Last week I did not attend Conference. This was planned a long time ago as I wanted to have a stall at the Callington Honey Fair.

The event is one of the largest street fairs in Cornwall and hundreds of people visit the very traditional occasion. It is not all about honey. The fair hosts many different stalls including charities, local retailers, various organisations and even political parties. There was also a town crier competition and it was good to catch up with the one from my village Clive O’Shaughnessy.

There were of course many bee keepers keen to show the hard work of their bees and to talk to others in the industry.

It was a particularly good time to meet with so many people at the Fair.

The Conference had been all week and it was good to gauge the reaction to the new Prime Minister and her team. It was also useful to talk to a number of people about the issues they were facing and how I could be of assistance.



On Friday I joined Saltash Rotary for the unveiling of the new Defibrillator which has been placed in the old phone box at the train station. Rotary President Pete Samuels thanked the many people involved in the project including the Rotarians, the Town Council, Duchy Defibrillators and Judy Turner who prepared the buffet at the event. Mayor Richard Bickford did the honours and unveiled the new device.

On Saturday I got my Covid booster and my flu jab in the Methodist church in Liskeard. I would like to thank everyone involved in the endeavour and especially all the volunteers who give their time to assist.

On Sunday afternoon I joined my sister in law, Rev Jill Murray, at the Cawsand Congregational Church for the annual Harvest of the Sea service. The address was given by Mission Pastor Rev George Ayoma from Fleetwood. Father Michael Brown led the Prayers and Helen Lovell represented the Fishermen’s Mission for which the service was in aid of.

Whilst I did not physically attend Conference I did watch a lot of it, including some meetings, over the virtual platform. In her main speech to Conference the Prime Minister, Liz Truss, set out her vision for a new Britain for the new era, to get Britain moving, get us through the storm and put us on a stronger footing as a nation.

She explained that with Putin’s war in Ukraine, the aftermath of Covid, and a global economic crisis - the scale of the challenge we face right now is immense. That is why she will take a new approach to get our country moving and our economy growing again – taking the hard choices to drive reform, boost growth, and create opportunity for everyone.

It is hoped that this will build a brand new Britain for a new era – unleashing the full potential of our great country. I know she is determined to make this happen.