weekly E-mail
Posted by Edward Vaizey, MP for Wantage, at 21:29, Sun 8 November 2009:
My constituency Friday began with a meeting of local businesses from Oxfordshire, at a venue in Harwell. I was meeting them with Evan Harris. Very depressingly, he turned up on time, thus delaying my retirement: my retirement fund is regularly topped up on the principle "if I had a pound for every time Evan Harris is late, I'd be a rich man". It was not to be on Friday. We all, businesses included, spent a very pleasant hour being very rude about banks and the Government. From there to Tesco in Didcot, not to shop but to present computers to four local primary schools. I also picked up a euro lottery ticket and was lucky enough to win £45 million, which I will of course be giving to local charities. Only kidding - I missed the jackpot by six numbers. Then a meeting with Didcot First the lobby group I set up to campaign for Didcot. Luch was with Wantage Women Conservatives, where our speaker was Louise Bgashawe, popular novelist and our candidate in Corby. To say she is a force of nature would be an understatement. If I had known what she was like beforehand, I would have had a couple of paramedics standing by. Anyway, we held our own, and I think we saw the next Mrs Thatcher. After that I visited Dalton Barracks, home to the Royal Logistics Corps, not in my constituency but will be at the next election. I drove a truck worth £750,000 and an armoured car worth a £1 million, and met some wonderful soldiers doing a brilliant job. Then a surgery in Faringdon, about ten cases, and the Stanford in the Vale supper. I took home some left over stew and the Vaizeys consequently had a delicious supper on Saturday night as well, in front of the X Factor, of course. Quite why I haven't thought of this before I don't know. Saturday was the opening meet of the Old Berks hunt at Baulking and Childrey bonfire night. I arrived late, so the new playground at Childrey was officially opened by a local six year old, who did a better job than I would have done.
Sunday I attended Wallingford and Didcot's remembrance services, both of course extremely well attended. Wallingford is always special. The Last Post is sounded on the stroke of eleven, and two Merlins fly over the market square as the two minute silence ends. Really wonderful and very poignant. I hope you all saw the brilliant article in the Oxford Times magazine about Peter and Diana Hasting, recounting their wonderful lives as a Royal Marine and No 10 garden girl, as well as their continued good work for the Royal British legion.
Monday is departmental questions on culture, which I will recount in next week's breathless e-mail...
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