LibDem Blogs - Archived!

Charles Clarke's proposed anti-terror legislation contains such sweeping powers that New Labour could even arrest itself, according to The Register. And to think that, back in 1997, some Liberal Democrats were considering a merger with these people.

Took a pile of signing home so that I could watch this programme. It was a drama dealing with the subject of elder abuse and was part of the programmes connected with this year's Comic Relief. I am really pleased that this subject is receiving more profile as it is one that is all too often ignored. The Health Select Committee produced a very useful report and the Government is - at long last -

All the forthcoming surgeries are fully booked and am trying to fit in extra ones but there were a number of urgent cases so Sally decided that I could see them all this afternoon. They were all real and urgent problems though so the people had to be seen but I had to wonder what has prompted the sudden increase in demand over the last couple of weeks. There are an extraordinary number of housing

But very important. Spent the morning with the Wessex small business Forum - visiting a number of small businesses in the constituency. They had gone to some effort to make sure I visited places outside of Romsey itself so it was a double bonus. Issues raised included red tape, impact of money laundering legislation, Government support for healthy lifestyles and the pressures on local authority

Nick Barlow gives this nasty organisation a good hoofing on his What You Can Get Away With blog. It is not clear that the group extends far beyond the imagination of its self-publicist organiser Stephen Green. But the combination of happy-clappy religion and far-right politics which it embodies is particularly toxic. For the health of British society and politics we must stand up to Christian Voice, not cave in to it as a number of people who should know better have done in recent days - see here and here.

In the autumn of the last year the BBC showed Adam Curtis's documentary series The Power of Nightmares. It examined the extent to which the threat of terrorism to the West is a politically driven fantasy and whether al-Qaeda really is an organised network. It was far better than anything Michael Moore has come up with. I have just discovered (via www.perfect.co.uk) a page on the BBC site where Curtis answers viewers' questions. It is well worth a look.

I presented our many thousands of signatures against the Boundary Commission's proposals to split up Yardley to the Boundary Commission. Oddly enough there is no sign indicating "Boundary Commission". That is because they are based in the national statistics office. Hopefully they will heed both the logical arguments to retain the traditional links between Sheldon, Yardley and Acocks Green

The Welsh Liberal Democrats used one of their debating slots yesterday to raise the crisis in accident and emergency units around South Wales. However, it was Conservative AM, David Melding, who got the real measure of the Minister with a devastating contribution: David Melding: Like many other Members, I was struck by how the First Minister described his visit to the accident and emergency department at the University Hospital of Wales. He said something along the lines of it being the most interesting half-hour of his political life, that he was pleased that his visit confirmed that his ...

Regular readers of this blog will be aware of the disputes between b:cen and BANF. The b:cen management don't seem to have learnt anything. Their most recent newsletter funded by part of their £2million a year grant from central government continues to launch into a diatribe against me. In particular they have a go against local government as a mechanism for making decisions. On the other

The problem with challenging Ministers to do something in Plenary sessions or Committees is that sometimes they will take up the invitation. So it was yesterday with David Davies on Communities First: David Davies: Despite Communities First projects, there are still significant areas of poverty in Wales, including in rural areas such as Monmouthshire. Do you have any plans to visit Monmouthshire over the next few months, and, if so, will you allow me to show you the poverty that exists there? Edwina Hart: I would be delighted to accept any invitation from the ...

Would you sleep with this woman? PS. Yes, I know I'm not an oil painting.... but then neither is Peter Stringfellow.

Like Banquo at the feast the Labour MP for Blaenau Gwent, Llew Smith, appears to delivers a parting shot at his New Labour colleagues. Mr Smith has blasted the Prime Minister for creating a Labour Party so "in tune" with Conservative policy it amounted to "dumping so many Socialist principles". He branded his party's agenda as "Thatcherism with a human face".I was struck by how closely his analysis resembled that of the Liberal Democrats:Mr Smith rounded on a party he believes is increasingly in step with the Conservatives, by introducing top-up fees for university students, house arrest for terror suspects ...

It's been a while since I posted here but it wasn't apathy! Last night attended the witness session to the Power Commission with Robin Cook MP. One thing that I learned after I came away is that we are not talking about apathy here. People are as concerned with issues they feel passionately about as they ever were. The demonstrations against the war in Iraq were amongst the largest displays of public feeling that this country has ever seen. And the recently enacted hunting ban has provoked strong feelings on both sides of the debate too.So if it's not apathy, ...

Today's MORI poll in the Financial Times ought to worry the Liberal Democrats. This poll puts Labour on 39%, the Conservatives on 37% and the Liberal Democrats on 18%. These figures are similar to those in the ICM poll in Tuesday's Guardian (37%/34%/21%). A YouGov poll in tomorrow's Daily Telegraph will confirm whether there is a trend. The Lib Dem percentage figures in recent polls are not bad

Or at least I will be when I finally lose my grip walking on the snow and ice. I don't have great balance at the best of times but when there's ice on the pavements I'm pretty much guaranteed to fall over. Last time was during the cold snap in December, within seconds of walking out the front door.It's been incredibly cold here and I still haven't bought any gloves. The campus is looking lovely - all snowcapped hills, sugar-dusted trees and sheets of white over the grassy areas. At lunchtime yesterday, two of my colleagues built a family of ...

Been a very busy few days and I haven't had chance to come online and post. Last weekend saw a major action weekend across North Somerset. On Saturday we were out delivering leaflets in Yatton and Clevedon - despite the cold weather, and on Sunday I led a team down to Weston-super-Mare to support Brian Cotter's re-election campaign. We are really working hard right across the district now and

Durham is freezing (as it has been for the past few days). I even had my driving test cancelled yesterday because of the conditions. Still busy trying to unpack, although finding it a very lengthy process as councillors don't seem to get too many evenings off. Yesterday was full Council, where we set next year's Council Tax rise at 2.75%, the lowest increase since the 1990s. I really don't like the Council Tax system - it is unfair in that it doesn't recognise peoples' ability to pay, and the City Council has called for its abolition. ...

Yesterday was a very sad day for Education. All the key players - schools, universities, teachers and employers - had supported the far-sighted reforms of the exam systems for 14-19 year olds proposed by Mike Tomlinson. The Government's White paper 14-19 Education and Skills ditches all that and goes back to a slightly prettier packaging of the current mishmash of qualifications. And why? - could it be that there are more votes in parents than teachers? - or that it is much easier for the press to say 'don't meddle with the gold standard' than ...