Ellee Seymour

I wonder what the feisty Heather Brooke would do in my shoes. I still haven’t had a response to a Freedom of Information request I submitted on 1st November last year. I’m getting fed up with this unexplained delay after being told I would hear by the 31st November.

It involves a very high profile woman whose life ended tragically and, on the face of it, I can think of no reason for secrecy – unless someone has something to hide.

I’ve phoned the FOI office and spoken to the case worker at least three times, keeping copious notes of his promises to deal with it straight away; the last promise was that I would hear by the end of last week.

Silence.

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I come from Wisbech where agriculture plays a key role in the local economy.

It is famed for its black fertile soil – and its thousands of migrant workers who have been accused of taking jobs once held by locals.

I really like the idea of this programme on BBC 1 this evening with Evan Davis.

Since 2004 this once prosperous market town has received up to 9,000 immigrants seeking work – the majority from Eastern Europe. But with nearly 2,000 locals unemployed and claiming benefits, many of them blame the foreign workers for their predicament.

To test if the town needs so many foreign workers, immigrant employees are temporarily removed from their jobs, and the work given to the local unemployed. Now the town’s British workers have a chance to prove they can do it.

Eleven British unemployed workers are recruited to go into a range of different Wisbech workplaces including a potato company, an asparagus farm, an Indian restaurant and a building site run by a local landlord.

I doubt the Fennies will be a match for the migrant workers. But then it wouldn’t make good TV if they succeeded. I wonder if any of the locals ended up with a job offer….

*Evan writes in today’s Times “Foreigners – they didn’t steal our jobs: they created them”. He’s got a point.

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I’ll be watching the dramatisation tonight on BBC 4, On Expenses. I’m glad this story is being told as I felt journalist Heather Brooke, who spent five years trying to get information about MPs’ expenses, lost her moment of glory when the Daily Telegraph published the damning revelations unearthed by her relentless pursuit. It resulted in the biggest political scandal in living memory because of a flawed system, rather than greed.

In our haste to make MPs clean up their act, I am concerned that some recommendations from Sir Christopher Kelly’s committee on standards in public life will have a detrimental effect on MPs’ family life, sparse as it is.

For example, a ban on MPs employing family members has been proposed; currently 200 MPs employ relatives. Those I have spoken to tell me this is the only way they have of maintaining regular contact with their spouses or children, and they feel bereft at the thought of losing this valuable contact.

Working 80 hours a week leaves very little free time to spend with family, if the family has not broken up. All MPs make considerable personal sacrifices to do their job effectively, and they don’t complain about the long hours as they know it is par for the course.

It is also proposed that MPs should rent second homes only and that MPs living within an hour’s journey of London should not be able to claim for second homes. A new independent parliamentary regulator may be appointed to review an appropriate limit for monthly rental claims every year, and the figure is likely to be controversial. While the mood of the moment calls for restraint, it’s important to remember the unusual circumstances our MPs work under. Why seemingly punish them for past mistakes, instead of having a system that is fair to their personal circumstances, and one which the public could understand if transparency and communications were improved?

A woman MP I spoke to yesterday is a single mother whose marriage broke down because of the demands of her job and her constituency is just within the hours travelling distance of Westminster. She has to employ a full-time nanny for her son so he can stay with her during the week in London. MPs had a half-term break last week, but as bad luck would have it, it was not the same week as her son’s half-term.

How can a single mum (or dad) on £65,000 a year be expected to pay the running costs of two homes and a full-time nanny in these circumstances? She manages because her ex-husband is helping, but it’s not easy.

Her only complaint is the lack of understanding by the public about what her  demanding job involves, and she is a Shadow Minister, and that so many people do not know what an MP does.

Another woman MP I spoke to – a former Labour minister who has resigned to spend time with her family – told me it took her more than two years to pay off her huge debts of £90,000 (from memory) incurred as a parliamentary candidate, and how hard she found it having a constituency in the north and being based in London too, where she also kept her kids so they could be close to her. People need to wake up to the fact that being an MP is not a well paid job, and that they want their family around them so they can live as normal a life as possible. Let’s fix the flawed expenses system, but it needs to include flexibility and consideration for MPs for whom family life is important.

All political parties have pledged to get more women into parliament. I wonder what impact these proposals will have on this, and the recommendations of the Speaker’s Conference which is  trying to make parliament a more family friendly workplace.

I  believe it is going to take a lot more than a crèche to achieve this!

Instead of our MPs spending time with families on sink estates for Channel 4’s Tower Block of Commons series, why not challenge sceptic members of the public to swap roles with an MP and do their work, and see how they cope.

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Working for a bully is a terrifying experience and totally demoralising. It makes going to work each day a nerve wracking ordeal and such allegations should fully investigated.

These allegations today point a finger at our Prime Minister. BBC’s Nick Robinson gives a well reasoned response on his blog about whether Gordon Brown is a bully or not, and is worth a read.

There have now been further revelations that "three or four" calls have been made to the National Bullying Helpline in recent years from staff in Gordon Brown’s office; this is very disturbing news, and paints a very unflattering picture of the man running our country.

The bullying allegations follows claims in the Observer that the head of the civil service Sir Gus O’Donnell was so concerned he had a word with Gordon Brown about his behaviour towards staff. A book by the newspaper’s chief political commentator Andrew Rawnsley includes details of incidents where it is alleged Mr Brown grabbed staff by the lapels, shoved them aside and shouted at them.

Downing Street has strenuously denied the allegations, saying they are "malicious" and totally without foundation. If that is so, the Prime Minister should consider taking legal action to clear his name, even if it gets in the way of preparing for the general election.

No doubt the character assassination against the prime minister will continue to escalate between now and the general election.  I don’t like nasty politics, and believe that the facts of past performance should suffice to win over wavering voters.

I hope Tories don’t gloat too much about this – just remember, the tables could be turned against us again soon (as if Sir Nicholas Winterton wasn’t bad enough!) We should focus on the key message about change and how Conservatives can make a positive difference. The country is ready for change, but still needs convincing that David Cameron is the man to take forward that change. And that’s fair enough.

*I’ve just ordered a copy of Eamonn Butler’s new book, The Alternative Manifesto, which I know will be an intelligent read. Eamonn, who lives nearby in Cambridge, is Director of the Adam Smith Institute and describes the book as  “a sort of workshop manual for fixing Britain, and it doesn’t flinch from getting the spanner round those nasty problems that the politicians of all sides don’t want to talk about.”

I’m particularly interested in reading his views about politicians, as “nothing short of complete constitutional reform will fix that one”. I firmly believe so too, and will tell you my opinions in due course – and they are far reaching.

Eamonn’s book can be ordered at Amazon on this link.

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One of my greatest pleasures in life is to see Shakespeare at The Globe Theatre where I imagine myself back in those daring theatrical days of Elizabethan England. I sit there totally enthralled by the whole experience.

My son David used to be my Shakespeare buddy – he enjoyed the unique setting too – but his life has many other distractions now, so I shall be joined this year by my dear author friend Jean Adamson to see Macbeth. I quite fancy seeing Bedlam too, a first for the RSC, and Anne Boleyn.

Tickets have only just gone on sale, and already many of the best seats have been snapped up. I do prefer a seat too (even if it is a hard bench) and wouldn’t want to  stand down in the pit for an entire performance, especially in the midday sun; it’s a bargain for those who can as the price is only £5. I had to rub my eyes hard once when I spotted a long lost journalist friend standing in the pit from my balcony seat, and we met up afterwards for a long chat.

When I booked my tickets online this morning, I was amused by the title bar which included Baroness, Air Commodore, Count, Judge, Bishop and Viscountess. I did eventually find plain Mrs for me…

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It seems that every road I drive on at the moment has potholes, potholes and more potholes.  There were literally dozens of them around every corner I turned today, some quite enormous ones. I spent a couple of hours swerving all over the road to avoid sinking into them and damaging my car on my weekly drive to visit my mother out in the Fens.

Am I alone in thinking that driving on a road without potholes is a rarity at the moment? Why are our roads not built to withstand the British weather? Why do they melt in the summer and disintegrate during freezing winter conditions? Why are they not made to be durable and fit for purpose? Does it defy our skills and technology in this day and age to build a road which can be used all year round without suffering major problems and causing potential risk to road users? And those lethal potholes must make road conditions treacherous for cyclists and motorcyclists.

I sympathise with local authorities who have to foot the bill for these countless repairs, estimated at a shocking £10 billion; surely all the more reason to discover why we are building such poor roads. Which country is there that we can look to for best practice on this?

Here is a link to a website called potholes.co.uk where you can report pothole  damage – there is a pothole map of the UK – and also find out how to claim if your car has suffered pothole damage.

And do let me know if you find a pothole-free hole road in the UK!

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The Cambridgeshire street I live in has become a mecca for excited twitchers who have spotted a couple of waxwings making a rare appearance to the UK this winter.

The enthusiasts were virtually on my doorstep early this morning with their long lenses aimed at a rowan tree across the snow covered street. The sub-zero temperature did not deter them, and my offer of a warming drink was declined as they headed off in eager pursuit of their feathery friends which had flown into a nearby garden.

Yesterday there were 20 birdwatchers, wrapped in woolly hats and thick jackets, including Ian Barton, who lives in the village and was the first to spot them on his way to the doctor’s surgery.

“I’ve lived in the village for 10 years and always look for them in the rowan tree because they love berries, and this is the first time I spotted them,” he said.

The waxwing usually arrive here every winter from Scandinavia and love feeding on berries, only this year there have been very few sightings of them, hence the flurry of excitement. I spoke to one birdwatcher who had travelled from Hertfordshire after being alerted on his pager which tracks the movements of all rare birds in the UK, and this is how they usually get to hear about it.

I know this will greatly interest keen ornithologist and blogger Maalie, who I hope will take me up on my offer of a coffee if he makes the journey here to view them.

And I wonder if we will we end up  being besieged like the Norfolk village of Cley two years ago following the appearance of a rare sparrow and attracted more than 1,000 birdwatchers…

UPDATE 4.30pm: Twitchers are still arriving, including one from London, but the waxwings have apparently  not been seen since 12.30pm because of a dominant and territorial mistle thrush which is sitting in the tree and keeping them away.

BBC Radio Cambridgeshire called to interview my MEP Robert Sturdy about  Greece’s bail out and I knew they would  be interested in speaking to the birdwatchers too for a report. So I went outside and passed my phone over to them and they were interviewed by Mark Williamson who, you could say, killed two birds with one stone! Only not those lovely waxwings, I hope!

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Congratulations to Therese Coffey who was given “a prolonged standing ovation” after becoming the Conservative parliamentary candidate in Suffolk Coastal to replace John Gummer.

Her victory was outstanding. Jonathan Isaby, co-editor of ConservativeHome who chaired the selection meeting, said it was unheard of for a candidate on a six-person shortlist to win on the first ballot, and  praised her superb performance.

Therese is a BBC property finance finance manager who lives in Hampshire and is set to be the first woman ever to represent Suffolk in Westminster.

Tim Montgomerie today states that  Therese was selected because “her Euroscepticism and Thatcherite style won over an Association that didn’t care if she was a man or a woman. They liked her politics.”

I’ve spoken to many other extremely talented women Tory candidates who are also strong Thatcherites, and they also believe that modernising parliament with Conservatives will require a new style of modern Thatcherism to put our economy back on track.

Only instead of handbags, these women will  be equipped with iPhones and Blackberries throughout their 80 hour week. I wonder if one day, any of them will succeed Maggie and become our second woman prime minister.

Update 26 February: The Times says the same today following a survey of Tory candidates.

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Meldreth circular walk

Map your trip with EveryTrail

Many thanks to Geoff Jones for sending me this fabulous EveryTrail link for a walk we did yesterday with Sally and the Cambridge Rambling Club. I did try to make my excuses the day before – too many jobs to catch up on in the house, etc – but Geoff was having  none of it and called me to say he expected to see me there. So I demured.

Actually, I needed to give my new pink-fleeced lined jacket an airing which I had bought in the Christmas sales. And, of course, I enjoyed it once I was out there hopping over endless stiles. A pity the sun never really came out.

As Geoff says, it was a bit on the slow side. But I still somehow ended up with blisters, and left the group after three hours during the pub break to complete the rest of the 10 mile walk. I couldn’t work out why we had only covered six miles in that time as I normally walk 2 1/2 – 3 miles to the hour, but we did stop off and linger for a while to admire a beautiful snowdrop garden en route.

I did enjoy catching up with an old friend from the school-gate days, Sarah Bailey Mappledoram, (pic right) who is in training for an impressive fundraising walk along the Great Wall of China. I am such a novice in comparison and in total awe.

Geoff did try to coax me to join her, and that certainly would be a wonderful achievement. One day…

Btw Geoff, isn’t it time you designed a beautiful new website for the rambling club? Its newsletter style doesn’t do it justice. And, where did you get that hat!!

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We have recruited four excellent new trustees at Headway Cambridgeshire and I look forward to working with them to strengthen the board and take forward our exciting new plans  in the pipeline, including opening centres in Peterborough and Fenland.

I am strongly urging them to attend an excellent training course for new trustees to fully understand their roles and responsibilities, and four of them yesterday – two new ones and two more long standing trustees – went to London to do so, and have all said it was excellent.

The course I strongly recommend is run by Dorothy Dalton, editor of Governance magazine, and I closely follow her model the best I can. It cannot be praised highly enough in helping boards to work more effectively.

We are now in need of a facilitator to lead an Away Day which I would like to arrange, and if anyone could help us on a pro bono basis, please let me know as we would be most grateful.

Today I am spending time at Headway Cambridgeshire, sitting in on one of the sessions with service users and having lunch there as I am encouraging trustees to spend time within the premises and talk to staff and those who use our services to get a good understanding of how it really works. I have to lead by example, of course, but it is also hugely rewarding for me. I have introduced a regular item on our agenda called Your Headway Experience so trustees can report back on their visit and share their experiences.

I also have a meeting with our Chief Executive and a solicitor to review our governance documents, including our Memorandum of Articles, which is something I  have never done before. I’m learning all the time in my role as chair of trustees, and I’m really enjoying it.

We are all looking forward to our gala ball on 27th February, and tickets are still available. Full details can be found at this link, and with an Abba tribute band topping the bill (my idea), I am sure it will be a fun evening.

*I took this photo of our excellent CEO Andrew Gardener with one of the many items which will be auctioned at the ball. It is a stunning acrylic painting of Madonna and similar works of pop art have sold for £700. I am hoping some of our guests will have deep pockets on the night

What is particularly amazing about this is that it was painted by one of our service users who has an acquired brain injury. His name is Barry-John Nevill and he has kindly donated this fabulous painting to boost funds for Headway Cambridgeshire. You can see more of his pop art on his website. Thank you Barry!!

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