LibDem Blogs - Archived!

Back in February I devoted a Liberal Democrat News column to Patrick Mercer's bill to give householders the right to use greater force against burglars. The Tory benches were packed that day and they clearly thought they were on to a winner. The BBC reports what has become of that bill: The Conservatives have been accused of cynicism after Tory MPs did not turn up to debate the party's own plans to improve laws on force against burglars. Labour says the "debacle" shows Tories do not really care about the issue. A committee is examining the Tory plan ...

An interesting article by Mark Seddon in today's Guardian, which describes how the New Labour leadership has rigged the Labour Party's parliamentary candidate selection process to ensure that only loyal Blairites get selected. Read this article very carefully. At present, the Liberal Democrats can take some pride in knowing that their candidates are mostly people who know their own minds,

The other day I included a link to one of Ronald Searle's cartoons from Down With Skool! Here is a the way to the front page of the St Custard's site. Penguin have recently republished the four Molesworth books as one of their Modern Classics. The introduction by Philip Hensher is very good; certainly, it is much better than the one Tim Rice contributed to the last collected edition. There is a review of the Penguin volume on the London Review of Books site by Thomas Jones, though he is somewhat out of sympathy with the books. He has a ...

Star Trek fans still don't seem to have recognised the difference between saving Enterprise and saving the franchise. Thanks to a Guardian sub-editor moonlighting at SFX, they at least don't have that much work to do:The campaign had begun with a full page ad in the LA Times which described Star Trek as a "cultural phenomenon" and asked fans to donated money to raise the $32 needed for a fifth

At last someone has said something sensible on the topic of British identity and nationalism. Julian Baggini, writing in today's Guardian, argues for a minimal 'civic nationalism' as the only practical way to maintain a realistic sense of belonging without excluding people unnecessarily. This topic is back on the agenda because of Labour's latest manoeuverings. Both David Blunkett (on Sunday's

There are two trends that signal that a recess is coming up. Firstly, the diaries fill up and we are all incredibly busy as organisations and individuals seek to talk to us about their issues before we disappear off for a few weeks. Secondly, members get a bit demob happy. It was a bit like that in the Assembly yesterday. First off was the First Minister with a nod to the pressure that he personally has been under regarding the performance of the Welsh NHS compared with its counterpart in England: Glyn Davies: Will the First ...

I am delighted to be the first person to reply to the United Nations Association (and other civic societies') online hustings. I would also like to say what a great job these groups do in engaging local communities with global solutions. There is an old Liberal slogan- 'think globally, act locally'- that I feel is embodied in active local citizens like those that engage in these groups. I am honoured to respond to their questions.

Reports have emerged of strange going ons at last weeks all night session of Parliament... "Like most vampires, Michael Howard experienced no problems staying up all night, although at 6:20am he was forced to retire to the lower floors of the Palace of Westminster, citing ‘sunlight problems’. He was seen dragging the bodies of two tired and emotional Labour MPs with him, for reasons unknown. When

Fascinating item on the Minister's report to Social Justice Committee this morning on sheep rustling in rural Wales. Apparently, this is a problem but is not showing up in the crime statistics. The Minister reports that crimes against rural communities are closely interlinked with a 'way of life', particularly in the agricultural sector. I was not entirely clear what she meant by that but she has promised to raise it with the Chief Constables so we will see what transpires.

Yes we are... yep... definately... James and i are playing in a 5-a-side football tournament tomarrow wearing yellow shirts-how cool is that? If James and I aren't crazy, who is? We will be playing in yellow and gold, wearing our LibDem badges-just to let everyone know that we are proud to be Liberal Democrat, and are unafraid to show it... Winning the competition would be a bonus to! ...