LibDem Blogs - Archived!

It comes (of course) from the Shropshire Star: Runaway Bullock charges at vicar I particularly like the capitalisation here. Be warned: it has a sad ending (though you may be reconciled if you have a particular liking for china dolphins).

The BBC reports: Delia Smith has described her half-time outburst at a Norwich City home game on Monday as "an act of desperation". The former TV chef and Norwich City director got on the pitch and urged supporters to show more support, sparking criticism on the club website. Lord Bonkers writes: In the early 1960s Fanny Craddock, famous for her cookery upon the moving television, purchased a controlling interest in Featherstone Rovers Rugby League Club and attended every home game. If she felt the team's supporters were not showing sufficient enthusiasm she would wade into their midst ...

The Aston Election Petition kicked off today with evidence from the police as to exactly what happened in the NT Warehouse on the Wyrlie Industrial Estate.

Visited HMP Holloway with Paul Goggins (Prisons Minister - nothing to do with Greendale) and Jeremy Corbyn. This followed an adjournment debate on suicide amongst women prisoners and the Minister promised to visit Holloway. I was pleased to have been invited along. Prison visits usually depress me but they are trying really hard at Holloway to improve the physical environment. More importantly there was a lot of work going on to try and use the prison experience positively. Seventy percent of the women who arrive at the prison go straight on a detox problem and a high proportion of the ...

This is a web-site for girls but it's not all make-up and Manolos! The serious bit is that they are working at trying to engage women in the political process and had launched a "Use your vote" campaign. The launch included a number of speakers from the three main political parties and Sarah Montague from The Today Programme oversaw the proceedings in a very lively way. Patricia Hewitt and Tessa

This is, strictly speaking, not in the constituency but is literally on the border. The school caters for children with physical disabilities but a number of the children, particularly the younger ones, have very complex needs. I was shown around by two of the older students who seem to have enjoyed their time there very much. Hardly surprising really as there was quite a "family" feel about the

This event is organised by the Rotary Club of Romsey Test and they have been putting it on for the last five years. The original event was a Millenium one and aimed to provide older people with an afternoons entertainment. It was meant to be a one off but was so popular that it has been repeated each year with a growing number of participants. The Town and Borough Mayors turn up in full regalia

Apologies in advance for this particularly nerdygeeky post. I've noticed around Edinburgh that many cars have number plates consisting of three letters and four numbers, e.g.: LCZ 2981. More than you would expect appear to have Zs in. Anyone know why this should be? Was there a separate number plate system in Scotland at some point? Olav's British Number Plates doesn't seem to have the answer, unless it's just a variation of "1931-62 re-registration" plates. I'm also mildly curious about the preponderance of 71 (e.g. N71 AFL) number plates in Edinburgh. Not that I have an interest in number plates ...

Today on Sky News at 1.30 they had a story about PMQ's and they had their big banner on the screen. On the left in the red box it said "PM'S QUESTIONS" and on the right it had "Prime Minister Faced Questions in the Commons". Shocking stuff there then!

The smell of cordite was in the air in yesterday's Plenary as AMs squared up for the forthcoming electoral battle. For some Assembly Members however, the tension was just too much: Eleanor Burnham: We all know that it is a complex scenario; I cannot get my head around it. Even getting a new television is an achievement for most of us. What is the Welsh Assembly Government doing to ensure that we have the coverage that we need? I attended an S4C public meeting the other night, where— The Deputy Presiding Officer: Order. We ...

Fame at last as a blogger! The Surrey Comet has an article (sorry, no online version yet) today on this blogging pilot, and the visit of Scott Neal and Griff Wigley from Minnesota. The picture shows (back, L to R) Scott Neal (City Manager of Eden Prairie), Bruce McDonald (Chief Executive of Kingston), Roy Taylor (Director of Community Services, Kingston) and (seated) me with Griff Wigley (blogging coach)

The announcement by Charles Kennedy yesterday to do something about household insulation might well have more far-reaching effects then people might at first assume. Every winter some elderly people needlessly die from exposure to the cold- being in houses that are inadequately insulated. Basic action in this regard would save families from greaving needless loss. It would also save on heating

I seldom feel moved to write about a particular individual on this blog. I prefer to talk about issues and ideas. But last night comments were made by one Clevedon Conservative Councillor that deserve a public airing. During a debate on providing financial assistance to the Clevedon Pier Trust, Councillor George Morris, who claims to represent Clevedon, said that he did not support the work of

Last night was budget-setting night at North Somerset Council - and what a night it was! We began as usual at 6pm and finished at around 11.15pm - with only a 10 minute recess towards the end. So more than five hours of debate. Issues ranged from the possible closure of a school swimming pool in Weston, to the proposed council housing sell-off, to plans to support Clevedon Pier, through to the

The Western Mail this morning reports that the Secretary of State for Wales has got tough with the Welsh Assembly Government and ordered them to toe the line on health. This was later denied by the Assembly Health Minister, Brian Gibbons. However, it is possible that he has not been kept in the loop.In any case a major announcement is due at the Wales Labour Party Conference detailing more ambitious targets and presumably, a plan as to how they will be achieved. If this happens it will be very welcome, however it is funny how all that talk of "clear ...

Monday's House of Commons debate on the Prevention of Terrorism Bill was one of the most crucial in our constitutional history. Furthermore, our historic liberties are a topic on which no Liberal should have any difficulty making a proud stand.And what do the Liberal Democrats offer? Another piss-poor performance from Mark Oaten.We needed a heart-stirring speech. What we got was a dreary discourse on legislative procedure. In one intervention, Labour MP Mark Fisher queried whether Oaten was being "too meek and modest". (See my earlier posting regarding last Wednesday's dismal performance).It is obvious that the poor man's heart just isn't ...

I know this because David Edgar came up to me on the station platform today and said that people keep referring him to my website... He let me know they have been taking the report on Alternative Dispute Resolution seriously. Both in terms of its comments on the scheme & on how the Council works. They're also going to deploy extra people to deal with the backlog of disputes. So, the ostrich is finally taking its head out of the sand? My comment was that the most important thing is that ...

Here's a handy factoid with which to silence any saloon bar bigots you may encounter while out canvassing:Of the 91,000 eastern Europeans who arrived in Britain to work in the five months after EU enlargement, fewer than 15 have claimed benefits.(Reported in the Spectator, 29 January, via the March 2005 edition of Prospect).You may recall that the Daily Express had warned us in a front page headline early last year, "1.6 million gypsies ready to flood in". Only in small print on an inside page was the reader informed that 1.6 million is actually the combined total number of Roma ...