That was the week...

Mrs Speaker speaks out – John Bercow, the Buckingham MP and House of Commons Speaker, is under increasing pressure to “rein in” his wife Sally, whose comments on her Twitter page are causing fury among Tory MPs. They said that Mrs Bercow was “undermining” the Speaker’s independence by Tweeting comments that include describing Chancellor George Osborne as “mental” and calling for the resignation of David Cameron’s spin doctor Andy Coulson.

Heritage sell-off – As Buckinghamshire County Council confirmed it would be shedding over 500 of its staff in the coming four years, word leaked that it was planning to “sell off” or hand over to volunteers some of the heritage and museum sites in the county it is responsible for. The council is neither confirming nor denying the leak.

“Defective oysters” – Former TV sports presenter Jim Rosenthal sued celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal after he fell “horribly ill” from a meal he ate at Blumenthal’s award winning restaurant, the Fat Duck in Bray. The restaurant admitted that the oysters in the Oyster and Passion Fruit Jelly Lavender were “defective” and had been infected by sewage. Former Wycombe schoolboy Mr Blumenthal was said to be “immensely sad” and had apologised. The restaurant has already paid £6,000 in personal damages to Mr Rosenthal’s party of four, which also included boxing promoter Frank Warren.

Motorway din dimmed – A residents group that’s spent ten years fighting for measures to reduce noise on the M40 finally achieved victory when the Highways Agency said it would resurface the motorway between junctions 3 and 4 – Loudwater to Handy Cross in High Wycombe – with the very latest anti-noise material.

Theatre revamp – High Wycombe’s Swan Theatre reopened after a £1m refurb in the hope of taking some of the gloss off the opening of Aylesbury’s new theatre, Waterside, next month. The revamp includes new seats and ventilation system. The two theatres first big clash comes at panto time with the Swan featuring Eastenders star Steve McFadden in Aladdin and Waterside mainlining Cilla Black in Cinderella.