don't read the menu options and go directly to the page content 
Welcome to my new website

Many of us over 60 are counted out when part-time jobs come up despite our collective wisdom and abilities.

To counter some of this prejudice I have dispensed with sending my CV and have instead created The Complete Picture, an animated ninety second overview of my life to date @ https://vimeo.com/223960456.

 

 

 

Blog

You are here: Home / Blog
28
JUL
Driving to Siena   This is my twentieth visit to Italy starting way back in 1978. I’ve been all over the place but still haven’t conquered Napoli or the Lakes. Since, 1997, I have begun to settle for Siena and its surrounding small hill towns and I am once again “stationed” here for a month.   This time I am back close to Siena where we stayed en famille in 1997 and again in 2005. After my divorce in 2007, I started coming back here more...
24
JUL
On Monday evening I went to the first of six Wynton Marsalis scheduled concerts at Ronnie Scott's. He was in sensational form and his band was exceptional. Last night, they streamed the concert live through the RS web site and The Guardian also took a feed. It was a different set from Monday's and a different selection of older pieces and those he wrote himself. The Guardian has a review of last night in today's paper.   Ronnie Scott's is a delight. It may no...
24
JUL
On Monday I had lunch with James Thellusson, a trustee at Trinity. We covered off rugby, digital stuff, the hospice and much else over a rather fine salad. I do so like Thomas Cubitt it is fast becoming my favourite place to chill.
24
JUL
Social Networking 30 15 - 25 July 2013 Monday British Influence @ St James's Park Bump Caroline Spelman MP Ken Clarke MP Peter Mandelson Ian Taylor Peter Kellner Laura Sandys MP Tuesday Board Meeting @ Crowdbnk Crowdbnk Summer Party @ The Pregnant Man Bump Mark Call Jake Sumner Jack Wyatt Paddy Flood Ayan Mitra Karen Duncan Ian Pearson Paul O'Donnell Wednesday Major Stanley's @ Knightsbridge Bump Stephen Pearson Frazer Gemmell Labour Business Party @...
24
JUL
We went up to Aldeburgh on Friday to stay at the White Lion (a first). On Saturday morning we were at Minsmere - the RSPB reserve - which was fun even though it was raining whilst the rest of the country bathed in sunshine. I tried to follow the golf and the cricket but there is little or no O2 signal in this part of the country due to obdurate local councillors and so accessing the Apps was difficult..........I so wanted Lee Westwood to win but Phil Mickelson pipped him in...
24
JUL
Last night, I attended a House of Lords celebration of Robin Courage's fantastic efforts over the past fifteen years which has led us (I was part of his team when an MP) to raise almost £25m for wheel chair sport at Stoke Mandeville. My part was minimal: we had been beaten back by the Lottery twice and so I persuaded Kate Hoey, the Sports Minister, to spend a day following the Lottery but to make sure she arrived when they were deciding our third application and magically and...
19
JUL
 'FORMER BATH RUGBY PLAYERS FEAR FOR FUTURE OF THE REC'   A group of former Bath sportsmen, including two former rugby internationals, have voiced serious concern over the plans published by the Charity Commission which could give Bath Rugby the use of most of the Rec to the detriment of other sports. Especially and surprisingly with companies registered in Bermuda and Switzerland**.   Although these decisions will be the responsibility of the new trustees it is patently...
19
JUL
Following our press release yesterday to local media in Bath and Bristol I did an interview on BBC Radio Bristol during drive time. I was a little rusty but felt I put our group's position strongly.
18
JUL
Dr Ian Goldin is Director of the Oxford Martin School having served in high places for most of his career. This book makes depressing reading as it highlights the failures of most of the institutions created out of the Second World War - UNO, IMF, World Bank, WTO et al. Most of all he bemoans the decision making processes. He should be in the House of Lords. 
18
JUL
On Tuesday, we had our monthly Board meeting and then followed this in the evening with a party for our entrepreneurs at the Pregnant Man pub part of the Saatchi and Saatchi property behind 80 Charlotte Street (which is up for redevelopment). 
18
JUL
Yesterday, Stephen Pearson and Fraser Gemmell joined me to discuss the XV for our game v the Dark Blues in November. 
18
JUL
Last night I attended the Labour Business Reception at Grange Tower Bridge Hotel. The place was heaving but luckily the air con worked. The two Eds were in fine form. 
18
JUL
BABA JUKWA WRITES ON HOW THE ELECTIONS WILL BE RIGGED – WITH THE HELP OF AN ISRAELI FIRM, NIKUV   12 July 2013 Here is how election rigging will be done. Zanu Pf knows that it needs about 400,000 votes to win the Presidency with 51%. Never mind MPs because they know they are beaten there. 1.Special voting names are going to be used again on July 31. 2.Chihuri has registered 30,000 plus relatives of service personnel as Police officers, they are being intimidated that your...
16
JUL
Last night I attended the British Influence summer party on the roof top of the Inn The Park restaurant in St. James's Park. The speakers were Peter Mandelson and Ken Clarke: the former needed notes the latter did not...... There was a goodly turn out of MPs from both major parties including Caroline Spelman and Mike Gapes - plus Laura Sandys, Ian Taylor & Peter Kellner. British Influence is about upping our influence in the EU. www.britishinfluence.org
15
JUL
On Saturday, we drove down to Chichester where my parents used to live and where I played for a season at the local rugby club in 1971-72.  We went to see If Only which had been well reviewed by both the FT and The Observer. This is David Edgar's latest political play set in 2010 around the Election and 2014 when our country will be celebrating the 100 years since the start of WW1.  No sooner had we arrived and taken our seats (matinee) than (Sir) John and...
15
JUL
Social Networking 29 8th-14th July 2013 Monday Lyn Rothman @ Santini's (over-priced and dreadful food) Bump Sir Peter Tapsell Tuesday Eva Guerra @ DesignIt Ethiopian Ambassador @ Kensington Mexican Revolution @ Royal Academy Ken Pyne @ No.11 Pimlico Road Wednesday European Year of the Brain @ Queen Square Denis MacShane @ Pimlico Thursday Melissa Baxter @ Cork & Bottle A Season in the Congo @ Old Vic Friday Mark Gallagher @...
12
JUL
Last night I went to see A Season in the Congo directed by Joe Wright and starring Chiwetel Ejiofor. The Young Vic has a buzz of its own and a serious following and the place was full which was encouraging in every sense.  The play itself was written in 1966 by Aime Cesaire (1913-2008!) as is about the life of Patrice Lumumba, the first elected PM of the Congo, who like so many after him was assassinated in 1961. The play was heavy laden which should and could have been shortened...
12
JUL
Over Easter, 1958 my family - fresh from three years in Hong Kong - took their first English holiday at the caravan park in Aldeburgh. Every morning I used to walk through the back field to the dairy with a jug to collect our daily milk. The caravan itself was such fun. My brother, sister and I slept in the back with my bed being the dining table with a mattress stored under one of the seats. My parents bed pulled down from a cupboard. There were outside toilets and a washing area but no...
11
JUL
Cameron, Brown and Clegg were so quick out of the blocks to tell the world that MPs excesses had to be reigned that none of them took on board the Allowance system.  There was one simple solution to stop them. All that needed to be down was to wrap into their salaries and leave MPs to decide how they would run their offices and staff. But no. They wanted a new regulator called IPSA costing £6m p.a. So £18m so far. And they said it was up to the regulator to set pay. So...
11
JUL
Yesterday, I attended my first Ambassadors meeting at Queen Square. We spent two hours talking through ideas and proposals - it was very stimulating. 
10
JUL
The first cartoon I remember from Ken's prolific pen was during the Three Day Week back in 1974. He had a father and son dressed in Arab clothing looking out across London from the top of St Paul's. The punch line was "One day my son all this will be yours".....I think I saw it in either Private Eye or Punch. I loved his work. In 1984, when I started in Publishing, I commissioned Ken to illustrate a number of my books I had on my list and we began a friendship which remains to this
10
JUL
Yesterday afternoon I went back to the Royal Academy to meet friends who were born, brought up or had studied in Mexico, to see the rather brilliant exhibition about their country's art following the Revolution in 1910. I was surprised at the number of European artists and photographers who dropped in on Mexico as it couldn't have been the easiest place to travel to even by boat (the first transatlantic passenger flight by plane was 1939) though the presence of Leon Trotsky...
10
JUL
I went to Addis Ababa in 2004 en route to Malawi to discuss the Maqdala Treasures held illegally by the British Museum with the Archbishop of Addis and Richard Pankhurst. Ever since, I have kept a close eye on the country. Yesterday, I met my dear friend, HE Ambassador Berhanu Kebede, for lunch and he asked me to return to Addis to help with the training of their MPs.
9
JUL
My near neighbour is Lyn Rothman and we had lunch yesterday at Santini's which has fallen from grace. The menu is overpriced, the service poor and the buzz has gone. It'll be a long time before I am back. Lyn is involved in the European Year of the Brain 2014 where I have just become an Ambassador.  
8
JUL
UK Sport should award itself a gold medal for Soft Power by Derek Wyatt  Last year was pretty good: both the Olympics and Paralympics rocked the world and our volunteers showed such warmth and energy that they were truly our real gold medalists. Still 43 golds in both events showed the nation and the world what can be done if you set your mind to it.  Ditto the whole Olympic thing from the BBC's outstanding coverage to the opening and closing ceremonies, to having the site ready...
7
JUL
Social Networking 28 1st-7th July 2013 Monday Dallas Pounds @ Trinity Hospice Bump Julia Robertson David Clarson Katharine Jackson Tuesday Michael Rowe, RFU @ RAC Passion Play @ Duke of York Wednesday BSAC @ Olswang James & Clare Arbuthnot @ Goya Bump Tom Pendry Thursday Jack @ Pimlico 1000 Club @ Tavistock Place Bump Ed Miliband Gilly Merron Jonathan Shaw Roger Truelove Paul Clark Chris Pond Charlie Falconer John Maxton George Foulkes Sally...
7
JUL
The IRB has much work to be done to alter the biff bash boff approach to international rugby which is disfiguring the game. Any parent with young children Under 14 will not want their children to play rugby. ** The put-ins and the scrum are a joke. ** No referee understands what is going on in the front row ** The defensive threequarter lines are too close and need to be moved back by 10m or 15m ** The maul needs attention
7
JUL
The Men's game looks in a healthy place. Federer is at the end of the greatest career. Nadal is uncertain about his fitness probably because of the brutality he brought to tennis from the start. He either has to take a longer break or change the way he plays - neither easy. Djokovik is immense and Murray has arrived. Del Potro is a joy to behold but also injury prone and there are plenty of would-be players waiting. The Women's game has one great player - Serena Williams - and
7
JUL
This morning, I went, somewhat belatedly, to the Summer Show. As usual it was a complete mix of styles except this year there was a closer association between photography, sculpture and architecture which was to be welcomed.   
7
JUL
Sir Hugh Casson was a past President of the RA, 1976-84 and founded both the Friends of RA in 1977 and its American counterpart in 1983 - so it owes him a lot. This exhibition (why in 2013 it doesn't celebrate anything?) is slight comprising just two rooms mainly of sketches and letters. The former draw heavily on the work of Edward Ardizzone. I liked Augustus John's studio (1935) which Casson had a hand in more for its genuflection to Le Corbusier than...
5
JUL
Yetserday, I had lunch with Jack and we talked through the next stages of his university career and in the evening Daisy and I went to hear Ed Miliband speak at Mary Ward House.
4
JUL
(I have become involved with this Campaign) DIGITTERRA.ORG TO LAUNCH KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN CALLING FOR UNIVERSAL DIGITAL RIGHTS LONDON, UK July 4th 2013 - Digitterra.org, a new not-for-profit organisation established to promote and protect digital human rights is launching a Kickstarter fundraising campaign to develop a Universal Declaration of Digital Rights. The campaign is being launched on July 4, the date the US Declaration of Independence was launched in 1776. The goals...
4
JUL
Last night I had supper with Emma and James Arbuthnot MP and we plotted on how we might resurrect our Evening soirees we used to do when I was in Parliament.
3
JUL
Passion Play starring Zoe Wanamaker and Samantha Bond has had pretty good reviews and I went last night to look it over at the Duke of York's. There are some wonderful hurtful lines in this middle class play about infidelity which is angst driven. i wasn't really happy with the ending and though I couldn't admit to having enjoyed it all, the acting was outstanding. 
3
JUL
Social Networking 27 24-30 June 2013 Monday Simon Baghomian @ RAC Lord Erroll @ House of Lords Roger & Christine Truelove @ Pimlico Tuesday Stephen Bough @ Maidenhead RFC Bump Joe Downier David Dolman David Taylor Former MPs @ Mr Speaker Bump Bruce Grocott Howard Stoate Tata Summer Party @ Westminster Wednesday Sarah Smith @ Trinity Hospice Simone Bacchini @ British Library The Brubeck's @ Ronnie Scott's Bump James Pearson Thursday Women's Sport
3
JUL
This morning I went to a BSAC Council meeting. Back in 2009, I was approached by Fiona Clarke- Hackston, the CEO of BSAC, towards the end of 2009, and asked if after stepping down from Parliament whether I would like to join the organisation. I have really enjoyed my time on it and today we had a really stimulating set of presentations especially from Roger Walton on the Xbox One and then from Ralph Rivera, Digital Director at the Beeb. 
2
JUL
The BBC needs to be broken up. It simply isn't fit for purpose. Its Trust Board is faceless. Its management is chaotic (Tony Hall has his hands his full) and no FTSE 100 company could pay out so much redundancy to at best third rate people without better controls. The next boring round about the Licence Fee should be pre-emptied by an independent report about what a PBS broadcaster should look like by 2025. BBC3 and BBC4 have both spend £1 billion over ten years - this is an
2
JUL
There is a simple solution to MPs pay. Roll their "Allowances" into their salaries. There would then be no need for the wretched IPSA (cost £6m). MPs would still have to make available the costs of their local offices. Every time an independent review suggests MPs pay should go up, the PM or his lapdog comes on hard to slap it down. MPs work between 80-100 hours a week most are generous with their time and resources. They are simply under valued.
1
JUL
On Saturday, I popped down to Cranbrook for Jack's 21st shindig which was most enjoyable. I had to give a small speech. I said it was fortunate that he took his good looks from his mother......Jack had paired up with Ali to host a joint event so we had a 100+ of their friends. It was fun. Here's the last paragraph or two from my speech: "Jack: you have been a constant brick in my life, a best friend, a sound critic, a joy to take anywhere, a fellow traveller, a poor squash player but a...
1
JUL
En route to Cranbrook on Saturday, I had a couple of hours at Sissinghurst and this time I finally made the gardens which were a joy to behold.
1
JUL
Yesterday afternoon I went to see the Lowry. I'm not sure it added to my knowledge of his work. Basically his art matches faceless matchstick men and women with backgrounds of unremitting dreariness. Not for me.  
1
JUL
After Lowry it was a huge fillip to take in Patrick Caulfield's latest show also at Tate Britain which was so enjoyable. Do go.  
website by Hudson Berkley Reinhart Ltd