LibDem Blogs - Archived!

This Daily Mail article goes to the nub of the issues. Tomorrow's Times Editorial also looks at the same issue. What I find interesting is that although my colleagues and I have been highlighting this issue for some time it is only now (as a result of the court cases) that the reality is being accepted as being true. Forcing all postal ballots in 4 regions was clearly "improper". Much that

To Harrogate for the party conference. Managed to arrive with just enough time to spare before heading off to meet the LGA. Interesting discussion about a range of topics but local income tax was high on the agenda. Unfortunately the meeting took on a surreal quality as the dividing door between us and the restaurant kept being flung open by Hotel staff as they marched through to the bar (in our

Visited the centre in Southampton on Friday to launch the latest campaign which aims to highlight the problems of binge drinking among teenagers. Campaign involves a group of perfroming students from Barton Peveril college performing a play in (I think from memory) 24 schools. Buses in Southampton are also carrying some eye catching posters delivering the same message but some of these are aimed

It is interesting that Labour have decided to campaign on two issues in Yardley. Firstly, they are campaigning on anti-social behaviour. The facts of the figures is that with our administration in the City Council we have more than tripled the number of anti-social behaviour orders from 12 to at least 39 and thats only with 9 months in our administration. In December we had 17 ASBOs to take

The linked story also about a shortage of Intensive Care Beds is far more important than the so called "war of Margaret's Shoulder". It, however, still does not really look at the key problems in the NHS. Many PCTs and NHS Trusts are in financial problems (forecast deficits) at the moment. There are two main reasons for this.Consultants Contracts - there is an additional cost from the new

The Sunday Express today (no link) quotes Labour campaign chiefs as believing that the Tories have snuck into the lead and are threatening to overturn the Government's majority. This is attributed to a "secret leaked report". Other secret leaked reports reveal that Tony Blair is an extra-terrestial and that Father Christmas is planning a coup in Equatorial Guinea! As I have commented before, these reports do not leak by accident and I am astonished that the Sunday Express has allowed itself to be manipulated in this way. It may well be that the Tory Party's appeal to the base instincts ...

Suddenly, the forthcoming royal nuptials are beginning to take on a life of their own. The Sunday Telegraph (free registration is required) report this morning that a set of stamps are being issued to commemorate the occasion. The Poet Laureate, Andrew Motion, has also announced that he is to mark the occasion by writing a poem. In doing so he is following in the footsteps of Sir John Betjeman in 1981. Enough already!Meanwhile, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, and Gower resident, George Carey, has been roped in as chief cheerleader for the royal couple. He is quoted as saying:"I think ...

In politics it is nice to be noticed. It is nicer still when our opponents take us so seriously that they are prepared to organise demonstrations at our Party Conference so as to try and undermine it. So when I read this about placard-waving Labour Party activists stalking Charles Kennedy around Harrogate I was sorry that I had been unable to get up there. There is an air of desperation about Labour's actions. Clearly, the Liberal Democrat's new slogan, "The real alternative", must have some resonance, after all I don't see Labour protesting outside Tory Conferences.