LibDem Blogs - Archived!

Dave Wetzel of the Labour Land Campaign alerts me to an article by Peter Snow on the murky details around who owns UK land (in the print edition, this is directly below an interview with Nicholas van Hoogstraten ironically enough). This is also the subject of a BBC2 programme tomorrow (9pm). Apparently all this draws [...]

by Robin. A fellow Lib Dem once told Leah it was important to balance your messages... Well this photo of her legs taken in conjunction with the photo of her at her office party really shows she does - it's not only all up there, but it's down there as well! These are some photos from our friends party in Bath.

Awww! Robin met me at work with a bunch of pretty red flowers - very unusual ones. I was not expecting this but it was a pleasant surprise which cheered up an otherwise very Mondayish and Januaryish day with only the leadership issue to distinguish it. We went for our first swim of the year and sat in the spa discussing the leadership contest. I'm sure the other gym bunnies think we are nuts for talking politics in a jacuzzi! Our latest thought is that we now know Ming orchestrated the Kennedy resignation. We think this was done in ...

Mark Oaten is flagging up an intention to declare. That will still leave me as the only candidate with proper local government links and a track record of commercial success.

Sad news from Market Harborough: Golden Wonder has gone into administration. The crisp and snack manufacturer has its head office here. Indeed I worked for them in the 1980s. Some market analysts believe the company has never recovered. At one time Golden Wonder was the best known crisp company in Britain. Traditionally the snacks were sold to drinking men in pubs and clubs, but they pioneered selling to housewives through supermarkets. When I worked there Golden Wonder was still one of the largest employers in town, but it has been in decline for a long time. One by one the ...

I hope they aren't expecting a profit...

I don’t know if it was David Laws himself, or an enthusiastic sub-editor with a sense of humour, but it did somewhat strike an odd chord for the title of his article in the Guardian today to echo Margaret Thatcher’s famous “There is no alternative!”. But I’m here to praise David Laws, not to bury him! [...]

But not for the reasons that the BBC reports Charles Kennedy as giving: Charles Kennedy has said he hopes Liberal Democrat members get the chance to choose his successor as leader. He said a contest was needed so members could have "direct input" after feeling "shut out" of his departure as leader. My impression is that the members increasingly realise that Charles Kennedy had to go. In particular, Kennedy's belief that he could remain as leader having admitted his health problems and lost the confidence of the parliamentary party was a bizarre misjudgement. We need a contested leadership election ...

Tony Banks has died in the States aged 62. Tony Banks, or Lord Stratford as he became was the Member of Parliament for West Ham and Minister for Sport. Tony Banks was a fantastic politician who passionately campaigned for the outlawing of Fox-hunting and in favour of animal welfare. He was also a dedicated Republican who famously crossed his fingers whilst swearing the Oath of Allegiance.

The Federal Executive has set the ball in motion to elect our new party leader. A new leader will be announced on 2 March the day before the Spring conference. So instead of using conference as a husting it will be celebration of the new leader and a push for the council elections. Nominations will close on 25 January and postal ballots will start heading to our letter boxes on 6 February. So

Local Councillors can sometimes be accused of being distant from the people they are supposed to represent. But a pair of councillors who represent the London Road and Snow Hill areas have introduced a new scheme designed to help residents in their ward keep in touch. Cllrs Colin Darracott and David Dixon, who represent the Walcot ward on Bath and North East Somerset Council, are busy delivering a rather unusual postcard to local homes. Cllr Dixon said: "One thing we always find people saying is that they don't know how to contact us. "So we came up with the idea ...

Well David Cameron really knows how to woo dishearted Liberal Democrats to his new Conservatives. He has just come out and said the exact opposite of one of the main planks and Lib Dem successes in devolved government over the lest few years. David I'm glad you are going to carry on supporting tuition fees as: a) It means that us Lib Dems know you were only a short flirtation with us. b) You will continue to play poorly with the student vote. And once they start voting for us we can keep them. c) Your timing couldn't be better. ...

One potential candidate has his sights on the premiership (next stop, Empire!).

OpenURL COinS (ContextObjects in Spans) is “a simple, ad hoc community specification for publishing OpenURL references in HTML”. It uses the <span> element to hold OpenURL information. This has potential uses for creating links to cited articles, especially on free publishing platforms. For details on the specification, see ocoins.info.

Get your leadership T-Shirts today. MPs currently available are Ming, Hughes, Oaten, Hemming and Lembit. Others will be available if they consider standing, and if I can come up with a design. Postage is approximatly 2.20, but discounts for multiple orders.

It has now been agreed to introduce a Resident's Parking Scheme in the Bathwick Estate. The scheme is likely to be in place by March and when introduced this area would be signed as Zone 10 and, with special authorisation from the Department for Transport, parking bays would not be formally marked out. It is furher proposed to provide some areas with “no waiting at any time” restrictions to improve visibility and to assist vehicles turning. Cllr David Dixon said, "This area suffers from a high level of commuter parking, partly due to being the nearest area to ...

After conversations today and yesterday with other possible candidates it is quite clear that the position at the moment is not clear. Potential Candidates such as Simon Hughes have a short time in which to declare that they either are or are not standing. I need 7 MP nominations. Nominations from members are already starting to flood in from across the country. If 33 MPs support Ming Campbell that leaves 29 that could nominate Simon, Mark Oaten or myself. There are some people who will nominate either Simon or myself. What I am doing, therefore, ...

I am already tiring (as most Lib Dems must be) of the crude battlelines that the media are drawing up for us. There seems to be a need to label us and place us in groups marked left, right, social liberal, economic liberal, traditionalist or moderniser. To those of us who know that liberalism is about balancing all of these strands to find liberal, practical solutions to problems - this is simplistic and phoney. I think I know what the most important quality our new leader must possess is, and it does not presuppose which strand of liberalism ...

Predictably, the coronation scenario that has been floating around in the last few days has attracted criticism, not least from myself. However, I think that it's essential that we keep a distinction between the principle of a coronation, and the specific individual who would be crowned. If a coronation is a bad idea, it's a bad idea in principle. It would be just as much of a bad idea of Simon Hughes were being crowned, or Mark Oaten. The contest being between politicians, it should come as no surprise that they're playing politics over the leadership election. ...

Peter Whitehead one of his MEPs was the first death reported of the New Year. Then Lord Merlyn-Rees and Rachel Squire MP both passed away on Thursday. Now Tony Banks, Lord Stratford has joined the macabre list. I can’t remember so many politicians of the same party dying in such a short time scale. I wonder how many Labour MSPs, AMs and members of the GLA are heading to their doctors for health checks as a matter or urgency.

There is much speculation in the press at the moment that, in a similar fashion to the Tories in 2003, the Lib Dems are about to rally behind Menzies Campbell as their leader in a "coronation", no-one being willing to damage their own personal standing by running against him. If that happens, then I think the reaction of the party members will be a very good indicator of what the Liberal Democrats are actually like as a party. Party members will always be irritated if they are denied a chance to vote for their leader. That was seen in the ...

By Robin. Things are hotting up in the leadership contest, but I must admit that I am finding it hard to motivate myself after what has been done to Kennedy. I think that there are a dozen different ways in which this his resignation could of been handled better. I think Charles did the right thing, but I feel it was unjust in the way that he was knifed in the back by his "colleagues". As to the one contender so far to have put their name forward. I have nothing against Ming politically, or ...

Just about everyone who is anybody has come out to announce their support for Sir Menzies. That includes Paddy. His interview on Today this morning was one with few key messages. I lost count of the number of times he mentioned unity, or that the LibDems are good at elections!I hope there is a contest with at least two candidates. That way we can question the candidates on their positions. As many have said, Ming hasn't much on record of his domestic thoughts. But at the end of the day, it is the party that drives much of its policy ...

The evidence from other countries, especially the US, is that a successful Lib Dem leadership candidate will use the internet to build up a community of supporters backing their candidacy. Howard Dean (or, more accurately, Joe Trippi) led the way on this via the use of meetup.com to encourage Dean supporters to meet and work together, the Blog for America which provided a platform for online discussion and an email list to get campaign messages out to his supporters and consult them on their views. To help this process along, I've modified Flock Together to enable leadership contenders and their ...

Rob Fenwick has set up the following pledge: “I will donate £20 to Cancer Research UK on the first anniversary of the death of Ivan Noble, 31st January 2006 but only if 50 other people will too.” To help raise £1,000 for cancer research, sign the pledge here. Tags: cancer+research, ivan+noble, pledgebank

Don’t worry, the Dewey blog have already worked it out: we would class works on kakuro as we do works on sudoku — at 793.73 Puzzles and puzzle games, not 793.74 Mathematical games and recreations Tags: kakuro, ddc

Nick Clegg's future has been ordained by the Guardian: Nick Clegg (38) Shrewd, multilingual former MEP who is regarded as a potential former leader. Has declared his support for Sir Menzies this time around. UPDATE: Credit to the Guardian. They've amended their online version and re-entered the current time/space continuem. Clegg is now a potential future leader. Still no mention of Hemming though. Think he deserves at least a mention in any list of likely runners & riders.

by Peter This is Ashdown on the leadership contest: Lord Ashdown, who is now a diplomat in the Balkans, admitted he had not made public a preference at the last leadership contest, to replace him. He said: "Last time I thought it improper that as the departing leader of the party I should support anybody. "I think that is probably right. But now that I am the last leader at one remove I suppose I can come among you unmuzzled and say who I am going to support. The short answer is Menzies Campbell." ...

Log on to www.bbc.co.uk and select the article on Ashdown/Ming to read a well-subscribed discussion thread which reveals what voters are thinking. It's exactly like I said - many of them think the parliamentary party was backstabbing and many of them wanted Charles to continue as leader despite his alcoholism. Like I said last week many of them thought his admittance of the problem displayed honesty. Party activists seem to have lost the plot in describing this as misplaced sympathy. Guys - we've really shot ourselves in the foot here and we've really lost touch with what the people want. ...

This is probably somewhat premature, since there is only one candidate at the moment. But my question is this: can we expect to see the candidates making use of blogs, or the web in general, as part of any campaign for the leadership? At present, things aren't looking too promising. A Google search for "Menzies Campbell" suggests that he doesn't have a personal website, much less a blog. For comparison, Simon Hughes has a website which contains various articles and press releases, but not in blog form (no comments, no chronological ordering, no tracbacks). Mark Oaten has ...

The Scotsman: For Whitehall, protecting Nessie wasn’t such a monstrous idea: If Nessie was discovered she, or he, would be protected under the 1981 Wildlife and Countryside Act which made it an offence for anyone to snare, shoot or blow up Nessie

According to the Guardian today, Simon Hughes is wavering on whether to stand for Lib Dem leader on the basis that he doesn’t want to fight a contest he doesn’t think he can win. Now, I suspect that is a bit of spin designed to increase his underdog status, but if true he needn’t worry. [...]

If there is anyone out there who assiduously reads both this blog and my occasional Liberator articles, you are in for a sense of déja vu. For those who remain, here goes. It seems we are going to have a contested leadership election and there is lots of talk about having a ‘real debate’ about the future of the party. Here are my thoughts on this debate. It is already being posited in the media and among many in the party as right-wingers/economic liberals versus left-wingers/social liberals. Some of those who are regarded as being in the former camp, notably ...

It is with real sadness that I heard today of Tony Banks' passing. His commitment to sport, especially football, was exemplary. He was a witty parliamentary performer and of the left, although not dogmatic. The contrast with his current nonedescript conterpart - Dick Caborn - could not be more pronounced. Still on football, a big 'up' to Torquay United for their gutsy display and excellent result against Premiership Birmingham City. Steve Bruce knows his boys are lucky to still be in the FA Cup. I certainly enjoyed my afternoon at Plainmoor ! A trip to St. Andrews could be ...

Obviously I can get a lot of nominations from Birmingham. However, the first formal nominations have now arrived from: BlackpoolCharnwoodChesterEast TwickenhamLondon SW8Scotland (not sure which constituency yet)Somerton and FromeSouth West Hertfordshire For which I thank people.

by Peter At the risk of upsetting regular leaders, I have to reveal that I didn't entirely go along with the appeal launched by Steve Travis, calling on Paddy to resume the leadership. But it was good to hear Paddy on the radio this morning, and Steve is certainly correct to judge this a most fortunate time for Paddy to become available for renewed service. I hope that he will be visible in the months to come, a reminder of Lib Dem continuity.

by Peter There is an unusually thoughtful analysis of the threats and opportunities posed by the current situation in the Times this morning. Peter Riddell writes that The myth of betrayal is being fostered...{as}...the thrust of a populist platform appealing to ordinary members against unrepresentative and treacherous MPs. He goes on to say The “treachery” case is nonsense. Most of the MPs who turned against Mr Kennedy last week had not only previously been among his closest supporters but had covered up, and suffered the consequences of, his drinking. The critics felt, reasonably, that their patience had ...

By Leah (posted by Robin) I dreamt about Charles Kennedy last night. Aarrgh! Except in my dream he was suffering with cancer and was being forced out of the leadership for that reason. But I still think his colleagues behaved appallingly – in fact if ever something happened to put us off going into politics it was this. I knew there was backstabbing in politics I just didn’t think it ran to that extent. And the thing is that while Lib Dem bloggers write that this was their only choice, I know that the mood of the country and of ...

The real villains of the piece in respect of the Lib Dem leadership debacle are those spineless MPs who have briefed against Charles Kennedy since the last GE. The behaviour of significant numbers of the parliamentary party in recent days has been very disappointing. As I predicted a few days ago, I expected the [mostly right-wing] media to promote a favoured choice and to unduly influence the election of the new leader to be. When this is added to the unseemly attempt to shoe-in Ming Campbell as leader by the influential parliamentarians I begin to bristle. The last leader went ...

In today's Times, Peter Riddell makes a good point. The speculation - albeit only in some limited quarters - that Charles Kennedy was "betrayed" and the implication that this should help or hinder a particular candidate to replace him - is foolish and dangerous. Personally, my view is that Charles Kennedy had to go. In retrospect - and I say this as a Kennedy supporter - it would have been better if he had bowed out after the general election, with the "spending more time with the family" line being entirely plausible given the birth of his son ...

David Willetts’ pledge that the Tories no longer support Grammar Schools, combined with Cameron’s pledge to oppose health insurance-style reforms of the NHS, means that the prospect of a Grand Coalition after the next General Election is looking increasingly possible, and the idea that the Lib Dems should some how try rush into increasingly small [...]

Monday 9th January 2006 - What an incredible start to the new year this has been already! When I resolved to try and maintain my blog more regularly as the fireworks exploded above my head at midnight on 31st December I had no idea that another fuse was about to be lit that would result in the resignation on Saturday of Lib Dem Leader Charles Kennedy. Whatever your views abut his leadership

The phone doesn't stop ringing at the moment. At our campaign meeting in Haringey yesterday morning I was able to speak to about 25 key members of our local team. I had sent a position statement out by email on the Friday night so that everyone would know why I had done what I had done - but this was an opportunity to get feedback and to give time to those key local members to ask me

An important event today marks a unique step forward in the process of devolution, it is the second reading of the Government of Wales Bill MKII. Welsh Liberal Democrats have a number problems with this Bill, not least the politically-motivated changes to the voting system, but also its reinvention of the Secretary of State for Wales as Viceroy, determining whether or not to accept policy initiatives from the Assembly, and the fact that the transfer of powers does not go far enough. Despite this we intend to support the Bill's second reading in the hope of amending and ...

The holiday season, followed by the events of the last few days, has meant that I haven’t blogged about my regular preoccupations for quite a while now. Happily however, there is news. ALTER has just published Prof Iain McLean’s submission to the Lib Dem Tax Commission on their website, while the Centre for Um have [...]