LibDem Blogs - Archived!

I have added a couple more links to the list on the right - or the "blogroll", as young people call it. Edis Bevan's MKNE Political Information, which has awoken after a dormant period; The surprisingly palatable Chicken Yoghurt.

I've finally got my computer up in Lincoln, and whilst waiting for broadband to arrive, I'm using GPRS via my mobile to connect to the internet. It's pretty fast (115.2Kbps it claims), but the only problem is that o2 compress the images before they arrive. To get them to appear properly I need to hover over the images and then press Shift+R. Below is an example of what I see: Images copied

I was quite surprised at how few questions there were from Labour at today's full Council Meeting. The questions did not fill the full hour allocated and they didn't ask me anything. Clearly they have so little to say as they are so much in agreement with what the administration are doing that they could not find any questions to ask. We did have an interesting discussion about MRSA. This

I've noticed that a fair few of my pictures feature nude moving or stationary slim female figures (indeed, I painted a 'futurist' style running female nude on an LSE blackboard during a break in an LDYS meeting). Unfortunately, due to a lack of people who would either pose naked for me (or I would want them to pose naked - volunteers may have unwanted intent) I'm pretty stumped for some life models at the moment for anything but slim females (of which I have much experience - being one myself). If you're interested in drawing the human form, there's ...

"Plans for keeping terrorist suspects under house arrest are to be opposed by the Liberal Democrats," says the BBC News website. I should think so too.

I am writing this listening to Arsenal vs Manchester United. Like all good Chelsea fans, I am hoping for a draw. The commentators are saying that the players and both benches are yelling at the referee every time he makes a decision. This typifies our modern inability to submit to any authority at all. I am reminded of David Mellor and his successful attempt to reinvent himself as a populist football pundit on BBC Radio Five Live. He did two things. The first was to do affect an estuary accent - rather like Tony Blair on Richard and ...

New to the blogroll, London Underground.

The software patent debate has not been forgotten on these pages. I have been sent some very helpful information listing patents that relate to the web that have been granted by the UK Patent Office. Any patents in the area of web development and use are of particular concern as ...

No time to blog - day disappearing fast in a round of meetings re manifesto process and trying to catch up on back log of e-mails. Am considering auto-reply but I am still trying to keep the personal touch for those who e-mail me as they all get a personalised reply at the mo but e-mail has really taken off over the last year.

The new Assembly Health Minister, Brian Gibbons, told Welsh Labour MPs last night that he will devote one day a week to cutting NHS waiting times in Wales. This led Welsh Liberal Democrat Health Spokesperson, Kirsty Williams, to ask what he will be doing for the other six days. If he were a creationist, Brian might argue that he should be allowed to use the seventh day to rest.

Many people in Enfield North have concerns regarding immigration and asylum. There is a sense of a system out of control. While Labour have presided over a processing system that is chaotic, with requests taking huge amounts of time- politicians have a duty, especially on such a sensitive issue as immigration and asylum, also to match rhetoric to fact. The politics of fear is the lowest form of

Everyone assumes that voter apathy and low trust in politicians are recent phenomena. A new study of polling evidence by the BBC suggests that this is not so. The real problems are a lack of differentiation between parties and a poverty of ambition among politicians. The problem could lie with the parties themselves - and the perceived lack of difference between their policies. In a

Courtesy or no-one but the BBC website: The best one: Britain: Ideal for visiting France

Interesting interview in the Guardian today with Kat Fletcher, President of the National Union of Students, who I was at uni with. Our politics differ somewhat (although she once told me I seemed more left wing every time she saw me) but I was pleased for her when she finally took the presidency having been pipped at the post by Labour's Mandy Telford the previous year. I see the Guardian site

Thanks to Nigel for the link to the story about the doodler of Davos - turns out it was Bill Gates and not Tony Blair wot done it. It has been amazing just how profile the Davos meeting this year based on an apparently acceptable assumption that these are ...

The biggest story of recent days has, of course, been the elections in Iraq. Juan Cole, a seasoned and respected analyst, has written with his thoughts at Salon.com. I can also recommend Salon for other stories. It is edited by Sidney Blumenthal, an ex-advisor to President Clinton. Also, is this just deja-vu?

I recommend UK POLLING REPORT as a source of information and commentary on opinion polls. Although its written by a Tory, it is pretty fair and balanced and gives an interesting feel for whats happening in the various polls about. An interesting comment in a recent post about the "spiral of silence" - something that arose in the early nineties where Tory voters were embarassed to say they

Plannning for the General Election, expected on May 5th (but could be sooner??) has hit top gear now with lots of progress on all fronts. My campaign team and I went to Bristol last weekend for an election planning event organised by the national party. Everyone is in very high spirits about the prospects for a real break-away from the two-party straight-jacket. Meanwhile, in the Portishead

You read it here first. In a posting on October 20th, I forecast that Charles Kennedy would defy predictions of his resignation as party leader soon after the next general election and surprise everyone by deciding to stay on. A story in this Monday's Times supports my thesis. His insistence on chairing the post-election policy review himself surprised his MPs, who see it as a clear sign