Blog
Living with a monster child
I was appalled to read a shocking court case in my local paper today about a mother who was too frightened to wake her violent teenage son to send him to school; he has only attended 22 out of 175 sessions and she pleaded guilty to one charge of failing to secure his...
Why Public School Boys Run Britain
I'll be watching Andrew Neil's BBC 2 programme this evening, Posh and Posher: Why Public School Boys Run Britain. The focus will naturally be on David Cameron and Nick Clegg who both had a privileged education. Let's separate the words "public school" and "boys" and...
A walk around Barrington
Today I put on my walking boots for my first trek this year to join doughty members of Cambridge Rambling Club. We met in Barrington, a village south of Cambridge where I used to once rent a cottage on its picturesque village green. It's so gorgeous that it is the...
An evening with John Gummer and climate change
I was curious to discover what John Gummer had been doing since stepping down as a Conservative MP at the last general election to champion climate change. So I was only too happy to accept an invitation to hear him speak to Cambridge university students and city...
David Cameron meets charity leaders
I am delighted to learn that Headway UK was one of 13 charities invited to meet David Cameron and key Cabinet members to discuss the transformation of public services. Charities play a vital role in delivering crucial services not met by government, such as Headway,...
The dangers of a one man brand
I am a huge Apple fan and desperately sad to learn that its CEO Steve Jobs is unwell again and being treated for neuroendocrine cancer. He has been widely credited with transforming Apple from a failing company in the 1990s to the very desirable and hugely successful...
The Soil Association and Carter-Ruck
Receiving a letter threatening libel from Carter-Ruck is fairly certain to send shivers down your spine. They are said to have sent such a letter to the Soil Association, the organic farmers' group, after it objected to a planning application from its client to build...
Will you donate your excess body fat to the Klaxon Institute?
Those of us who would like to shed few pounds can donate our unwanted flab to the Klaxon Institute in Harley Street where a revolutionary reverse liposuction technique has been devised to help save the world's starving people in the third world by injecting it into...
The Court of Protection Deputies
One of my blog posts which still attracts huge interest was about the Court of Protection. Many people have posted comments describing their terrible experiences, but I wondered if it was all bad, if there were some helpful deputies appointed by the court to help...