I’ve had a lot of posts and questions from people recently asking about keeping warm in the winter, and having just dug out my annual (what I call my) ‘survival kit’, I thought I’d do a quick post about it in case anyone finds it helpful. As with the nature of these posts, I’m sure … Read more
Just a very quick post to say – if you want to order my book, it’s currently £9.45 on The Hive, and will be delivered to a local independent book shop. I’ll be going back through my blog over the next few days to change all of the book-order links to this one – so … Read more
VIDEO: The coalition’s cruellest cut? Mary Laver, a former RAF servicewoman, campaigner, and friend, has severe rheumatoid arthritis. She can’t stand, she can’t move her arms, she hasn’t fed herself in over fifteen years. Mary relies on a team of carers to help her complete everyday tasks, like eating, drinking, and going to the toilet, … Read more
On Tuesday morning, I handed the petition in to Parliament, along with the Daily Mirror, Unite and the Trussell Trust, with over 130,000 signatures on it – including yours. We got a debate! The debate will go ahead in a week’s time, on the Wednesday 18th of December, so the next week is crucial. Please … Read more
So the Mail have put up their latest smear article again, albeit with some ‘corrections’ as it was first uploaded around 11pm, swiftly removed, and put back up an hour or so ago. So I’ve just had the pleasure of reading an enormously unhinged attack piece in a national newspaper where they compare my eating … Read more
A friend posted this on her Facebook page this morning, and I thought I would share it. It’s based on the bible verses from the book of 1 Corinthians, verses 1 – 13. *If I decorate my house perfectly with plaid bows, strands of twinkling lights, and shiny glass balls but do not show love … Read more
I started this year living – existing – on a £10 a week food budget topped up with five items of food from the Storehouse food bank once a week. I ended it with a recipe book deal, baking biscuits on Woman’s Hour, with a Guardian column, a debate in the House of Commons and … Read more
I’m never knowingly overdressed, or underdressed, or really give that sort of thing much thought. I just get up and get mostly dressed, for perching at my kitchen table to write, dash out to nursery or for a pint of milk, and pop my one suit jacket on if I’m going to a meeting. If … Read more
My column in Society Guardian, Monday 8th December 2014. “Poor people don’t know how to cook”, Baroness Anne Jenkin said at the launch of the Feeding Britain report yesterday, and suddenly it was as though ten months of evidence gathering, and 160 pages of written report, hadn’t happened, cast aside to be summed up in … Read more
Yesterday, a very kind man asked me to name three things recently that have brought me joy. I was a bit down in the dumps (to put it very, very mildly), it wasn’t an out of the blue question. I paused. “My son. My kids. They bring me joy. They’re so funny, if you just … Read more