LibDem Blogs - Archived!

Having pushed the Welsh Assembly Government into honouring their manifesto pledge of putting £100 million into a crime fund I have now decided to try to pin down the precise objectives of this fund and how they are measuring their performance. The problem is that the Government themselves, still seem unsure what it is they have committed themselves too and what they hope to achieve from it: Peter Black: How is the Minister co-ordinating expenditure of the Assembly Government's crime fund? OAQ0030(SJR) Edwina Hart: Officials in the community safety unit liaise closely

Fancy a world cruise? It wouldn't be my cup of tea but 1,752 people paid up to £41,985 each for a 103-day, 23-country trip aboard the ill-fated PO decided to add insult to injury. Those who remained were treated to free drinks and entertainment from comedians Jimmy Tarbuck and Tom O'Connor, magician Paul Daniels, and singer Elaine Page, while the ship was stuck in port.Anyone sailing from

It's a big Liberal England hello to Dominic Tristram and No Geek is an Island, which have both joined the list on the right.

Over the last few months the Labour Assembly Government has made a number of important announcements on the future of Welsh Quangos. Yesterday we finally had a chance to have a proper two hour debate on those proposals or so we thought. However, Labour's obsession with spin destroyed all of that. The Government issued a consultation document relating to the debate at 1.11pm precisely, having first used it to brief the press eleven minutes earlier. When the opposition objected that there had been no time to properly consider the document and requested that the debate be adjourned the Government

From the Leicester Mercury: A flood defence network may be delayed by the discovery of a suspected underground river, it was revealed today.The cost of Anglian Water's £1.8 million scheme in Market Harborough town centre is expected to increase as a result. Click for the full story. Well, it's fascinating if you live here.

Was quite surprised by the diary response to my question on services for older people who misuse alcohol. It was actually a very serious question but I will admit that there was an element of comic potential. I am aware that it was commented on by four diarists - who are supposed to amuse and entertain - and the different ways they dealt with the subject were very typical of their differing

Proof that life in a multicultural society is more complicated than the average politician grasps comes in the form of this report from the Scotsman: The Hindu Council UK today called on all MPs and MEPs to oppose a proposed EU move to ban the swastika symbol because of its Nazi associations. The council is urging politicians to fight the move as the symbol has been used for thousands of years and for Hindus represents a highly-sacred sign of wisdom I am reminded of an incident when I was a governor of a primary school here in Market

Did a pre-record for this with Caroline Dineage who is the PPC for Portsmouth South. Subject as usual was the women and children thing so it was a good opportunity for Caroline but a shame that the Conservative Spokesperson Theresa May (who is one of the Region's MPs) couldn't find the time to be there. Before anyone accuses Meridian of bias by not having a Labour MP I must defend them and say

Hot on the heels of the manifesto meeting yesterday came a lunch organised for the female researchers at Westminster. The idea was to provide them with more information about becoming an MP and we invited Jen Smith and Julia Goldsworthy to speak. Jen and Julia have both worked as researchers in the past and are now both Prospective Parliamentary Candidates. Jen is in Basingstoke and Julia in

Comments are down, so an email from Simon: 3. Except we're still subjects rather than citizens. Is untrue as we ceased to be subjects in 1983 under the British Nationality act of 1981.Simon is right that we are legally citizens; serves me right for repeating a hackneyed old comment. But we are still subjects of HM too. The British National Act 1981 does, though, serve to reinforce my reason

Oh joy! Stephen Fry will be playing the Voice of the Guide in the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. A fantastic piece of casting that could've been topped only by having the original voice of the guide in the movie (he passed away a few years ago, unfortunately).

Councillor John Hemming, Deputy Leader of Birmingham City Council and Chair of the Birmingham Strategic Partnership has welcomed the success of operation Trojan 3 dealing with crime and buses. Working together the Police, City Centre Management Street Wardens and Travel West Midlands Bus Inspectors ran an operation entitled "Trojan 3" around buses and bus stops over a period of 9

Charles Clarke likes the idea of citizenship ceremonies when young people turn 18. And why not? Well... Although 18 is the mimimum voting age, you can leave home and school at 16. Most British nationals are citizens from birth. Except we're still subjects rather than citizens. Young people travelling abroad require their own passport from 16 and the new ID cards are intended for those 16 and

Went to see Team America - World Police last night. Very funny, and not just because it's as rude and vulgar as it's creators' TV series South Park. It satires equally American military action and pacificist actors, and spoofs the action movie genre, with a few nods to Star Wars en route. Funny songs, faantastic puppetry, and vile humour. But don't go and see it if you found Jerry Springer -

Very pleasant time in the country last weekend. A big group of us had a Youth Hostel (now on the market and very suitable for a secret evil lair for any budding Blofeld)to ourselves. Went for a couple of walks through the countryside (admittedly both ended at pubs); drank beer, cider and wine; had a cream tea (my heart screamed no but my tastebuds insisted); and ate some excellent food, including

A classic: this week's Private Eye cover.

The Graham Report has now been released. I welcome the publication of the 10th Report into Public Standards. This report recognises that the current procedures where councillors have been sacked for: - sitting in a meeting with a constituent without saying they are a councillor (Coleen Gill-East Riding-Lib Dem) - writing to an MP (Coleen Gill-East Riding-Lib Dem) - taking the wrong route

Am in the Standing Committee for Identity Cards at the moment. This means hours spent going through the Bill in (excruciating) detail. Very useful but leaves little time for anything else. Will post more extensively, respond to comments etc. when I emerge from this process.

Simon Titley is absolutely right, I do not know how I did without this valuable internet tool. The art of the analogy is long neglected and misunderstood. At last politicians and journalists can relate objects to an easily understood concept - the size of the area of Wales. If you get bored with that then there is always the alternative calculator which will find the next best fit for a comparator country. How did we manage without it?