LibDem Blogs - Archived!

A couple of links: LibDems 4 Cameron (via) and Guinevere. Both are self-explanatory, so I’ll leave them to you to self-explain. Tags: links

SportBlog Roundup will be up on Tuesday. Any submissions, please send them to me at the usual address: sportblog at googlemail dot com

by Peter We all dislike the CAP, but we are not all certain why. Rent-a-quotes who say this is because all money goes to "big farmers" or "inefficient continental farmers" should be treated with the same sort respect as those commentators who tell that rows int he Liberal Democrats are typically between ex-SDPers and ex-Liberals (by which I mean none). The CAP supports farmers in about four principle ways I reckon: most significantly it funds the direct payments to farmers based (since 1992 until now) on the number of cattle/sheep they keep, or the number of hectares ...

OK, I take back what I said about The Times just targeting the Liberal Democrats. They have other victims in their sights as well. Today we have an article questioning whether the Deputy Prime Minister is paying any Council Tax on his three homes, plus news of a row between Tony Blair and Gordon Brown over the European Union budget deal. It has emerged that the chancellor was not given a say over the prime minister’s last-minute climbdown in which he handed £1 billion over to the European Union. There are also splits between John Prescott and the Prime Minister ...

Another spoof website, this time a rather clever one that makes you think a bit before you realise it is not the genuine article. I rather enjoyed the headline - "I'm appealing to all Tory voters, Councillors, and MPs to go and join the Liberal Democrats." (the MEPs might beat you there though...). The consensus now is that this Hereford speech of Dave's was an own goal and actually threw a lifeline to Charles Kennedy.

The Sun has accused Newsnight of staging a "show trial". Now, You The Jury decide whether Newsnight staged a show trialCall 0906 507 901 for YesorCall 0906 507 901 for Yes

The Sunday Telegraph has an article by Ed West, author of The Little Book of ASBOs , looking at the oldest, youngest and most unusual recipients of these orders. I was taken with the last example he quotes: A 15-year-old who in August was collared for being drunk in breach of his ASBO escaped when the court heard how a misprint had stated that he must not be seen in public without alcohol. He was also bound by the order to act in a manner likely to cause harassment, alarm and distress to others.

Andrew Rawnsley writes on the Lib Dems' current travails in today's Observer. His conclusion seems about right: For the moment, the Lib Dems have got the worst of all worlds: they have damaged their leader by manoeuvring against him and he has wounded himself by demanding loyalty oaths from senior colleagues which they have conspicuously failed to deliver. How will it all end? Badly, very likely. Politics so often does. The Lib Dems should be clear about one thing. It would be a delusion to think that finishing Charles Kennedy would be the end of all their problems. In ...

As with the last post, this post does not actually refer to Charles Kennedy. At my house we have obtained a skip and placed various items around it. Some of the items include some quite nice old furniture that we took into the house when my wife's mother died. The desired result is being achieved in that people are taking items away to make use of them. Skips act as localised recycling

Liberal Democrats Meet Up! Mark Ramsden and I met yesterday for a catch up since the last time we met was before he went back to Leeds in September and we agreed that we should try and organise a Liberal Democrats Meet Up in the New Year. So you are all invited to a new year Liberal Democrats Meet Up on Wednesday 4th January 2006 in Birmingham. We will be meeting at 6pm at the top of the escalators in Birmingham New Streetstation that go up to the Pallasades shoping centre. We'll go for a meal at Pizza Hut ...

When can we judge Cameron? He is saying that he is preparing to create a new Conservative sensitivity. Let’s see when he is looking at giving us these alternatives to the May 2005 manifesto which he authored. Zac Goldsmith is heading up the environment policy group, they are expected to have policies in June 2007. ON the site seeking Lib Dem defections he is asking: "How can we balance the urgent need to tackle climate change with the need to provide security of energy supply?" Yet in May he did not seem to recognise Climate Change as ...

I was recently interviewed by a student journalist who asked me what I thought about those councils who had removed the word 'Christmas' from the seasonal lights and decorations, and used new terms like 'winterval'. My comment was that in Kingston we celebrate diversity, both cultural and religious. This means that we encourage, respect and promote the things that make us...

Maybe it’s because of the week I’ve had, but I did enjoy the extreme violence in King Kong, which I saw last night. The fight between Kong and not one but three T-Rexes was bone-crunchingly fabulous. The bit with the giant cockroaches and worms was probably the most disturbing scene ever put in a 12A [...]

Strangely, after a depressing week, Cameron’s big intervention on the Lib Dems’ little local difficulty has been somewhat uplifting. Why? Because it suggests that the Cameron strategy is not quite as well thought as it first appeared. Within a fortnight of being elected leader of the Labour Party, Tony Blair didn’t make a keynote speech on [...]

Another weekly round up of events in the life of a Liberal Democrat councillor in Lewisham.I think I should begin by saying that it was one of the weeks when I was glad that this journal doesn't get involved in national politics. Although perhaps I would mention that I'm going to a speech by Charles Kennedy on Climate Change tomorrow. I guess he's something of an expert.With absolutely no connection to the above, Tracy Smithers bowed out as Chair at the Mercator Community Association AGM on Tuesday. She was rather swamped by floral tributes. And quite right ...

Well that was a bust - I should of stuck with my original plan. When I try to enter my application it says it won't let me in because it can't get a secure connection to the server - I'm guessing that's because I'm connecting through an open network? Can any techno geek out there confirm that for me? (I'm thinking of a technologically minded in-law here) So it's back to writing on our blog and listening to Sugar Ray (14:59). Haven't listened to it for ages - but I'm in the process of adding ...

Which Fantasy/SciFi Character Are You? Gandalf A wandering spirit caring for a multitude of just concerns, you are an instrumental power in many of the causes around you. And so am I, very dangerous: more dangerous than anything you will ever meet, unless you are brought alive before the seat of the Dark Lord. Gandalf is a character from the Middle-Earth universe. TheOneRing.net has a description of him.