LibDem Blogs - Archived!

Attended the Full Council meeting on Wednesday.Began with baboon-like ululations from the Labour tribe as it was announced that it was time for Cllr Kisicki to defect from a political party again. This time from the Liberal Democrats back to Labour. Some might remember what happened last time. It was always stretching the word to describe Cllr Kisicki as a liberal, more like an asylum seeker from Labour persecution who finally decided it was safe to go home.After that flash of excitement, the dogged public questioners asked dogged public questions, including the one about the mysterious disappearing consultation ...

The Jeremy Paxman Show - or Newsnight as it rather quaintly persists in calling itself - was on sprightly form last night. "David Cameron, do you know what a Pink Pussy is?" barked the Grand Inquisitor, presumably for a bet, as there was little other justification for such a specious, single entendre question. (It's a cocktail, by the way.) Still, it set the tone for what was to prove a listless,

A bit of cross-party co-operation I can wholeheartedyl endorse, the Labour Land Campaign and the Liberal Democrat Association for Land Tax and Economic Reform (ALTER) have jointly published a leaflet setting out the principles of land value taxation. You can read it here (pdf) - it’ll only take a couple of minutes.

The BBC is reporting huge surprise at Roy Keane's departure from Manchester United. They've interviews various pundits saying that they were "flabbergasted" at the announcement. The only thing that has surprised me about it is that they waited so long.Keane's "punditry" on MUTV may never have made it to the TV screens. But the contents aren't locked forever in an Old Trafford broom cupboard. They are some of the lest-kept secrets in football - Alan Smith described as a headless chicken, Rio Ferdinand denounced for thinking he's a superstar "after playing well for 20 minutes against Spurs", and, in general, ...

Although John Healey MP says that "The Treasury has no call centres", the linked Departmental Report for 2004 from the Inland Revenue on Page 10 refers to their use of predictive dialling technology. The Inland Revenue is a non-ministerial department that reports to the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Hence if I had asked him about his "departments" perhaps I would have received a different

Today sees the deadline from George Weah and his Congress for Democratic Change to provide the evidence evidence to establish their claim of election fraud is genuine. Ex-Chelsea footballer Mr. Weah lost out in the Presidential Poll to Ellen Johnson Sirleaf in a run-off by 19%. Mrs. Sirleaf is still be be Certified whilst the Electoral Commission allows Mr. Weah to prove the alleged fraud.

Okay, so, we’ve clearly established that Lib Dem MPs are being a bit daft opposing new laws to devolve pub licensing to local authorities, right? Well, it turns out (well, it’s news to a lily livered southerner like me), that in Scotland - where they already have liberalised licensing hours - Labour have just [...]

I like to dip into Margot Wallstrom’s blog occasionally, especially as she seems to inspire a certain breed of loon who can’t stand the fact that a dark and shadowy Brussels bureaucrat might actually be quite open and accessible. Today though, she writes: Scotland seems to be fertile breeding ground for UK ministers… Not sure David Blunkett ever [...]

Rafael Behr, Observer journlist and erstwhile newspaper blogger, has returned, as promised, with his own blog. So hurrah. Tags: observer

NHS Finances Q: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of NHS bodies are insolvent. (John Hemming) A: No NHS organisations are insolvent. All national health service organisations have sufficient funding to pay their bills within a reasonable time. (Liam Byrne, Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department of Health) At-risk Children Q: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home

theguardian reports that Passport cost rises by 21% to pay for security checks. Now, if I was very cynical, I’d think the Home Office were going to ramp up the cost of passports each year so that when it finally comes the time officially to include ID cards with them, that final leap in price [...]

Today's House Points column from Liberal Democrat News. Knives are out A late entrant in the Conservative leadership stakes emerged at defence questions. He was quoted by Sir Peter Tapsell as saying “it is easy to get into Kabul, but much more difficult to get out”. He makes more sense than David Cameron, who would say: “entering and leaving Kabul are both hugely important to many of the people whose support we need to return to government, but it would be unwise to make any specific commitments at this stage”. And David Davis would say: “The seats we ...

If there is one thing that the recent publication of the updated MPs' register of interests has revealed, it is that politicians like to travel, as of course do their spouses. Right there at the top of the pile is the Prime Ministers' free 26-day stay at singer Sir Cliff Richard's Barbados villa in August along with his wife's speaking engagements in Washington, Australia, New Zealand and Florida. Secretary of State for Wales, Peter Hain, has also been indulging his Formula One passion with free hospitality in Monaco and at Silverstone Incidentally, I noticed in the list that Tory leadership ...