Another jungle celebrity wants to be an MP

Posted by on May 26, 2009 in Politics | 22 comments Whereas Esther Rantzen could be regarded as a credible political candidate, the same can’t be said for former Dollar singer David Van Day, who has apparently expressed an interest in standing as a parliamentary candidate. He is particularly keen on contesting mid-Beds which is held by our Nadine Dorries whose blog was sensationally shut down by lawyers acting for the Daily Telegraph. Why...
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A fact finding coastal erosion visit to North Norfolk

Posted by on May 23, 2009 in Environment, Euro election | 7 comments I joined Conservative Eastern Region Euro election candidates Vicky Ford and John Flack on a coastal erosion fact finding visit to Overstrand, Cromer yesterday. On this video, you will hear local campaigners from the Overstrand Shoreline Management Committee expressing their grave concerns and how they are considering a legal challenge under the Human Rights Act, as well the views of Vicky and...
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Do celebrities run our country?

Posted by on May 21, 2009 in Politics | 14 comments There is a great Mac cartoon in the Daily Mail today which brilliantly encapsulates the mood of the moment. It shows Gordon Brown taking a phone call and then turning to his wife who is sitting on the sofa reading the Gurkhas story : “Bad news, Sarah. Joanna Lumley has called a snap election,” he tells her. With Esther Rantzen also forcing the political hand in Luton South, one...
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Political candidates are only human, you know

Posted by on May 20, 2009 in Euro election | 6 comments If there were 50 hours in the day, it still wouldn’t be enough for our Conservative European parliamentary candidates to visit everywhere and do everything they wanted covering the six counties in the East of England during the election campaign. To me, their daily programme seems exhaustive, but they do it because they are 110% committed to meeting as many people as possible. That is even...
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Why Esther shouldn’t stand in Luton

Posted by on May 19, 2009 in Euro election | 3 comments Our Vicky found herself unexpectedly rubbing shoulders with Esther Rantzen today at a school in Luton which she was visiting with Conservative Luton North parliamentary candidate Jeremy Brier. Esther is considering standing as a candidate in Luton South against disgraced expenses Labour MP Margaret Moran. So today she decided to find out what Luton was really like, accompanied by the media...
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Conservatives supporting the British horse racing industry

Posted by on May 19, 2009 in Euro election | 0 comments Like many other businesses today, the British horse racing industry is struggling from the recession. Living close to Newmarket, it is  something I enjoy from time to time with my family. I find the culture and varied backgrounds of its enthusiasts fascinating. I didn’t realise that 7,000 local jobs were dependent on this industry, so it was a very appropriate issue for Jeremy Hunt as...
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The changing European political agenda

Posted by on May 19, 2009 in Euro election | 4 comments One moment climate change, the economy and Lisbon Treaty were key issues for our European MPs and candidates, but now it is expenses. Yesterday this issue was also the focus of the launch of the Eastern Region Euro election campaign in Newmarket when they each signed a pledge promising greater transparency. Jeremy Hunt, Shadow Secretary for Culture, Media and Sport – he is such a great...
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The day of reckoning will come

Posted by on May 17, 2009 in Euro election | 11 comments With the British political scene in unprecedented turmoil – and yes, I would like to see an early general election so political associations and the electorate can decide who they can trust as their MP – I am delighted to say there is some good news on the political scene. I’m afraid it does not originate from this country, but from Kuwait, where for the first time ever women...
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David Willetts in Cambridgeshire

Posted by on May 11, 2009 in Euro election, Politics | 11 comments It was business as usual for David Willetts today when the Shadow Universities Secretary visited Cambridgeshire to support our Euro election candidate Vicky Ford, despite those newspaper headlines. They met the local principal of a college in Huntingdon who explained her difficulties to plan for redevelopment following the withdrawal of funding from the Learning and Skills Council. One of the...
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A week in May…

Posted by on May 10, 2009 in Politics | 10 comments So unelected ordinary people will tell MPs whether they can claim a loo roll holder on expenses because they can’t be trusted themselves. How distasteful is that? The lack of trust, I mean. An independent auditing body will now be asked to hold these purse strings, a proposal which will be discussed by MPs tomorrow to help make people trust them more. On top of “smeargate”, it...
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Reminding Charles Clarke of the Lisbon Treaty

Posted by on May 6, 2009 in updates | 3 comments Following a two-page report in the Eastern Daily Press after Charles Clarke announced he was ashamed to be a Labour MP, our Eastern Region MEP Geoffrey Van Orden penned this reply which was published on the EDP’s letters’ page today reminding Mr Clarke about the Lisbon Treaty. In your issue of 4th May, Charles Clarke gives nearly 2,000 words of explanation for Labour’s dismal...
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Why a UKIP vote is a wasted vote

Posted by on May 5, 2009 in Euro election | 14 comments Conservatives must beat UKIP before they beat Brown, says John Flack, one of our ace candidates in the Eastern Region Euro  Election. These are his reasons why: When UKIP asks you to “lend them your vote” at the Euro Election please, please, don’t be fooled again. Although their message may perhaps be understandably superficially attractive to many Conservatives, a vote for UKIP is...
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The highs and lows of football and politics

Posted by on May 4, 2009 in Euro election, Personal, Politics | 5 comments So once again I ask myself, “how on earth did the week fly by so quickly?” One minute I’m in Diss with our fragrant, choir singing Vicky Ford and Andrew Mitchell, the Shadow Secretary for International Development, visiting an Oxfam store as they share their voluntary experiences in Rwanda and kick start our Euro election campaigning, and the next moment I’m at a football...
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