Breathlessly we await the white smoke from Cowley Street

JUST six days to go before we know the outcome of the Liberal Democrats leadership election. Isn't the excitement unbearable? It may be too cold for street parties, but champagne supper will be the order of the day from Rattlesden to Frating to...

Lunch with Reijo

Yesterday to lunch with Reijo Kemppinen, head of the European Commission's office in London. He invited leading regional journalists with access to the parliamentary lobby to discuss improving the EU's image in Britain, and in particular the English regions....

A ranting we will go...

WHILE I have nothing but admiration for our two UKIP Euro MPs Jeffrey Titford and Tom Wise and their staff in Chelmsford, the ravings of their ardent letter-writing supporters leave me exasperated. There is just no reasoning with them. With missionary zeal,...

Sir Ming snubs Suffolk

I was up in Scotland last week so sadly missed the Liberal Democrats' leadership hustings in Bury St Edmunds. And so too did Sir Menzies `Ming' Campbell, who apparently decided that recording an interview with Radio 4 was more important. The "elderly...

Eyes a popping in Ipswich

Verdi's classic opera Rigoletto has always been one of the most raunchy in the repertoire, but last night . . . well, would you believe it, the audience was served up a treat of boobs, bums and full frontal nudity as the Duke of Mantua declared his...

A miserable start for Peter Watt

THE Dunfermline and West Fife by-election was timed to give the Prime Minister a boost on the eve of today's Labour Party Spring conference in Blackpool. Keeping the seat would have sent the message to his critics that everything was still rosy in Labour's...

A warm welcome to the Slovakian trolly dolly on the 15.15 from Colchester

  The EU-25 should become 27 from January 1. The UK's done its bit to see that Romania and Bulgaria join the club and yesterday the European Union (Accessions) Bill gained its Lords third reading.   While Bucharest and Sofia may not...

The Cameroons take on a Europe of and for the people

IT hasn't taken David Cameroon too long to rile Europe's political elite. He's sent William Hague over to Brussels to tell our chums in the European Parliament that the Tories want nothing more to do with the Christian Democrats and that they're...

Labour comes a right cropper in Stowmarket

LIBERAL Democrat woes seem to have by-passed the voters of Stowmarket. They pushed Labour into fourth place behind the Greens as the Tories held on the couunty council division of Stowmarket South in yesterday's by-election. What a rum result it was....

Mark's regrets

AS speculation abounds on the Internet just what exactly Mark Oaten was up to with two rent boys, revelations which forced him to pull out of the Liberal Democrat leadership race, the disgraced MP said today he wished to continue serving his constituency....

Hilary's job on the line as red faced Tony misses vote

Oh dear, Tony! You've taken the Commons for granted once too often. The Prime Minister's absence from the Commons last night resulted in the Government crashing to a humiliating one vote defeat  over a House of Lords amendment to the Racial...