State of the parties and Firm Briefing 17

You’ve been very busy with firm briefing over the last few weeks.  Just over 500 of you have written to just over 300 MPs (and let me know – new correspondence arrives every day). According to what you have told me, for that is all I have to go on, this is the breakdown of…

Just a few words

This isn’t much of a blog post to start the week but there are two reasons for that. Last week I was under the weather for a few days, nothing serious, although being a man I assumed that I was dying, although again, being a man I didn’t do anything dramatic like asking a doctor,…

Writing competition – Under 18 winner

Hazel Peters is the winner of the Under-18 category of this blog’s writing competition. Hazel’s father, Keith, tells me that Hazel began showing her passion for nature, particularly birds, at around 7 years; recording what she saw, researching as much as she could and saving pocket money for binoculars.  If she’s not at school, she’s…

Tim Melling – Black Hairstreak

Tim writes: the Black Hairstreak is undoubtedly Britain’s rarest hairstreak, being restricted to a narrow band of ancient woodlands between Oxford and Peterborough.  They are also frustratingly difficult to predict their appearance as it varies between early and late June.  They also seem to get worn and tatty rather quickly so photographing them soon after…