LibDem Blogs - Archived!

A recent blog-posting on the “Shelley the Republican” blog demonstrates that you can justify almost any act of violence, repression and destruction by posting an image of a small blond child weeping at a funeral. When a small blond kid cries then armies move. Exceptional budgets are authorized and [...]

Respect, the bizarre Trot, Tankie 'n' Taliban coalition put together by George Galloway, is already displaying its inherent contradictions. Harry's Place reports: Grassroots members of George Galloway’s left-wing Respect party have condemned as “unacceptable” the decision of the party leadership to exclude lesbian and gay rights from their manifesto for the general election earlier this year. Respect MP George Galloway is now being asked to explain why his party dumped gay rights from its manifesto. Allegations abound that Respect’s right-wing Islamist backers demanded the exclusion of gay rights as a condition of their electoral support for the party. At ...

It's quite appropriate that this piece on Harry's Place, regarding the social exclusion that Muslims claim they feel when alcohol is present at social events, is posted just a few days before 24-hour licensing laws come into effect. They both raise a wider point about the role of drinking within British culture. Why is it so central, is it alientating, and does access to alcohol hve an effect on social cohesion? I deliberately phrase these questions in the broadest possible terms, because whilst the Harry's Place item specifically asks about Muslims, the broader attitude of newspapers like the Daily Mail ...

I think so. One of those people that you feel you need validating before you can admit is hot. As a keen listener to Broadcasting House, I’d always been a bit of a fan, and on Have I got News for You I was pleased to note that she looked as I imagined. It was on the radio last week that it was commented, “intelligent, funny women are attractive” (specifically in relation to Fi Glover), assisting me in I reconcilng my view: Fi Glover is a fox.

Have a new job. Don’t worry; I’m still taking living off your hard-earned tax cash. It’s keeping me fairly busy, but I’ll manage a half decent post seen…

There seems to be some apt and very good television on the Great War at the moment, notably the BBC’s The Last Tommy and Ian Hislop’s Channel Four programme, Not Forgotten. The Last Tommy featured the 106-year-old veteran Pte. He never even spoke about the war until he was 100, and never wanted to return to the fields of Flanders. He also never wanted to meet a German. It could have been cheesy; the meeting with the centurion from Alcase that was arranged in the course of the programme, but it wasn’t; it was dignified, gentle, and with a ...

Although it's not my primary hobby, I do spend a fair amount of my time blogging. Not just writing my blog, but reading around various news articles to see if there is anything interesting to post on, or spending time reading and commenting on other blogs. One question that could genuinely be asked of me in regard to this is - why? Why on earth do I bother? It's not as if I have significant numbers of readers, or, as far as I am aware, have had any significant impact on the way people think. Nor is it that I'd ...

Actually no. Although if you take forwards the extraction rates of an average of 431 GWh from Long Term storage then we only have 73 days of gas left in storage at that rate. Between 50 and 70 million cubic metres of gas is being taken from storage each day at the moment. Demand has jumped recently This is a graph of demand from the National Grid. Clearly as to be expected gas demand has

The jury's decision is in. Today's winner is an anonymous Daily Telegraph journalist for this comment on the ref's decision not to give a penalty for a foul on Lee Bowyer by John Terry: Kicking Bowyer is still an offence technically, if not morally.

Israeli Ariel Sharon's has left Lukid, the party he helped found and has formed a new political party - Ahrayut Leumit (National Responsibility). His decision has led to the Israeli President to announce their will be Parliamentary elections in March.

I saw this today. It demonstrates what I have been saying for some time about 'political correctness'. Whist I wholheartedly agree with not using terms or actions that may genuinely offend someone we have to foster some kind of common sense and accept that there are going to be people that have a different cultural view. Understanding and respecting these views are the key, not the wholesale sterialisation of all our cultures. http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/11/18/happy_holidays/

Apologies for the self-referential nature of this entry: it’s a blog post about a letter responding to a letter about blog posts, tagged with the keywords “Blogging” and “Letters”. I have returned to the letters page of theguardian with this quip, which I decided to send rather than go to the effort of a proper rebuttal. [...]

A leading devolution expert has joined in the debate on reforms to the Assembly's voting system with a devastating attack on the motives of the Wales Labour Party in promoting change.In the annual Institute of Welsh Politics Lecture, Professor Robert Hazell argues that banning Assembly candidates from standing in constituencies and on the PR regional lists - as proposed by Welsh Secretary Peter Hain - will run into trouble in the House of Lords.Prof Hazell, director of the Constitution Unit within University College London, will also tell the audience at Aberystwyth University that Mr Hain's view that no more devolution ...

This morning's Western Mail reports the views of the South Wales Police Federation Secretary and a former Police Superintentent that armed police are inevitable. Regardless of my outrage at the killing of PC Sharon Beshenivsky, I certainly hope not and I suspect that goes for the vast majority of the British public as well.Whereas, it is right that there are armed response teams to back up conventional police officers in the event of firearms being used, the routine arming of all Police Officers will actually provoke an escalation of gun crime and more Police deaths from shootings. In particular ...

Councillor SurgeryMonday 21st November 2005The King William Public HouseThomas Street, London Road, Bath6.30pm

I had almost forgotten to comment on this: Charles Kennedy is to drop the Liberal Democrats’ commitment to increased total taxation in favour of a more flexible strategy which matches Labour’s spending but still makes the rich pay more. The Lib Dem leader and his economics team are determined to abandon the position they have held through [...]

A couple of months ago I came across “Help! Mom! There are liberals under my bed!” This book seeks to explain to children in simple terms why liberals are evil wicked people who want to steal all your money, and features thinly veiled caricatures of Ted Kennedy and Hillary Clinton. I liked to think that [...]