Who is Labour’s WikiLeaks “bully and sex pest” ?

Posted by on Nov 29, 2010 in Blog | 8 comments Lots of names and embarrassing detail is gloriously published in the Guardian’s WikiLeaks exclusive today. Yet the blushes have been spared of a Labour minister who was forced to apologise for sexual harassment and described as a “bully”. The newspaper is witholding his name (do you think that would have been the case if it had been a Conservative or Lib Dem minister?), but I...
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A brief encounter with Michael Crick

Posted by on Nov 25, 2010 in Blog, Politics | 2 comments My pulse rate increased when I spotted Newsnight’s terrier Michael Crick sitting a few inches from me in a Westminster coffee bar. I was passing time there as I was early for an event in the House of Lords to promote Abbeyfield’s future care home strategy in the UK, and I wondered if I should seize the moment and invite Michael along. Michael had his head down and was flickering with...
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Tuition fees and student unrest

Posted by on Nov 25, 2010 in Blog, university | 5 comments My grave concern about tripling university tuition fees is that it is a flawed business plan. A bank would not lend thousands of pounds on the pretext that it might be paid back ONLY IF the students secures a job with a salary of £21,000. With the proposed changes mature students, for example, can take out a loan to pursue their own academic interests and have no intention of working afterwards....
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David Ruffley’s neighbourhood coalition

Posted by on Nov 24, 2010 in Blog, Politics | 2 comments We all know you can choose your friends, but not your neighbours. It means that suddenly the Lib Dem and Conservative coalition has a whole new meaning as Tory MP David Ruffley has inadvertently moved next door to his former Lib Dem parliamentary rival David Chappell in a village near Bury St Edmunds. It could prove a little bit awkward, especially if they both contest the next general...
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Combating loneliness in old age

Posted by on Nov 22, 2010 in Blog | 8 comments Loneliness is one of the biggest fears for older people today. But this is nothing new. One inspirational man who recognised how loneliness affected the older generation back in the 1950s was Richard Carr-Gomm who resigned his commission in the Coldstream Guards to became an unpaid home help and learned about loneliness among the old and vulnerable. He was determined to help them overcome their...
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Congratulations to Francesca and her second Mexican Takeway!

Posted by on Nov 21, 2010 in Blog, PR client | 1 comment I had some wonderful news over the weekend. There’s nothing that beats putting a smile on my face than the arrival of a new baby. I love them all!! The mother is an inspirational woman who is campaigning to reduce bureaucracy over adoptions in the UK, Francesca Polini. She has just successfully adopted her second baby in Mexico with husband Rick, a boy called Luca, who is an adorable...
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Monitoring Social Media

Posted by on Nov 18, 2010 in Blog, Social Media | 5 comments I’m sorry to miss this unmissable event in London next Monday as it could provide the elusive answer for PR, marketing and social media professionals about how to measure ROI on the internet. Entitled Monitoring Social Media 2010, it includes some great speakers, and I will be sorry to miss one of my favourite bloggers, Neville Hobson, who is chairing a discussion on Monitoring...
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Trying the new Nescafe Dolce Gusto

Posted by on Nov 18, 2010 in Blog, Sponsored Post, UnrulyMedia | 7 comments Nescafe is confidently taking on the Italians as King of Coffee with its new stylish coffee making machine, the Nescafe Dolce Gusto, and its mouth watering collection of recipes, including the scrummy sounding, waist expanding Chocolate Butterscotch Latte Macchiato – what a mouthful, literally! I know just the person who might like one of these neat coffee machines for a Christmas...
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Nick Clegg cornered by Oxford graduate over soaring tuition fees

Posted by on Nov 17, 2010 in Blog, university | 9 comments A week after violent protests by students over the proposed tripling of university tuition fees, Nick Clegg was cornered by Oxford graduate Portia Murray who asked him to defend the promise Liberal Democrats made not to increase fees in their 2010 election manifesto. He gives his answer on this video, appearing uncomfortable at times, and states that as his party is not in power, they are unable...
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Prince William and Kate to be married

Posted by on Nov 16, 2010 in Blog, News | 13 comments So Waity Katy has bagged her Prince Charming and will one day be our Queen following today’s announcement that the couple plan to marry next year. We are told that they became engaged last month during a private holiday in Kenya after dating for eight years. I observed from this recent photo of them taken at a friend’s wedding that she seemed to radiate an inner glow which came from...
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The Chandlers are freed by Somalian pirates

Posted by on Nov 14, 2010 in Blog, News | 11 comments What a breathtaking weekend for releases from captivity. First, the Burmese demure pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi was freed yesterday by her country’s dictators after spending more than 15 years under house arrest. And now British couple Paul and Rachel Chandler have been released by Somalian pirates after spending over a year in captivity. I thought everyone had forgotten about this...
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Is a “mercy killing” murder?

Posted by on Nov 12, 2010 in Blog, News | 10 comments We need an urgent political debate in this country about “mercy killings” following a decision by the Court of Appeal today rejecting a mother’s conviction of murder after she fatally injected her brain-inured son with a heroin injection to end his “living hell”. Why wasn’t it reduced to manslaughter? Frances Inglis, 58, of Dagenham, was jailed for life at the...
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Will Burma’s Aung San Suu Kyi be freed today?

Posted by on Nov 12, 2010 in Blog, Politics | 2 comments This is terrific news. There are reports that military authorities have signed an order authorising the release of Burma’s jailed democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, a woman whose dignity in adversity and oppression has won her worldwide admiration. The Nobel Peace Prize winner has spent more than 15 years in detention, most of it under house arrest at her home, for her political beliefs and...
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Cambridge student protests from the 60s and 70s

Posted by on Nov 12, 2010 in Blog, updates | 0 comments With student protests in the headlines over rising tuition fees, I thought I would delve back and see which issues fired up Cambridge students in the past, particularly the 1960s and 70s. Since then, student life in Cambridge seems to have been much quieter, barring the incident when a student threw a shoe at the Chinese prime minister last year. Ian Kitching has recorded past student actions on...
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Will you buy the new Sinclair electric vehicle?

Posted by on Nov 11, 2010 in Blog, News | 4 comments Sir Clive Sinclair has designed a new electric vehicle following his C5 battery model which flopped after it was launched in 1985. It had a top speed of 15 miles per hour and was intended to transform the way people travelled, but ended up losing its inventor £6 million. Undeterred, the entrepreneur has unveiled his the X-1, which is similar to a battery-powered bicycle with a battery that is...
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No 7′s Xmas party make-up tips

Posted by on Nov 11, 2010 in Sponsored Post, UnrulyMedia | 10 comments I’m a Boots No 7 serum devotee and have just caught up with this video demonstrating how their make-up should be applied to create three different looks for the party season. It’s easy to get stuck in a rut using the same colours, so why not try something different for a change – be bold and go for the glitter...
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Lembit Opik and Ann Widdicombe would make great jungle partners

Posted by on Nov 10, 2010 in News | 5 comments Defeated Lib Dem MP Lembit Opik is joined by a host of oddballs in the latest screening of “I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here!“. I’m not sure why actor Nigel Havers is included as I considered him quite sane. I can only suspect that Lembit tried, and was rejected, to appear on the more glamorous Strictly Come Dancing show where his former political rival Ann...
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If you hear domestic violence, please call 999

Posted by on Nov 10, 2010 in Sponsored Post, UnrulyMedia | 2 comments This chilling video released by the Met Police to highlight domestic violence sent shivers down my spine. There are no blood curdling images, just the sound of escalating raised voices and thumps being rained on the innocent victim; it is left to your imagination to visualise the unbearable pain and injuries inflicted. It really is too awful for words. It’s so easy to ignore signs of...
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Could you run a bed and breakfast?

Posted by on Nov 9, 2010 in News | 8 comments If you have a spare bedroom or two, would you use it to bring in extra income and run a bed and breakfast? This article in Lady magazine describes what happens when one couple decide to do just his – and they even boast their own “boutique piglets”, which I find hilarious, but not an attraction. However, their base in Suffolk’s Constable Country, a favourite walking area...
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The Media Trust and the Big Society

Posted by on Nov 9, 2010 in Headway | 2 comments I’m attending a conference in London today entitled “Communications for a Big Society” organised by the MediaTrust with speakers from the BBC, Guardian and Google. Do let me know if you have any questions on this topic and I will try and raise them. I’m interested to hear the panel discussion, “A Big Digital Society: how can digital media give power to the...
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Shakespeare’s England

Posted by on Nov 8, 2010 in Uncategorized | 3 comments We spent a wonderful weekend in Shakespeare’s birthplace for a surprise birthday party for my son’s lovely girlfriend.  It was absolutely fabulous, but I couldn’t leave without visiting some of my favourite Shakespeare haunts as he is one of my favourite writers.  Unfortunately, my iPhone died on my just before we reached Anne Hathaway’s Cottage.  I must return and...
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Rosie Wilson’s brave stand against suicide internet sites

Posted by on Nov 4, 2010 in Headway | 14 comments The mother of a beautiful young woman who tried to commit suicide has been nominated for a national Headway award for her dedicated campaign to warn others against the dangers of sickening internet sites that provide encouragement about how vulnerable people can kill themselves. I will be joining Rosie Wilson, mother of Ziggy, who is one of our lovely service users at Headway Cambridgeshire, for...
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Camread records my blog

Posted by on Nov 3, 2010 in Uncategorized | 3 comments I cannot imagine the fear of of living in a world of darkness. What keeps those who are blind going from day to day? Perhaps the hope of a miracle cure, like the one mentioned in the news today which describes how an implant placed at the back of the eye has restored the sight again for those who had lost it. One man saw his girlfriend’s smile for the first time, while another was able to...
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Andrew Parsons and David Cameron

Posted by on Nov 3, 2010 in updates | 2 comments I can understand why the appointment of Andrew Parsons, David Cameron’s personal photographer, as a Civil Service cameraman is controversial at a time when it is axing 500,000 staff. And I do wonder why Andrew is no longer employed by the Conservative Party, but as a civil servant whose job is to take pictures of the Prime Minister. Perhaps it is so he can also work closely with Liberal...
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Why are Britian’s families seeking international adoptions?

Posted by on Nov 2, 2010 in PR client | 1 comment This week is national Adoption Week and here are some myths which campaigners are keen to dispel: Contrary to popular belief, you don’t have to own your home, have a job or be under 40 to adopt a child. You don’t have to be married either, or in a relationship, or heterosexual. You don’t have to be a parent already or qualified in any specific way. A disability is not necessarily an...
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