Copenhagen disaster forces John Gummer to quit

Posted by on Dec 30, 2009 in climate change, General Election 2010 | 8 comments John Gummer’s decision to stand down at the next general election  did not come as a great surprise to me. Our next parliament must modernise and I believe there will be many changes in the way it works in an attempt to start winning back public trust following the expenses’ scandal. It is time for new blood, and John Gummer leaves after serving Suffolk Coastal for 30 distinguished...
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Memories of a special nativity – Merry Christmas

Posted by on Dec 23, 2009 in Personal | 22 comments This favourite photo sits on my bookcase, memories of a special nativity 13 years ago when my youngest son James was four. He is pictured as a shepherd kneeling in the front row with the striped sheet wrapped round his head. It was taken during a unique nativity service  in St Laurence’s Church, Wicken, a neighbouring village. I remember the magic of this particular service, with pews...
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The wonders of walking, is it the new rock’n’roll?

Posted by on Dec 20, 2009 in Personal, Toastmasters | 17 comments My last Toastmasters’ speech a couple of weeks ago was about the many wonders of walking; my joy of belonging to The Ramblers’ Association and the Ramblers Group in Cambridge. There were many smiles when I told the audience they could literally walk into love, just like Geoff Jones and Sally in Norfolk did, and other couples that I have met while leaping across a stile. Small surprise then...
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Is Helen the UK’s top fundraiser?

Posted by on Dec 20, 2009 in Headway | 2 comments At a time when fundraising is close to crisis levels for some charities due to the credit crunch, Helen Bearfield- Smith has raised a staggering £1 million in two years in East Anglia for Teenage Cancer Trust. It means that a new specialist unit at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge which started this month can open in December 2010 and will treat patients aged 13 to 24 from across East...
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My delayed Freedom of Information response

Posted by on Dec 18, 2009 in Uncategorized | 4 comments I am still waiting for a response to a Freedom of Information request I submitted on 1st November. I had an acknowledgement the following day stating: “Your request is being handled under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), and you will receive a response by 30th November 2009. Your request has been passed to the appropriate business unit within the MoJ, and they will...
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Gordon Brown and Margaret Thatcher on climate change

Posted by on Dec 16, 2009 in Environment | 7 comments Margaret Thatcher, 6 December 1990 at the 2nd World Climate Change: “The threat to our world comes not only from tyrants and their tanks. It can be more insidious though less visible. The danger of global warming is as yet unseen, but real enough for us to make changes and sacrifices, so that we do not live at the expense of future generations. Our ability to come together to stop or limit...
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A festive treat to rival Pamela Anderson

Posted by on Dec 16, 2009 in Personal | 4 comments I’m taking my music loving pa-in-law to an amazing Christmas show tomorrow in a tiny Norfolk hamlet which attracts 130,000 people a year, boosting the local economy by a cool £8 million. The £2.5 million Christmas Spectacular in Thursford is pure thrilling entertainment in the old-fashioned sense, including the high kicking Tiller girls, and is recognised as being the largest show of its...
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Why can MEPs switch jobs so easily?

Posted by on Dec 16, 2009 in General Election 2010 | 4 comments Around 200 eager beavers have applied for the safe Conservative seat of West Suffolk to succeed Richard Spring. I believe they include a recently elected MEP. Being elected an MEP back in June was a huge privilege, and I do not understand how they can now renege on pledges they made to constituents during what was a very tough election campaign and decide to switch jobs. The same obviously goes...
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Cheaper bananas thanks to EU trade deal

Posted by on Dec 15, 2009 in Robert Sturdy MEP | 2 comments The price of bananas – the favourite British fruit – is set to fall following an EU trade agreement which has been welcomed by my MEP Robert Sturdy. Robert, international trade spokesman for European Conservatives and Reformists group, welcomed the EU’s move to end the 15 year banana war with Latin America, but said the money promised to compensate African, Caribbean and Pacific countries ...
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Ready and waiting for the 2010 general election

Posted by on Dec 14, 2009 in 2010 general election, Politics | 2 comments Whether it’s next March or May, our Conservative candidates will be more than ready for the 2010 general election. I recently met up with Elizabeth Truss, our parliamentary candidate for South West Norfolk, who describes the issues important to her and constituents on this video. She talked about the urgent need for improved Broadband connection and roads, as well as the importance of...
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My bank manager is desperate for his bonus

Posted by on Dec 10, 2009 in News | 8 comments I had a call from my bank this morning – Barclays – asking if I wanted a loan. The call was quite timely as my son has just broken the oven door and it is going to cost more than £300 to repair the shattered glass, with the repair booked for 23rd December, which is cutting it a bit fine. When I paid a cheque in at my bank last week, I was handed a letter offering me a bank loan which I...
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Sick boy “disowned by state”

Posted by on Dec 9, 2009 in News | 8 comments A lovely family I know is trapped in the most horrendous legal wrangling over their desire to care for a distantly related boy who is seriously ill and was born with a  congenital heart problem. His own parents were unable to care for him. This couple from Cambridgeshire, who have fostered the sick boy, are caught in the middle of a heartless funding row between Orkney Islands Council,...
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A blind barrister, MPs’ chief of staff and four stunning women shortlisted by Cambridge Conservatives

Posted by on Dec 7, 2009 in updates | 17 comments I am planning to be in Yorkshire this weekend and hugely disappointed that I will miss the Conservative selection for the Cambridge parliamentary candidate which ConservativeHome has highlighted. These are the six hopeful candidates who have been shortlisted and it will be decided by an Open Primary. Any Cambridge resident wanting to attend the meeting must register through this link at the...
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Sandi Toksvig not standing as PPC in Cambridge

Posted by on Dec 6, 2009 in News, Politics | 8 comments I was disappointed to read that comedian Sandi Toksvig has dismissed rumours that she is standing as a Lib Dem parliamentary candidate in Cambridge; her colourful profile would have added some fun and attracted higher media attention for the election campaign. She discounted this quite firmly in yesterday’s Times stating it was “nonsense” – for now: “Sadly, that’s nonsense. But had...
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No hope of finding ET now

Posted by on Dec 5, 2009 in News | 5 comments I enjoyed this quote of the week by Thomas Cawston at Reform taken from The Sun: "The truth may be out there. But now we’ll never know. The Defence Ministry is closing its UFO department to save money. Even ET can’t escape the recession." Let’s hope the money goes towards funding essential equipment for our heroic servicemen in Iraq and...
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What can political candidates learn from Jedward?

Posted by on Dec 3, 2009 in News, Politics | 6 comments So it’s nothing to do with talent and all to do with running order. That’s the reason why Jedward were booted out of X-Factor, according to researchers at Cambridge and London universities. But is there a lesson here for our aspiring parliamentary candidates? Researchers who analysed data from 165 series of X-Factor and Pop Idol discovered that running order was crucial to winning. Their...
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Will you eat less meat to reduce climate change?

Posted by on Dec 3, 2009 in Robert Sturdy MEP | 10 comments Sir Paul McCartney rolls into the European Parliament in Brussels today with the “Meat Free Monday” campaign he launched with daughters Mary and Stella. He wants everyone to avoid eating meat one day every week in order to fight climate change. My MEP Robert Sturdy, who sits on the Agriculture Committee, has taken the ex-Beatle to task, and disagrees with the points he raises, thinking they...
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Why political parties need all-women shortlists

Posted by on Dec 2, 2009 in Politics | 6 comments   I’ve just been reading some latest figures about the number of women candidates selected for parliamentary seats which were presented to the Speaker’s Conference. This conference is convened by the Speaker of the House of Commons following an invitation from the Prime Minister, and  MPs from all political parties meet to consider issues within the electoral system. In November...
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