It was great to drop in on the extraordinary Rosemary Rigby MBE recently, both to catch up with her and to see the new extension she has built to her Violette Szabo Museum in Tump Lane.

What makes the difference between an authoritarian and an open society? Many things: individual rights, a free press, the rule of law. But also, crucially, free and independent institutions.

Jesse Norman visits manufacturing technology centre, The MTC, and meets CEO Dr Clive Hickman OBE.

The terrible events of the past week in Ukraine take me back to memories of more than three decades ago.

George Orwell famously wrote that “To see what is in front of one’s nose needs a constant struggle.” So it is in Herefordshire, because of the incredible range of volunteering and community support organisations that quietly go about their business across the county.

Local MP Jesse Norman was delighted to welcome the Government's Minister for Skills, Alex Burghart MP, to Hereford last Thursday. 

As this column went to press, it seemed likely that NMITE, our own Herefordshire university project, would be mentioned in the White Paper this week on the Government’s flagship policy of Levelling Up across the UK. And it was.

Last week saw the publication of two important reports. Both have a direct bearing on the future of Herefordshire.  Together they reinforce the importance of the Government’s new Levelling Up strategy, and the urgent need to clean up the river Wye.

As the New Year came in, so did the Queen’s New Year’s Honours list – and what fantastic recognition Herefordshire has had!