LibDem Blogs - Archived!

It's a small, small world - it turns out Sainsbury's Director of Communications lives in my constituency - and has some views about the Jerry Springer DVD controversy! The background first. The various campaigns against Sainsbury's and Woolworths over their decision to pull the Jerry Springer: The Opera DVD from sale are gathering quite a head of steam - and both supermarkets seem to be feeling

One wonders what Woolworths are attempting to do. Earlier this week they said they had withdrawnJerry Springer the musical from their shelves because of 'numerous' complaints about it. Then the claimed it was over lack of sales. yet you can buy it from thier online shop. Indeed the website is doing its outmost to sell this product with this gushing review. "The Opera is the smash-hit

Ken writes (but cannot post): One of the remarkable things about David Cameron's Shadow Cabinet announced today is that it is almost rabidly Eurosceptic to a man. I can't think of a single member with particularly favourable leanings towards Europe - and those who are broadly pro-EU are now safely on the sidelines. Even Ken Clarke has distanced himself from many of his stronger opinions. This would mark an incredibly positive departure for the Tory party if it is true. Because if the whole party is broadly agreed on Europe, there won't be any public party-infighting. Indeed, one ...

Ken writes (but is unable to post): The Most Repugnant Thing About Polly Toynbee...Is the way she has a loopy world-view, and then uses offensively moralising tones to degrade everyone who doesn't live up to her leftie standards. Both Devil's Kitchen and Trust People point out this gem from her latest column: Of all the elements of Christianity, the most repugnant is the notion of the Christ who took our sins upon himself and sacrificed his body in agony to save our souls. Did we ask him to? No, we didn't. Although of course I'd point out that ...

by Peter I think this is it. Thanks to Rohin, Paul and Valerie for suggestions, and Phil for rescuing the update when it seemed about to fail...

Reports and pictures are coming out of China of a massacre of reportedly as many as 70 people in Dongzhou, Shanwei. Official Government sources are reporting only two dead yet these pictures would seem to back up independent sources claims that the death toll is far higher. These killings took place close to Hong Kong on Tuesday as residents were protesting against the construction of a power

My prediction for the world cup is that there will be a high demand for Trindad and Tobago shirts here in Scotland. With Dundee keeper Kelvin Jack, Rangers defender Marvin Andrews, Falkirk Midfielder Russell Latapy Dundee United Striker Colin Samuel and St. Johnston Striker Jason Scotland all hailing from Trindad and Tobago, not to mention Dwight Yorke, Shaka Hislop, Dennis Lawrence, Scotland

Watching the World Cup Draw last night on BBC2, I couldn't work out why Motty wouldn't shut up. The German presenter was speaking English and was explaining step by step what was going on, but John Motson needed to talk over the top, get confused and make no sense at all.We were informed by the German that if an African team came out of pot 3, they would be put against Argentina, so when the Ivory Coast came out Motty got very excited that they would be playing England, even though Argentina came up on the big screen at the ...

All sorts of reports circulating on the killings in and near Shanwei City, Guangdong Province, China. The reaction of my Hong Kong friend is that this is the biggest known state killing in China since the Tienanmen massacre. She says pictures are circulating of women kowtowing to lines of armed police begging for their husband's bodies. But these are probably already cremated and disposed of in secret. Pictures of dead peasants with bullet wounds being hidden by their families. Desperate officials offering money for the bodies to hide the true death toll. I don't know whether this incident includes Taishi ...

My thanks to Kerron Cross for drawing attention to this piece on the BBC website discussing the history of unparliamentary language. Some of the insults are actually rather clever and it is almost a shame that the Speaker acted to censor them: 'Former Labour MP Martin O'Neill had to take back "without reservation" his description of Tory front-bencher Angela Browning as "a second-rate Miss Marple". She remained remarkably unbothered by the epithet. Equally, John Major, when Prime Minister, was ordered to withdraw his summing up of Tony Blair, then Opposition leader, as "a ...

So I splurged a hundred squid on a pair of earphones. Given that they weigh less than 25g in total, these have to be the most expensive thing per unit mass I own.  It’s such a shame that they broke down on the first day that I owned them. The left-earphone keeps (almost) cutting out. [...]