Alzheimer book wins Orwell Prize

Posted by on May 30, 2010 in Alzheimer's | 0 comments Congratulations to Andrea Gillies for winning the coveted Orwell Book Prize, Keeper: Living with Nancy. A journey into Alzheimer’s. It’s not a sexy subject, and normally this award is given for a political book. But this true, poignant swept judges off their feet. Maybe they thought that one day it could be them, just like it could be us. Maybe they have a loved one battling this...
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Is it hard for MPs to confess they are gay?

Posted by on May 29, 2010 in Uncategorized | 11 comments David Laws is not in judgement for being gay – that is hardly a scandal these days for MPs – though this might be the case for Premier football players. I accept he wanted to have a private life and not tell all and sundry about his lover James Lundie. But what people don’t like is when MPs who have been caught out trying to manipulate the meaning of words in the rule book. In...
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An evening at the Masonic Lodge, and charity shops

Posted by on May 27, 2010 in Headway | 7 comments I spent an evening at the gracious Cambridge Masonic Lodge this week where I was presented with a cheque for £1,250 on behalf of Headway Cambridgeshire, one of many local charities to benefit from the generosity of City & University of Cambridge Masonic Charitable Trust Donations totaling £58,250. They are keen to let the wider world knew of their philanthropic spirit, denying any secrecy...
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Grassroot Tories voice concerns over Lib Dem-Conservative coalition

Posted by on May 25, 2010 in updates | 0 comments Grassroot Tories from my association in South East Cambridgeshire are to meet our MP James Paice to discuss their concerns about the Lib Dem-Conservative coalition. Some Conservatives are still anxious about this new partnership (I expect Lib Dem supporters are too), and they will be meeting Jim, our Agriculture Minister, next Friday, 4 June to question him about it. An email from our association...
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How does a new MP juggle family life?

Posted by on May 24, 2010 in Uncategorized | 0 comments Julian Sturdy, newly elected MP for York Outer, talks to The Yorkshire Post about his new life and how he will juggle family life with his parliamentary duties in Westminster. Julian Sturdy: Welcome to Westminster – it’s a new world for rookie MP Premium Article ! Your account has been frozen. For your available options click the below button. Options Premium Article ! To read...
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In memory of Mutley the Dog

Posted by on May 23, 2010 in Uncategorized | 14 comments Like other bloggers, I am shocked and saddened by the sudden death of Mutley the Dog, whose ramblings verging on the absurb never failed to amuse. He was only 46. His devastated partner Kate left a comment one of my previous posts this morning breaking the bad news: To all readers of Mutleythe dogsdayout I am so terribly sorry to break this news: Rob, the author here on blogger of mutley the...
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Won’t Fergie ever learn?

Posted by on May 23, 2010 in News | 10 comments If something seems to good to be true, it is. As Fergie should know and has just learnt to her horror from this News of the World sting where she was caught trying to cash £500,000 for selling access to Prince Andrew in his role as trade envoy.  Prince Andrew had no knowledge about this. Here are some extracts from the “deal” she hoped to strike: FERGIE: I could bring you great...
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Meet Norfolk’s Tory MPs

Posted by on May 20, 2010 in Uncategorized | 6 comments It’s great to know that Norfolk is in great hands with our Tory MPs, from left, doe-eyed Chloe Smith, MP for Norwich North and a newly appointed Conservative whip; new girl Liz Truss, MP for South West Norfolk; grandee Keith Simpson, MP for Broadland, who has held many distinguished roles; new boys George Freeman, representing Mid Norfolk and Brandon Lewis for Great Yarmouth (I borrowed...
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Diane Abbott enters Labour’s leadership contest

Posted by on May 20, 2010 in Uncategorized | 3 comments Labour’s leadership contest has become very interesting all of a sudden now the contenders include more than just white, middle-aged men, including brothers to boot, with little to differentiate between them, according to Labour’s left wing MP Diane Abbott, who has just thrown her hat in the ring. She insists she is serious about this, and that none of the current frontrunners in the...
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Should cycle helmets be made compulsory?

Posted by on May 19, 2010 in Headway | 11 comments This week is Headway’s national Action for Brain Injury Week and one of the visitors to our stall at Addenbrooke’s Hospital was Dr Mary Archer, chairman of Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. I was so impressed. She has wonderful people skills and took great interest in our work, thanking everybody personally for their involvement. We all thought she was terrific. She...
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A new dawn for our democracy

Posted by on May 18, 2010 in Politics | 3 comments A huge weight rests on the shoulders of these 226 newly elected MPs in shaping our future democracy to modernise and help restore public trust in Parliament; they make up more than a third of the 650 MPs in the House of Commons. The new MPs know this too, and that their days there could be numbered if boundary changes are pushed through to reduce the number of MPs by 10% by the next...
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Liam Byrne’s tasteless words – no money left, good luck!

Posted by on May 18, 2010 in Politics, updates | 4 comments Quote of the day: On April 6th, the day that Gordon Brown called the election, Liam Byrne,  wrote this email for his successor in the Treasury: “Dear Chief Secretary, I’m afraid there is no money. Kind regards – and good luck! Liam.” He might regard those tasteless words as a joke, but his crass sentiment sums up the arrogance of Labour and why the country faces £6...
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Hazel Blears for Speaker?

Posted by on May 17, 2010 in Politics | 6 comments Nadine Dorries reminds us that the process for choosing a new Speaker of the House of Commons starts tomorrow, the first day Parliament returns to business. She would clearly like to see the back of John Bercow, reminding us how he was chosen almost entirely by the Labour Party to “stick it to the Tories”, and states: The Speaker will need to be authoritative, wise, knowledgeable and...
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Will Liz Jones take up those kind offers to bail her out of debt?

Posted by on May 17, 2010 in News, updates | 6 comments I too am amazed at the kindness of 4,100 readers who wrote to columnist Liz Jones offering her cash and accommodation after she wrote about her debts and depression. The generosity bestowed on this woman who is employed by the Daily Mail and makes a living by rubbishing her husband (now an ex-husband) and the rural community where she lives (she believes her home was shot at for barbed comments...
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A truly historic day

Posted by on May 12, 2010 in Uncategorized | 11 comments Who would have believed a week ago that a smiling David Cameron and Nick Clegg would be standing side by side outside 10 Downing Street sealing a new coalition government for all the world to see. It is the start of a new democracy as a result of the people’s choice which clearly wanted no more Labour and Gordon Brown in government, though there was insufficient Conservative support for a...
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Quote of the day from David Blunkett

Posted by on May 11, 2010 in 2010 general election | 9 comments David Blunkett tells the BBC: Any deal with Labour would be “a coalition of the defeated“.
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The missing – Luke Durbin

Posted by on May 11, 2010 in The missing | 6 comments It’s four years since Luke Durbin went missing as a 19-year-old lad on a night out with friends in Ipswich. He had been missing a year when I first wrote about his disappearance and the torment of his broken hearted mother Nicki who believes he is dead.Tomorrow is the anniversary of Luke’s mysterious disappearance and his mother still desperately wants to discover the truth. What...
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My two home towns hit the headlines

Posted by on May 10, 2010 in Personal | 3 comments As I drove into Wisbech on Saturday to visit my mother, I had to take a detour as I passed the burnt out shell of a public house. An arsonist had struck, a serial arsonist, for the fifth time in six weeks. The people of this Fen town are naturally very nervous. The arsonist has struck twice along the Georgian North Brink which has been used many times as the backdrop for period dramas and films,...
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Nigel Farage’s amazing escape

Posted by on May 8, 2010 in Uncategorized | 1 comment Looking at the crumpled wreckage of this plane crash, someone above must clearly be looking after Nigel Farage and I am amazed how he escaped without serious injuries. I believe he is still be in hospital being treated for broken ribs and other minor injuries where he seems to be catching up with his emails. Last night he accepted a recent request of mine to become one of his Facebook friends...
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A small increase of women MPs

Posted by on May 8, 2010 in 2010 general election, Women MPs | 2 comments  Because I believe you are all longing to know how many women were elected into Parliament, this is the breakdown, courtesy of the Centre for Women and Democracy. Don’t hold your breath, it’s not earth shattering: a total of 142 women were elected (22%), a small increase of the 126 women in situ before the election (19.5%) – a net gain of just 16, or 2.5%. The biggest...
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Our outstanding Cambridge success

Posted by on May 7, 2010 in 2010 general election | 7 comments Nick Hillman can congratulate himself on his outstanding success last night. He was only selected as the Cambridge Conservative parliamentary candidate just over four months ago, a seat where we came a poor third in the 2005 general election after Lib Dems sensationally snatched it from Labour. The result then was 19,152 (44%) Lib Dems; 14,813 (34%) Lab; and 7,193 (16.5%) Cons. This is a seat...
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Terrific success for Julian Sturdy MP, and other results

Posted by on May 7, 2010 in 2010 general election | 14 comments Wow, what a night, though we all knew it was going to be sensational for many different reasons, with Lembit Opik and Jacqui Smith’s humiliating defeats among some of the shock results. I was naturally thrilled that we won in York Outer where a very close campaign was fought between Conservative candidate Julian Sturdy and his Lid Dem rival Madeleine Kirk, who was tipped to win. It was...
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Tremendous feeling of optimism with Cambridge voters

Posted by on May 6, 2010 in 2010 general election | 5 comments I’ve been telling in Cambridge for Conservatives and can report that there has been a huge turnout of voters, particularly first-time voters which you would expect in a university city. I know our candidate Nick Hillman has a lot of support here, and that his hard work will hopefully pay off today. Election staff said it was the  highest turnout in recent memory, with queues outside...
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My role as an election teller and counting agent

Posted by on May 6, 2010 in 2010 general election | 3 comments Iain Dale has flagged up two quotes today from voters who are supporting Conservatives for the first time. I am pleased to say I have met others who feel the same way, and interviewed a couple on this video for Rob Halfon, who is standing in Harlow. I stumbled across similar sentiments on the Daily Mirror website this morning from a reader commenting on an article naturally intended to humiliate...
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Asian voters must vote Conservative, a message straight from the heart

Posted by on May 5, 2010 in 2010 general election | 13 comments A guest post by Muheed Jeeran urging Asian voters to vote Conservative: Asian community voters should consider to changing their tradition of voting this time for a party which has the real concern to help the British public and poorest in the world. I am an active Tory comrade and it is time for me to advise my fellow Sri Lankans and Asians living in UK to consider for Tories as your next ruling...
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