Blog
What are the top most useless inventions?
You probably know of a perfectly infuriating device you can suggest as the most useless invention which you bought or been given over the last 12 months for the first ever Landfill Prize. Nominations already include an automatic cucumber peelers, hi-spec plug-in air...
My public speaking challenge
Regular readers will know about my fear of public speaking and how I am trying to overcome it with the help of Cambridge Speakers Club, a Toastmasters International organisation. I used to freeze and dry up and feel so panic stricken, but I am gradually becoming more...
When did food become so complicated?
If, like me, you watched Newsnight last night with journalist Mi chael Pollan being quizzed about his latest book, In Defence of Food, did you also wonder why food has become so complicated? For example, who eats butter any more? Is it made from the right kind of fat,...
Who will inherit Nigella’s fortune?
As someone who has helped Nigella Lawson amass her millions by tuning in to watch the Domestic Goddess demonstrate her culinary skills, as well as buying her latest Nigella Express cookbook - the pear and chocolate pudding is to die for - I was fascinated to learn...
News at 10 and sex trafficking tonight
Do be sure to watch ITN's News at 10 this evening and see their dangerous undercover investigative work on sex trafficking in Eastern Europe, it's a highly lucrative trade. I've just seen a trailer and it is going to be really gripping and eye-opening. Award winning...
Tony Juniper to leave FoE
I don't imagine it will be too long before Tony Juniper lands a top new job which will enable him to continue promoting green issues. The Friends of the the Earth will find him a hard act to follow after he steps down as director from the green group later this year....
A strictly fun weekend
My exotic mother Loula is visiting me this weekend. Her motto in life is to "live and love your life away". Yet every time I speak to her on the phone, her last words are: "I must go and wash the kitchen floor". She seems obsessed with washing her kitchen floor! But...
Tea with Barbara Cartland
I must confess I have never read a Mills & Boon book, yet 35 million bodice-ripping copies are sold every year - one every three second. This year marks the centenary of the publisher, and I was surprised to learn that its romance writers did not include the...
Are men discriminated against?
Home Office Minister Vernon Coaker made two references at yesterday's sex trafficking conference expressing surprise at the zero media coverage following the launch of a new organisation called the Men's Coalition. It aims to advise government and other policy makers...