Books, shoes and superbugs

Posted by Ellee on Oct 30, 2009 in Blog | 6 comments It was great to hear from my author friend Richard Havers this afternoon; I needed a breather from the topics I had been working on – shoe prices and EU anti-dumping measures, and “superbugs” and Epidemic Intelligence for the Infection 2009 conference I am involved with. Richard was a great support to me when I was ghost writing Being The Soham Psychic, which has nine 5 star reviews on...
read more

Headway Cambs seeks new trustees

Posted by Ellee on Oct 29, 2009 in Headway | 3 comments We are very fortunate at Headway Cambridgeshire in having a young board of savvy trustees with interesting jobs. At the same time, being a trustee requires time and commitment and sometimes it has to give way for career moves. That’s the situation we find ourselves in at the moment which is why we are currently seeking a new Company Secretary and board members with financial skills and...
read more

Not everyone lives in the Google era

Posted by Ellee on Oct 28, 2009 in Politics | 10 comments Conservatives fell on their own sword of secrecy by not publicly revealing the names of candidates shortlisted for parliamentary seats. Within hours of the very accomplished Liz Truss being selected for the safe seat of South West Norfolk at the weekend, a Sunday newspaper published a story about an affair she had with a married MP in 2004-05. Liz’s selection has now been referred back to a...
read more

Avon ladies can turnover millions

Posted by Ellee on Oct 26, 2009 in News | 10 comments No wonder I have two Avon ladies who drop off their booklets at my house. If they are anything like Debbie Davis, they could be making a cool £250,000 a year, with a £7 million turnover. According to Sky News, Debbie is a Sunderland lass who five years ago was on the dole after losing her £200-a-week factory job. Needing £400 to pay the rent and facing Christmas without a roof over her head,...
read more

York Lib Dems and student bribery

Posted by Ellee on Oct 26, 2009 in Uncategorized | 2 comments More than 100 students at York Uni were signed up to join the Lib Dems at a Freshers’ Fayre by being offered free membership, according to this report. It  now boasts that it is the largest student group in the country. Their numbers are said to have increased tenfold after what could be construed as  bribery, and a sign of desperation by Madeleine Kirk, the York Outer parliamentary...
read more

Who is the Court of Protection really protecting?

Posted by Ellee on Oct 25, 2009 in Alzheimer's, News | 30 comments They say you judge a nation by the way it looks after its elderly and vulnerable population. So who can defend this very disturbing report in today’s Mail on Sunday which claims that the Court of Protection is seizing the assets of thousands of elderly and mentally impaired people and turning control of their lives over to the State – against the wishes of their relatives. The Court of...
read more

The pain of a Conservative government

Posted by Ellee on Oct 25, 2009 in Politics | 1 comment This quote caught my eye when I read it in the national press yesterday, and  likewise Guido Fawkes. Scottish writer Armando Iannucci says of the prospect of a Conservative government… “I don’t think there’s going to be dancing in the streets. It will be like knowing you have to go in for a knee operation. You know it’s going to happen, it’ll get done and you’ll probably walk...
read more

Congratulations to Liz Truss

Posted by Ellee on Oct 25, 2009 in Politics | 10 comments Congratulations to Liz Truss on being selected the Conservative candidate for South  West Norfolk where she will be a great asset. I met her at the Conservative Conference in Manchester when she was chairing a fringe meeting and thought she was outstanding, and told her so afterwards. I know of Liz through the Rerform think tank where she is Deputy Director and I have joined as an Associate...
read more

Political cartoonists and free speech

Posted by Ellee on Oct 23, 2009 in Politics | 2 comments I must admit when I read a paper, I skim over the headlines and don’t always pay  attention to its feature cartoon. I shall try and pay more attention to them in future. Political cartoonists do add an extra dimension to our media and we should celebrate them. If a picture tells a thousand words, then a sharp, satirical cartoonist can far exceed that number with his wit, artistry and...
read more

The BBC and BNP

Posted by Ellee on Oct 22, 2009 in News, Politics | 15 comments After spending a couple of hours in Cambridge this evening with the Guardian’s political cartoonist Steve Bell, I shall head home and be glued to the BBC watching BNP’s Nick Griffin on Question Time. We might find him and his party’s views vile and grossly distasteful. But as a democracy – and with an electorate choosing to vote them in on local councils and the European ...
read more

Mind readers and neuromarketing

Posted by Ellee on Oct 22, 2009 in News | 6 comments The excellent Eureka science magazine published by The Times includes a fascinating report about some very interesting research projects which scientists are working on and could change the world. They include reducing the time that radioactive waste from nuclear power stations need to be stored before it is safe, finding less dangerous fuel than uranium for nuclear reactors, how to encourage...
read more

David Cameron and all-women shortlists

Posted by Ellee on Oct 21, 2009 in Politics | 11 comments At first I was aghast at David Cameron’s stand for all-women shortlists – my knee jerk reaction was that they should be selected on merit alone – but now I think it makes good sense. The fact is that the present system has let down women candidates as Conservative associations have shown a preference for males. This is the only way Cameron believes we can increase the number of women...
read more

Many thanks to the Daily Express

Posted by Ellee on Oct 20, 2009 in Being the Soham Psychic | 18 comments My thanks to journalist Becky Sheaves for the double page spread in today’s Daily Express about a book I wrote with psychic Dennis McKenzie. It has nine 5-star reviews on Amazon. There is also a huge banner on the front page of the paper promoting the article. The paper really sums up Dennis well and refers to some of the cases highlighted in the book, Being the Soham Psychic. It ends with...
read more

Robert Sturdy, dairy subsidies and over production

Posted by Ellee on Oct 20, 2009 in PR client, Robert Sturdy MEP, updates | 3 comments Have you been following the latest news about thousands of protesting dairy farmers marching to Luxembourg where EU farm ministers were meeting? Their concerns were based on the low price of milk, saying it costs more to produce than they can sell it for. Most of the EU’s member states have been pressing for financial aid after the global economic downturn reduced demand, and this has just...
read more

Epidemics and pandemics, what is to come?

Posted by Ellee on Oct 19, 2009 in Infection 2009 | 3 comments I’m really delighted about a new project I am working on to promote a medical/scientific conference called Infection 2009 which is being held in Birmingham next month. It might not sound a very sexy subject, but the topics which its world leading experts will speak about could have a considerable impact on our lives. The very distinguished Sir Richard Sykes is conference president, (chairman of...
read more

Phillip Lee and the X factor

Posted by Ellee on Oct 17, 2009 in Politics | 6 comments The moment I met Dr Phillip Lee at Manchester rail station and realised he was shortlisted for the Bracknell primary, I instantly knew Iain Dale had his work cut out. It was impossible not to instantly warm to his genuine and open nature, his easy smile and the trustfulness which oozed from him. He certainly had that elusive X factor. I felt pangs of guilt because, like the rest of blogosphere,...
read more

How charities can attract philanthropists.

Posted by Ellee on Oct 15, 2009 in Headway | 9 comments It was reassuring to hear at yesterday’s conference about raising funds from the rich that there are many millionaire philanthropists with spare money to give away. I was just one of 1,848 delegates from the third sector keen to discover the key to this. And after hearing from the speakers, it all made very good sense. Firstly, it is most important to develop a relationship with the intended...
read more

How to ask for a million pound gift

Posted by Ellee on Oct 14, 2009 in Headway | 9 comments “How to ask for a million pound gift” is the title of one of the eye catching presentations which will be given today at a conference I am attending entitled Raising Funds From The Rich. It is aimed at the third sector and I am hoping to pick up some tips as chair of trustees. We will be told how to turn a “no” into a “yes” when asking for donor fundraising, and how to turn a...
read more

Who holds the aces in the new ECR group?

Posted by Ellee on Oct 13, 2009 in Politics | 6 comments I wonder how many of you stopped off at the European stand promoting our Conservative MEPs at the Conservative Party Conference and picked up a new set of playing cards featuring members of the recently formed ECR group? It’s a great way for everyone to get to know who is who in the group; in fact, they can be used just like flash cards to test your knowledge. In case you want to know who holds...
read more

Alan Clark, the cad

Posted by Ellee on Oct 13, 2009 in Politics | 7 comments I’m spending this evening at a book reading with Ion Trewin, author of Alan Clark, The Biography, and wondered if you had read it and recommended it. I did enjoy Edwina Currie’s review in The Times: Alan Clark never stopped himself doing something stupid if he felt like it. Broke, but he fancied another classic Bentley? He bought it, even though that risked losing his beloved castle. A...
read more

Conservative Health Minister pledges boost to Alzheimer’s funding

Posted by Ellee on Oct 12, 2009 in Conservative Party Conference, updates | 5 comments Shadow Health  Minister Stephen O’Brien‘s words were music to the ears of Rebecca Wood, chief executive of the Alzheimer’s Research Trust, when he pledged increased proportional funding for dementia research. He disclosed to the packed audience at a fringe meeting at the Conservative Party Conference that his mother-in-law suffered from the degenerative disease, and described...
read more

The huge challenges for Alzheimer’s research

Posted by Ellee on Oct 12, 2009 in Conservative Party Conference | 3 comments Alzheimer’s research is a subject very close to my heart, so I was pleased to see it was included as a topic at one of the fringe meetings at the Conservative Party conferences. Prof Clive Ballard, Director of Research for the Alzheimer’s Society, describes in this video the huge challenges faced in securing future research funding, and bureaucracy in the UK which hinders progress. We...
read more

The race for SW Norfolk

Posted by Ellee on Oct 11, 2009 in Politics | 4 comments I am delighted to learn that James Tumbridge has made it through to the final stage of the selection as Conservative parliamentary candidate for South West Norfolk. He stood in Ian Gibson’s seat in Norwich North in 2005 – recently won by Chloe Smith who makes her maiden speech tomorrow – and has kept his house in Norfolk, a county he has strong roots in having been born in Norwich. You ...
read more

The Tories and The Times

Posted by Ellee on Oct 11, 2009 in Conservative Party Conference, updates | 1 comment Perhaps the editor of The Times had further damaging revelations about MPs expenses in mind when he refused to back the Tories in the same way as The Sun. There were whisperings all week at the Conservative conference about another expenses scandal which was going to break. During a fringe meeting which Times editor James Harding chaired, he was asked when his paper would do the “decent...
read more

Fixing our broken society

Posted by Ellee on Oct 10, 2009 in Conservative Party Conference, updates | 9 comments I was totally bowled over by this powerful video at the opening of the Conservative Party conference. What a great build up for Eric Pickles to walk on stage and address his “chums”. It encapsulates everything that is wrong with our society today and why change is desperately needed. And just watch – and enjoy – the terrific, creative graphics when Gordon Brown’s...
read more