LibDem Blogs - Archived!

Faces of the year I was looking at Faces of the year - the men on the BBC website. BBC have Peter Kay, Harold Pinter, Sir Ian Blair, John Sentamu, Pope John Paul II, David Cameron, Lord Nelson, Jack Nicklaus, David Blunkett, Saddam Hussein, Ray Nagin, Pete Doherty, Michael Jackson, Andrew "Freddy" Flintoff, Lord Sebastian Coe and George Galloway. From that list the people who have interested me the most in 2005 are Sir Ian Blair who post 7th July managed the police well but has also become too active in political discussion for my liking, it ...

Over at Liberal England, Jonathan Calder flags up the absurdity of the BBC News online report that 3,300 Lib Dem party members have signed a petition calling on Charles Kennedy to quit as leader. Jonathan signed the petition as Mickey Mouse from Cheeseborough to show how easy it would be for anyone to fake their credentials. I though I’d give it a go as CK himself - as the picture (just about)

January Robert Kilroy-Silk quits UKIP because they won't let him play with the big toys, err become leader February Robert Kilroy-Silk decides if he starts his own party, they'll have to let him be leader - so he starts 'Veritas' March My abiding memory is of Jamie Oliver sitting down with Charles Clarke to the disgusting processed junk that our kids eat (and seem to like) April I missed April - it disappeared in a blur of delivering leaflets, door-knocking and the general insanity of a general election ...

The BBC reports that Ben Ramm of The Liberal magazine ("more distributed than read") is claiming that 3300 party members, including two MPs and 386 local councillors, have signed his petition calling on Charles Kennedy to resign as Lib Dem leader. If you look at the petition website it quickly becomes apparent that he cannot know any of this. People signing the petition are not asked for their party membership numbers. Even if they were, there is no way the magazine could check the numbers they gave against the party's database. In fact they are not asked if they are ...

Via Jonathan Calder (see links)I´ve discovered the new and impressive Eaten by Missionaries blog. Iain Sharpe tackles an intersting question (one that has been much on my mind in recent weeks). I am often struck by the contrast between the bold and innovative approach that Liberal Democrats have taken in local government towards reform of public services, and the caution and old-fashioned sentimentalism that party conference shows towards the sacred cows of the welfare state. This isn´t quite the way I would have put it. But I see his point. When he says Through its more successful ...

One of the joys of devolution is that we can blame England for most things and in particular for not having a white Christmas, or so the Western Mail would have us believe. Apparently, our neighbours have kept all the snow to themselves and have failed to let us have our Barnett share.A seasonal trend that is starting to get out of hand in my opinion is that of taking a dip in the sea at Christmas. Porthcawl have been doing it for years in the aid of charity, as have other towns, but it has now caught on ...

Yesterday's Guardian tells me that Ministers are working on the biggest shake-up of local government for a generation. It says the shake-up could see a new form of neighbourhood authority modelled on French communes, the scrapping of county councils and greater economic powers for cities.