LibDem Blogs - Archived!

BBC Radio Leicester has moved to new studios in the city - a huge improvement to the two floors of a run-down office block that they used to occupy. One of the facilities at the new building, besides a cafe and free internet access, is a shop selling BBC archive recordings. I went there on Saturday and bought a DVD of the 1985 dramatisation of Tom Sharpe's novel Blott on the Landscape. It was filmed in Ludlow, partly around the, er, striking Victorian Market Hall (which was demolished shortly afterwards with the general approval of the people of the town) ...

In Burton upon Trent an unborn child has been threatened with an ASBO.Meanwhile at Woodhouse Eaves in Leicestershire's Charnwood Forest, a 104-year-old woman has been served with a noise abatement order.

Have often said that politics is my "roller coaster ride" but those who know me will know that the "Big Max" is not my thing. Unfortunately, I feel as though I have been throught the parliamentary equivalent of the Big Max. Last Wednesday life seemed good. There was a real buzz about the place when the news spread of London's success in the bid to host the Olympics in 2012. No sooner was I out of

From, of course, the Shropshire Star: A letter is on the menu for the hungry goat.

On Sunday not able to go to Cheadle to help in the by-election, decided to go and help our candidate Brian Mathew who is contesting a council by-election in Harrow Road ward, Westminster local party. A quick call to Brian - he advised the nearest tube station was Westbourne Park on the Hammersmith & City line. On the tube map, it looked straightforward. Just shows how we in London don't give much thought to how to get from A to B on the tube.At my station on Sundays there's nobody to ask about delays so had to use my own ...

It's been too long since I wrote anything in this column. It seems, now, like a lifetime since Live8. By the middle of last week, we also learned that London was to host the 2012 Olympics. Sitting on the tube on Thursday morning, I'll bet a lot of us were feeling rather proud of what the world had seen of London of the last few days. Thursday rapidly turned into every London commuter's worst nightmare. I was one of the fortunate ones; the knock on effect of the tunnel collapse at Gerrards Cross meant that I wasn't following my regular ...

A friend sent me details of the international Freecycle Network . There is a Freecycle group in Stoke on Trent. It's a simple idea. You advertise the stuff you want to get rid of. If there is anything being advertised that you want, you get it for free. Better than taking stuff to the dump, and less boring and time consuming than a car boot sale.

If one thing is certain following the London bombings, it is that Islamofascists will strike without any regard to whom they are killing. George Galloway may argue that Tony Blair brought these attacks on himself by his support for the war in Iraq; he is, as usual, completely wrong. In the short term, it may be significant that Spain and the UK have been attacked since removing Saddam. In the long term, however, these terrorists will not rest until their jihad is totally over. France found this out when terrorists who kidnapped two French journalists in Iraq demanded the removal ...

Today is quite important for those with strong views on wind farms. The Welsh Assembly Government will be publishing it Technical Advice Note 8 identifying large tracts of land for development. It is understood that they are opting for large scale sites. The aim is to increase the amount of energy from renewable sources by 10% over the next five years. This creates a dilemma for all of us of course. Do we support sound environmental arguments that say that we need to turn to alternative energy sources if we want to mitigate the impact of climate change? Do we ...

Amid all the hours of TV coverage and acres of newsprint devoted to last week's London bombings, this Letter to the Terrorists was brief and to the point: What the fuck do you think you're doing? This is London. We've dealt with your sort before. You don't try and pull this on us. Do you have any idea how many times our city has been attacked? Whatever you're trying to do, it's not going to

As usual I started the week with meetings in Birmingham. It is interesting how many rumours there are floating around the city. I even had someone I know shout something to me whilst driving around the middle ring road. The police, of course, need to investigate everything. Part of yesterday was spent discussing how we in Birmingham need to stand together against terrorism and how the

The Church of England has undoubtedly taken a major step forwards today, as regards the vote of the General Synod. It paves the way for women bishops, although as I understand it the first ordination of female bishops will be a long way away. Of course, there are threats of renegade priests leaving the Church to join the Roman Catholics. To them, I ask the following question - what sort of God would say that only half the population he placed on the planet are fit to act as interpolators of his guidance? Why would he condemn his own people ...