LibDem Blogs - Archived!

If you read the headline, 'Oxford caves in on state selection', emblazoned across today's front page of The Daily Telegraph, what might you imagine is the story? Perhaps you would think that the University has buckled to the Labour Government's latest social engineering whim? That it has agreed to junk independent selection by tutors on the basis of students' academic ability in favour of a

I am more than happy to promote this christmas carol service which is being held to raise money for medical aid for Iraqi children. And after the bombing they've had by the british and american invasion forces, by golly they need the help. There seem to be some concern that such a service might be illegal. Personally I think such such a suggestion is so utterly ludicrous that it can't possibly be true. Not in a country that is so keen on defending our 'traditional freedoms' that we are willing to slaughter thousands of innocent people just ...

by Peter Should I post anything on this? John Hemming says he does not know what is going on, and he is a lot closer to the action than I am. Charles has done a great job for the Liberal Democrats, surpassing the expectations of many at the time he was elected. He deserves to leave the leadership at the time he chooses, feeling proud of his achievements. Personally, I have never thought that he would be leader at the next election, and nothing that has happened of late has made me change my mind on that. (But I ...

Was at my first Liberal Democrat gathering following this weeks news of attempted leadership coups, the Edinburgh Council Groups Jazz Reception. Did we discuss potential leaders to follow Charles Kennedy? No! What we did discuss was how we can move the party on from our good performance in 2005 to make the most of the Scottish parliament and Council votes in Edinbught, Lothian and Scotland in

The Southwark Liberal Democrat Office is a lonely place and as such I have been following closely the days events surrounding the leadership debate (I am grateful to the sweet sounds of Radio 4 playing over the web through my apple mac - you have saved my sanity). I find my thoughts drifting as I contemplate who would replace CK1 should he make the decision to stand down? At this point I must stress that I fully support Kennedy - like my wife I believe he is a great asset to the party and a truly motivating individual. ...

I'm not unhappy with the result of this one:

MPs on the Public Administration Committee have been "shocked" that a man should have an opinion. The publication of ex-ambassador Sir Christopher Meyer's memoirs, in which he expresses several of his own "points of view" has left both politicians and civil servants stunned. Said one MP: "This kind of behaviour is absolutely despicable, civil servants have long accepted the tradition that they do

This story from the Shropshire Star has everything: Death-row dog is saved from ruff justice A stray dog confined to canine death row for a crime he did not commit has been spared after it was found he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now Spot, the border collie cross who was falsely accused of sheep worrying, is looking for a new home in time for Christmas. My only fear is that Spot may be given a home by a benevolent elderly bachelor, only to be stolen back by Bill Sykes ...

Who has been briefing against Charles Kennedy? Recess Monkey reckons it was Menzies Campbell, though the naughty simian produces no hard evidence to back this up. Still, it does tie in with Iain Dale's claim the other day. He said Andrew Neil's announcement that Charles Kennedy would stand down at the Lib Dem Spring Conference next year came the day after Neil's birthday party. Where Ming was the only Lib Dem MP present. I am not saying that Ming is guilty, but shouldn't he come forward and clear things up? Well, he has. Sort of.

It's not been a great week to be a Liberal Democrat here in the UK. While we have long enjoyed the Conservative Party's perennial bouts of fratricide and civil war, it's now time to admit there's a bit of egg on our face, as Charles Kennedy is surrounded by a media storm over his future. The press appear to be feeding off negative briefings from senior MPs, who regardless won't speak of their concerns to Kennedy's face. While we can console ourselves that these days our party is one worth fighting over, it comes as little encouragement. At the end ...

One of the favourite topics of discussion by my party, and particularly its youth wing, is reducing the legal age for various activities. Most prominently, there has been a campaign to lower the voting age to 16, about which one of my favourite blogs has recently written. I think voting at 16 is an excellent idea.I certainly think my own political opinions have changed since I was 16, but I don't see that as any real reason to prohibit voting. Many people change their views at other points in life, or never do, and I don't think there's much credibility ...

Firstly on Charles Kennedy’s leadership – or CK One – as he is affectionately known in the Darbyshire household…..I support Charles as leader. I said as much to an Independent journalist in Blackpool and was quoted on it. I do not see what is so wrong with him. For me, he’s an inspiring speaker and never fails to stir me. He’s also brilliant at balancing left and right of the party. I am a social justice more than a liberal Lib Dem but am never offended by what he says while I know those on the right of the Party ...

by Peter Two texts, the first by Boris Moptop:"But there is a third group, a minority, but a minority that possesses a characteristic human psychological deformity. They can't stand the pettiness of intellectual consistency. They want it all ways, and are capable of holding two mutually contradictory positions at once. Their policy on cake is pro-having it and pro-eating it, and they need a party that reflects them and their politically schizophrenic personalities.That is why it is so vital that we continue with Charlie Kennedy’s Liberal Democrats and all their hilarious doublethink. There are not many Lib Dems in ...

Who knows what is going through the minds of the Lib Dem parliamentary party. Quite alot has been blogged about this, so not an awful lot to add.I can only see greater internal divisions in a post CK world, he actually does quite a good job of keeping us all together. The main contenders from the "left" & "right" would only create greater divisions.

The Mona Lisa is 83% happy, 9% disgusted, 6% fearful and 2% angry. It’s been proven. Oh, incidently, I’ve added Ben Goldacre’s Bad Science blog to my list of links.

Key points for Lib Dem supporters to think about: David Cameron is just another Tory. He has a very long way to go to take the centre ground of British politics and even further to travel to overlap Lib Dem policy and philosophy. Charles Kennedy is not Paddy Ashdown. They both have different styles that happily produce high approval ratings from voters. I am as guilty as the next Lib Dem

Monday night Adam, Colin & myself popped over to Warwick Arts Centre to catch the acts of Mark Thomas and Rob Newman. Nicola Davies (I was her agent at the GE) had organised, so there was a small group of us, with quality 2nd/3rd row seats (although we did insist on not looking at the seat numbers straight away and found a group of 7 seats, could have got away with it until the pesky kids showed up for their seats...).Thomas was as much as expected having seen him perform twice before on different tours. This year his angle was ...

Congratulations to Lucy and Jim on the arrival of a new addition to the Leakey clan, and a sister to join Olive.

The Telegraph's headline this morning - "Oxford caves in on state selection" - must be one of the biggest exaggerations in headline history, and that is saying something. The article goes on to detail something that, whilst a huge change (and undoubtedly significant for an institution historically resistant to change), remains merely a proposal, and is a reform, or a tidying-up of the admissions process, rather than a means of making Oxford a glorified vehicle of social engineering. Trust People is unconvinced by the changes, believing that the right of colleges to select their own pupils should not be ...

Tipped hat to Niles.Sheridan is a blast from the past (I've got all 5 series of B5 on vhs, which I should get around to flogging on e-bay). An experienced survivor who has maneuvered around many obstacles, you are looked up to by those who rely on your good judgment. In the last few years, we've stumbled. We stumbled at the death of the president, the war, and on and on. When you stumble a lot you tend to look at your feet. Now we have to make people lift their eyes back to the horizon and ...

As someone from the "any publicity is good publicity" stable of politicians I should not be critical about the amount of publicity the party is currently getting. I must admit, however, that it is quite difficult to fathom out what, if anything, is going on. I have actually been at some of the meetings reported in the media. I wonder if perhaps I was asleep during part of the meetings as the

I've been arguing for a while that Charles Kennedy's stewardship had been fine for the Liberal Democrats so far - but I think it is now a case of 'thus far, but no further'. Knowing when to gracefully bow out is a difficult trick to pull - and few politicians manage to preserve their reputation in the manner of their exit. But, once a point has been reached the end becomes inexorable. It seems clear now that the rumours that have been flying about are broadly true; if not in detail then in general thrust - and let's be clear ...

Will the economic Liberals take note of the August findings in a Which? poll as quoted by Simon Jenkins in 'The Guardian' yesterday : "...90% of people did not want choice,just a good hospital within easy reach". The same is true of schools and most public services. Where is the evidence to the contrary.

It is interesting to see just what sort of public response new Labour run West Lothian Council have to the closure of Bathgate’s main Post Office. Especially as I have posted my thoughts on this on the football club’s website. This is quite an good public arena locally because, as well as myself, a SNP and a Labour councillor are both regular posters. Somebody had posted that the development of

by Peter Ok arguably yesterday's... Richard Allan has been asking why South Yorkshire Business Link would be getting money from the Common Agricultural Policy. After sleuthing for some hours, I believe I have the answer. Part of their activity is the Rural Business Growth Programme, and this is co-financed by the CAP (presumably with Rural Development money). If you search around their web site you will eventually come across such unlikely success stories as the farmer who made use of a natural spring on his farmland and his bottling equipment for milk production to go into selling ...

The papers today are full of articles on the so-called Kennedy leadership crisis. The consensus seems to be that he has survived this crisis but that it may well rear its head again in a few months if things do not improve. On one blog, former Federal Executive member, James Graham says: The bottom line is that there is no-one in the Lib Dem Parliamentary Party that is of both sufficient calibre or has sufficient experience to in any way challenge Charles; they’ve demonstrated this this week. There is no Hughes, Oaten, Davey or Campbell bandwagon rolling because the ...

The Liberal Democrats have been carrying out a policy review, part of which has been open to members and supporters to give their opinions. I have made a few submissions, mostly on Europe - below is the gist of what I said from something I published earlier in the year.

If only it were this easy in real life.