LibDem Blogs - Archived!

My brother writes parodies and is a regular contributor to a parody website. My favourite is "Mend my PC" to the tune of Under the Sea - the Little Mermaid, or go here if you want to hear it on MP3. Some of Phil's stuff is politically incorrect & I don't vouch for it, but he does have some politically spot-on songs, like Hackety Hack (Vote Bush Back). and if you're a Beatles Fan & know "Being for the Benefit of Mr Kite", then you'll like this one, too! One of the biggest compliments that I ever ...

On Saturday, I met up with my third cousin for the first time. We compared family trees and she provided me with an interesting revelation: I'm related (by marriage only) to two old Liberal MPs, a baronet, a current cabinet minister and a famous, unreconstructed socialist (who used to be a viscount). Oh, and Margaret [...]

Over at No Geek is an Island, Lib Dem blogger Will Howells has revealed that he is a distant cousin of Tony Benn and Margaret Rutherford. This seems a good opportunity to repeat one of my favourite trivial facts: Margaret Rutherford's father murdered his own father (who was Benn's great-grandfather) by banging him repeatedly on the head with a chamber-pot. More details here.

By a unanimous decision, the award goes to the delightfully named Lurkenhope Wood near Knighton.

Respect Watch keeps an eye on the strange Trot 'n' Taliban coalition that George Galloway has put together. Remember the wise words of Nick Cohen: "Like a minor public school, the SWP is a home for dim, middle-class children."

A liquid lunch today in that legendary Soho pub, The Coach Horses is that nothing has changed in at least thirty or forty years. Red leatherette chairs, Formica tables and simple ham or cheese sandwiches. It is the sort of basic boozer that was commonplace in the 60s and 70s but hardly exists anywhere nowadays, least of all in central London. Most guide books and online pub reviews are rude about

In the author's own words: Postal Voting is a blog about postal voting in the UK. It aims to increase awareness of the risks and security problems associated with such voting, especially with the upcoming 2005 General Election ...At the moment I prefer to remain anonymous. I am not a member of, nor connected to any UK political party, nor am I connected to the Electoral Commission or any other

When the Vice Chancellor of Swansea University announced the closure of five departments in January 2004 there were massive protests. Many people objected to the loss of Sociology, Anthropology, the Centre for Development Studies, Philosophy and Chemistry. I joined in by making my objections known.As a result the University Visitor was asked to carry out an independent review of the proposals. That investigation is still on-going and has understandably produced some frustration amongst the senior management team. The petition to the Visitor drew heavily upon the expertise and work of two Philosophy lecturers, Colwyn Williamson and Mike Cohen.Now the Western ...

Critics have often alleged that the First Minister devises his policies on the back of an envelope and in terms of the costing and implementation of the Labour Party's Assembly manifesto that is how it often appears. It came as no surprise therefore, to learn this morning that when Rhodri Morgan announced his own bonfire of the quangos last summer, he had no idea of the cost.Describing the changes as 'major reforms', Mr Morgan said, 'The landscape of the public sector will be fundamentally changed ... The people of Wales will be able to see that quango-land is starting to ...

The Western Mail reports this morning that the Wales Millennium Centre has won a prestigious design award at the property industry's premier international conference in Cannes.Regular readers of this blog will know that I am no great fan of the design of this giant mollusc that has been planted outside my office window. However, nobody can take away from the building the fact that it is an iconic structure or that it has made a substantial impact on the Cardiff Bay. Equally, the interior is both spectacular and beautiful in its design and its appearance.The architect is quoted as ...

Peter Hain writes in the Gruniad that if we vote Lib Dem, we risk getting a Tory government. This is apparantly the best way to persuade disillusioned and dissaffected Labour voters to stay loyal. Well I've got news for Mister Hain. It won't wash. Believe me, I think that the idea of Michael (do you find it risi-bull?) Howard as PM is enough to frighten anyone. But it ain't gonna happen - not in 2005 anyway. You won't find a serious commentator anywhere who thinks that Howard can possibly win. What's really at stake here is the size of the ...

Delighted to see that the legendary Sir Peter Hall, has signed up to Lib Dem This Time. Brian Eno was inspired to set up this site - in his words: A few weeks ago The Independent on Sunday published some interesting poll results. The pollsters asked two questions: "Will you vote Liberal Democrat at the next election?" and "Would you vote Liberal Democrat if you thought they could win?" About 20% of people said 'Yes' to the first question, which is about what you'd expect, but a very surprising 38% said 'Yes' to the second. ...

Take a gander at this. There are some genuinely A-list celebs backing this new site.

What a chance. You can save the planet from Kilroy, Howard and Blair all at once.

I find this story particularly sad. It is really the tip of an iceberg of problems with disrespectful behaviour across the country. For all that ASBOs and such mechanisms offer some slight hope to people terrorised by yobs they are not the real answer. For the real answer we need to look at why patterns of behaviour are developing such that there are continual aggressive incidents across the

The linked press release comes from Labour's main website. It is entitled: "Tories' £35bn cut to public spending just the tip of the iceberg" What confuses me is that the Conservative proposals called the James Report include the £21bn in the Gershon Report. The "Howard Flight Redacted" version only finds an additional £13-14bn on top of what Labour already propose. The Lib Dem Treasury team