AN overcast Monday morning in Westminster was brightened considerably by James Blackett and six of his friends delivering a letter from James' father David, for me to forward to the Prime Minister, as reported in last week's Diss Express.
The group had spent the weekend on a sponsored cycle ride from Tasburgh, to highlight the postcode lottery faced by kidney cancer sufferers such as Mr Blackett.
Although some primary care trusts will fund the life-extending drug Sutent, NHS Norfolk has refused to do so for James' father.
Well done to James and his friends for highlighting Mr Blackett's plight and that of other kidney cancer sufferers. The money raised will benefit the James Whale Fund for Kidney Cancer.
I have forwarded the letter to the Prime Minister and I look forward to receiving his response.
British pigsTake a look at the fields in Norfolk and Suffolk where you normally see large herds of pigs. Many of them are now empty – and there is a reason.
What is left of the pig industry is still producing pigs at a loss. Some people think "farmers are doing very well, thank you", due to high arable prices. But for pig farmers high arable prices mean higher costs for animal feed.
On Tuesday, I hosted a meeting at the House Of Commons so the British Pig Executive, which campaigns for a better deal for pig farmers, could brief MPs on the current state of the industry.
Did you know the only sources of Vitamin D are sunlight and red meat? And that Vitamin D is essential for the body to absorb calcium, which is vital for healthy strong bones?
Do your kids a favour. Buy some high quality sausages this weekend. And please make sure they are British!
Dickleburgh May FayreMy wife Victoria and I spent a most enjoyable afternoon at the Dickleburgh May Fayre.
One of the many highlights for us was to be asked to crown the delightful May Queen, Nicola Bartram, who was attended by her princesses Emily Logan and Sophie Seaman.
We were pleased to hear that the event raised £700 for the East Anglian Air Ambulance, which did a couple of well-received fly-pasts during the day.
It was obvious that a lot of hard work had gone into organising the event.
I congratulate everyone who gave up their time and put in a lot of effort to ensure that the whole day was a resounding success.
Website: www.richardbacon.org.ukThe full article contains 423 words and appears in Diss Express newspaper.
