LibDem Blogs - Archived!

Spent a Sat evening doing what a large proportion of the population were doing - watching the Eurovision song contest (while I tried to complete the Indy's super sudoku - but not sure that this part is mainstream). The only reason this is worth watching is to listen to the Wogan commentary but am wondering whether even he is finding it difficult to create entertainment out of complete mediocrity.

Surgery in Bassett. This is the second surgery in less than a week as am trying to clear the backlog that has built up through not having surgeries during the election (although I dealt with matters that people wrote in about). I have surgeries that are pre-booked. This is so that people can send papers in advance, I can (hopefully) read them and then I can have up to fifteen minutes of

On Friday night we had a hastily arranged thank you party for all those who had contributed to the election campaign in some way. People of all ages and from all parts of the constituency turned up and everyone mixed very well. We had promised to keep the speeches brief and succeeded (nothing tired and emotional) but a lot of people seemed very keen to remain involved with any thing we had

Quick dash from Youth in Romsey to the AGM of the local Carers Forum. I arrived late (occupational hazard) butwas happy to sit at the back and listen but unfortunately some people had seen me arrive and had complained to the organisers that I was not welcomed along with the assorted mayors. This did not bother me in the least as I had gone along to listen but some people get very exercised by

Quick meeting on Friday to discuss possible ways to interact with the Youth in Romsey project and the Town Youth Council. The good news is that for the first time in years there is a youth council that is evenly balanced between the two Romsey schools. There is a lot of enthusiasm that wants to build on the "Speak out and be heard" event that was held during the election campaign.

Let me see. There's Javine and Bucks Fizz and the Brotherhood of Man. Oh yes, and there's Tim Worstall's latest Britblog roundup.

Last night's Eurovision Song Contest was fascinating. I don't mean the songs - it is always a mistake to watch the songs - but the voting. As Terry Wogan pointed out, the bottom four places were occupied by Spain, the United Kingdom, France and Germany, who just happen to be the four largest financial contributors to the European Broadcasting Union. As a picture of how Europe now operates, it could not be bettered. Progressive Britons used to imagine that if they joined the original six members of the EEC then they would have arrived at the heart of Europe. It ...

As someone who both drives a Land Rover Discovery and also is a member of Greenpeace it strikes me that this is some form of confusion going on. Various Greenpeace activists (from outside Birmingham) disrupted the Moat Lane plant last week. Greenpeace say: "The Land Rover Discovery only does 12 miles per gallon in the city" that's from the web page linked above. Land Rover say: Urban L/100km

The Observer this morning reports on the extraordinary lengths that Labour went to so as to arrest the slide in their support around the Country. They tell of how party members and supporters were systematically used to create the impression of 'real people' passionately backing the government. Model letters were drafted for them to 'write' to local papers, as if they had been spontaneously roused to complain about Michael Howard's tactics - while party staff were drafted in to represent 'local people' whom Tony Blair could meet on campaign visits. 'Spontaneous' demonstrations against rival politicians were also ...

I have followed the example of Edis Bevan and put the Babelfish translation tool onto this site. You can now read my musings in English, German, Spanish, French, Italian and Portuguese. As if the English was not bad enough! You should also be able translate the links. Alas, Welsh is not an option, which is a shame as there are some Welsh language sites which I would like to read on a regular basis.

I have come to the conclusion that going out in Cardiff on FA Cup Final night is not the wisest choice I have ever made. The City, of course, rose magnificently to the challenges posed by this event, as it always does, but it can cause problems in terms of parking and getting a table in a restaurant. Nevertheless, we managed it and had a very enjoyable evening. The idea was to have a meal and then go and see Hal in Barfly. We eventually got into one of the Italian restaurants in time to eat and get to Barfly ...

Very interesting that young people voted for Lib Dems - personally I'm not surprised going on the local response - around here the children call Charleys Kennedy that cheeky chappie - I'm the local Lib Dem lady they know and joke with. The Hansard Society organised the 2005 Y Vote Mock Elections to encourage pupils to learn about politics in a fun way- it was a landslide for the Liberal Democrats. http://www.mockelections.co.uk/sections/england/teachers/The%20Result!.asp 349 constituencies took part with a total of 5,000 schools holding mock elections up and down the ...

I have no sympathy for anyone who complains about the UK's lowly placing once again in the Eurovision Song Contest. Greece - the bookies' favourite - was the eventual victor of last night's contest. In the unlikely event that you're the only person in Europe who has not yet heard the winning song, My Number One, the video is here. The early stages of the voting appeared wide open, with the