LibDem Blogs - Archived!

I penned some lines to send to the Grauniad the other day following their big spread on ID cards. They didn't publish them but I can anyway (not quite the same readership here as there, but one day...) There are a number of red herrings in the Government's case for ID cards (Guardian p4 26th [...]

Very upset this afternoon to be paged with the news that Patsy Calton had died. In my heart of hearts the news was unsurprising but none of us ever wants to believe the worst. Prior to this week's swearing in I had not seen Patsy since the "new intake" dinner in December 2004 (I am an honorary member of the 2001 intake). Patsy was a feisty lady. She was energetic and principled but above

It was only today that I learnt of the ball lightning in Hook. (This is a rare photo of ball lightning taken in Japan in 1987) At 9am on Sunday 1st May I nearly jumped out of my skin at the sound of an almighty explosion. Like everyone else in the area I immediately thought it was a major incident, even more serious than the one we had experienced in March. After a few moments I decided it was the loudest thunderclap I had ever heard, which was odd as ...

Received a shock call today to say Patsy had died (since then phones not stopped ringing) - don't quite know what to say - it's difficult to express words when it's somebody one knows (feel like shouting why she's only 56). She had a long battle with cancer and it was hoped she was on the mend. Patsy was a fighter - it was only last week she arrived at Parliament in a wheelchair and was sworn in as the reelected Lib Dem MP for Cheadle. Just found a report on the BBC news website ...

With a bit of luck the French will kick the European Constitution into the long grass today. However, otherwise it is likely that the issues will start being considered in the UK relatively soon.As with many of these debates the key issues will be swallowed up in an ill-informed debate concentrating on straight bananas and the like.The key question for me is the balance of power between the centre and localities (be they the UK parliament, Various assemblies or local authorities).The European Union was made into a Federal System by Margaret Thatcher with the Single European Act 1987.The SEA ...

The Observer this morning reports that the cost of an ID card could be as much as £300. This is inflation of Weimar proportions. The figure has been calculated by experts at the London School of Economics, who have spent months producing one of the most authoritative analyses of the scheme. Last week the Home Office issued a report which estimated that, over the next decade, the cost of running the scheme, in conjunction with a new biometric passport system, would be £5.8bn. Because the Treasury has insisted the scheme must be self-financing, this works out at an average ...

My absence in Brussels meant that I have not been able to comment on Wednesday's Plenary debates until now. The session was dominated by the debate on the report of the committee to investigate smoking in public places, of which I was a member. However, the most interesting part of that discussion was the insight offered by Leighton Andrews into the mindset of the average Labour backbencher. Leighton moved an amendment to the report in which he sought further work on the economic impact of a ban. This is not something he would usually be allowed to ...

The phenomenon of the Crazy Frog ringtone seems to have taken UK by storm - that irritating - addictive tune is no 1 in the charts this week. Kids obviously find it cute and cool. The lyricsA ding ding ding ding dididing ding bing bing pscht,Dorhrmbom bom bedom bem bom bedom bom bum ba ba bom bom,Bouuuuum bom bom bedahm,Bom be barbedarm bedabedabedabedaBbrrrrrimm bbrrrrramm bbbrrrrrrrrraammmmmddddddraammm, Bah bah baah baah ba wheeeeeee-eeeee-eeeee! Just watch the animated Crazy Frog video to go with it - must admit it's quite funny.

Political Hack a Birmingham based Labour Party activist jumps to my defence (thankyou) for writing a blog.I did not see Paul Dale's Iron Angle column as actually being an attack on the concept of running a blog.I run a blog for a number of reasons. It is an effective communication tool.I can put details on about issues relating to my constituency. They are then automatically indexed by the search engines so people can find current information.People who know I do this will know where to look.Although possibly 2/3rd of my constituents don't have access to net at the ...

Top athlete Kelly Holmes has spoken of depression and self-harm before she made such a comeback to Olympic success. It makes her achievements all the more impressive. More importantly I hope it can connect with the many thousands of people who do self-harm to realise that they are not alone, and can beat it, and also educate the general public at large. A real heroine!

My best news story of the week has to be about Big Ben - London's famous landmark has grabbed the attention of world media. The chimes of Big Ben were silenced for more than an hour on Friday, but the cause remains a mystery. The Palace of Westminster's 147-year-old clock, considered to be one of the most reliable in the world, stopped at 10.07pm. The minute hand started to move again slowly but stalled a second time at 10.20pm, where it is reported to have remained for 90 minutes before the hands were reset. ...

I've not spend much time blogging recently; this is because I have been puzzling through "The Python Challenge" - a sequence of 30 riddles intended to test the mettle of python developers. Each challenge takes the form of a web-page; usually with a cryptic or hidden clue waiting to be found. If you have managed [...]