LibDem Blogs - Archived!

BBC rang up and wanted to follow candidates with pets - on the campaign trail - to see what effect the pet had on voters. Our cat is a law unto herself so this did not seem a terribly practical idea. The offer was declined but for a terrible minute I did wonder whether I should go out and buy a stick insect or two.

Have been remiss in getting my survival kit ready - so I thought I might as well type the list on the blog as anywhere. Below are items that have been included, or recommended for inclusion, at some stage - with comments on usefulness HairbrushMake-up (which I usually forget to reapply)Tissues (no - I am not going to cry!)NotepadSpare pensSpare tights (some also suggest spare underwear but I have never quite seen the need)umbrella (totally impractical if you're also trying to juggle pen. clipboard and canvass sheets etc)Toothbrush, paste and mints - for that fresh minty breath!Suncream (for the ...

Have been pleased to see that we are getting a good share of media exposure and according to HQ we are 8 points up in the polls on this time four years ago. Not complacent though as there is a long way to go and lots of tripwires etc (for all parties) between now and polling day.

A pretty picture but what a nightmare for the resident's in my area.They say they are changing the pipes but how long will it take? It's a never ending story...........

It seems that the Banana Republic is not just to be found in Birmingham. Former Labour councillor Muhammed Hussain, 61, from Blackburn, Lancashire has been jailed for three and a half years for rigging postal votes. Apparently Mr Hussain had arranged for campaigners to ask voters to hand over blank voting papers, telling them: "Don't worry, we'll take care of them". I am getting seriously worried that these cases could be the tip of a larger iceberg.

Calling all Lynne Featherstone's supporters The campaign HQ (shared with other parts of the party) opens on Saturday. It's above the Three Compasses pub on Hornsey High Street (entrance via the pub). It will be open 10am - 9:30pm seven days a week.

Extremely Cold- the wind blew out my umbrella, so I threw it away. People are quite willing to talk, I find, and are surprised when we have a conversation rather than being hectored by "a politician". Anyway, on the day of the Pope's funeral, it is not appropriate to be very active. Gosh! The Labour vote is soft- people are really disappointed with Tony Blair. As a candidate, of course people will be polite, but the team are saying the same- people are angry with the government and contemptuous of Michael Howard- a lady said to me today "I wouldn't ...

This is a direct quote from the 1997 Labour Manifesto. I should know, back then I was a Labour activist! 'We are committed to a referendum on the voting system for the House of Commons. An independent commission on voting systems will appointed early to recommend a proportional alternative to the first-past-the-post system.' I am indebted to murky.org for reminding me!

The New Statesman has just published an article How to give Blair a bloody nose, which recommends its readers to vote against 35 sitting Labour MPs (including four cabinet ministers) in the forthcoming election. A further 12 Labour candidates who are not presently MPs are also on this hit-list. This "guide to tactical voting" begins, You are a disgruntled Labour voter. You opposed the Iraq war,

A crop of 'Tactical Voting' websites and schemes has sprung up. They are wrong. Tactical voting is a scourge on our democracy - nothing will ever change while people participate in tactical voting. Tactical voting has been going on my whole life, and probably much longer. One website offers to let you 'swap your vote' with someone in another area. Lib Dems in particular should resist these sites like the very devil. The irony is that Lib Dems are the biggest net losers in any tactical voting scenario. As the smallest of the three main parties, we may well have ...

A great man, I am not disputing that.However, his views on homosexuality, women and reform of the church were... skewered to say the least. So, here's a nice little quote from The West Wing reminding us all why the Church must always seek to adapt to changing times: President: I like your show. I like how you call homosexuality an abomination. Dr. Jenna Jacobs: I don't say homosexuality is an abomination, Mr. President. The Bible does. President: Yes it does. Leviticus. Dr. Jenna Jacobs: 18:22. President Josiah Bartlet: Chapter and verse. I wanted to ask you a couple of ...

It seems that Swansea University’s determination to close the Chemistry and Philosophy departments, whilst punishing dissent is backfiring on them. A group of Philosophy students have announced that they are to sue the College for breach of contract because "the cutting of university departments and the continued suspension of philosophy lecturer, Colwyn Williamson, means that they are not getting the education they were promised."With all this disciplinary action and referrals to the police, and with the Treasurer of the Swansea AUT reportedly threatened as well, it is perhaps time for the college authorities to stop digging.

In the Western Mail this morning Police try to justify their stopping and searching Welsh Liberal Democrat Councillor, Ashgar Ali, by alleging that he was not wearing an appropriate ID badge. Further inquiries reveal that nobody was wearing an ID badge at the event. When challenged further the Police then said that they acted in this way because Councillor Ali was "quiet". It seems that one of the questions they were keen to ask him was why he was wearing a hat, which goes to show how well they have been trained in cultural awareness issues.On Radio Wales a senior ...

I forgot to link to this wonderful post by Nick Barlow. He draws our attention to David Blunkett’s comments, in which the former Home Secretary called for urgent action on electoral fraud following the Birmingham vote-rigging scandal. It seems that Mr. Blunkett wants individual rather than household voter registration - backed up by a national ID card scheme. However, as No2ID point out "Of course, a moment’s thought reveals that ID cards wouldn’t prevent any kind of "citizen not present" fraud, such as fraudulent postal voting, precisely because the citizen and his ID card aren’t available to be verified." As ...

I don't know whether there has been an organised "Google bombing" campaign. But Tony Blair is currently the third highest result when you Google the word liar. Since the WMDs didn't exist, and Blair said he had seen convincing evidence that they did, he was either lying or he was incompetent. Either way he is not fit to be re-elected. Since Labour seem to be promoting a ticket of "vote Blair, get Brown", one wonders why he didn't step down before so that people could just have the option to "vote Brown"?

There are two news stories that used to appear regularly 20 or more years ago but do not today. One involves air crashes. In the 1970s the loss of an airliner, sometimes with hundreds of casualties, seemed to be reported on a monthly basis. While fashions in news change, if this were still going on it would certainly be reported, so we can take it that air travel is a lot safer than it used to be. The second news story involves people swimming the English Channel. Shivering figures larded with goose grease used to appear on our screens regularly, ...

I was just looking at the BBC Election website - Veritas have apparently got a candidate in Loughborough. Wasn't expecting that. I've not seen or heard of him at all!! Still that will probably take votes from the big 2, which will improve our position.

The wedding of Lib Dem MP Lembit Öpik TV weathergirl Sian Lloyd.Lembit said, " We were aiming to tie the knot on October 5. However, it's just become impossible for me to spend time on the plans......It'll be a winter wedding now but still at Powys castle". Lembit is such a funny guy and anything he does has to be different. I wonder if he will be playing his harmonica which he carries around with him everywhere.

I went to visit Loughborough Hospital yesterday. It was really interesting. I was shown round by a very jolly lady named Rowena, and was, frankly, amazed at the level of service offered by the place. I use Outpatients for my appointments, and now realise that that department is only the tip of the iceberg. Say it quietly, but I think it's a Tardis - (I put that reference in for Doctor Who

With a bit of luck Jerry Hayes will arrange for the presentation of the request for Judicial Review in the High Court today. We have worked out it is possible for the Queen to modify the law by an order in council. The Privy Council will sit during the election period which allows such changes to be made. Today, however, I will be spending some time investigating options as to how to resolve the situation at MG Rover which has now spiralled out of control (mainly as a result of DTI briefings).