LibDem Blogs - Archived!

The other day I mentioned this book and posted a link to a review of it. (I might have added a link to a favourable article by Polly Toynbee.) Anyway, here are my own thoughts. Mount argues that the received wisdom that the class divide in Britain is becoming steadily less pronounced is plain wrong. He argues that the Uppers and the Downers (as he terms them) are growing apart in every way. Though he never defines his terms - at one moment the Downers seem be what others call the underclass, at another they seem to comprise the majority ...

At the end of last year the Lib Dem blogosphere showed some interest in the earlier career of Leighton Andrews AM. My own contribution can be found here. Now that interest has reached the chamber of the Welsh Assembly. Peter Black quotes the following exchange. Michael German: I am grateful. Will the Leighton Andrews who wrote an article in the magazine that I have here tell us about the Government of Wales Act 1998? In the article, you say that Parliament is, at best, the eunuch of capitalism. Is that what you believe? Please tell us, because we ...

The Liberal Democrat MP for Lewes is on the warpath again, reports the Guardian. Norman Baker: has written to the cabinet secretary, Sir Andrew Turnbull, asking for Mr Birt's unpaid job as a "blue skies thinker" at Downing Street to be investigated. Mr Baker is concerned Lord Birt is using his close relationship with Tony Blair at McKinsey, where he is a paid adviser on "global media and entertainment practices", and is asking what access Mr Birt has to confidential government papers. Remember, it was a question from Baker that caused Peter Mandelson's resignation from the cabinet. His second ...

The Tories have started their customary in-fighting again. Apparently, Francis Maude was under orders to draw up a list of those loyal and disloyal. Guess what? The shadow Home Secretary and Party Chairman are offically 'disloyal'!!

A blogging break has occurred since the excitement of the long night of the Terrorism Bill because I have been a) feeling grotty since then and b) trying to catch up on a horrible backlog of work. Michael Williams asks if the glamour of nights like that long one make me ...

Following my reference on Monday to a piece written by Labour AM, Leighton Andrews, in 1976, there was the first mention of the magazine Liberator in the chamber yesterday: Michael German: I am grateful. Will the Leighton Andrews who wrote an article in the magazine that I have here tell us about the Government of Wales Act 1998? In the article, you say that Parliament is, at best, the eunuch of capitalism. Is that what you believe? Please tell us, because we would like to know. Leighton Andrews: I take responsibility for what I ...

Open Warfare broke out in Plenary yesterday. However, it was not the Government and opposition who were at each other’s throats but members of the Labour group. The problem centred on a Plaid Cymru amendment calling for a 500 metre exclusion zone around open cast sites. Labour knew that they were likely to lose the vote because the Labour AM for Blaenau Gwent and former Environment Minister, Peter Law, was going to vote for it. As a result the current Environment Minister, Carwyn Jones, was on his feet early on, using his best lawyerly manner to argue that it was ...

Liam Fox's name has appeared on a list prepared by a top Tory of those who pose a threat to Michael Howard's leadership. On the blacklist, the Mail on Sunday says, are "34 Right-wing MPs, including Mr (David) Davis and fellow leadership hopeful Liam Fox, the party co-chairman, are blacklisted under the heading 'Forget' - meant to indicate they are considered beyond the pale." With friends

We had a visitor yesterday when Plaid Cymru AM, Leanne Wood returned briefly from maternity leave to help vote through a measure calling for a 500 metre exclusion zone around opencast sites. Her vote swung opinion sufficiently to defeat Labour by 29 to 28 on the issue. The visitor, however, was not Leanne but her six week old daughter, Cerys Amelia, who she brought into the chamber.It is worth recording that it is unlikely that Leanne would have been able to do this in Westminster. The Western Mail records that "Ms Wood's daughter made very little noise." Clearly, she has ...

TVR are the best car company in the world. This is a fact. I'm happy with mine, but now I have a new dream: the Speed 12. Just look at it. Look! You'll wet your pants with excitement (unless you don't get excited about cars, in which case you'll probably shrug and say something about [...]

In a sense providing a Council Tax subsidy for certain households, but not others actually highlights the unfairness of the Council Tax. Not only that, but it is only for the year of the Election and the plan is not to help in subsequent years. We highlight a good point in that the proportion of income paid in tax by lower earners is higher than that by higher earners.

So we've had the budget and we see in the media the usual spin about it. The Mirror proclaims Gordon Brown as "Mr Incredible" and applauds his every move. The Sun brands it a budget of bribes, though seems to welcome many of the measures. It is always difficult to fully assess the impact of a budget. The BBC and others produce tables explaining how a "typical" family are affected. Looking at it

This evening I was a panellist at the local RCN version of Question Time - although I have to say that the Chair was a lot kinder than Dimbleby and there was a lot less interrupting. Other panellists were Desmond Swayne - in the blue corner - and Alan Whitehead in the red corner. Desmond was the most sensible I have ever seen him (all things are relative) but I was pretty gobsmacked when he

Well, I challenge you to deny that this was a pre-election budget. Lot's of nice little pre-election gifts - didn't upset the drinkers, smokers and motorists too much and a few little gifts for families and pensioners. Howard seemed uncomfortable when he responded as his voice was uncharacteristically squeaky although the Conservatives did, at least, manage a cheer for him at the end. Charles

Had been lucky enough to secure an adjournment debate on this subject and was expecting to face Stephen LAdyman who had been in the news over the weekend indicating that there would be a U turn on the decision to stop the prescribing of treatments for Alzheimer's Disease (AD). The Government whips were expecting Stephen Ladyman to answer so I was quite surprised to be facing John Hutton who