I am not sure I should thank Irfan Ahmed for tagging me for a meme on 19 firsts, but here is my attempt at answering most of the questions.
First Job
Abbey National (YTS) aged 16. Soon left for full time properly paid job at Norwich Union.
First Real Job
As above,
First Role in Politics
Canvasser in local elections (1991)
First Car
1.0 litre Austin Metro - A375 LVF (still know the plate number).
First Record
I have Wombles records and Bay City Roller's records from 1973/74. But the first I bought was "Shut Up" by Madness.
First Football Match
Norwich City vs Everton, November 3rd 1979. A nil, nil draw.
First Concert
Hue and Cry, 1989, LCR at the University of East Anglia.
First Country Visited
France - Day trip with school in 1985.
First TV Appearance
Romper Room (Anglia TV kids programme) in 1975, aged 4.
First Political Speech
Lectured Mid Norfolk Tory Richard Ryder MP in 1986 on a school visit to parliament on selling weapons to Iran and Iraq. boy was I proved right on that !
First Encounter with a Famous Person
Miss Rosalyn (presenter of Romper Room who famously had to leave the show because she got pregnant). I stood slightly in shock at her entrance to the room. The first really famous person I saw was Larry Grayson walking along the road in Great Yarmouth when he was doing the Generation Game.
First Brush With Death
Slipped on breakwater/Coastal defences when I was about 10. Had a "life flashes before your eyes" moment and a minor panic.
First House/Flat Owned
First flat I owned was in Fakenham when I was 30.
First Film Seen at a Cinema
Star Wars (not in 1978 it was called Star Wars, not Episode IV and not "A New Hope".
First Time on the Radio
Radio interview by Radio Norfolk at an election count, probably in 1998.
Oops - Forgot that I spoke to jeremy beadle on the old "Talk Radio" back in 1994 !
First Politician I Met
Richard Ryder (Tory). First Lib Dem MP I met was in 1993 and was Alex Carslisle)
First Book I Remember Reading
Oh there are too many to name as I cannot remember the first one. I read from an early age and preferred newspapers.
First Visit to the London Palladium
Never...
First Election
1991. My dad won a safe Tory seat by 23 votes and still holds the seat now.
I won't tag anyone else and I hope you have learnt something of interest about me.
4/30/2009
David Davis backs Lib Dem line on Trident
It is interesting to note that David Davis, the Tory MP, is effectively echoing the Lib Dem line on Trident, although you won't be surprised to read that Iain Dale has failed to mention this fact on his blog.
It will be a cold day in hell before Iain gives any credit to the Lib Dems.
It will be a cold day in hell before Iain gives any credit to the Lib Dems.
Confused of Norfolk writes on the subject of face masks and swine flu
The government are telling people that they believe that face masks would have little effect in stopping the spread of swine flu.
Is this a line that the public are going to swallow when in the very next sentences of the government statement they say that the government are urgently seeking new stocks of face masks for NHS staff ?
So do mask work or not ? If they are effective for NHS staff, why are they ineffective for the general public ? Or is it that the government are actually worried that if the general public but masks the government will not be able to get hold of any themselves ?
Is it any wonder that people seem very confused about this ?
Is this a line that the public are going to swallow when in the very next sentences of the government statement they say that the government are urgently seeking new stocks of face masks for NHS staff ?
So do mask work or not ? If they are effective for NHS staff, why are they ineffective for the general public ? Or is it that the government are actually worried that if the general public but masks the government will not be able to get hold of any themselves ?
Is it any wonder that people seem very confused about this ?
Is the government in cahoots with the travel industry
I note with some annoyance that the government are not going to tell people to not fly to Mexico, and for me personally I find this VERY annoying. Why ? Because I was due, in a few weeks to go on holiday to Mexico but now want to cancel. However my travel agent advise me that I cannot have a full refund unless the government explicitly says that travelling to Mexico should be banned. So instead I have had to cancel and will lose my deposit (which is not an inconsiderable sum).
It makes you wonder if the government are in cahoots with the travel industry on this matter.
It makes you wonder if the government are in cahoots with the travel industry on this matter.
4/29/2009
When did we stop speaking English ?
The silly advert on TV this evening promoting registering to vote in the European elections (no mention of English council elections by the way) highlights the fact that the people who put adverts together do not speak English properly.
At the end of the ad it says "Register by May 19th"
What ? May 19th ? 05/19 ? What the hell is going on ?
In Britain we say "19th May" and we write dates (and before 9/11 said dates) correctly stating the day before the month.
Who are these pillocks who think we speak American ?
At the end of the ad it says "Register by May 19th"
What ? May 19th ? 05/19 ? What the hell is going on ?
In Britain we say "19th May" and we write dates (and before 9/11 said dates) correctly stating the day before the month.
Who are these pillocks who think we speak American ?
4/28/2009
Proof that Labour CAN organise a piss up ... but not in a brewery
Okay, I know this was standard practise under the Tories too, but it does prove Labour do have the ability to organise a piss up somewhere.
Government's own Pandemic Plan is being ignored - Tamiflu is NOT going to people with Swine flu
The government's own pandemic flu plan was published less than two years ago, but already the government are ignore their own plans and advice, most notably in the areas of containment and treatment.
The government's plan stated that introduction of flu might be delayed by 3-4 weeks if aircraft were screened and new visitors to this country were monitored. This is not being done.
But more shocking than that is the way early UK victims of flu are being treated, or not, as the case turns out.
According to BBC News a couple who have just returned from Mexico with flu have been advised by NHS direct that they need to take Tamiflu, but it is not being provided to them.
What the hell is the point of this government having a pandemic plan if they are not going to initiate what it says until we reach pandemic levels set by the World Health Organisation.
It's much like having a plan to deal with flooding in your house that only comes in to operation when you have let the bath overflow. Why not simply turn the taps off ?
The government's plan stated that introduction of flu might be delayed by 3-4 weeks if aircraft were screened and new visitors to this country were monitored. This is not being done.
But more shocking than that is the way early UK victims of flu are being treated, or not, as the case turns out.
According to BBC News a couple who have just returned from Mexico with flu have been advised by NHS direct that they need to take Tamiflu, but it is not being provided to them.
What the hell is the point of this government having a pandemic plan if they are not going to initiate what it says until we reach pandemic levels set by the World Health Organisation.
It's much like having a plan to deal with flooding in your house that only comes in to operation when you have let the bath overflow. Why not simply turn the taps off ?
I'm not one of them ... honest guv !
For me there is nothing more tawdry than seeing an MP with a small majority trying to be a rebel on issues in order to make him seem more electable. But if there is one person that fits this billing in my eyes at the moment it has to be Charles Clarke.
Time and time again on issues upon which he seemed to be silent when holding important positions within the Labour Party he speaks out to me like he wants to be seen as the anti establishment, the anti New Labour candidate.
Personally, I'd prefer to judge him by the fact that he was a Labour loyalist during the war in Iraq, he was an apologist for all the economic problems built up under New Labour and just because now he has a major issue with Gordon Brown, it does not mean that the electorate should forget these things.
Time and time again on issues upon which he seemed to be silent when holding important positions within the Labour Party he speaks out to me like he wants to be seen as the anti establishment, the anti New Labour candidate.
Personally, I'd prefer to judge him by the fact that he was a Labour loyalist during the war in Iraq, he was an apologist for all the economic problems built up under New Labour and just because now he has a major issue with Gordon Brown, it does not mean that the electorate should forget these things.
4/26/2009
Re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic
Why am I left with the feeling that football, politics and to some degree the ongoing problems with the economy pale in to insignificange today compared with the potential flu pandemic.
We face the perfect storm or an economy in a mess and a potential pandemic flu. At present companies cannot afford to let people stay at home to look after children who may be at home if schools close, this means more companies going belly up or even greater government borrowing to tide the economy over. Meanwhile restaurants will close, pubs will stay empty, nobody will be spending any money, the economy will go through the floor, and whilst all this is happening thousands of people will be losing their lives.
Life, as we know it, is about to change dramatically.
We face the perfect storm or an economy in a mess and a potential pandemic flu. At present companies cannot afford to let people stay at home to look after children who may be at home if schools close, this means more companies going belly up or even greater government borrowing to tide the economy over. Meanwhile restaurants will close, pubs will stay empty, nobody will be spending any money, the economy will go through the floor, and whilst all this is happening thousands of people will be losing their lives.
Life, as we know it, is about to change dramatically.
Pandemic blindness - The shocking truth of a wasted 48 hours
I have decided to write on the subject of the swine flu outbreak in Mexico and the scandalous waste of 48 hours by the World Health Organisation and governments worldwide in tackling this virus.
The UK government, along with every other government worldwide (except Japan) has introduced no special measures for dealing with people arriving from Mexico despite the fact that the government's own Pandemic Flu procedures (based on Avian flu H5N1 mutating from the far east) say that travel restrictions and screenings of incoming flights should be introduced immediately to stop the spread of pandemic flu to this country.
And what are the World Health organisation doing ? They have raised their warning level to "3", which states that a new virus has emerged, but have not raised the warning level to "4" which would confirm that the virus can now be spread from human to human, despite evidence in the USA of people in close contact with people returning from Mexico suddenly becoming ill with Swine Flu. I read too that a group returning from Mexico to New Zealand are also ill with swine flu symptoms.
What worries me is this statement on CNN's websbite
"In Mexico, otherwise young and healthy people have been hit by the virus -- "one of the pieces of the puzzle that is worrying us," said the World Health Organisation's Gregory Hartl
Surely he should know that this is common with pandemic flu, like the 1918/1919 Spanish flu, which struck down far more young healthy adults that it did children and the elderly. If the WHO cannot recognise the signs then God help us all !
National governments, including are own, won't do anything until the WHO says it is a pandemic, but the WHO are totally useless and unwilling to make decisions that are obvious to everyone else.
The truth is that this virus, which has a mortality rate of about 5% is spreading, could be here in the UK within hours, given the nature of modern air travel. Yes, a BA crew member has been cleared of having the virus, but it is only a matter of time.
We have a world wide crisis about to start and we have totally wasted the 48 hours window of opportunity that existed to introduce screening at airports and stop its widepread early introduction to the UK.
Good luck everyone, make the most of your family over the next few weeks because if this is another 1919, there will not be a family in this country unaffected by the death of a loved one by flu.
Update : Comments on the BBC website suggest the number of dead in Mexico now numbers several hundred, not the 81 stated by the Mexican government. Secondly, this has been around for three weeks and the Mexican authorities have apparently done very little to stamp it out at source and other Asian countries as well as Japan have now introduced checks on incoming flights from Mexico whilst we in the UK have not. All very worrying.
The UK government, along with every other government worldwide (except Japan) has introduced no special measures for dealing with people arriving from Mexico despite the fact that the government's own Pandemic Flu procedures (based on Avian flu H5N1 mutating from the far east) say that travel restrictions and screenings of incoming flights should be introduced immediately to stop the spread of pandemic flu to this country.
And what are the World Health organisation doing ? They have raised their warning level to "3", which states that a new virus has emerged, but have not raised the warning level to "4" which would confirm that the virus can now be spread from human to human, despite evidence in the USA of people in close contact with people returning from Mexico suddenly becoming ill with Swine Flu. I read too that a group returning from Mexico to New Zealand are also ill with swine flu symptoms.
What worries me is this statement on CNN's websbite
"In Mexico, otherwise young and healthy people have been hit by the virus -- "one of the pieces of the puzzle that is worrying us," said the World Health Organisation's Gregory Hartl
Surely he should know that this is common with pandemic flu, like the 1918/1919 Spanish flu, which struck down far more young healthy adults that it did children and the elderly. If the WHO cannot recognise the signs then God help us all !
National governments, including are own, won't do anything until the WHO says it is a pandemic, but the WHO are totally useless and unwilling to make decisions that are obvious to everyone else.
The truth is that this virus, which has a mortality rate of about 5% is spreading, could be here in the UK within hours, given the nature of modern air travel. Yes, a BA crew member has been cleared of having the virus, but it is only a matter of time.
We have a world wide crisis about to start and we have totally wasted the 48 hours window of opportunity that existed to introduce screening at airports and stop its widepread early introduction to the UK.
Good luck everyone, make the most of your family over the next few weeks because if this is another 1919, there will not be a family in this country unaffected by the death of a loved one by flu.
Update : Comments on the BBC website suggest the number of dead in Mexico now numbers several hundred, not the 81 stated by the Mexican government. Secondly, this has been around for three weeks and the Mexican authorities have apparently done very little to stamp it out at source and other Asian countries as well as Japan have now introduced checks on incoming flights from Mexico whilst we in the UK have not. All very worrying.
4/16/2009
Oh, I just can't be bothered
I am wondering if it really is time to knock this whole blogging business on the head. After 30 months, thousands of postings, lots of ranting, and lots of time wasted, I really am finding it very difficult to summon up the energy to write anything that is not only interesting to someone else, but is of interest to me.
Things that used to get me bothered, things that really did put fire in the belly I just seem to be able to ignore, be this a council expenses scandal involving a local Tory (which I know about but cannot be bothered to write about) or national issues (of which there are many), I really cannot be bothered.
I will wait a few days, take a temporary break and see how I feel, but in truth, I've run out of steam and am preferring to spend my time with family rather than a keyboard.
Things that used to get me bothered, things that really did put fire in the belly I just seem to be able to ignore, be this a council expenses scandal involving a local Tory (which I know about but cannot be bothered to write about) or national issues (of which there are many), I really cannot be bothered.
I will wait a few days, take a temporary break and see how I feel, but in truth, I've run out of steam and am preferring to spend my time with family rather than a keyboard.
4/13/2009
Sorry seems to be the hardest word
The story involving senior government advisors attempting to smear the Tory Party seems to have developed a life of its own because of the word "Sorry", and it seems to me that this has as much to do with the Tory attempts to get Gordon Brown to apologise for the economic mess we find ourselves in as it does to do with the smear story.
In itself, getting Gordon Brown to apologise for something beyond his control seems utterly ludicrous. Why should he apologise for somethig he did not sanction and why should he be responsible for the actions of every member of staff ? But when you read what the smears were, the seriousness of the false allegations that were to be spread, it does make you wonder if Gordon Brown might have received less flak if he had simply said he personally apologised that his staff had acted in such a way.
The big problem is though that for a Prime Minister to admit errors is seen as a weakness, and whilst it might seem to Gordon Brown that to admit an error would undermine him, what he fails to realise is that his government is already fatally holed beneath the water line. There is no chance now of a Labour recovery and his inability to kill this sort of story off by making the wrong political decisions simply makes the crisis his party faces much worse.
Personally, I would be very surprised if Labour did not suffer a total meltdown of 1997 proportions at the next election and smart money should be on any Labour MP with a majority of less than 6,000 to lose.
In itself, getting Gordon Brown to apologise for something beyond his control seems utterly ludicrous. Why should he apologise for somethig he did not sanction and why should he be responsible for the actions of every member of staff ? But when you read what the smears were, the seriousness of the false allegations that were to be spread, it does make you wonder if Gordon Brown might have received less flak if he had simply said he personally apologised that his staff had acted in such a way.
The big problem is though that for a Prime Minister to admit errors is seen as a weakness, and whilst it might seem to Gordon Brown that to admit an error would undermine him, what he fails to realise is that his government is already fatally holed beneath the water line. There is no chance now of a Labour recovery and his inability to kill this sort of story off by making the wrong political decisions simply makes the crisis his party faces much worse.
Personally, I would be very surprised if Labour did not suffer a total meltdown of 1997 proportions at the next election and smart money should be on any Labour MP with a majority of less than 6,000 to lose.
4/10/2009
Labour "talking up" the BNP again
A few weeks before the last local elections in London a Labour minister, Margaret Hodge, stupidly talked up the chances of BNP success in her Dagenham seat. The BNP seized upon this gift of publicity, ran with it, allowing the Labour Party and the press coverage to give it credibility, and as a result the BNP got a better result in Dagenham than even they could have hoped for.
You might have imagined that Labour might have learnt from this and previous examples where the labour Party have given the BNP much needed credibility boosts. Back in 1993 the Lib Dems took the blame for events in Tower Hamlet whilst Labour ignored the fact that it was their leaflet that claimed the BNP were set to win. People in Tower Hamlets knew that nobody was taking the BNP seriously until that labour leaflet.
So what is happening this year ? Harriet Harman is talking up the BNP again.
Anyone involved in politics knows that you avoid giving any credibility to those who are likely to steal votes from you. It again serves to highlight what an imbecile Harriet Harman is.
You might have imagined that Labour might have learnt from this and previous examples where the labour Party have given the BNP much needed credibility boosts. Back in 1993 the Lib Dems took the blame for events in Tower Hamlet whilst Labour ignored the fact that it was their leaflet that claimed the BNP were set to win. People in Tower Hamlets knew that nobody was taking the BNP seriously until that labour leaflet.
So what is happening this year ? Harriet Harman is talking up the BNP again.
Anyone involved in politics knows that you avoid giving any credibility to those who are likely to steal votes from you. It again serves to highlight what an imbecile Harriet Harman is.
4/09/2009
Apologies for my absence but ...
I have to apologise for my blogging absence of late.
I have for some weeks been suffering from agonising back pain which seemed to send my neck and shoulders in to spasm. It didn't stop me going to work every day, although I did have to lie down for 30 minutes at lunchtime on my reading carpet in my classroom (which got funny stares from colleagues) in order to reduce the severe pain, but as soon as I got home from work I needed to lie down and frankly working on a computer was not on my agenda.
Luckily the school holidays has allowed me to rest a bit more, the pain has started to ease and the spasm has gone so I should be back to full blogging speed over the next few days.
I have for some weeks been suffering from agonising back pain which seemed to send my neck and shoulders in to spasm. It didn't stop me going to work every day, although I did have to lie down for 30 minutes at lunchtime on my reading carpet in my classroom (which got funny stares from colleagues) in order to reduce the severe pain, but as soon as I got home from work I needed to lie down and frankly working on a computer was not on my agenda.
Luckily the school holidays has allowed me to rest a bit more, the pain has started to ease and the spasm has gone so I should be back to full blogging speed over the next few days.
21 pence to fight terrorism
Just think that a visit to THIS website would have enabled the Metropolitan Police to buy document wallets at a cost of just 21 pence.
It strikes me as odd that even as school teachers we ensure that our school reports are stored on encrypted memory sticks and that we do not leave them where they can be read by other children or adults, but seemingly the Metropolitan Police are less security conscious. At least Bob Quick did the right thing in the end.
4/08/2009
Book your holiday to Cuba quickly
One of the great joys of a holiday to Cuba, I am told, is aside from the alcohol, sun, sea, hospitality, and cigars is the fact that it is very difficult for any American's to go on holiday there meaning your visit to the island is usually shared with Canadians, Spaniards and fellow Brits.
Now I've nothing against Americans, but if you want a quiet holiday I would book it quickly as the US seems set to ease travel restrictions to Cuba meaning Americans taking holidays there, princes rising , big cameras, loud shirts and even louder voices.
Now I've nothing against Americans, but if you want a quiet holiday I would book it quickly as the US seems set to ease travel restrictions to Cuba meaning Americans taking holidays there, princes rising , big cameras, loud shirts and even louder voices.
Parky gets it all so right over Jade Goody
Michael Parkinson has put in to words what many of us felt about he way Jade Goody's illness and death were treated by the press and those around her who were supposedly acting in her "best interests".
Parkinson wrote that she was "the perfect victim of our times...brought up in a cesspit of poverty and died to an orchestrated chorus of exploitation".
He says a lot more too which is hard to disagree with HERE.
Parkinson wrote that she was "the perfect victim of our times...brought up in a cesspit of poverty and died to an orchestrated chorus of exploitation".
He says a lot more too which is hard to disagree with HERE.
4/05/2009
It's Sunday so it must be another Labour Minister's Expense scam
You know it's a Sunday because there is another revelation about a Labour Minister on the take by claiming expenses for things that might be okay by parliamentary rules, but to the ordinary common man in the street seem like a total scam.
Today's it's Geoff Hoon. Do we do a sweep stake on who it will be next week ?
Today's it's Geoff Hoon. Do we do a sweep stake on who it will be next week ?
4/04/2009
Troop increase paper of the cracks in NATO
The decision by a handful of NATO member to increase troop numbers in Afghanistan for a "limited period" falls well short of the necessary increase that is needed in troop numbers and serves to highlight that most of our so called European allies are as spineless as ever.
The false idea prevalent amongst our European allies that letting Afghanistan return to being a training camp for terrorists, and that "smaller" European countries who opt out of supporting NATO (the likes of Belgium) is hopelessly naive. The sad fact is though that there are many people in the country too who think that we can simply withdraw from Afghanistan and that the deaths will stop. True, the death of soldiers might stop, but we could soon replace this in far higher numbers withe death on the streets of the UK.
Whilst NATO leaders hail the agreement to send a few hundred soldiers for a few weeks to Afghanistan it does beg the question as to what difference this will make when they go home after their short six week stint.
The false idea prevalent amongst our European allies that letting Afghanistan return to being a training camp for terrorists, and that "smaller" European countries who opt out of supporting NATO (the likes of Belgium) is hopelessly naive. The sad fact is though that there are many people in the country too who think that we can simply withdraw from Afghanistan and that the deaths will stop. True, the death of soldiers might stop, but we could soon replace this in far higher numbers withe death on the streets of the UK.
Whilst NATO leaders hail the agreement to send a few hundred soldiers for a few weeks to Afghanistan it does beg the question as to what difference this will make when they go home after their short six week stint.
4/01/2009
Did the police give the protesters enough rope ?
Last night the TV news predicted that a possible high profile target for protesters in London would be the RBS building near the Bank of England.
So what happens today ? Protesters get to the RBS building, attack it, break in to it and attempt to set fire to it and there was not a single policeman inside the building in case of such an attack ?
How can the TV news predict something but the police not anticipate it ?
It looks to me that the powers that be were willing to let the protests to get out of hand in order to vilify all the protesters.
So what happens today ? Protesters get to the RBS building, attack it, break in to it and attempt to set fire to it and there was not a single policeman inside the building in case of such an attack ?
How can the TV news predict something but the police not anticipate it ?
It looks to me that the powers that be were willing to let the protests to get out of hand in order to vilify all the protesters.
When local news isn't local
Apparently there was no real news in the Eastern region today, not if BBC East and Anglia News is to be believed.
Instead of featuring real local news, ITV Anglia and BBC East decided that wasting nearly 15 minutes on the marches and protesters in London was local news simply because ;
1) Barack Obama landed at Stansted airport.
2) Some people from East Anglia work in London.
Presumably then because some people from the East of England also go on holiday to Spain, we will have local news live from Spain when they next have a general election ?
Local news makes itself irrelevant by aping reports that are already being covered on national news. In simple terms the protests in London are not local news to anyone except those living in the London region. If Anglia or BBC East are bored with local news then it shows them up to be poor journalists.
Instead of featuring real local news, ITV Anglia and BBC East decided that wasting nearly 15 minutes on the marches and protesters in London was local news simply because ;
1) Barack Obama landed at Stansted airport.
2) Some people from East Anglia work in London.
Presumably then because some people from the East of England also go on holiday to Spain, we will have local news live from Spain when they next have a general election ?
Local news makes itself irrelevant by aping reports that are already being covered on national news. In simple terms the protests in London are not local news to anyone except those living in the London region. If Anglia or BBC East are bored with local news then it shows them up to be poor journalists.
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