellee Seymour
11 Recess Monkey
12 Burning our Money
13 Archbishop Cranmer
14 Benedict Brogan
15 Tim Worstall
16 Mr Eugenides
17 Norfolk Blogger
18 Paul Linford
19 Prague Tory
20 EU Referendum
21 Harry’s Place
22 Tom Watson MP
23 NHS Blog Doctor
24 Caroline Hunt
25 Bob Piper
26 Fair Deal Phil
27 Times Comment Central
28 Tory Radio
29 Chicken Yoghurt
30 Ministry of Truth
31 Kerron Cross
32 Slugger O’Toole
33 Nadine Dorries MP
34 Pickled Politics
35 Donal Blaney
36 Boris Johnson
37 Theo Spark
38 Labour Home
39 British Bullshit Foundation
40 Biased BBC
41 An Englishman’s Castle
42 John Redwood MP
43 Hunter & Shooter
44 Craig Murray
45 Samizdata
46 Dave’s Part
47 Waendel Journal
48 Newmania
49 Rachel From North London
50 The Last Ditch
51 Our Kingdom
52 Bloggers 4 Labour
53 Liberal England
54 LibDem Voice
55 Stephen Tall
56 Adam Smith Institute
57 Bloggerheads
58 Hoby
59 Daily Referendum
60 Bel is Thinking
61 Quaequam
62 The Bristow Blog
63 Millennium Dome Elephant
64 Suz Blog
65 Antonia Bance
66 WebCameron
67 Spyblog
68 City Unslicker
69 James Cleverley
70 Stumbling & Mumbling
71 Beau Bo D’Or
72 Luke Akehurst
73 Newer Labour
74 As a Dodo
75 Edland
76 Chris Paul Labour of Love
77 Tartan Hero
78 Glyn Davies
79 UK Daily Pundit
80 Westminster Wisdom
81 Melanie Phillips
82 Blair Watch
83 Liberal Burblings
84 18 Doughty Street
85 Daniel Hannan MEP
86 Matt Wardman
87 Mars Hill
88 Little Man in a Toque
89 Policeman’s Blog
90 Peter Black AM
91 Mark Mardell
92 Rolled Up Trousers
93 Shiraz Socialist
94 Bishop Hill
95 Tim Roll-Pickering
96 Paul Flynn MP
97 Oliver Kamm
98 Campaign for an English Parliament
99 Ordovicius
100 Snowflake5 101 Grimmer Up North 102 Musings of a Reactionary Snob 103 Love & Liberty 104 UK Polling Report 105 Skipper 106 Laban Tall 107 Little & Large 108 Sinclair’s Musings 109 Miranda Grell 110 Earthquake Cove 111 A Very British Dude 112 Wheeler’s Website 113 1820.org.uk 114 Stephen Pollard 115 Evanomics 116 Roger Helmer MEP 117 The Green Ribbon 118 John Moorcroft 119 A Tangled Web 120 Norm Blog 121 Cicero’s Songs 122 Toby Harnden 123 Jane’s the One 124 Nourishing Obscurity 125 The Daily (Maybe) 126 Looking for a Voice 127 Curly’s Corner Shop 128 Adam Boulton 129 Monbiot.com 130 Mike Ion 131 Iain Lindley 132 Darlington Councillor 133 Stroppy Blog 134 Idiots 4 Labour 135 Thunder Dragon 136 Birmingham University CF 137 PM 138 Priti Patel 139 Man in a Shed 140 Taxpayer’s Alliance
141 People’s Commissar of Enligtenment 142 Andy Mayer 143 Tygerland 144 Contra Tory 145 PJC Journal 146 Chase me Ladies 147 The Sharpener 148 The Difference 149 Rupa Huq 150 Bryan Appleyard 151 Theo Blackwell 152 Scottish Patient 153 Barry Beelzebub 154 Mike Rouse 155 Paul Scully 156 Darker Side of Bridget Jones 157 Normal Mouth 158 Pub Philosopher 159 Drink Soaked Trotskyite Popinjays for War 160 Not Saussure 161 Peter Hitchens 162 Philobiblon 163 Paul Kingsnorth 164 Istanbul Tory 165 Three Score Years & Ten 166 England Project 167 Labour Humanist 168 Nosemonkey Europhobia 169 Political Hack UK 170 Britain & America 171 Snedds 172 Lynne Featherstone MP 173 Open Secrets 174 Crushed by Ingsoc 175 Hot, Ginger & Dynamite 176 A Conservative’s Blog 177 Richard Corbett MEP 178 Nation of Shopkeepers 179 Miserable Old Fart 180 Dr Rant 181 Gauche 182 Socialist Unity 183 Corporate Presenter 184 Ghost of the Hitch 185 Liberal Bureaucracy 186 Stephen Newton’s Diary 187 David Gold 188 The F Word 189 Betsan Powys 190 Ruscombe Green 191 Nanny Knows Best 192 Liberal Mafia 193 Bethan Jenkins 194 Blood & Treasure 195 Obsolete 196 Blether with Brian 197 Waking Hereward 198 S J Howard 199 Hug a Hoodie 200 Another Green World 201 Raedwald 202 Open Europe 203 Terry Watch 204 Linguanaut 205 Labour’s Fightback 206 Lenin’s Tomb 207 West Brom Blog 208 Adam Price MP 209 Matt Davies 210 Wonko’s World 211 Martine Martin’s Lebwog 212 Dodgeblogium 213 Scottish Co-Operative… 214 Ranting Stan 215 Neue Arbeit Macht Frei 216 A Conservative Mind 217 British Politics 218 Nicolas Webb 219 Colin Ross 220 Antony Little 221 Young Unionists 222 Clive Davis 223 Media Lens 224 Three Thousand Versts… 225 Remittance Man 226 A Pint of Unionist Lite 227 Tigmoo 228 Longrider 229 Civitas 230 Vaughan Roderick 231 Vino’s Political Blog 232 Patrick Cusworth 233 Lindyloo’s Muze 234 Angels in Marble 235 Gaian Economics 236 Graeme Archer 237 Dylan Jones-Evans 238 Some Day I Will Treat You Good 239 Huw Lewis AM 240 Brussels Journal 241 Social Europe 242 Parbury Politica 243 J Arthur Macnumpty 244 Greenwich Watch 245 Austin Mitchell MP 246 YBF Activists 247 Ian Hamilton QC 248 Downing Street Says 249 Never Trust a Hippy 250 Jeffrey Archer 251 James O’Malley: Living Legend 252 Between the Hammer &… 253 Matt T 254 Fibdems 255 Niles’s Blog 256 England Expects 257 Mabinogogiblog 258 No Geek is an Island 259 General Theory of Rubbish 260 Eric Lee 261 Belsize LibDems 262 Random Acts of Reality 263 Not Proud of Britain 264 Let’s be Sensible 265 Jock Coats 266 Grendel 267 Freedom & Whisky 268 Jag Singh 269 Union Futures 270 Regalis 271 If Sam Tarran Was in Charge 272 Jonathan Fryer 273 Omar’s Blog 274 Luke Akehurst Parody Blog 275 Liberal Alone 276 BBC Editors’ Blog 277 Nether-World 278 Wouldn’t it be Scarier… 279 GWE 280 Mutley the Dog 281 The Spine
282 Skud’s Sister’s Brother 283 Disgruntled Radical 284 What You Can Get Away With 285 Jeremy Hargreaves 286 Mary Reid 287 Cascittuni 288 Your Friend in the North 289 Stuart King 290 Social Affairs Unit 291 Revolts 292 Postman Patel 293 Phil Taylor 294 New Culture Forum 295 Gavin Ayling 296 Dasmirnov 297 Alasdair Ross 298 Richard Baum 299 Mailstrom 300 Inspector Gadget
Congratulations to David Miliband for launching a blog as Foreign
Secretary.
I know he made mistakes with his Defra site, which he has acknowledged, and I am chuffed to still be included on his new blogroll.
I did predict back in July that he might be blogging again as Foreign Secretary. I like his approach, despite our different political backgrounds. He is the only minister who wants to write a blog, and he should have credit for that.
I think we are ready for an update on Burma and the injustices there, this is an ideal opportunity for him to make his mark as a blogger and to give some personal thoughts, not just an official statement.
I’m sure he can cope with the heckling this post attracted, it keeps him on his toes…
Let’s hope Home Secretary Jacqui Smith reads the report in today’s Times about sex slavery in Cambridgeshire. Women are said to be traded in auctions for between £500 and £3,000. They are then virtual prisoners in rented houses.
An investigation by The Times has revealed how immigration from Eastern Europe has brought a supply of women deceived into thinking good jobs await them. Instead they are sold to vice gangs.
This is why Cambridgeshire Chief Constable Julie Spence has demanded extra resources to cope with the influx of immigrants into the county. Under her calculations, the force is 100 officers short and expected to get £17.4 million less than it needs next year.
Chief Superintendent Paul Phillipson, the police commander in Peterborough, intends to prevent the spread of the brothels and the abuse of the women incarcerated in them, even though there are no Home Office targets for this kind of police work.
"This is rape and sexual abuse, happening on a daily basis, but it is unreported crime. I won’t achieve any reduction in crime statistics by closing brothels, I won’t achieve any of my core targets. But, quite frankly, I don’t care. As far as I’m concerned this is what police work is about and I know that it’s the right thing to do.”
The helpless women he has rescued would no doubt agree. And while police would not welcome more targets, why is there not any recognition on paper for them for this kind of crucial police work?
Too little has been done to help these innocent women. My MEP Robert Sturdy is planning to meet Julie Spence to see if he can help.
These women were lucky enough to escape:
Victim A
A 30-year-old Czech woman who was persuaded to come to Britain in August 2006 by the promise of a well-paid job as a waitress. She arrived at a regional airport and was taken to a house in Gloucester where her passport was taken from her, she was beaten and forced to work as a prostitute. She was subsequently sold on to a brothel in London and then auctioned again and found herself in Peterborough. This year she escaped through a bedroom window. She has been helped by the Poppy Project charity to return to the Czech Republic
Victim B
A 21-year-old Gypsy from Slovakia who was taken with a friend to Britain by car and boat by a man who promised her well-paid work as a shop assistant. She told police that after a long car journey in Britain she and her friend were sold for £1,000 to a Middle Eastern male. On her first night in a brothel in Peterborough she was raped and threatened with violence. She was told that she would receive half the money she earned but that the brothel owners would look after the cash until they were ready to let her go. She received £10 per week which then had to be repaid for toiletries and food. In spring 2007 the woman attended a sexual health clinic suffering from an acutely painful pelvic condition. She told staff what was happening to her and they passed details to Cambridgeshire police. A search warrant was executed and two Lithuanian women were arrested on suspicion of managing a brothel. Victim B has since returned to her family in Slovakia.
Victim C The woman was afraid that her captors would kill her and her family if they knew that she had talked to police. She had a friend whose back had been broken in a beating by the brothel owners. She said weekend working hours in one brothel where she was held were from 11am to 3am with prices charged at up to £100 per hour. Another woman took £12,000 in three months but was only ever given £10. She tried to hide £250 but was subjected to a beating when it was found.
Human trafficking is the fastest growing form of slavery today and is prohibited under international law, as well as under the criminal laws of the United Kingdom and other countries. Yet thousands of women, children and men are trafficked to the United Kingdom each year.
It’s ironic that Thomas Clarkson, the anti-slavery campaigner, was born in Wisbech, my home town where "sex prisons" are said to have been set up . He would have been deeply saddened to learn that more than 200 years later, people were still subjected to this horrific abuse.
First he wows Lady Thatcher, then make
Mariella Frostrup come over “all unncessary”.
How many more women can Gordon Brown woo in the run up to the increasingly imminent election?
I wonder if he has been following advice given in The Statesman which pointed out that Gordon the female vote decides elections, he needs more than a make over and won’t win unless he learns to speak a different language.
“It is a fact now universally acknowledged that Gordon Brown will not get his own mandate for No 10, and Labour cannot win a fourth general election, unless he wins the major share of the female vote.”
Benedict Brogan quotes Brown’s allies as saying Labour’s recent 11-point lead was because of the support of women, attracted by the ‘bread and butter’ issues such as education, health and gun.
If that is the case, which planet has these women been living on? Just consider our hospital’s failing hygiene standards, young children who are struggling to write , in fact British children are among the unhappiest and unhealthiest in Europe, we also fail many of our elderly citizens, and don’t forget our pensions disaster. Gun crime has increased steadily over the last decade.
Let’s hope these women come to their senses.
I have just heard on the 
radio that Labour is appointing key staff for campaigning logistics and media relations - to start next Monday - gearing up for an autumn general election.
Whatever the outcome, I am disappointed that we did not use this last year to further develop political campaiging on the internet, especially as our political parties have been following the impact this has had in America and France, where Sarkozy’s internet television had 12 million viewers during the presidential campaign, largely fought out in blogosphere.
Prospective candidates here are left to their own devices to set up their own blogs, and many have done a great job. But I would have liked to have seen training and support made available, especially for using visual social media tools, like video blogs.
This report highlights why internet campaigng can be so vital in a marginal seat:
In this year’s local elections, South Norfolk Conservatives made a two-minute commercial outlining their manifesto and showcasing some of their candidates (tinyurl.com/2robr3). They won by a landslide. However, Eastbourne Conservatives made a slightly glitzier version (tinyurl.com/2skhn4 ) and were defeated. Neither of these videos were viewed by enough people to have affected the outcome one way or another, but in a few marginal seats, this sort of campaigning could make the difference between winning and losing.
Here are some top interactive American political websites for you to compare against their British counterparts: Hillary Clinton, Mitt Romney and Barack Obama and Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Ming Campbell. It seems that our British counterparts are flirting with the social media, dipping their toes in, rather than fully taking the plunge.
Nadine Dorries used to be a nurse, so David Cameron should sit 
up and listen when she offers him expert advice about cleaning hospital wards. She firmly believes uniforms should be laundered on site, that this would help wipe out infections. What she says makes good sense, and you can read it here.
It made me reflect on my recent personal experiences at the University College Hospital, London with my son David. This is what I observed.
I went to the loo where the seat was soaked with urine and the sanitary bin full and overflowing. I was washing my hands when a cleaner shuffled in, she looked left at the wall, then right. She did not look in the loos. She then turned around and shuffled outside where she had her cleaning trolley, then she shuffled along the corridor with it.
In the ward kitchen, shared by families of kids with cancer, there was an immense pile of dirty crockery. There wasn’t one clean mug and I wanted to make a drink, so I asked a nurse for some rubber gloves to get stuck in. She told me the cleaner would do it shortly. The cleaner arrived, handpicked which crockery to wash (separating anything used by a patient’s family). She left a pile of dirty mugs on the draining board and wiped around them. Suffice it to say that watching her cleaning techniques, I would not have wanted to use them.
My son’s bedside cubicle had a large sample of stale urine left in it when we arrived and he was supposed to place his personal belongings there. It smelt awful. The ward nurse was very cross about it and filed a report. He told me they had great difficulty in recruiting good cleaners.
Parents also described how they offered to move from their bedside seats to give cleaners easier access around the bed, but the cleaner ignored them and said it wasn’t necessary, so the area was not cleaned.
Regarding Nadine’s point on restricting hospital visitors, I saw a very large number of exotically dressed Eastern Europeans in the hospital lobby and my curiosity got the better of me, so I asked one of the woman where they came from. She said they were Polish Romany gypsies, that her mother had been admitted with heart problems. On one day,she told me there were 100 of them of all ages waiting to visit the sick women. There must have been 30 or 40 the day I saw them. She told me they had travelled from around the country, fearing the worst, but thankful to God that she had pulled through. I have no idea how many visited her bedside at any one time.
And why is it not mandatory for everyone to wash their hands with sterile cleaning fluids when they enter a ward? This was mandatory on our cruise last summer whenever we re-entered the ship from a shore visit and ate in the restaurants. The staff were fanatical about it, they were always hovering around with their dispensers.
A main difficulty seems to be in finding dedicated cleaning staff who will do the job properly, their managers should not allow them to get away with shoddy work.
The young girl being carried on the back of a traditionally dressed Moroccan woman in North Africa does look remarkably like Madeleine McCann. But parents of missing children are used to having their hopes raised - and dashed. It’s so difficult to be sure from a grainy photo. We can but hope.
Similarities have also been noticed between the young girl leading the procession and a missing Sicilian girl Denise Pipitone, who was snatched outside her home three years ago when she was four. A comment was this morning posted on my report about Denise saying:
There is a photo on line now which many people speculate shows Madeleine McCann being carried on the back of a Moroccan women. There is a young girl leading the group who looks to be about age 7 or 8. There seems to be some similarities between her and the pictures I have seen of Denise. Maybe Interpol could be contacted regarding this child in the photo and try to use software to see if there are any similar facial characteristics to Denise.
In memory of those who are still missing.