LibDem Blogs - Archived!

Now this is a good example of responsible journalism - not:Our AMs and MPs insist they will be spending their ridiculously long summer breaks catching up on important constituency work. Most people will treat that with the scepticism it deserves. Our elected representatives set poor examples by putting in such short working periods. It is hardly surprising that so few of us can be bothered to vote for them.This comment was the follow-up to an article looking at what two of South Wales West's AMs will be doing during the summer recess. Rather strangely the article focusses on myself and ...

Am I to be scoffed at for my Victor Meldrew like beliefs when I suggest that small children should be discouraged from riding their 'minibikes' up and down a local nature-reserve during school hours? Am I an old fuddy-duddy to suggest that motor vehicles driving on public land should be licensed, insured and MOT inspected, just [...]

Catching the Tube across London this morning, the atmosphere was grim. People are tense, eyeing up their neighbours, not talking, and relieved to get off as soon as they can. When you hear an occasional group of tourists laughing together you feel a twinge of annoyance at this disruption of the mood. Then [...]

Unsurprisingly, the shooting of the bombing suspect at Stockwell station today has brought about quite a lot of debate about the propriety of the actions of the police. Of course, the wisest comments are those that are calling for more information. The criticism of police actions stems largely from the response of an eyewitness on BBC News, who said that the suspect half-tripped, and was half-pushed to the ground, and was then shot five times. Now, the man was obviously in shock, and police are known to have said that the most unreliable witnesses are eyewitnesses. This can be seen ...

Add together Byers lying and contempt of Parliament and what do you get? No more "Stephen Byers MP"? Apparently not! Misleading Parliament doesn't seem to be the serious offence it once was, as Parliament goes is on recess from today and there has been no word from the Commons standards and privileges Committee on whether an inquiry will go ahead, despite opposition calls for an investigation.

Something about this isn't quite right. 5 shots into one person is... well... illegal! Especially after he was already incapacitated (being held down on the ground). Either the British Police force have become a bit too trigger happy, or this eyewitness isn't telling the whole truth.

I’ll be defying The Terrorists by heading off to London tomorrow. This is obviously entirely because I wish to to stand up for truth, justice and the British Way, and nothing to do with wanting to go drinking and clubbing. In the mean time, a B3ta gem from the Terrorists’ Handbook. (Via.)

Langer's just been run out by Pietersen, which has cheered me up greatly. I must say, I feared the worst this morning. McGrath's bowling yesterday had been superb, and our tail isn't exactly known for its batting prowess. But Jones and Harmison batted very sensibly for tail-enders - pushed the ball for runs and weren't afraid to have a go. Unless we were throwing the bat around we were just chucking an opportunity away. Although it's one of the funny things about cricket that throwing the bat at bowlers can often be more successful than trying to play them in ...

I was reviewing research on the Local Government Standards Code and other issues when I found out about the further attempt to cause loss of life on the tube. That seemed to be followed up by some other attempt today. Sadly there remain people whose agenda rests in attempting to polarise society - including those who have sent out emails purporting to come from religious institutions.

Lunarcy from Google - jobs on offer at GCHEESE.

At 10 this morning a man was shot on the Tube by plainclothes police officers. It sounds like they had a lot of guts. I've heard two reports - one that the man did a runner from a security check; the other that he ran and cleared a security barrier. In any case, chasing a suicide bomber takes some nerve, and the officers concerned deserve our credit. I've long suspected police have a shoot-to-kill policy in these areas, but when you've trapped a suicide bomber on a train it's the only sensible option. Anyway, as with yesterday's bombings, Nosemonkey and ...

Today's House Points column from Liberal Democrat News. Not as planned Ted Heath was awkward to the last. This week I had intended to write about the tunnel collapse at Gerrards Cross, reporting a debate called by the local MP. You may know the story. Struggling to find a site there, Tesco hit upon the idea of roofing over a railway cutting and building their new store on top of it. The council opposed the plan, but the office of the deputy prime minister waved it through. A Tesco spokeswoman said brightly: “We can see no reason why ...

The four bombers for yesterday now know they cannot hide. The aftermath of the 7/7 attacks showed how quickly CCTV footage of their last movements were pieced together. International collaboration produced evidence of them arriving in Pakistan for training. This time eyewitnesses saw them as they fled the scene. CCTV from after the events is going to be able to isolate them as they flee up

Summer madness took over Welsh politics yesterday, overshadowed only by far more serious events in London.Peter Hain has now officially lost the plot with his latest rant against regional assembly members. His assertion that the expenses system for regional Assembly Members is being "widely and systematically abused" is not backed up with any evidence whatsoever, other than the general insecurities of Labour constituency members who do not like sharing their patch with anybody.Even the claim that regional members use their allowances to "poke their noses into constituency members' affairs" and target key seats for party advantage is just hearsay based ...

Yesterday (July 21st) was the 80th anniversary of the end of the so-called 'Monkey Trial' in Dayton, Tennessee, when teacher John T. Scopes was convicted of violating state law for teaching Darwin's theory of evolution.How stupid and backward these people were, we laugh. And when we hear of present-day attempts to reintroduce creationism onto the curriculum in state schools in the USA, it merely confirms our prejudices about the backward culture of Americans.Well you can wipe that smug grin off your face, because it's happening here and it's happening now - in Coventry. And before you ask, it's not Islamic.The ...

Maybe this is all just blind optimism, and it is at best little other than speculation. In the light of the meeting between Angela Merkel, probably the next Chancellor of Germany, and Nicolas Sarkozy, potentially the future President of France, though, it couldn't help but cross my mind that the new Europe that I would love to see may still be possible. Why do I say this? Because Merkel (born in 1954) and Sarkozy (born in 1955) represent the next generation of European leaders. Together with Blair (1953), they are all the generation after the current leaders (or in Blair's ...