LibDem Blogs - Archived!

During my stint in Sydney in 2004, on home match days I could be found on the hill at the Leichhardt Oval cheering on the Wests Tigers, formerly the Balmain Tigers, which explains why I have a link to them from this site. Supporting the Tigers was something that came to me by accident. Here in England I support the Leeds Rhinos, and on going to Sydney I had intended to support the Sydney Roosters because (lacking any other reason for affiliation) Adrian Morley - formerly of the Rhinos - plays for them. In my first week in Sydney the ...

One or two little things were going wrong with this blog, so I reloaded and recustomised the template. It seems to have worked. I also took the opportunity to adopt Stephen Tall's description of Liberal England from his links page: An "amusingly eclectic mix of culture and politcs".

Just been catching up on events today at conference from the Party Website and from my fellow Lib dem Bloggers, at least those who have posted during the day before hitting this evenings fringe.Cllr. Louise Alexander asked an interesting question today, my title is the alternate universe of Liberal Democracy this week. This morning I got up came downstairs and saw my voting rep badge and

I've been banging on about the poor quality of the local postal service since I started blogging nine months ago. But I'm never very happy complaining - much better to use your energy positively. So I was very pleased to hear trailed in the press in August that Norman Lamb, the Lib Dems' Shadow Trade and even happier when I read the details of his motion to be debated at this week's Lib Dem

A few people have criticised Andrew Flintoff and the England cricket team for the way they chose to celebrate their Ashes victory. It is generally on the grounds that they are "role models" and should not be seen to drink to excess. This posting on a Brentford FC forum is one example.It happens that a letter in the Guardian answered this very point. It was written at the time Lawrence Dallaglio lost the captaincy of the England XV over his boasts about drugs to an undercover tabloid journalist. The letter ran:Why is the horrible phrase "role model" on everyone's lips? ...

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This from the man who lied to us about weapons of mass destruction (or was too stupid to realise he was being spun a line from his know-nowt intelligence services) and took us into an illegal war against a sovereign country. I turn on BBC Radios 4 or 5 Live for my news every day and trust what I hear. More than I can say for the weasel words from the mouth of man we have to call our Prime

The Liberal Democrats are growing in strength and popularity. Charles Kennedy has ensured that Britain now truly is a third party system. Next on the road to Government is to become the Official Opposition. To do, it is crucial that the party and the electorate know what the Liberal Democrats are for. Political parties are broad churches. There will always be disagreements over policy,

When New Labour was invented it attempted to reclaim the progressive agenda by turning a moribund socialist party into a version of the US Democrats. It is for others to judge how successful Tony Blair and Gordon Brown have been in that undertaking. The reason Blair was so eager to have the Liberal Democrats in his “big tent” was that liberals could have helped him move the Labour Government

Tim Worstall has posted his latest weekly round up of the best of British blogging.He has also edited a book along the same lines: 2005 Blogged: Dispatches from the Blogosphere.

I’ve just landed in Vienna, in anticipation of the Plone conference 2005. Since my recent work for BlueOrange has been more zope-centric: The company somewhat eschews the majesty of Plone, I hope that this will be a chance to catch up with the Plone and Zope events that have occurred during the last six months [...]

A catch up on the week in the life of a Lewisham Central Liberal Democrat councillor.On Monday evening went to the latest public meeting of the Save Ladywell Pool Campaign.Very well attended. Which is not a surprise, as we managed to deliver 15,000 leaflets across the pool's catchment area in the course of the previous fortnight.Meeting included report back on the latest developments in the ongoing saga of the new school.And a very sorry tale it seemed indeed. Some good speeches including those by Cllrs Ian Page and My Leader Mark Morris. I kept quiet, as I usually speak only ...

It has always been deeply ironic that parents of school-age children have had to pay premium rates just to take a holiday during the school holidays. And that is normally at a time of life when finances are most stretched. As a result many children miss important schooling while their parents take holidays that are sometimes half the price during termtime. Some years ago Kingston worked with local travel agents to create a Holiday Discount Scheme - this gives discounts to families who book a holiday during the school holiday period. This was part of our highly ...

Today I went to a morning consultation session on Devolution. This is where the party takes soundings from all of its members and builds these into a policy paper which is then adopted (or not) at next year's conference. In other words, if you're a member of the Liberal Democrats, you are advised to feed in your ideas now, rather than next year at conference. This is party of the larger debate on our future. You can read about this at the Meeting the Challenge website. At the devolution, I fed in my ideas on ...

This blog was recommended in the Liberal Democrat News as one of the better blogs for Councillors (along with Cllr Mary Reid) and "worth a read". I was dead chuffed! If you're interested in other Lib Dem blogs, Lynne Featherstone's is great and I also enjoy reading the blog of Sandra Gidley MP.

According to my colleague Andrew Holden, the only thing to do at Lib Dem Conference is to drink. Andrew I've worked with at Operation Black Vote, Power Inquiry and formerly at Charter88. In Charter88, there was always a schism between those who wished to lobby Parliament and those who wish to campaign at a local level. I remember one evening when Andrew was off to schmooze the Great and the Good at the Commonwealth Club, while I was off to play bingo with the old ladies at the Bentworth Court Friendship Club which personified the split between ...

Seen/heard on the BBC today: "Germans are going to the polls"I thought all that was dealt with 60 years ago.

Actually not Sunny Blackpool. It is relatively dreary here. The seaside resorts are used for party political conferences as they can swallow up a relatively large number of people in what would otherwise be relatively cheap empty hotels. The conferences are just after the summer season. There tends also to be quite a bit mediafest. It appears that my amendment on the Royal Mail was a bit too

I have lost count of the number of attacks that have been made on the Liberal Democrats regarding their policy of substance misuse. In particular we have come under attack for this one line in our policy: "ending the use of imprisonment for possession for own use of illegal drugs of any class" In moving the motion that led to the adoption of this policy the then Liberal Democrats Home Affairs Spokesperson, Simon Hughes, said: Treatment and prevention should be the priority for individuals who use drugs. By contrast, the criminal law should be directed at ...

Sunday 18th September 2005 - It looks like the final nails in the coffin of Merseytram are being lined up as Sefton and Knowsley make it clear they are not prepared to fund the scheme trough an increase in the Transport Levy which would mean an increase in Council Tax. Read my thoughts on this subject tomorrow in my latest column on www.aboutknowsley.com!!

Saturday 17th September 2005 - A busy week ahead started with a busy day on Saturday! The day started with a brief visit to the Mayor of Prescot's Charity Recod Fair at Prescot Leisure Centre where there was a good turnout. The event raised £285 for the Mayor's charity fund. Then a quick trip to Whiston to deliver some more by-elecction leaflets before heading to Blackpool to prepare for the

And he writes of why here. Many of the reasons he identifies for voting Liberal Democrat resonate for me.