Blog
The "forgotten hostages", asking for the impossible
I fear for the safety of our British hostages in Iraq following their evil captors' impossible demands for Britain to pull out of Iraq. We know that this is not going to happen. If the 10 day deadline started from the date when Jason's appeal was broadcast, then it is...
Hi Mike (oops Ian). And my name is not Ethel!
I wondered why Mike walked silently by when I spoke to him at a Christmas bash last week - I called out the wrong name, I should have said Ian! I'm normally good with names, unlike Bryan Appleyard, who becomes readily fixated by ties, agonised expressions,...
The undead – Cambridge Kate’s story
This is Kate's tragic story, she is one of our members of Headway Cambridgeshire, the charity which I support as a trustee and their press officer. It has been featured in The Sunday Times and highlights the incredible difficulties and decisions surrounding patients...
Hoping David will get the all clear today
David and I are heading for Great Ormond Street Hospital again today and I am confident he will finally be discharged following a very painful four years of suffering from chronic osteomyelitis. David's difficulty was that he was not a text book case and it proved...
The missing – Bryan Dos Santos Gomes
One year ago, a tiny four-week-old baby, Bryan Dos Santos Gomes, was abducted from his mother's arms at knifepoint by a woman they had stopped to help and has never been seen since. Bryan, then 28 days old, was abducted on the afternoon of Dec. 1, 2006, after his...
How can boxing be called sport?
I was dismayed to see boxer Joe Calzaghe win the BBC Sports Personality of the Year, with fellow boxer Ricky Hatton coming third. It's nothing personal, but there is no way that I consider boxing a competitive sport, to me it is barbaric and nothing more than two...
A visit to my final resting place
My father died five years ago and this is the headstone which has been made for him and was finally laid last Friday. It is made from red granite and is adorned with hand carved love hearts and angels. It was chosen by my mother and sister Rosalind, whose own home is...
The broken heart of Maria Callas
It is 30 years since the great Greek diva Maria Callas died of a broken heart after Onassis left her for his trophy wife, Jacqueline Kennedy. They were both married when they embarked on their sensational and doomed affair, yet yielded vigorously to their...
Robert Sturdy boycotts EU-African summit over Mugabe
I had a phone call from my MEP Robert Sturdy in Lisbon this afternoon telling me he had walked out of the EU-African summit because of Robert Mugabe's unwelcome presence. Quite right too, and this is the press release we issued: ROBERT STURDY BOYCOTTS EU-AFRICAN...