LibDem Blogs - Archived!

I'm the guest ranter on the Sharpener this week. Venting my spleen on education. If the comments pick up at all, and possibly even if they don't, I'll post a more measured view of the same things here at the weekend.

Last night I chaired the launch of the Safe Exit Handbook, a guide for getting women out of prostitution locally. Described in the Guardian as 'controversial', it is nonetheless a comprehensive, weighty, but user-friendly tome. I was surprised at the heap of praise given to me by Lead Councillor for Environment & Crime Reduction Cllr Judith Gardiner, assuring the East London Advertiser that here at least us from the Labour & Lib Dems were in harmony. Sue Jago compiled Paying the Price, the Government's recent review into prostitution, and her talk gave us a national perspective. ...

I was yet again appalled to see how the Council dealt with the green space at Furze Green. It seems that just because it is not well cared for, a significant part of it will be sold off for development. We called in a report around the Interim Planning Guidance at Furze Green at Overview and Scrutiny on Tuesday night. It seems that the local community were consulted about this, but this must have been just going through the motions because although they sent the Council a resounding 'no' to the plans, the Council produced this guidance ...

My patch seems to be surrounded by Labour's rebel MPsJeremy Corbyn (Islington North)Emily Thornberry (Islington South & Finsbury)Frank Dobson (Holborn & St Pancras) - CamdenGlenda Jackson (Hampstead & Highgate) - CamdenDiane Abbott (Hackney North & Stoke Newington)All 62 Liberal Democrat MPs voted against the plan to allow police to detain terror suspects without charge for up to 90 days.

The 2005 Threadneedle/Spectator Parliamentarian of the Year awards were held at Claridges hotel this evening, reports the BBC. The full list of winners: Politician of the Year - David Cameron Parliamentarian of the Year - Dominic Grieve Newcomer of the Year - Sadiq Khan Inquisitor of the Year - John Denham Peer of the Year - Baroness Scotland of Asthal Speech of the Year - Barbara Follett Minister to Watch - John Reid

From, inevitably, the Guardian : A photograph accompanying an article about circumcision, Sore point, Weekend magazine, October 29, page 39, was not of the surgical instrument used to carry out the operation, as we said in the caption. It showed a nasal rasp used for nose-reshaping operations.

It's not just rare apple varieties that turn up in Shropshire from time to time. Today's Shropshire Star reports that a frigatebird was found on a farm near Whitchurch. These tropical seabirds, which can have a seven-foot wingspan, are also known as man of war birds or pirate birds. This one was the first to be recorded in Britain. It was taken to Chester Zoo but later died of its injuries.

The Centre for Reform has changed its name to the Centre for Um. Sounds a bit reticent to me.

Tony Blair is saying that certain areas of Parliament are out of touch with the public over the terrorism bill. However, interesting viewing is the BBC poll on the topic. Just now of 145472 Votes Cast: 52% favour 28 days or keeping it at 14. (28 and 24 % respectively) 7% will allow up to 42 days only 41% will allow 90 days hardly a resounding majority Mr. Blair. Going by my reckoning that

Whilst the House of Lords remains unreformed and its membership determined by Party patronage it's credibility will always be questioned. The latest batch of peers, the names of whom are leaking out at a rate of knots, underlines this point. Amongst them are people who have given hundreds of thousands of pounds between them to the Labour and Conservative Parties. Their peerages undermine the political process.The other interesting leak is that one of the new Peers is to be Maggie Jones, the woman who lost Labour's safest seat in Wales last May. To be fair it was not entirely her ...

The consequences of the Government's defeat on the Anti-Terrorism Bill yesterday are still not clear, particularly with regards to the future of the Prime Minister. It is possible that he will soldier on but the indications are that things are not going to get any easier for him and that in the case of some of his planned reforms on education he will need to rely on Tory votes to get them passed. I had a look at the list of the 49 Labour MPs who voted against the Government and was surprised to see that it only contained three ...

I’ll shut up about political ironies soon, I promise, but I forgot about Blair claiming that it was “better to be right and lose than to be wrong and win.” Very Old Labour. SNORT! And then we have the Great Leader accusing MPs of being “out of touch” - this being the man who took us [...]

If you were the person on the Underground who asked "Whatever happened to Suede?", the answer is: they split up. Brett Anderson subsequently teamed up with Bernard Butler and released Here Come The Tears. Tags: suede, the+tears

? by Chrisco I was giving some thought to this the other morning, when my gut feeling was that Blair wasn't going to win the 90-day vote and after Clarke was forced to backtrack on the lower term amendment he had announced at lunchtime on Monday. Why is Blair doing this? Why is he driving this forward when it looks like he has no chance of getting it through? After an awful week that included much talk about the weakening of his authority, why is he playing chicken with an oncoming (Labour) juggernaut. How could the whips ...

Rachel from north London says… John Tulloch (author of Doctor Who: The Unfolding Text) says…

It was weird! Having been at the meeting with Charles Clarke on Monday - to then see how the changes from what he said to me at our meeting in the morning (willingness to compromise), rolled through the day and evening into 90 days or be damned! I guess Tony B must have been up to his old 'trust me I'm Tony' - and I know what's best and I am going to over-rule my Home Secretary. Brinkmanship and

by Jabez Clegg Today the Apollo Project Blog reached 100 posts. Our thanks to all those who've contributed over the last four months; and also to all our readers, especially those who've added to the debate with their comments.

With apologies to any American readers out there, a couple more notes on my bemusement of the sheer zaniness of British politics: The Government pontificating on the need to listen to professionals when it comes to the police, while doing the exact opposite in the far more complicated field of medicine. Labour legislating to prevent “losers” in [...]

by Steve Travis A PM seeking to legislate for detention without trial ... Muslims detained as a Terror plot is foiled ... debate in the media where liberals acuse authoritarians of undermining civil liberties and authoritarians accuse liberals of wooly-headed softness on terrorism. Yes - the news in Australia is exactly the same as it is at home. Today's letters page of the Sydney Morning Herald gives a flavour of the debate.

Over at the Apollo Project, Peter links to an interesting article about selection in secondary education, and its inherent randomness. It isn’t clear in the article, but the local authority it refers to could well be Bromley, where I grew up and attended the Grammar. Either way, it certainly reflects my experience, where it did indeed [...]

Bank: Computer says No! Remember, kids: don’t have nightmares.

So - Labour have axed the stupidly biased "questionnaire" about detention without trial from their website.This is what Charles Clarke said in his climb-down email: "I would like to apologise for the questionnaire which was attached to the message that I sent out to party supporters on Friday. It was not intended to gauge public opinion but to start a political debate around the proposals

First off - several people have asked who my staff talked to in the airsoft community who said they'd be willing to go along with the ends of airsoft guns being painted - e.g. dayglow orange. It was the people at www.saveairsoft.org Second - I take the point that guns operating above 1 joule aren't automatically lethal - and there's clearly a lot of debate about the merits of 1 joule safety limit

Division 85 (also the link) is the division for inserting 28 days. Division 84 is the division for not inserting 90 days (see ante for reasoning). The Birmingham Mail editorial last night made the key point that Tony Blair had not won the argument. The underlying issue is complex and as often tends to happen the key legal issues got completely lost. After arrest there are two processes

by Peter I'm sorry to come back to education so soon, but this article on the role chance plays in selective systems deserves some attention. Steve Travis dealt with attractions of the Grammar in an early post on this blog. Like Steve, I went to a comprehensive school. But I find the alternative less appealing. The Guardian article shows one of the reasons why. Variation between tests taken on different days by the same pupil is so great that for one-third of children the decision as to where they go is no more than chance. Indeed the problem is almost ...

In a break with recent programming tradition, Channel 4 have done a poll on something. This time it’s the greatest live gigs. Ever. I recall there was barnstorming rendition of Greensleeves in the 16th century - shockingly that’s been omitted from this list. Having discovered I’m terribly unfashionable as I own nothing by anyone in the [...]

Rather than cheering the defeat of the PM’s plain to lock people up for three months without charge, I thought I’d share a couple of text messages I received on the subject. Ha, gordon n' jack needn't of dashed back Straw and Brown’s flights back and McCartney’s heroic visit from hospital merely saved the Government from losing [...]

The last few days, I have been receiving the odd search engine hit for "Captain Annand VC". Back in December, I blogged about this remarkable man, the first man to win the Victoria Cross in the Second World War. I won't repeat the details of his actions, for you can follow the link, except to say that many believed that his actions on one single day could have won him the VC three times over. My meeting with him left a lasting impression on me. I suppose one of the strange things about meeting a man like him is that ...