LibDem Blogs - Archived!

Things are going well- the enthusiasm and commitment of our band of Liberal Democrats in Wycombe is wonderful. The increasing enthusiasm of people in Wycombe is splendid. I think that there really is a choice at this election. The Liberal Democrats are putting forward a positive agenda, which benefits even more when contrasted with the other parties: the negativity, based on fear, of the Conservatives has already ended their chances of being in government after the end of the campaign- as it deserves to. The dishonesty of Labour is underlined by the comments from the IMF- Britain faces serious economic ...

A valuable political lesson. When you hold up a document at a press conference, be careful where you put your hand...

Bill Deedes finally learns.

Spy blog has a useful posting casting doubt on the media's treatment of this story. It looks in particular at the BBC's coverage.

As the evidence of a serious problem accumulates, two useful sources of information and comment are the blog Postal Voting and the one belonging to John Hemming.

The property pages of The Times give an unexpected insight into the life and career of this icon of wholesome 1960s childhood.

I love this gallery of doctored posters: http://politics.guardian.co.uk/gall/0,9352,1457954,00.html Anne Widdicombe with the accordion is priceless!! Perhaps it lowers the tone, but if politics has no humour, then its no fun- and our team definitely prefer fun...

Managers and workers at MG Rover are drawing up plans to buy the crisis-hit car company in the event of a rescue bid from China collapsing. Annil Chandra, a 43-year-old project manager, said yesterday he had already won the support a group of West Midlands businessmen. I am pleased that a group of local businessmen are happy to work with the workforce. Annil Chandra is spearheading the coordination of workers organising a possible "plan B" in the event that the Chinese do not wish to purchase MG Rover. I do know some of the people working with Annil. ...

The meeting with the Imam Sultan was very pleasant. He was a younger man than I expected, but carried an air of authority coupled with a twinkly humour and a ready laugh. He was immediately likeable, and I understood why so many people held him in great respect. The Imam grew up in High Wycombe and has a shrewd eye for the concerns of Muslims in the town. Many Muslims in the area are Kashmiri, so we discussed the Liberal Democrat view on self-determination for the people of Kashmir: Lord Avebury, the Liberal Democrat peer, has been a stalwart campaigner ...

Part of this morning was spent with a group of patients at a doctor's surgery in Shard End. They shared my concern that there is a plan for a 20% cut in hospital beds in the Birmingham and Black Country area. There is already a substantial constraint on operations controlled by the availability of beds. If the number of acute beds is further reduced this will add to problems.

Everyone must read this and see the photos! Bundles of "missing" postal votes that could have gathered dust indefinitely or been destroyed - not a pretty sight. John Hemming's Web Log: Deep Throat blows whistle from Elections Office

OK, the headline is not entirely fair but I cannot help but wonder why, after having offered a telephone interview to the Western Mail, Home Secretary, Charles Clarke, failed to deliver. The Western Mail reports that the about-turn occurred after Labour officials sought details of the subjects that Mr. Clarke was going to be questioned on. After being told that the newspaper wanted to ask about identity cards, detention of terror suspects without trial, asylum, immigration and student top-up fees, which Mr. Clarke was responsible for introducing, the Home Secretary failed to keep his promise to phone them back. ...

It is not just the UK Government who are complacent about the dangers of fraud in the postal voting process. The Welsh First Minister is also determined to play down the dangers. In the Assembly yesterday he asserted that "there is no evidence of any large-scale postal voting fraud in Wales." He may be right but there was no evidence in Birmingham either until John Hemming forced the matter into an election court.Rhodri has, of course, missed the point. It is not the obvious presence of fraud that calls for action but the fact that the system is flawed, that ...

Liberal Democrat MEP, Chris Davies is absolutely right when he says that the current system of allowances for members of the European Parliament is "tantamount to embezzlement". British MEPs of all parties overwhelmingly voted for reform but were outgunned by a combination of Christian Democrats and socialists, together with poorly paid MEPs from new EU countries. Some of the reforms they proposed include fines and suspension for gross financial irregularities. The Guardian notes that Welsh Labour MEP, Eluned Morgan, voted against some of these, whilst Robert Kilroy-Silk, the former UKIP member, abstained. Chris Davies reports that "Some shout that it's ...

Last night we held an official “Candidate Adoption” for James Oates, and I was pleased to see three new faces who’d come to see what our candidate was like. Chatting to these people afterwards was interesting. I think that they were impressed by James (as we have all been – he would certainly be a fine MP) and they were also happy to see the sincerity and enthusiasm of our small local team. One of the comments that saddened me a little was along the lines of “if you got in, wouldn’t you become like all the rest?” There’s a ...

Drizzle. Just as well that most of the day will be inside. I am starting the day by meeting the Imam Sultan at the Islamic centre. Last night, at my adoption, one of the audience had spoken very well of the Imam. As a Muslim herself, she said that she felt that he had been a modern and forward thinking leader of the community- so I look forward to meeting him. The adoption was a very friendly affair. Astonishingly we raised a great deal of money for the campaign- a big bonus indeed! Ian, my agent, has also printed up ...

Councillor Hugh Maccallion, Deputy Leader of the Labour Group, has strongly criticised the previous blog post. He says his criticism is based upon me reporting information about a Named Officer. Anyone reading the blog should note that I do not name anyone in a negative sense. The only people I name are those doing their job properly. Clearly Labour wanted the whole thing to be hushed up. I am surprised because in this instance it looks like a mistake followed by an attempt at a cover-up. The mistake is not acceptable as it disenfranchises about 1,000 people, ...

When they created such eminently spoofable posters?If you haven't had the opportunity to apply your own creative talents, you can here.