LibDem Blogs - Archived!

There is a new NHS Dental Contract. It appears that 1/3 of Birmingham's dentists (120) are likely to refuse to sign it. The big difficulty is charging (and paying) the same fee regardless of the number of fillings. This seems to be orientated by NICE towards discouraging patients from turning up until they need quite a bit of work. There are some sensible proposals such as how to handle out of

"Godwill to all men" does not extend to Charles Kennedy, at least as far as his colleagues and political journalists are concerned. The Guardian website quotes an anonymous (as ever) "Lib Dem frontbencher" as saying that: Mr Kennedy's new year message showed he should go because it was directed more at attacking the government than the new Tory leader. "One way or another, things have got to be resolved in the next 14 days," the MP said. "We all have to decide where we are going in the next fortnight on that particular issues."

First of all, welcome to Iain Sharpe's new blog Eaten by Missionaries. It's a great title and he makes a promising start. Elsewhere Susanne Lamido takes Tom Brake to task for what may well be the silliest press release in the history of Western democracy. That release begins: Father Christmas should consider changing his mode of transport to make himself more environmentally friendly. Liberal Democrat research has revealed that Santa Claus, by continuing to use a fleet of reindeer for his deliveries on Christmas Eve, is failing to take the most environmentally sustainable option. and gets worse after that. ...

Just before Christmas I wrote about the victory of Melton Mowbray pork pie-makers in a court case. Now the other peak of Leicestershire cuisine is under threat. From the British government.Today's Daily Telegraph reports that:The centuries-old recipe that gives Stilton, the "king of English cheeses", its distinctive flavour is under threat from the Government's anti-salt campaigners.It seems that the Food Standards Agency has proposed cutting the salt in blue cheese to under 1.9 per cent but Stilton typically needs around 2.5 per cent. Why is that? The Telegraph explains:Nigel White, of the Stilton Cheese Makers' Association, said: "Salt plays a ...

No, not the Tom Brake "father christmas" press notice which seems to have caused a murmur, but a release put out by Richard Cook, 2005 Tory candidate for East Renfrewshire. Not exactly hot news as he put it out nearly a year ago, but it's so timeless I think that even now it's worth drawing attention to. The notice is entitled "For one bite only" and details one of his leafleting activists having been bitten by a dog. He goes on... Describing the hilarity that followed Richard said, "We shouldn't really laugh, after all Gordon did need to get ...

I have just been phoned by a constituent in his 80s who has been freezing in his Council flat for several days.  His central heating has broken down. He was originally told it would have to wait until after the holidays.  When he said he and his wife were in their 80s, someone came round on 23 December.  Then said they had to go and get a part and would be right back.  But wasn't.  The Council made a new appointment for this morning.  Which hasn't been kept.  I am trying to get this sorted.  In the meantime, my constituent and ...

Charles Kennedy's message is excellent. Full of passion and anger at what is wrong in Britain, with ideas of how to put things right. The content of Kennedy's speeches are always good and the policies he suggests are ones that will make real changes to this country. The tragedy is that no one knows all this because of the poor communication strategy of the people behind him. If he resigns

Yes, I had a lovely Christmas and I thoroughly enjoyed doing some 'proper' cooking for various family members over the four days. So it made my eating experiences yesterday even more excruciating. We were traveling down to Wales to take my mother and aunt back home. They are both in their eighties and have mobility problems - that is my only excuse for going into the Little Chef at...

So Bob Geldof is the new adviser to the Conservative working party on globalisation and aid, I am not sure what he is doing this for. I have never had much respect for him but this new position loses any I had left. I know to some he is a hero for Live Aid and Live 8 and he says this is non-partisan but for some reason I have never respected him.

There have been a lot of accusations flying around in the last few months about “extraordinary rendition”. The accusations began when Human Rights Watch produced a report detailing the forced removal of suspected terrorists from their place of abode to a country that tortures prisoners. Amnesty International has also supported these accusations and the story has been investigated in the UK by the Independent and the Guardian. The UK Government denies any knowledge of secret US flights in British airspace. They also deny that CIA planes with terrorist suspects on board landed in UK airfields ...

Lord Roberts of Conwy writing about Margaret Thatcher on the day that Harold Wilson resigned as Prime Minister:"She was feminine, very feline - and her eyes became as sharp as a vixen's as we discussed the future."Let's face it the old school Tories didn't have a chance. Ironically, it was the old school who put her in the position to oust Ted Heath in the first place. As is made clear in cabinet papers released this week, back in 1973, when Heath was considering reshuffling his cabinet, he was being advised to promote her ahead of Michael Heseltine, who was ...

It is reported in the Western Mail this morning that teachers in some schools across Wales are considering strike action over the implementation of Teaching and Learning Responsibility (TLR) payments, a part of the workload agreement negotiated with some teaching unions at Westminster.According to NUT Cymru Union secretary, Gethin Lewis, half of Wales's 28,000 teachers claim a management allowance of up to £10,000. These will be replaced by TLRs, but the new allowances will be fewer in number and may not be as much money. At the same time schools will have to run the old and new system side-by-side ...

Hoping to put the fifth SportBlog roundup here next Tuesday. As ever, all submissions to sportblog at googlemail dot com

What is the Korean Animal Welfare's slogan? "A dog is for life, not just for breakfast"