I know, as you will too if you are a householder, that one of the biggest expenses that we have is the cost of keeping our homes warm, cooking food, and ensuring that the lights are on. Most people have at least one of the low energy bulbs, which last longer and use less electricity, but in honesty, how many of you like the light that they give out? I put this down to the fact that over the years we have all become used to the filament bulb and by fitting the new style I’m sure that we would all get used to them. Personally I quite like the softer light which they give out and it depends on what kind you buy. I mention this because I have been reading about a new bulb which has been developed by the Dutch giant Philips, this lamp is said to be the most efficient in the world, bring it on I say.

One area that could benefit us all is if the Chancellor George Osborne capped energy bills, but I will not hold my breath on that one! A recent survey, over 2,000 people who took part in a recent poll were in favour of receiving some concessions on energy prices for businesses and households. I have no doubt that we will be told “it is a free market” but it is an area that most of us would welcome. For those of us who live in country areas, it is worse as we are at the mercy of the oil companies, and please don’t say that you can shop around, I do and they are all selling at virtually the same price, within a half penny or so per litre!

Queen Elizabeth celebrated her 87 birthday on Sunday and it has been a remarkable period in our history, it set me thinking just about the amount of work that the lady gets through, as well as her enduring commitment to the service of her country for so many years is remarkable.

Since coming to the throne following her father’s death in 1952, it is estimated that she has undertaken in the region of up to 33,000 public engagements. We should not lose sight of the fact that at her age, most people would find difficulty going into town to do some shopping, but in spite of her age, coupled with the fact that she recently attended hospital for a stay due to gastroenteritis; Queen Elizabeth II shows few signs of slowing down.

So it is now 60 years since her coronation in 1953 and a study of the court circular reveals that Her Majesty has attended nearly 15,000 official engagements since 1984! She has travelled extensively abroad on behalf of the country too, this includes visits to the United States, Australia, Jordan, Thailand and Oman, as well as her historic trip to Ireland in May 2011, few people could possibly disagree when I say that she is the hardest working head of state in the world.

The Queen has known 12 different prime ministers in her time on the throne and been the head of state of 32 Commonwealth countries. Let me be amongst the many who would like to say to her, we hope you had a happy and peaceful birthday, and I and I’m sure the British people have good cause to say: “Long may she reign over us.”

I just read in the morning papers that the NatWest and RBS are to bump up charges for the privilege of using an account with them, so is this the end of free banking you could be forgiven for asking! Well was it really ever free would be my response to that, it probably was and you did not incur any charges as long as you held an account balance, did not ask them to do anything such as transfer money, or to get a letter which carried an extortionate charge I seem to recall.

Both these institutions, they are one in the same actually, are to introduce a monthly fee of £6 for having an authorised overdraft, that is in addition of course to the monthly interest charge which currently is at a massive 19.9% which now begins at £10 instead of the previous £100. Having an overdraft buffer to draw upon is a fact of life for many people who drop into the red towards the end of the month before that pay cheque goes in, for these unfortunate souls, they will soon have to look at the way that they manage their salaries if they are to avoid paying extra charges, it is not always easy as occasionally you get hit by an unexpected bill for something like a car repair. It is no good looking to change accounts either as it was becoming increasingly difficult for customers to compare bank accounts and work out which one offers the best deal.

Picture: Images_of_Money

You could say that it was a one nil win for twitter, when 17 year old Paris Brown resigned from her newly appointed position of Junior Police and Crime Commissioner, following the discovery of remarks she had made on Twitter about a year previously. I wonder then if this is the first victory for this communication medium in the same way that Facebook tells the world whatever a person writes onto it, they may have claimed a few scalps I would imagine.

Whichever way you look at it, and which side of the argument you favour, I think that this is a very sad story of a young and dare I say it, very immature young girl being thrust into the spotlight and full media attention only to be held responsible for some utterly stupid things that she had said about homosexuals, travellers and others. I am more concerned that this was a job which in my humble opinion, was not in any way necessary, was why do the police need a seventeen year old to help them communicate better with young people? On top of that, this was not an honorary position which would have been valuable to a young person and give her valuable experience of how the police go about their job, no it was a part time position and paid a salary of £15,000 per year, that on top of the wage she gets from the Ware council! What is there to be gained in employing a 17yr old Youth Crime Commissioner that can’t be gained through other means? What about the person who employed her Ann Barnes, who earns a reported £80,000 per year, will she be held accountable, I doubt it don’t you?