LibDem Blogs - Archived!

I 've been following some of the London cases up before the Standards Board - quite baffled at some of the rulings.Brilliant News - Lib Dem Coleen Gill, a Liberal Democrat Councillor on the East Riding of Yorkshire, who was disqualified from the authority in December has won her appeal in the High Court again the Standards Board's decision. Her case has generated so much party and public interest.Coleen set up a campaign website to raise awareness and raise funds (it costs money to mount an appeal).On 16th December I was disqualified from my position as East Riding of Yorkshire ...

Martin Stabe gives us more evidence that - for better or worse - the overseas media are being freer with details of the recent terrorist attacks in London than their British counterparts. For more examples see this posting of mine from a couple of weeks ago.

The BBC reports: Work has started on a three-quarters of a million pound restoration of a 150-year-old Leicester cemetery. The Welford Road Cemetery scheme, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, will include repairs to driveways and the replacement of fencing. Welford Road is already well cared for, and so short of the broken angels and weed-choked cherubs you look for in a cemetery, but it is a good place for a walk. You can see it beside the railway a little way south of Leicester station. There are some nice views of the cemetery here and a guide to ...

Local Councillor Martin Mullaney has some photos on his website. The City Council used its new Emergency Management routines. I saw some of the swirling in the wind which was reported to hit 130 mph. I have never seen winds as strong. Climate Change is arguably part of this. It is easy to find pictures of trees falling onto houses. And houses that used to have chimneys. Or a school with no

There has been much rejoicing at the announcement that the IRA is about to renounce political violence. But forgive me if I'm not going to join in, straight away at least. Let's just think what would happen if, say, Al-Qaeda or Hamas were to publish a similar statement today. We'd want to hang back a little bit to see whether or not they meant it, surely? After all, actions speak louder than words, and we all know that it was storms over decommissioned arms that helped to derail the peace process so much in the first place. Besides, it isn't ...

Two hours ago the IRA ordered an end to its armed campaign and says it will pursue exclusively peaceful means. Many back home in Northern Ireland are sceptical of this news. I for hope this is the genuine step forward I have been waiting for all my life. I hope the arms that are outstanding are decommissioned swiftly. I hope we see the end of punishment shootings and beatings as well. Also we

The IRA statement issued today must be welcomed by everyone interested in peaceful, political advancement of devolution in Northern Ireland. The IRA seem to have realised what we could have told them twenty years ago - namely their chances of achieving a re-united Ireland by violent intimidation of the British people were nil. Conversely, by peaceful negotiation there is a really possibility of a future status for the Province that allows everyone to get on with their lives together. How ironic it is that as we move away from the spectre of terrorism on one front, another group now believes ...

The dead-tree press are certainly hitting back at the rise of blogs and instant on-line communication. In an article today the head of content at the Western Mail's website argues that the instant gratification afforded to bloggers and the owners of camera phones is leading to excesses and irresponsible behaviour:It's hardly surprising that we're now witnessing the rise of the citizen snapper - camera phones are part of most people's everyday armoury.They've given a shot in the arm to TV and online news coverage but at a price: taste.Just as bloggers find it all too easy to spew out libel ...

Martin Shipton asks a very pertinent question in this morning's Western Mail - 'are we returning to the Thatcher years with cuts, cuts, cuts in the public sector?' What has prompted this query is the proposal by the Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust to close services and wards so as to eradicate a £6 million deficit.It is certainly the case that under the Chancellor's Spending Reviews we have come to expect huge increases in public expenditure. The indications now are that this is starting to dry up and we are having to target spending much better.The Gershon review and ...

Susanne Lamido mentions in her blog today the fire raising of Mike Watson MSP earlier this year. I have far happier memories of Prestonfield House Hotel recently. Along with the other Lothian based Parliamentary candidates we gathered on the eve of poll to escort Charles, Sarah and Donald James Kennedy to their helicopter. We were told we where to meet Charles after he completed his last

Just an interesting story - nobody is above the law. Lord Watson of Invergowrie, a current MSP and former MP, is to face trial on fireraising charges after a curtain was set alight at the Scottish Politician of the Year award last year The Crown Office has served Lord Watson of Invergowrie with an indictment in relation to an incident at Prestonfield House Hotel, Edinburgh, on 12 November last year. Further details of the charges have not been released.

Thursday 28th July 2005 - Litter and the quality of street cleaning was high on our agenda yesterday when the new Chief Executive of Knowsley visited Halewood North ward as part of her induction into the new post. We also highlighted areas of anti-social behaviour and traffic problems while also looking at how the rural areas of the ward are often overlooked. Hopefully we will see some

Ruth Kelly is now proposing enshrining further inequality in our education system - giving the low achievers much closer tuition than our highest achievers. It's a strange education policy that embraces mediocrity; that leaves the best to get on with their own, often unchallenging work, not encouraging them to reach for the moon, whilst the poorest pupils have initiative after initiative directed at them. I'm not arguing that we should leave the low-achieving behind; but something is wrong when we aren't giving our best children the best possible education. Thankfully, it seems like some teachers are beginning to challenge the ...