LibDem Blogs - Archived!

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, it's off to work we go... As usual Rich, Charli, James and I set off to convert Tory voters to the righteous path, and of course to find out where people hate us, and support us. We had finished on Friday in Avon Drive, and we knew that the area was a Tory stronghold - 'all sorts of bother' as James would say. We did however have a limited amount of success, especially with Rich, who was on fire today. We encountered several suprising residents today, one of ...

For some reason the government are introducing cuts of about 12% in the Single Community Programme about 3 weeks before the start of the financial year. This hits Birmingham to the tune of £200,000 with a reduction from £1,500,000 to £1,300,000. I have often argued that we need a certain amount of coherence in the way in which such structures operate. The disputes that have arisen in Birmingham

Attended a couple of events that were celebrating this and it seems to me that some of the women's issues are much higher on the agenda than previously. First stop was the NUT campaign to tackle domestic violence and the second was the Save the Children campaign on access to Education - particularly looking at girls. Germaine Greer was a lively speaker on the subject of education.

Attended the AGM and it was good to see that "Number 23" is going from strength to strength. I can remember my daughter wielding a paintbrush in the early days and helping to decorate the place but it has had a makeover since those days. The youth council is also going from strength to strength and it is always good to see active and commited youngsters - who never seem to receive the media

Visited three schools in the constituency yesterday. Two were routine visits in Chandlers Ford to schools I had visited before but it was a useful opportunity to catch up on what is currently bothering teachers. Last stop was Cantell school. The main purpose was to work with a lively group of pupils who are entering the Youth Parliament competition. My main aim was to give them some help and

I am instinctively uncomfortable with clicking the mouse over the "no comments" button before I post. After a short trial I also find that I think the blog actually lacks something without the comments. Obviously I would prefer it if all comments were constructive rather than some of the stuff we have seen but reaction from others has been interesting. Some people really don't like it when they

The Tories' issue of the day is road humps. They have put down an amendment to the Road Safety Bill calling for them all to be removed within two years, although in his media interviews Tim Yeo has been taking a softer line. The Guardian reports:"Our policy is not to construct new speed humps," he told the BBC Radio 4's Today programme."As far as the removal of existing speed humps is concerned, we want to examine the arguments, the costs and so on, to see whether it is an effective way of using resources to improve safety.For a laugh see ...

I have not seen much comment on Chris Morris's new series, but there is a good one on Little Red Blogger. See also trashbat.co.ck, of course.

As I often argue, the obituaries in the Daily Telegraph are the finest thing in the newspaper. It is worth registering for its website just to read them.I have just come across the paper's obituary of Raymond Bonham Carter from January. He was the grandson of the Liberal prime minister Herbert Asquith, the son of "Bongie" Bonham Carter (who must have been a friend of Lord Bonkers) and the father of Helena.All of which points to the pleasing fact that Helena Bonham Carter is Asquith's great granddaughter.

The Western Mail reports this morning that the Welsh Liberal Democrats would consider a coalition with the Tories and Plaid Cymru in the National Assembly for Wales. Or, to be more precise, what the article says is that we have not ruled it out.Now, I know how this came about. We have a weekly press conference and at that briefing somebody asked whether we would consider working in Government with the other two opposition parties. In response Jenny Randerson pointed out that we work within an electoral system that naturally gravitates towards coalition. She went on:"If this issue were to ...

My attention is drawn to the Debrett's website, which is full of useful information such as today's birthdays. obituaries and, of course, details of the social season. Things to remember in February include: End of month deadline for Trooping the Colour application Apply for Glyndebourne (May-August) to go on mailing list and for ballot form: 01273 815000 Book tickets for Marsh Tennis Classic (June): 020 7351 7499 Phone bookings for Hampton Court Flower Show (July): 020 7630 7422 I am afraid that if you have not done any of these yet then it could ...