Blog

  • In which I am accosted by an old major on the virtues of Trump

    My maternal grandmother had a sharp and witty tongue, I am told. I don’t remember her – she died when I was 18 months old – but I could have done with her sharp tongue on a particular occasion last week. I often work in coffee shops. I’m more productive in a setting other than…

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  • The joke that is the new Conservative cabinet

    Prime Minister David Cameron announced his new cabinet this week, the first all-Tory cabinet in nearly twenty years. The first meeting – which TV cameras had been allowed to record – kicked off with Etonian-style table banging and cheers of approval from ministers. So let’s take a look at some of Cameron’s most colourful cabinet…

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  • Wary of the new government? Maybe there’s another way

    It’s been a painful few days for those of us who never thought the outcome of the general election would be as bad as this. From a personal, self-indulgent level, it’s felt like a grieving process: I’m oscillating between denial and acceptance and a thinly-veiled hope that maybe, just maybe, we won’t have to wait…

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  • Shooting my mouth off

    I learned a valuable lesson today. I think. Don’t agree to be interviewed whilst pregnant and highly hormonal/grumpy. I was asked by the Al Jazeera news team if they could come over to interview me for a piece they were doing about disability. My knee-jerk was a definite ‘no’, which I assumed on reflection, was…

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  • The Apprentice, Week 6: The first rule of business according to Lord Sugar: Profit before quality

    Honestly, what was up with Lord Sugar and his aides in this episode? If I was an alien from a distant universe and had no idea about the concept of business and, for some reason unbeknownst to anyone, decided to watch this particular episode of The Apprentice, I would think that business was about creating…

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  • A bit of rustic charm versus five star luxury abroad

    The Apprentice – Week 4 & 5 Week’s 4 and 5 of The Apprentice were polar opposites. If episode 4 focused on the rural and organic (teams had to open a farm shop and sell organic produce in the lovely Hackney), then episode 5 was all about five star luxury which saw the teams attempt…

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  • The Apprentice – Week three: Flat packs and brain whacks

    After last week’s episode two which involved creating a new flavoured beer –  a task won by Team Endeavour, their second win in a row – the pressure was on for Team Evolve to pull out all the stops (corks?) to impress Lord Sugar. But would they succeed in sweetening him this time? Addressing the…

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  • The Apprentice – Week one: Count Dracula, illiterate teachers and way too many lucky cat products

    14 weeks. 16 candidates.  All wanting that one exclusive deal with Lord Sugar. The golden fleece: A £250k investment in a Lord Sugar business. Personally, I can’t quite see any of them making the grade, but maybe the next few weeks or so will change my mind. Maybe not. A change from the usual format…

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