Porkie Pies

One of the many stands in the Conference, this one offering a product "endorsed" by Gordon Brown!

Conference Day 2

Speeches from George Osbourne & Ken Clarke.

Conference Day 1

Great atmosphere at the Conference; looking forward to some interesting discussion and announcement over the next couple of days.

Listening to Young People

On Friday I joined a class of 17-18 year olds studying citizenship at the Rugby site of Warwickshire College, many of whom are hoping to take up careers in the uniformed services. I spoke about the role of a Parliamentary Candidate and the selection process, before being asked questions. I later took part in a Question Time type debate when some of the students joined me on the panel. I was asked about my motivation in seeking to become an MP which led to a lively debate about expenses. No surpise to find that the students feel the same way an most people about some of the items that were claimed for! We moved on to many of the matters that would be raised by a wider audience, with emphasis on local matters including road congestion in the town centre and safety late at night. It reaffirmed my view that there are very few issues that are exclusive to young people and that they are just as concerned about the things that matter to the country as a whole. Great to see some friendly faces in the audience in the form of some of my son's team mates from Rugby Lions, who came up with some good questions and thoughtful contributions.

The Sun's change of allegiance

In my business career I quickly learnt that if a contract didn't go your way, or if you lost a customer, you don't 1. abuse the decision maker (Mandelson) 2. show your anger & frustration at the decision (Brown) or 3. denigrate the customer or his product publicly (Tony Woodley). Who's the nasty party now?

Rugby Town Juniors Football Club

I was reminded recently that I hadn't been to see my nephew & Godson, Harry Pawsey, playing for his new team, Rugby Town Juniors Under 15s, so I promised Tony Potter, team coach that I would go along on Sunday. It enabled me to visit the fantastic set up that the club have at Kilsby Lane and I was able to see the team win 2-1 with a fantastic winning goal from Harry in the last ten minutes. Great team performance & a number of lads with real talent enjoying themselves. I expect more of the same on my next visit!

Old Laurentians Vice-Presidents Lunch

I had some great years playing Rugby in Rugby for the Old Laurentians Rugby club and was really pleased to be invited to be a Vice-President a few years ago. Actually it's not that great an honour as there are over 100 of us, but it's a great way of keeping an involvement with the club while being relieved of some cash. On Saturday many of us met up for a lunch before the first XV game againt Earlsdon which OLs won 36-23. Photos are taken from Ray Todds's gallery on the clubs website here: http://www.oldlaurentianrfc.co.uk/2008/Home.html