Robert Buckland Weblog

The effects of combat in Iraq and Afghanistan seem to be covered very fully by our media.  Sad and moving funeral corteges through Wootton Bassett;  poor ordnance letting down our troops; campaigns to help those physically injured.  Some attention has been given to the psychological effects of war upon our troops and veterans,  but far [...]

Some very sad news from Swansea; two people who were influential in different spheres of my life have died.  Barrie Harding OBE, who has died of cancer aged 68, was a leading Welsh Conservative for many years.  Barrie was a teacher and latterly a lecturer in German.  His knowledge of education was deep, and his [...]

A beautiful September is passing,  and I have been visiting residents and helping to deliver leaflets in the sun.  The previous two working weeks brought me to Birmingham and Baku respectively,  plus a chance to see old friends at the Fortieth Birthday Party of blog reader Tom Barton.
Why Birmingham?  I was completing a week of [...]

Just as the new Vetting and Barring Scheme is about to take effect, the debate about the need for over eleven million of us to register has finally reached the headlines.  The Bichard Report, completed in the grim aftermath of the Soham murders, not unreasonably came to the conclusion that with a proper system of [...]

Having survived three rather uncomfortable nights in the camper van, I returned to work this week nursing a heavy cold.  After our visit to Osborne, we went to the temporary home of another Monarch, Charles I.  He was imprisoned for about a year between 1647 and 1648 at Carisbrooke Castle, which occupies a commanding position [...]