Publications

I don't know if any of you have caught the series on Radio 4 of discussions entitled 'The atheist and the bishop'? Featuring Dr Julian Baggini and Richard Harries formerly Bishop of Lambeth the programmes interrogate them on their core beliefs starting from areas of potential conflict.

Just before the Summer Recess the Government issued its updated International Development White Paper. This more than anything else was a position paper on the Government's progress in this field and an analysis of what further needs to be done to meet the UN Millennium Development Goals.

The start of September is always a key date for families being when their children return to school. For some it is the life-forming experience of having a child start school for the first time.

I wrote an article last year about housing and since then there have been both exciting and dramatic developments relating to social housing, tinged I have to say with some sadness.

CLIMATE CHANGE PROJECTIONS The first Projections in Practice conference discussed how the UK Climate Projections 2009 (published recently by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) illustrate the extent of the changes the UK could face if nothing is done to cut greenhouse gas emissions – warmer and wetter winters, hotter and drier summers, increased risk of coastal erosion and more severe weather.

Delivering hundreds of Up for Debate survey forms gave me, if I ever needed it, more reason to respect the work undertaken on all our behalves by postmen and women.

I've written before that Summer Sunday afternoon outs during the fifties and sixties was a drive in the car as 'guest' of the parents. Depending upon my behaviour it would culminate with an ice cream and

The notification that the proposed rail-bus interchange for Stroud Town has now been officially dropped may be seen as a silly season August story given that it appeared long deceased as a feasible project but the ramification of the news will last for a lot longer.

The outpouring of support for the National Health Service over the last week following the ignorant attacks on it by right-wing American politicians has been most gratifying. That a Conservative MEP Daniel Hannan should join in going on Fox TV in the States to make unfair and untrue allegations about our NHS was an unedifying spectacle and he should have been removed as a Conservative representative along with Alan ‘Mr Rations’ Duncan.

I have to admit that I occasionally look at blogs and have tried to engage with people through a blog on my web site, as well as through using twitter and facebook on occasions. These forms of communication have many advantages being instant, easy to use and short.