Top of the Blogs:

A round up from the world of Westminster and beyond…

Coffee House: Fraser Nelson on ‘Why the Government is in so much trouble’
http://www.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/364446/why-the-government-is-in-so-much-trouble.thtml

The Times: Alice Miles on 'Second-class and lost in the post
If this government is incompetent enough to lose millions of personal details, is it safe with anything?'
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/alice_miles/article2910272.ece

Prospect: David Goldblatt on ‘Taking sport seriously’
http://www.prospect-magazine.co.uk/article_details.php?id=9917

Platform10: Michael Lynas on ‘A better team’
http://www.platform10.org/the-view-from-here/article/?no=120

Platform 10: ‘Admission of Guilt’
http://www.platform10.org/the-bright-stuff/article/?no=32

Riding for the Disabled Autumn Gala

This afternoon I was privileged to be asked to present rosettes at Avon Riding for the Disabled's annual Autumn Gala.

The centre is so much more than just a riding stable. It provides the opportunity for disabled children and adults to overcome their disability in some small way, and learn to ride. Riding is not only liberating and fun, but it also provides therapy - good muscle exercise and increases the sense of balance.

Here I am presenting prizes to the young participants of the "Wizard of Oz" opening show. It was humbling to present prizes to young people who face such extraordinary daily challenges . Well done to all involved. A really remarkable, and wonderful afternoon.

Top of the Blogs:

We sometimes wonder if blog readers get a bit fed up with hearing about what has been going in Bristol all the time. So from now on, we will be sharing with you our pick of what's going on in the papers and on the blogs. Top of the blogs, if you like. You'll still get the usual updates on Bristol issues, but interspersed with selections from blogs, the papers and other websites. Enjoy!

Webcameron: David Cameron’s speech on demographic change http://www.webcameron.org.uk/597

Coffee House: Matthew D’Ancona on ‘Gove skewers Gordan’
http://www.spectator.co.uk/coffeehouse/309121/gove-skewers-gordon.thtml

Platform 10: Michael Lynas on ‘The Littlest things’
http://www.platform10.org/the-view-from-here/article/?no=100

Conservativehome: Poll in Independent gives Conservatives a two seat majority in an election.
http://conservativehome.blogs.com/torydiary/2007/10/comres-to-put-c.html

Daily Telegraph: Michael Gove on ‘What has Ed Balls got against excellence?’
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2007/10/31/do3102.xml

Spectator: Fraser Neslon on ‘Cameron means business on welfare…’
http://www.spectator.co.uk/the-magazine/features/313841/cameron-means-business-on-welfare-the-tories-are-the-radicals-again.thtml

Platform 10: ‘Today has been cancelled!’
http://www.platform10.org/the-bright-stuff/article/?no=31

The sun always shines on Chooseday

Well, it did today, anyway. This morning, on a gloriously sunny day, I hopped on the bus into the centre of town, to support the launch of Chooseday.

Chooseday was the brain child of a team including Joshua Hart and Chris Sunderland (pictured here with me). The idea is simple: On Tuesday ( see what they've done?! Chooseday?!) leave your car at home. Do something different to help the environment.

I think the idea is a winner. There are few things more depressing for an aspirant Green than standing at the bottom of the mountain of the 'Green Ideal', in a state of repentant despair because you suspect you will never ascend to the saintly heights of those who have thrown away the car keys, live in a solar-powered eco-hut, eat nothing but the produce of their back garden, and power their carbon-light lives by their own waste products. And the product of that kind of despair born of a sense of hopeless inadequacy, is to feel that you are an irredeemable Green-sinner and not to do anything green at all.

But Chooseday doesn't ask too much. It only asks that you change your way of life in some small but significant way, one day a week. It's ok, say the organisers of Chooseday, if you have to use your car occasionally. ( Not ideal, but don't get het up about it.) Just do what you can each Tuesday. And if everyone does the same, we will all see just how much difference a collective effort can make. Imagine a Bristol of no cars, just one day a week. Great things start with small steps. So go to their website and learn how you can help make a difference.

Pub on the Common: Inn on the Green

The Inn on the Green, on the Filton Road (at the Gloucester Road end) boasts an enormous array of good English beers. You can just about see the extent of the choice in the number of taps in the background here.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with enjoying a pint of beer or a glass of wine in the evening. As long as you're not driving, and as long as that pint or glass of vino isn't followed by six more. And it's also a good excuse to support one of England's great traditional products - ale and proper beer, which is being replaced little by little by lager imports which are usually much stronger.

Here, I'm about to enjoy a 'Peat Porter', as my tasteful beer mustache reveals. My companions enjoyed a pint of the unfussily named " Beer!" and Butcombe Bitter respectively. We also enjoyed three packets of very exotically flavoured crisps. ( Sweet Chilli and Lemon, Bloody Mary - with a mysterious exclamation mark after it on the packet - and real parsnip crisps. I mean they are made out of real parsnips. ) As below.

For three pints of real ale and some packets of crisps, I can wholeheartedly recommend the Inn on the Green. It's been completely transformed recently into a really nice place to enjoy a great variety of British beverage. (In moderation, and responsibly, of course.)

potatoes don't get more exotic than this...