LibDem Blogs - Archived!

by Peter Rob is asking the right questions. Bishop Hill is also on the case. But does the buck stop with Sir Ian?

Here's the best idea yet for fighting the religious fruitcakes who want to teach creationism in school science classes.Parents in Kansas are combating the pressure for 'Intelligent Design' with this open letter to the Kansas School Board. They are demanding that their belief in the Flying Spaghetti Monster is given equal recognition.They have some strong arguments.You may be interested to know that global warming, earthquakes, hurricanes, and other natural disasters are a direct effect of the shrinking numbers of Pirates since the 1800s. For your interest, I have included a graph of the approximate number of pirates versus the average ...

What is he on? Does this mean that I shouldn't be supporting the Irish football team, or my New Zealand friends shouldn't support the All Blacks at rugby?

The sad death of Mo Mowlam removes from British politics one of the few 'real' people among leading politicians. Most prominent politicians nowadays have contrived a stilted and pretentious public persona, dehumanised to the extent that one could never imagine going down the pub with them.New Labour's front bench is media-trained and soundbitten to within an inch of its life. Among leading Tories, only Ken Clarke regularly displays any earthy qualities. Among leading Liberal Democrats, one's worry about Charles Kennedy would be getting out of the pub.Which brings us to the question of funeral orations. Robin Cook's recent funeral was ...

Things are steadily looking worse for the Met as investigations continue into the shooting of a Brazilian man at Stockwell. If it turns out that the use of lethal force was unwarranted (as I am guessing it will) then of course those responsible should be dealt with. The family of the victim is understandably upset [...]

I have just finished reading an excellent book I picked up in Dublin. Called 'The Naked Politician' it is written by Irish journalist Katie Hannon and claims to lift 'the lid on a political system that rewards mediocrity and punishes idealism.' The blurb goes on to say that the book 'shows how elections are really won and lost. It exposes the power of the party machines and the fear and loathing in the constituency trenches. It is a book about pride and prejudice, about ego and ignominy, about the power, the glory and the grubby truth that lies behind it.' ...

First Robin Cook Now Mo Mowlem Clare Short's bound to be feeling a bit nervous.

Mo Mowlem former Northern Ireland secretary has died. As some raised in Northern Ireland I was impressed by her approach the the hardnosed politicians of home. She knocked them out with her more relaxed approach they didn't know how to counter her. A lot of what she acheived was done from the shock in how she went about things. She went unto the Kelly show, UTV's equivalent of Parkinson, came on

Today's Glasgow Herald carries a story about Labour intentions regarding the Livingston by Election. Expect their candidate to be named next Friday and also that they are intending to approach the speaker to move the writ early under the Recess Election Act of 1975. The fact that all this info reeks of a Labour press release indicates that there is something that Labour are scared of. The only

It is interesting to listen to people's reasons for not wishing to consider hydrocarbon depletion. One is that people have "cried wolf" before. The point about that story is that in the end there was a wolf. Another is the Vince Cable (who used to be an economist for Shell) position who argues that as the price goes up there will be more oil extractable. There is some truth in this

The other day, I reported major repairs to the preserved steam locomotive Sir Archibald Sinclair, named after the Liberal Party's leader from 1935 to 1945.This set me wondering whether any other Liberal leaders have been similarly honoured. Railway enthusiasts are not unknown in the Liberal Democrats, so perhaps someone out there could enlighten us?In the meantime, I have done a quick Google search to find out which leading Liberals are in steam. To begin with, I am fairly certain that none of Sinclair's successors (from Clement Davies onwards) have had a railway locomotive named after them.There have been at least ...