Earlier this week the government relaxed the ban on the use of mobile phones in hospitals. I’ve now written to the chief executives of the Whittington, North Middlesex and Haringey Teaching Primary Care Trust (TPCT) calling for an urgent review of their policies.

Allowing the greater use of mobile phones will allow patients to avoid costly in-house phone services that often charge near premium rates for making and receiving calls.

Some of our local hospitals already have progressive policies on mobile phone use, but I hope they will seize this opportunity to review their policy and give patients the greatest freedom possible to stay in touch.

Of course there must continue to be sensible restrictions to preserve tranquillity and protect privacy. However, I think it's easy to underestimate the holistic benefits of being able to receive a goodnight text from a loved one when you're ill.

I am so excited about fronting the new Technology Board for the Party. Clever move by Nick Clegg I think as I think / hope this will be a good match between me and the need for a non-geek, non-nerdy human being to lead the way (vital and lovable though geeks and nerds are!).

I have always used the internet to campaign - and to communicate with all the different people that I have wanted to reach for different reasons, different issues and to achieve a variety of outcomes. And behind the scenes, I've always appreciated the importance of technology to make both campaigning and casework efficient and manageable.

Now Nick is unleashing me formally on the wider world. And I will have his backing to take the party where no party has gone before – not exactly his words – but my interpretation!

Seriously – this is the new frontier and is still in its infancy. The Lib Dems have already been ahead of the game vis a vis the internet with an army of bloggers and e-campaigning enthusiasts pushing the envelope already – now is the time to continue and expand our operations. So – priority obviously will be outward facing – but the internal e-campaigning at the grassroots will also be expanded.

Nick acknowledged that my ‘technical’ technology knowledge wasn’t the reason for wanting me to be the image of a modern, cutting edge Lib Dems (thank goodness) – but it is the way to bring it on!

So – Obama schmama – watch this space. Of course – the Board itself is not yet in existence – so much to do and so little time to do it!

Rest of mini ‘reshuffle’ is over on the party website.

I made a croissant! No - I didn't completely make the dough - but I rolled it. It was at Dunns (the bakers in Crouch End) where I went to work for an hour yesterday morning - they said it was so good that if things didn't work out in the future I could always have a job!

I was there to really show solidarity with our local shops and small businesses - as they face the dreadful economic downturn and struggle to survive. Now Dunns (owned and run by Chris Freeman - fourth or fifth generation bakers) has seen and survived many ups and downs and works tirelessly to make sure that all that can be done will be done.

All their staff will keep their jobs - and if things go better than expected - then they will reap extra reward. Quite frankly - keeping all your staff in work is the real key that will stave off the wolf from the door and enable people to continue paying the mortgage or rent etc.

Dunns is a fabulous shop - and although I have been in there many times and walked past many times - I have only ever seen the bright welcoming interior, stuffed with fabulous cakes, bread, rolls and everything patisseriewise you could wish for - somehow I never wondered how it all got done on the site. But yesterday I was allowed behind the scenes where the baker's elves were all working - rolling dough, baking, shaping, decorating, cutting, making and turning out the array that everyone sees in the counters.

There are many issues facing our local traders, and we the people must try and shop as locally as we can so that as many of them survive the downturn as possible. After all - our areas are just fantastic - and they are fantastic because of our wonderful local traders. So - go local and be vocal! Meanwhile - I will see if there is anything that I can do my end to help.

And just a final note - having come from a family business background myself - Dunns reminded me of my family's business and how the knowledge, experience and understanding of trading really makes a business work in a way that no amount of systems and tick boxes ever will!

Two stories from the Journal:

SUPPORT is mounting for a life-size bronze statue to be built remembering a pioneering black footballer and First World War hero at the new Spurs stadium...

Early backers of the online petition include Lynne Featherstone, MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, and Walter Tull's biographer Phil Vasili.

Mr Blumsom said: "I've always been fascinated by Walter Tull's story. He had to overcome prejudice and racism both in his career as a footballer and as a soldier.

"I've suggested that this statue should be placed in a prominent position on the approach to the new stadium." (Full story here)

And then also more on the problems of queues at our Post Offices in the run-up to Christmas:

URGENT talks will be held with Post Office bosses after MP Lynne Featherstone attacked excessively long Christmas queues after half the branches were axed.

The MP for Hornsey and Wood Green said queues outside the Crouch End post office stretched far down the pavement during the festive season despite promises from the Post Office.

She said: "It's plain to see that the remaining post offices are finding it difficult to cope with the increased customer pressure.

"It's not exactly rocket science that closing every second post office locally would result in larger queues at the remaining shops."

Six branches across Haringey were given the chop this summer including two in Crouch End - Ferme Park Road and Weston Park - leaving the remaining branches struggling to handle the additional customers. (Full story here)

A flurry of calls from the media following the not entirely unexpected news that Sharon Shoesmith is appealing against her dismissal and apparently seeking compensation - Evening Standard jounalist said up to £170,000.

I hope her appeal fails because she signally failed in her child protection responsibilities - that was the damning conclusion of the Ed Balls ordered investigation. This concurs with my own experiences of trying to get her to deal with cases where there was a complaint against something in her department. The answer I often got was 'children's services are working fine'. She seems to be more interested in defending her department than dealing with the issues I brought to her.

If she were now to get paid for failure it would send out a message to those in these incredible responsible and vital positions that they can fail with impunity - and get paid for their trouble.

UPDATE: Daily Express has more, including the reaction from my colleague Robert Gorrie:

Robert Gorrie, leader of Haringey’s Liberal Democrat opposition, said: “We have said from the outset that those responsible for this tragedy should be held to account and that there should be no rewards for failure.

“Sharon Shoesmith was responsible for the council service that failed Baby P. I hope the original council decision to terminate employment without payment of notice is upheld.”

The Christmas edition of the Electoral Reform Society's magazine, The Voter carries this short article from me:

Sadly, I am one of only 126 female MPs in a Parliament of 646. Parliament remains an old boys club, with its adversarial style of politics where bully-boy tactics are the norm; any of you who’ve watched PMQs will be fully aware of this.

And this feeds a political system that is so busy being adversarial that it forgets to be effective. This lack of representation is repeated throughout our political system. In local government, women make up just over a quarter of local councillors, whilst with MEPs it is a similar story: just one quarter female.

The quality of our government suffers from these imbalances – an impact which therefore affects us all, men and women. Women need to be there, with men, making these decisions, to ensure that public services and policy are relevant to all people and are capable of having a real effect on the lives, not just of women, but of everyone in society.

Nowhere is this clearer than in the allocation of resources, where the macho boys culture so often summons up the massive project and neglects the important details. When I was chair of transport at London Assembly it was starkly clear. Why is it that an obsession with boys-toys – the macho game of who’s got the biggest airport or the longest train – delivers multi-billion pound budgets for massive transport infrastructure projects yet not even a fraction of those budgets were spent on so called ‘soft measures’, such as making sure you can fit a double buggy through the door of a bus and making sure that local shopping centres and services are easily accessible – really easily accessible - through using public transport?

But it should not be a question of either or – it should be a matter of both. Some of our Nordic counterparts are light years ahead in terms of female representation, and we can see the practical effect on policy and resource priorities. Take Finland – with its childcare allowance for women who stay home and look after children under the age of 3 and its municipal care for children who are below the school age of 7.

We have come a long way in 90 years. It’s not enough, but we are constantly pushing, and constantly forcing change. I hope that within the next decade we will able to celebrate the achievement of equal and proper representation of women in politics, as another 90 is far too long to wait for this change!

It isn’t enough that women have the vote, and it isn’t enough that Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan all rank above us internationally when it comes to women’s representation. Equal representation and involvement in politics is our right, and it is the women today who will bring about change tomorrow, by demanding the equal representation they deserve and by working together to achieve it.

No real surprises here, with one story dominating your and my attention - the awful death of Baby P.

10. George Meehan and Liz Santry resign - the two key Labour councillors (council leader and lead member for children's services) finally took responsibility for Haringey Council's failings.
9. Baby P investigation update - thoughts following a meeting with Cabinet minister Ed Balls.
8. Panorama on Baby P - my advance thoughts, particularly on how the pressure to agree may result in people not sticking by their concerns.
7. Baby P at PMQs - a very brief post, but got lots of traffic due to the Brown-Cameron spat making that PMQs very high profile.
6. The departure of Sharon Shoesmith - my reaction to the (eventual) departure of the head of Haringey's children's services and education.
5. The roles of Sharon Shoesmith and George Meehan - in which I explain why I believed they should take responsibility for the errors and blunders exposed in the Baby P saga.
4. Brian Coleman and the Fire Brigade - see no.3.
3. Fire Brigade rushes to help - the Brian Coleman saga where, for latecomers, I feared for my and family's safety, called the Fire Brigade - who said I did the right thing - but Brian Coleman (Conservative London Assembly member) took it upon himself to criticise. Cue numerous comments on my various blog postings and via my website from firemen agreeing with my actions.
2. Reading the Baby P Serious Case Review - after initially being kept secret, the review was shown to a small number of MPs, myself included
1. Baby P verdict - reaction to the trial verdict.

So - that was the last quarter. Let's see what gets your attention in the next one...

Here's the New Year message from Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg:

I read a piece on Paul Linford's blog about another boy who died in terrible circumstances at the hands of his foster parents - who astonishingly had been cleared to adopt. However, it was this boy's tragic death, John Smith, that brought about a change in the law - a change that was able to be used for the trail following the death of Baby P:

A group of journalists from the Brighton Argus launched a "Justice for John" campaign after murder charges against his adoptive parents were dropped in favour of a lesser charge of cruelty on the grounds that it could not be proven who had struck the fatal blow. In the end, this led to a change of the law, and the creation of a new offence of causing or allowing the death of a child - the offence of which the vile killers of Baby P have now been successfully convicted and for which they will be sentenced early next year.

You can read the full post on Paul Linford's site - but to my mind, there are two points rising from this. Firstly - it shows what can be done when people put their mind to it. For all the flaws in our democracy and system of government - individuals can get together and bring about change.

Secondly - Baby P's tragic death raises the question of whether the maximum sentence for this (new) crime is high enough. It can cover such a wide range of circumstances that there needs to be the flexibility to deal with the circumstances of an individual case, but the maximum sentence available (I believe it is 14 years) is now facing a growing grassroots campaign organised primarily by mothers and grandmothers.

My own priority is to push for a public inquiry to ensure that the full range of necessary lessons are learnt and then changes applied because - vital though a just legal system is - in the end a court case and a jail sentence can only deal with the aftermath of tragedy. Avoiding the tragedy in the first place is the main objective.

But for me, the shining message from Paul's post is that things can change. It takes action and commitment - and here we have a bunch of those who are only slightly less reviled than politicians - journalists - who saw something that wasn't right - and took the action necessary. Hurrah for journalists - on this occasion!

A big thank you to Iain Dale's readers for his 2008 political poll where, whilst I trail Vince Cable miserably (and rightly), I am a) in the frame and b) second! as Lib Dem MP of the Year! Thus I continue my saga of always the bridesmaid but never the bride! I also notice that his magazine Total Politics has me as one to watch - and that's what my teachers used to say - ' better keep a close eye on her' - although I think their meaning may have been different...

On my own side - I likewise see (thanks to those who have brought it to my notice) that in the Liberal Democrat Voice poll I again am trailing Vince! Well - the man is a star and being even near licking distance of boots is honour enough! But there is still time for you to vote...

My comments about Haringey Council's habit of trying to turn its back on proper scrutiny of its actions seem to have caught a bit of media attention, as with The London Paper:

HARINGEY Council needs to shake up the way it scrutinises its own work in the wake of the Baby P tragedy, an MP has said.

Liberal Democrat Lynne Featherstone, MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, accused ruling Labour councillors of "scrutiny-phobia" after they refused to hand over the chair of a key watchdog committee to the opposition.

She said: "Scrutiny-phobia in Haringey has led to a culture where it was impossible for whistleblowers to raise the alarm. I am saddened that Haringey Labour has missed an opportunity to turn over a new leaf and to put its watchdog committee on a better footing to do what it is supposed to."...

Opposition leader Robert Gorrie said the decision "does not bode well for the future of Children's Services in Haringey.

"More rigorous and more independent scrutiny might have uncovered the severe failings in children's services before it was too late.

"Haringey Council needs a watchdog committee with teeth to prevent inadequacies in services being missed again."

The Ham & High newspaper runs a monthly column from myself and each year I have the slot just before Christmas - for which, after all the serious pieces, I have my annual little bit of fun: the Christmas Fairy Tale.

Of course some people think this is terribly out of order and MPs should be terribly dour and serious all the time (hello diary columnists!), to which I say - as every year - bah humbug!

Some collection dates changes over the holiday season. Full details are on the Haringey Council website - including information on where you can recycle your Christmas tree.

From yesterday's Evening Standard:

The man charged with turning around Haringey's failing social services faced a string of critical reports in his previous job after two children died in cases of suspected abuse...

Schools Secretary Ed Balls appointed Mr Lewis 10 days ago praising his "excellent" reputation as director of children's services in neighbouring Enfield.

But an investigation by the Standard has found social workers and health staff in Enfield were criticised over cases in which children died or were seriously harmed under his watch...

Lynne Featherstone, Liberal Democrat MP for Hornsey and Wood Green, said the cases raised concerns.

She said Mr Lewis's salary, a large rise from Ms Shoesmith's, raised expectations that he would be able to tackle the deep-rooted problems in Haringey.

"We expect a huge amount from Mr Lewis," she said. "It would be appropriate to hear directly from him. We want to be reassured on how he handled these cases and how they came to light."

You can read the full story here.

Here's my Christmas message for the Haringey Independent:

Christmas approaches - and we are all wondering how much the recession will affect us. But first let's think about the good things that have happened this year. We got a Climate Change Bill that has some rigour. 42 days detention without charge was defeated. Our neighbourhood police have had some success in bringing local crime stats down. And having been to many Christmas Shows and concerts by local children and some not so young local people - there are a wealth of good people out there doing good things.

Not so good this year - the Government closed five of our local post offices despite magnificent campaigns by local people. Our Haringey schools still get £1,000 less per child than neighbouring boroughs despite the Prime Minister agreeing with me that it's an anomaly. The awful tragedy of Baby P – and the parlous state of our Children’s Services revealed by the subsequent investigation. And many people already suffering – or worried they will be shortly – thanks to the recession.

So much still to do next year - as well as holding those now charged with helping us get the best Children's Services in the land to account.

Knowing that winter is coming, that fuel bills are high and that times are hard - perhaps it's also time that we thought a bit more about what we each can do to help others around us. We should check on our neighbours, be generous as we can with our time and if we have spare anything - we should share it. We could also resolve to get fitter – that costs nothing if we just walk every day but can bring huge health benefits. We could all resolve to volunteer if we aren’t already – that not only makes the world go round, it makes us feel really good and worthwhile.

Of course, if you lose your home or your job, you are not going to be full of Christmas cheer - so for those of us who remain in work and with a roof over our head - it's time to demonstrate community spirit and love - actually!

This week was the special Haringey Council meeting called by the Lib Dems to debate the findings from Ed Ball's 'urgent investigation' into Haringey following the death of Baby P.

It saw an astonishing outburst from the person we all saw apologise (finally) on behalf of the Labour Council - Liz Santry - Labour Member for Children's Services as was. With the media's attention having moved on, at this meeting I am told she lashed out blaming others. But that's it you know - that's the real issue in Haringey - that Labour always turn it all around and instead of really looking at what's gone wrong, they simply rebut, deny, blame others. When will they ever learn?

What also is interesting, is that my Lib Dem colleagues on Haringey Council have called for all services to be re-inspected. This is because of the comments from Ofsted, in the form of Christine Gilbert, that they were 'misled' by Haringey officials when they did their inspection. If people misled one batch of inspectors, what are the chances that other inspectors carrying out other inspections were misled too?

There have been thirteen separate inspections over the last few years including the Audit Commission's Comprehensive Performance Assessment in October 2006, the Commission for Social Care Inspection inquiry received as recently at 28th November this year and an Audit Commission report of the Council's housing service.

There has to be now real doubt over the accuracy of these inspections - and so the call for re-inspections. Needles to say - Labour refused! As I said - when will they ever learn!

Over the last year, the online presence of Haringey Liberal Democrats has steadily been growing and expanding. Five of my local colleagues now have their own sites / blogs:

Matt Davies - Fortis Green councillor
Fiyaz Mughal - Noel Park councillor
David Schimtz - Tottenham Parliamentary spokesman and Seven Sisters candidate
Neil Williams - Highgate councillor
Richard Wilson - Stroud Green councillor

Haringey Liberal Democrats are also on Facebook, including information about our forthcoming events, or - if you're not a Facebooker - you can also instead out about our events via the main party website.

Oh, and don't forget - I'm on Facebook, Twitter (mini-blog style updates) and Flickr (photos).

A quick update on the very popular market at Wards Corner, and the controversial development that threatens it, as I know the issue of interest to people across Haringey.

Before the Mayor elections: Boris Johnson says he's backing local campaigners against the development.

After the Mayor elections: Boris Johnson says he won't use his planning power to block the development nor will he use Transport for London's ownership of the key part of the site to block it either.

Hmm ... not impressed Boris! This man is for turning! Liberal Democrat Voice has more details on Wards Corner.

Islington Council has won its appeal over its dismissal of Lillian Ladele, a registrar who refused to carry out same-sex marriages. I welcome the result as it would be just as unacceptable for a registrar to refuse to marry a couple who had had premarital sex because of their religious belief. This case is no different. There is no hierarchy between strands of equality, just the principle of mutual respect and tolerance - particularly for those in public administration.

The Labour Government keeps on wanting to collect and keep more and more data about us. I've often mentioned how I think it is a waste spending large sums of money keeping tabs on the innocent rather than focusing resources on catching the guilty - but one of the other problems is that the more data that is kept about us, the more scope there is for the data to be lost and misused.

The Open Rights Group have a fun online survey which lets you find out whether any of your own personal data is likely to have been lost. You can try it here.

The Liberal Democrat Voice team have produced a 'book of the year' containing a selection of articles from the last twelve months,including a trio of pieces from myself. A good present for anyone politically interested who you know!

You can buy it from Lulu or see more details on Lib Dem Voice.

Well the Fire Brigade have come to my rescue for a second time. It’s not surprising that they are angry with Brian Coleman given he is supposed to set an example – not undermine all their good work on getting the message across that if you believe you are in danger get out the house:

London Fire Chief Under Fire for "Time Wasting" Jibe

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM--(Dec. 15, 2008) - Fire Brigades Union (FBU) leaders in London have called on the chairman of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA) to consider his position, after he labelled as "dizzy" and an "airhead" a woman MP who dialled 999 when sparks began to fly from her boiler.

Conservative councillor Brian Coleman's remarks were branded "sexist" by Lynne Featherstone, Liberal Democrat member of parliament for Hornsey and Wood Green, who said she intends to protest to the London Fire Brigade commissioner, Ron Dobson.

Ms Featherstone was in her house late at night with her two daughters when the boiler began to violently shake and emit sparks. Fearing an explosion, she evacuated the house and called the fire brigade.

The incident came to light after Ms Featherstone wrote an entry on her website blog, in which she praised firefighters for their actions.

However, Cllr Coleman accused Ms Featherstone of wasting brigade time and said she should have called a plumber instead. "She has shown herself to be completely dizzy. Airheads and airlocks are obviously not unrelated. She can't tell the difference between an airlock and a major catastrophe," Coleman told the Daily Mail.

Cllr Coleman also suggested Ms Featherstone send a cheque to the London Fire Brigade in recompense for the incident, in what would be a break with centuries of tradition of the fire service being free at the point of use for members of the public.

However, the FBU has slammed Cllr Coleman for engaging in cheap political point-scoring and dispensing erroneous advice. The union warned that his comments may discourage other members of the public from dialling 999 for fear of being accused of wasting brigade time. A spokesman for the London Fire Brigade also contradicted Cllr Coleman's comments by making clear that Ms Featherstone acted correctly.

The FBU's regional secretary for London, Joe MacVeigh, said, "To put narrow political considerations before public safety, as Councillor Coleman has done, is unpardonable. Any firefighter will tell you that Ms Featherstone did absolutely the right thing, and, by publicly condemning her, Councillor Coleman has raised question marks about his own suitability for office.

"You cannot have the head of London's fire authority blundering around instructing people not to call the fire brigade when they have perfectly good reason to. The huge amount of time that our members spend on educating the public about fire safety can turn to dust with crass remarks like these."

Mr MacVeigh also condemned the sexist nature of Councillor Coleman's comments. "As the head of LFEPA, Councillor Coleman has a duty to promote sound equalities and diversity policies. He even recently claimed that the London Fire Brigade was 'taking the lead on equality issues'. If an ordinary firefighter had said such things to a female colleague, he would almost certainly have been facing disciplinary action. It seems to me that Councillor Coleman needs to decide whether he wants to be a serious politician or whether he wants to continue as City Hall's resident joker."

I posted a 'thank you' to Hornsey firefighters for coming out on a 999 call to my house a little while back - with a very brief description of what had happened. At the end of last week, Brian Coleman, Conservative Chair of the London Fire Authority was all over the media attacking me for doing so. Although the Fire Brigade says I did the right thing to call them out - and would only have sent firefighters if they thought it necessary - he says I should pay; that it was comparable with calling them out for a pet stuck in a tree; he has called me 'dizzy', 'an airhead'; 'an utter disgrace' and so on.

What I would say about this - and all the comment that has ensued in the media (Mr Coleman actually sent out press releases to attack me) - is that I and my two daughters were terrified and that is the point. The corner of the house was shaking. The noise was extreme. In those moments - it is the clear message of the Fire Brigade that steered me through. And their advice is if you think you are in danger get out of the house and call the Fire Brigade - which is exactly what I did.

Thank goodness there was no explosion - but it was serious and when the engineer came the next day he said that the jammed motor had been sparking and as well as causing the shaking and the noise and it could have ignited. The Hornsey firefighters, when they came, checked everything and made sure it was safe.

So as I simply followed the official advice of the Fire Brigade - I have been astonished that someone in Brian Coleman's position (i.e. chair of the London Fire Authority) would undermine that message from the Fire Service - just to have a pop at someone in a different political party.

A London Fire Brigade spokeswoman said: "If it's obvious that there has been an ongoing problem with the boiler, then you can call a plumber. But if your boiler suddenly starts making strange noises in the middle of the night, call the fire brigade." Mine was the latter situation - and so both the Fire Commission and the firefighters on the night said I did the right thing.

As you may have seen - there's been a fair few comments on this blog, so I just wanted to highlight a couple:

Hi as a serving firefighter, I can honestly say you did exactly the right thing in calling out your local fire service. The fire service has a responsibility to serve the community in all ways. Community safety is at the forefront of what we do, we would much rather see early action being taken than having to deal with the aftermath of a catastrophic failure. Your boiler could have potentially been life threatening either through a defective flue or indeed an explosion. May I suggest both a carbon monoxide detector and a smoke detector be fitted if you do not have either. Ready to serve and protect.

and

i am a fire fighter at hornsey fire station and although i am not a Libdem supporter and i was not on duty when you called us, i would like you to know that you did the correct thing. our job is to serve and protect the community and if you felt you and your family were in danger then you have a duty of care to call us asap. brian colemans comment shows how little he knows about the role of the LFB and his statement that your were dizzy is quite frankly extremely sexist and condescending, but what else can we expect from one of the mayors hand picked cronies.

I will be writing to the Commissioner of the London Fire Service - on two counts. Firstly, on the issue of how he will deal with a Chair of the Authority who is happy to send out a message which is completely contradictory to the ethic and central message of the Fire Service. Secondly, in a service in which there is a strong shift to move away from any discrimination or sexism - to ask what action he will take over having a Chair who thinks it is OK to denigrate women in the way Brian Coleman did. Those who know Mr Coleman say this is typical. But I don't think you can hold such a responsible position and then say - well it's politics, so it doesn't count.

I'm back on The Westminster Hour tonight (Sunday): Radio 4, 10pm.

If you miss the show you'll be able to listen again on their website.

If you want to get advanced notice of my media appearances like this one, you can use the media events service at Flock Together. You've got three choices:

1. Using this feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/LiberalDemocratsMediaAppearances, or
2. By email: register at FlockTogether and pick “Media appearances” as one of the categories of events you want to be emailed about. (If you are an existing Flock Together user you can also change your preferences - login and then click “Edit your preferences” in the left-hand menu; you need to tick “Media Appearances” under “Email options”), or
3. On the web: take a look at the dedicated Flock Together page.

Last night it was off to St Michael's Church in Highgate Village for the Christmas anthems and audience carols by the Highgate Choral Society, of which I am a patron. As ever - mulled wine and mince pies and beautiful singing by the Chorus and of course the audience. And there were some lovely organ solos as well.

Particularly sweet, I thought, was that the first chorus of Away in the Manger, Ronald Corp who is the conductor (amongst many other competing titles in his CV) asked that only the children sing. And the very faint but very sweet little voices were just delightful.

The whole evening was as enjoyable as ever - and I am very much looking forward to April, when the Chorus has its 130th anniversary celebratory concert at the Barbican Centre on Thursday 2nd April. If you are interested in joining, supporting or attending - their website is www.hcschoir.com.