The Conservative Cotswolds
My latest weekend break out and about the great British countryside took us on a trip to the rolling hills of the Cotswolds taking in a visit to the chocolate box towns of Woodstock, Chipping Norton, Moreton in the Marsh and Bourton on the Water. The first thing I noticed about the Cotswolds is that every village has an obsession with Union Jack flags and I can't help but feel that there is a scent of polite racism hanging in the air that ...
The Horrors of TTIP and Why Action is Needed!
A Facebook friend (Wendy Billingsley) sent me an article the other day which was, basically, a chilling insight to TTIP, an unelected trade body that makes George Orwell's '1984' look like the tale of a picnic by the trout stream on a warm summer meadow. TTIP stands for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnerships which undertake, what are, in effect, secretive trade negotiations between the European Union and the United States. TTIP ...
The Terrible State of English Cricket!
When my oldest son and all his peers started playing cricket in early 2006, it came exclusively off the back of the thrilling 2005 Ashes victory against Australia's invincibles that included the likes of Ponting, McGrath and Warne. It was an absolutely thrilling series, resembling a three month penalty shoot-out where our children witnessed their fathers, grown men, pacing the room, hiding behind sofas and racing out to the garden punching ...
East Dorset and Devon Coast Path
The Dorset and Devon coastline has long been a favourite travel destination of mine, so last weekend I took a trip down there to enjoy the Indian Summer while it lasts as it is bound to go out with a hefty bang sometime soon. The trip started by dropping off our bags at the Kingswood and Devoran Hotel on Sidmouth sea front before nipping off to see my old friends Howard and Sylvia Page down in Beer, a seaside village that is about as quinte...
Extremists and Mental Illness
I watched a documentary last night about how a middle class white boy had somehow got involved in Islamic terrorism via close contact with hate preacher Anjem Choudary. It was quite an eye opener, though many of you may have already seen it as it was apparently first broadcast 2 years ago. Essentially, it was investigating the reasons why people become extremists and how they get drawn into hate and what was fascinating was that all members ...