Blog
Tolly’s flowers, raffle tickets and poor pensioners
I pulled out my husband's winning raffle ticket last night and didn't know what to do. "He bought it fair and square, it's his prize," said fund-raising officer Tracy who was standing next to me. "He's always lucky, he always wins raffle prizes. The week...
Comic Relief and TwitterTitters
Fellow scribe and twitterer Linda Jones has had a brilliant brainwave - to gather a collection of new comedy for Comic Relief via Twitter which will then be published to raise cash. She has been thrilled with the positive response since her announcement earlier...
25 random things about me
I have been tagged several times about this latest meme, 25 random things about me. So here goes: 1. I have ghost written the life of a truly extraordinary man which is being published by a leading publisher on September 3. I can't say more now, but it is very...
Euro election news coverage
It's very challenging trying to persuade local newspapers to print stories about the important work of their MEPs. The best coverage in my patch, East Anglia, has come from the East Anglian Daily Times. Each week it has published a Letter from Brussels column written...
Blog housekeeping
I have had a long overdue housekeeping session on my blog and many links have been eliminated because it was a chore to trawl through them all. If it happened to you and you would like your link reinstated, please let me know. I have also added a link for my twitter...
Impact of pesticides’ ban
My MEP Robert Sturdy fought tooth and nail to try and persuade his colleagues in Brussels to see sense over voting for the EU's pesticides' ban without having an impact assessment, warning it could affect our future food security. Unfortunately, he was not successful....
Is California heading for bust?
I am shocked to read in today's Times that the state of California could go bust this month if an agreement cannot be reached on fixing a budget to cover its $42 billion ($28.4 billion) deficit. This is the home of Silicon Valley and Hollywood. Its streets, once paved...
Government’s failure on dementia
I believe you judge a society by the way it care for those who are vulnerable. What is so disappointing about the government's National Dementia Strategy which has just been announced is that it sadly fails to support much needed research into dementia. Ask anyone...
Protectionism and "Buy American"
I am glad to see that President Obama is having second thoughts over his protectionist "Buy American" clause to help revive his country's flagging economy. He is now quoted as saying: “I agree that we can’t send a protectionist message. I want to see what kind of...