LibDem Blogs - Archived!

Why am I a white, middle-class male supporting the latest initiative by the Liberal Democrats to encourage more female and ethnic minority candidates? The answer is simple, the supporters and people who vote for our party are diverse, in fact they are as diverse as the people who make up our country; even in West Lothian with a small ethnic population this is true. We need, as a party, to truly

Though I hope this is the Liberal Democrat result in the by-election this is a bit premature. However, the senior football team based in the current Westminster by-election seat, Dunfermline Athletic, have just beaten the senior team from the last Westminster by-election seat Livingston in the semi-finals of the CIS Cup 1-0, and yes I was there. I promise not to gripe about dubious refereeing

Ming Campbell's list of supporters has now been published on his campaign website. Size isn't everything (but it helps in elections).

Rendition A war without an international legal mandate Torture in Afghanistan and Iraq The shredding of the presumption of innocence The criminalisation of children ID cards Handing powers to the police that allow them to stop and search whoever they like without suspicion The attacks on the judicial system The return to nuclear power The disregard for the poor and those on low pay

What are the Liberal Democrats for? It is a question that both Tory and Labour politicians and supporters like to ask. The Liberal Democrats should reply with another question: why do the other two parties keep stealing our policies? If the party has no purpose, it is odd that both Labour and the Tories keep nicking liberal ideas and go as far as to describe themselves as liberals. What

‘Scandal-hit Lib Dems in freefall’ (Daily Telegraph, 23rd Jan), ‘Lib Dem crisis deepens as candidate defects to Tories’ (Independent, 25th Jan) and ‘Rumours grow of Lib Dem defections’ (thegrauniad, 25th Jan). It’s fair to say the last couple of days haven’t provided the greatest set of headlines for my party. So how bad is it? Well, if you want the honest answer: it’s terrible. Really, really

I'm just sitting listening to the Any Questions Lib Dem leadership contest special and I just heard Chris Huhne, in response to a question about whether they were more afraid of Gordon Brown or David Cameron, say that one thing that scares people about Gordon Brown is that he cannot keep his hands out of other departments' business. How timely an answer, because it has just been announced today

My use of a Half Man Half Biscuit song title as a headline the other day smoked out a number of their fans amongst Liberal Democrats - both in the comments and by e-mail. For all of you, here is a website dedicated to the band.

Mark Valladares writes: Given the scheduled debate in Harrogate, it would seem that everything is falling nicely into place to really make some meaningful progress on diversity issues within the Party at last, and I’m truly delighted. And now I await the response of the leadership candidates… we’re watching, gentlemen…

In the time it took me to drive from the South West back to my home in Warwick, I have had four responses to my posting on Reflecting Britain. James, commented "flick through a training guide at conference and you'll find plenty available." That is exactly what I did do in September, I flicked through and found many excellent sessions that I wished to attend only to read the small print and find I was excluded. I am totally in favour of balance and equality in all its forms and for that reason I would like to see ...

Interesting - The Guardian/ICM survey published today a public opinion poll - Panel of voters picks Hughes as runaway victor Simon Hughes - not the frontrunner Sir Menzies Campbell - has emerged as the candidate best-placed to restore Liberal Democrat fortunes in a Guardian/ICM survey published today. As the three leadership candidates try to win the backing of party members in the ballot on March 3, Mr Hughes beat Sir Menzies and Chris Huhne among a panel of voters. Just over half, 51%, picked Mr Hughes, against 29% for Sir Menzies and 20% for Mr Huhne.The poll also suggests ...

That is how I saw an email subject from Colin Ross this evening as I scan read down my emails. 'Colin nipped in under the wire,' I thought! What the subject line actually said. "Leadership nominations close and www.colin-ross.org.uk is up and running" Colin's website contains interesting comment on his work as a campaigner and the Leadership Contest and can be found at. www.colin-ross.org.uk

So, the phoney war is over and the real campaign begins now. Liveblogging of the debate between Campbell, Hughes and Huhne, moderated by Jonathan Dimbleby, is below the ‘more’ link: And remember if you’ve missed it, it should be available for you to listen to via the magic of the interwebnet on the Radio 4 [...]

Dave of Dave’s Knowsley diary chips in: I think this is a very valid and important issue and one that should be raised with all three leadership candidates because as a Party we must do more to ensure our elected representatives do reflect the society in which we live. I have pledged my support to [...]

I am going to try the radical tactic of live-blogging the Any Questions Lib Dem leadership special streamed off the internet whilst simultaneously watching Johnny English on ITV1. This should be interesting... Dunno what I'm listening to ATM... Oh yeah, the news... And an advert involving orange gloop... [This hasn't really worked - will review Any Questions tomorrow evening in more detail]

I've been made aware of the new 'Reflecting Britain' web site, created by James Graham and sponsored by Jo Swinson and Sandra Gidley, two MPs whose opinions I respect. Given the scheduled debate in Harrogate, it would seem that everything is falling nicely into place to really make some meaningful progress on diversity issues within the Party at last, and I'm truly delighted. And now I await the

25 years ago today Roy Jenkins, Shirley Williams, Bill Rodgers and David Owen issued the Limehouse Declaration. This presaged the birth of the Social Democratic Party, which was to merge with the Liberal Party and form the Liberal Democrats. Julian Glover interviews the three surviving members of the Gang of Four in today's Guardian. He reveals that history might easily have known the declaration by a different name: A quarter of a century ago, they gathered on a Sunday morning with a draft of a statement but no firm plans. Even the choice of Limehouse was an accident. Rodgers' wife ...

I have been wrestling with my conscience trying to work out whether I should support the Reflecting Britain initiative. It's not that I have any disagreement with the motive, rather that I don't want to presuppose the solution. I recommend that every member should take a look and consider the issue. The Reflecting Britain support statement urges greater financial support to ethnic and gender balance task forces for candidates, along with setting specific targets. Apart from the fact that I am always instinctively suspicious of any measure approaching positive discrimination, I don't want to stifle a wider examination of what ...

Wednesday 25th January 2006 - An interesting campaign has been launched - "Reflecting Britain" - designed by a number of Liberal Democrats to coincide with the current leadership contest. They are concerned that the party needs to better reflect 21st century Britain and want to see the leadership contenders (and eventual winner!) take their issues on board. I think this is a very valid and

Thanks to all of you who have already signed up to the campaign, as of now we have 62 people signed up, including 2 MPs, 1 Peer and at least 19 people who were parliamentary candidates in 2005. If you haven’t signed our campaign petition yet, please do. And please keep spreading the word!

Warwick-based blogger Alan Beddow explains his reasons for not supporting Reflecting Britain here. His main reasons are that he opposes “tinkering with the selection process” and the lack of training made available to white men: As a white, English Male, I feel at a disadvantage. There is some excellent training provided by some groups within the [...]

Since becoming leader of the Conservative party, David Cameron seems to have stopped believing in Conservatism - or that's what he'd like us all to believe. Because David Cameron wants to win an election, and he has seen what has happened to those who have tried to make a case for conservative government; they've lost. Despite campaigning for his party's leadership promising to update conservatism for the modern era, he has since abandoned a whole stream of long-held conservative views with what he describes as "liberal" positions. Comparisons with Tony Blair's leadership of the Labour party ...

The NHS is the largest single employer in the world bar the Chinese Army, I think I read somewhere. It seems that the Government don't know how many people on the sex offenders register might work for the NHS where they might have contact with children. I don't know about you, but I'm not at all surprised. Still, no doubt the Government will 'overhaul the rules'. The sound of Cabinet knees jerking can already be heard. It seems that the sex offenders register is an idea of mixed benefit that was always likely to become a news story whenever the ...

With no last-minute decisions from any other MPs to join the race, we now have three candidates for the Liberal Democrat leadership: Menzies Campbell, Simon Hughes and Chris Huhne. The first major event of the campaign is tonight, with an Any Questions special on Radio 4 at 9pm. I suspect it might be one of the [...]

Sunny at Pickled Politics has this to say: I want bring your attention to a new initiative called Reflecting Britain that some Lib Dem MPs launched on Tuesday to increase representation of women and ethnic minority MPs within their ranks. Currently all 62 Lib Dem MPs are white and predominantly male. In the current climate of [...]

The media is going overboard on this whole “Lib Dem meltdown” thing. I would refer to you about my earlier comment about us not owning our narrative. But that is not the same thing as saying the narrative owns us. So, I thought I’d start an irregular series on why things ain’t really all [...]

London has won the chance to be the opening "prologue" stage for the 2007 tour de france. This is great news, but scuppers my dreams of getting Birmingham to have the prologue within a reasonable timescale (OK it doesn't quite have the same tourist spots/buildings, but could make a "good" course. And then the first stage proper could be a Birmingham/London stage.)2007 should see a great battle between a drugs free David Millar and Bradley Wiggins. I'll definitely be there to watch it.

Reflecting Britain I am firmly in favour of equality in all its forms and believe that everyone should have a fair and equal opportunity to achieve their potential and aspirations. I also accept that whilst we in the party may not consciously discriminate against anyone on any grounds, there are challenges that some potential candidates face. I agree that support should be given to any potential candidate to help overcome such challenges or difficulties. I also agree that we should have a better balance of representation within the party. I do not agree that the issue should be solved ...

Colin Ross has revised his previous leadership poll, and now just features the 3 declared candidates: Campbell, Hughes and Huhne.Vote early, vote often...

Quote from the Independent re Adrian Graves. "Mr Graves is the first prominent Liberal Democrat to defect to the Tories since Mr Cameron became leader last month." Who? I think 'Prominent' is a bit strong. The 'Independent' item should read. "Mr Graves is the first Paper Candidate Liberal Democrat to defect to the Tories since Mr Cameron became leader last month."

by Jabez Clegg James Graham has an exposé of modern conservatism. Cicerohas a thoughtful piece on localism, defections and everything else. The Times features a piece that brings to mind older, happier sex scandals. Vince Cable, the Treasury spokesman, is correctly named by 6 per cent and Nick Clegg and Ed Davey by a mere 2 per cent each. Some confused Mr Davey with the retired England rugby captain Will Carling.

Canada has a history of politcians appearing from nowhere - inparticular, of course, Pierre Trudeau. So I was intrigued when Michael Ignatieff decided to return to his native Canada after thirty years expatriation to become engaged in politics. I understand from a Canadian colleague that the Liberal Party in Canada usually 'campaign to the left and govern to the right', but I know little about their politics. Regards Ignatieff, on the other hand, I have a firmer grasp. And it was because of his commitment to human rights, democracy, and the rule of law, that I found this so disappointing: ...

My post on Polly Toynbee's Guardian column has attracted an interesting comment from Paul Leake which I thought deserved a response on the main site. People who aren't members are entitled to a view, and those who as members are entitled to more than a view (ie. a vote) would do well to consider opinion outside the party, even if ultimately rejecting it - at least if you want the Lib Dems to be

Nominations have just closed in the Liberal Democrat Leadership Contest. At close of nominations there are three candidates - Sir Menzies Campbell, Simon Hughes and Christopher Huhne.

by Jabez Clegg As Bill Mclaren might have said: "There'll be trouble in the streets of Tunbridge Wells tonight!" It seems the Tories are waking up to the fact that one of these "right-wing" leaders is not like the other ones ... [Hat-tip to Guido]

According to The Guardian today is the 25th anniversary of the Limehouse Declaration which marked the start of the SDP's split from Labour. It's running a special report by Julian Glover in which the three surviving members of the Gang of Four are reunited and interviewed about their political legacy. And it poses this very interesting question. What is that legacy? The resurgent Liberal Democrats - or New Labour? Needless to say, there is a difference of opinion between David Owen and the other two. Read on here: http://politics.guardian.co.uk/politicspast/story/0,,1694319,00.html

As someone who has never smoked anything (apart from other people's smoke) and who is quite anti-smoking, I still have some problems with banning smoking in public places. I am happy with the argument about protecting the workforce, but feel that a simplistic ban is not necessary the best way. I will probably go along with banning smoking from all pubs. I have some difficulty with clubs,

Apparently Google (unnofficial motto "Don't be evil") has joined Microsoft (unofficial motto "More evil than Satan himself"), Yahoo! and Rupert Murdoch by going into the censorship business on behalf of the Red Chinese. Why is this important? In the words of internet guru John Gilmore, "The internet interprets censorship as damage, and routes around it." At the moment, various groups including

As with many defections over the years, there has been a lot of questions, many of which are "who"?Interestingly, I can't find it on the bbc or guardian.What I find extraordinary is his claim that the timing was coincidental, and that he'd made up his mind in December ("just ask my local party officers" I think was how he put it on Today). There would have been nothing coincidental about the timing, and he would have been stored up by Tory Central Office waiting for the most damaging time to jump.Will he be followed by a handful of MPs and ...

Here's an interesting article from Prospect magazine that suggests practically unlimited digital expansion is undermining existing 'real-world' communities by effectively limiting opportunities for face-to-face interactions. I'm not sure I agree with all or even many of its conclusions: it all smacks a bit too much of leftie social engineering for my personal tastes. But it does raise some very good points, it's food for thought and, like a lot of stuff in this magazine, it's a jolly good read. Here it is - Digital exuberance: Digital technology hands more power and convenience to the individual consumer. But ...

To the point: His claim that MPs plan to defect to the Tory party were dismissed by the Lib Dem camp as “bollocks” and without substance, according to a source from the shadow front bench. Journalists who put great stock in the views of former Lib Dem PPCs should have a look here.

Lots of new campaign presentations coming up from leadership contenders, including online videos and audio items. All very nice if you have the bandwidth to cope and no doubt more people will have access to this means of presentation over the next few years. However as a deaf person all this spoken word is just noise. If the candidates want me to get the message they are sending out I need alternative pathways to their content. Transcripts for example, or subtitles to the videos. I am actually feeling a little cut off from the current debates, even those presented by ...

I have just done a quick check on the list of Supporters on Simon Hughes' campaign site and was encouraged to find over 200 names on page two of his list of supporters not counting the number of parliamentarians and councillors listed on page 1. I suppose every one of those listed so publicly has ensured that their nomination has been delivered on time to Simon's campaign office and I know that many others have not put their name forward for publication on the website, so I'm sure that the official announcement that Simon has the required support to ...

Predictive Diallers (DTI) Q: To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry how many calls were made from call centres in his Department in 2004–05 using predictive diallers; how many such calls resulted in contact being made with the recipient without a Government agent available to talk to them; and what assessment he has made of the likely impact of Ofcom's policy on silent calls on the use of predictive diallers in departmental call centres.(John Hemming) A:The Department of Trade and Industry does not use predictive dialling in any of its call centres. (Alun Michael, Minister of ...

To the editors of the Independent, Times, Telegraph, Grauniad et al, I was the Liberal Democrat Candidate for Linlithgow and Falkirk East at the 2005 General Election. Like Adrian Graves the candidate for Suffolk West I came third, I secured 15.3% of the vote. Unlike Mr Graves I will not be leaving the party, and I can assure you that the parties MPs, many of our candidates from the General Election and many party members feel the same, in significantly higher numbers that those in Mr Graves statement. I am not persuaded by David Cameron's so called embracing of ...

South Wales West Conservative AM, Alun Cairns, likes to think of himself as an effective scrutineer of government ministers. It is certainly true that he can always be relied on to find a negative slant to any issue in an attempt to put a minister on the spot. Yesterday he tried it again over Welsh GVA. The First Minister however, had his measure: Do not fail to tell the rest of the world that Welsh GVA is almost certainly now in excess of £40 billion. I doubt whether you will want to do that, Alun—when you emerged from ...

The media have obviously decided that "the story" is the fall of the Liberal Democrats. So, we are going to have to put up with endless stories of minor defections and alleged "crises" for some time to come. However, I think that we should be looking beyond this rather purple patch. I do not believe that David Cameron, even if he is able to become Prime Minister, will be an effective, let alone a Liberal (or even liberal), leader. He will be more attractive than his predecessors, who were mostly awful: Major, Hague, DFS and Dracula. In such company of ...

If you are feeling unhappy with Google today becaus of what they are doing in China, why not try Clusty? As the name suggests, it clusters its results, which can be very useful. For example if you search on Clusty for "Charles Kennedy" it can separate out for you the results concerning the Lib Dem politician from the results for a firm of attorneys in Texas , and from a New York naturalist. I

Channel 4's 2005 Political Awards take place on 1 February. There is one award that is open to the public to vote in - the Channel 4 News Most Inspiring Political Figure Award. The shortlist is Tony Blair, David Cameron, Shami Chakrabarti, George Galloway, Bob Geldof and Jamie Oliver.

On the one hand they have stood up to the Bush administration and refused to provide data about searches to the Dept of Justice. On the other, they are introducing a service for Chinese users that has built in censorship.In both cases I see the hand of business: the reasons stated for refusing to hand over data is about not handing over trade related matters. While in China they want to penetrate the huge market, so are willing to provide a service, but at the price of censorship.

A group of Liberal Democrats have launched the Reflecting Britain campaign to coincide with the party's leadership contest. The campaign, which seeks to raise the importance of making the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Party more representative of 21st century Britain, has been set up by the Chair and Vice Chairs of the party's Gender Balance Task Force Sandra Gidley MP, Jo Swinson MP and Candy Piercy, as well as the Chair of the Ethnic Minority Liberal Democrats Fiyaz Mughal.

I have argued here and here that David Cameron seems likely to pursue a socially conservative agenda while maintaining current levels of taxation and public spending. Only yesterday both Osborne and Cameron made it clear that they are ‘fiscal conservatives’ which tends to bear this out. The Labour Government are pursuing an equally statist set of policies with the intention, if not always the effect, of creating greater equality. Liberal Democrats will have to think carefully about how they are to counter both of these positions. Cicero has argued that the liberal agenda should to establish the parameters of ...

The only thing that should surprise us about the defection of Adrian Graves is that a newspaper of the calibre of The Independent should think it so significant. Suffolk West shares many things with my own constituency, Wycombe. One of the things our constituencies share is that you could pin a blue rosette onto a gibbon and produce a Tory MP. In Wycombe as in Suffolk, Labour are in second place - so why would anyone want to be the Lib Dem PPC? The reasons Wycombe has consistently remained safe for the Tories says more about our ludicrously unfair electoral ...

I don't suppose that Adrian Graves' (who he?) defection would have even made regional TV news but for the current leadership contest. Parliamentary candidates for development seats (in Suffolk West we finished third with 17 per cent of the vote in 2005) are pretty low in the Lib Dem food chain. Certainly as a majority group leader in a district council I would expect to have precedence over them in any parade of Lib Dem worthies. James Graham pretty much sums up my view of defections. Unless there is a whole string of them they have little ...

by Steve Travis There is much gossip about potential MP defectors to the Tories. Even the Independent decided to speculate on this matter. Leaving aside the fact that defectors rarely prosper, I suspect any potential leaver would want to see some action rather than warm words on Cameron's part before jumping ship. And this ignores the signal fact that becoming a Lib Dem MP is bloody difficult, and anyone who wanted the easy route to power would have joined the Tories (or Labour) in the first place. What seems to have been less remarked upon is the tremendous ...

Cameron has said one thing I can agree wholeheartedly with: Society does exist but it is not the state. This was said in his acceptance speach for the leadership and it is, I feel, a liberal statement. This was a promising start, however he hasn't followed it up. He has tried to woo liberals and (mostly) failed. I am not about to jump ship from a liberal party and go to a party which is still

Councillor representative on the Liberal Democrats’ Federal Executive Meral Ece has leant her support to the campaign: Over the years we have grown in membership and represent inner city areas, both at local council, and parliament. Unfortunately we do not reflect our electorate. As a female councillor, from an ethnic minority, (Turkish), I am acutely aware [...]

Gordon Brown may be being talked about as the next Prime Minister. However, if he handles each marginal seat like he has Dunfermline and West Fife, where his party is supposedly defending an 11,000 majority, instead of prudence he will have the country on the brink of bankruptcy during a General Election. What is worse is that for the third time in a week he has ridden roughshod of the devolved Scottish Parliament from his office in Westminster. Already he has forced the Scottish Labour party to renege on a proposed £4 toll on the Forth Road Bridge. Then ...

In a typically frank interview with the Western Mail yesterday Lembit Opik said that he will not be revealing who he is backing for the party's leadership. He said, "I was due to announce who I was backing, but I realise now it's more complicated: there's a new phenomenon called the curse of Lembit. After supporting Charles Kennedy for leader at the beginning of the year and Mark Oaten more recently, everyone is worried that my support might be the kiss of death. Many people suspect I may be behind the troubles faced by Sven Goran ...

Or maybe illiberal of the day (I'm sure someone will turn out to be more illiberal by the end of the week) is David Cameron on his youth scheme: "If it isn't compulsory or if it isn't universal it could tend to be something else that well-off families do because it's good for their kids but it would not actually reach some of the most marginalised families and excluded children who actually would

Wednesday 25th January 2006 - I was pleased to see leadership candidate Sir Menzies Campbell setting out his environmental agenda during a visit to the Eden Project. Ming is right to highlight environmental issues as a key concern during this leadership debate, the Lib Dems have been the leading political party out of the main three to address these concerns and it gives us a distinctive difference. If you want to read more about what Ming had to say visit his campaign web site at http://www.campbellcampaign.org/

This morning's Western Mail (no link) proves that it is not just Government Ministers and other politicians who feel the strain of constantly being in the spotlight. The pressure also affects the spin-doctors who occasionally forget the golden rule of their trade - don't become the story. It appears that the Labour Assembly Cabinet's media advisor, Cathy Owens, has put her foot in it again. Last week she was reported by the Daily Post as stating that Ministers would not countenance "Quebec-style" language laws in Wales, even though the Assembly Government understood that the Welsh Language Board was ...

So we've got our first defector to the Cameronites - one Adrian Graves. Came third with 17 percent at the last election. (Not a brilliant result, but our vote was up.) I've got to say, how can someone whom the Independent portrays as such a reasonable chap make the mistake of defecting? I doubt he's hoping to be shoehorned into a safe Tory seat- so I'll assume he's doing it for the noblest of

Talking of defectors, here is Cameron’s first bona fide scalp: Adrian Graves. Who? Well, this “prominent” member is apparently the 2005 candidate for Suffolk West. He works in PR, yet isn’t so much of an expert that he could be bothered to sort out a decent photo for the party’s website. Ho hum. I’ve always [...]

Although I'm in Jamaica visiting family, I am trying to develop some links between this Kingston and the Royal Borough. Today I was invited to a meeting to discuss a proposed project in a primary school. In the after school period children would get the chance to take part in arts/performance activities. It sounded very much like the enrichment programme at King Athelston Primary, so...

Ian Dale is speculating that David Laws is about to defect to the blue rinses. He may be right for all I know, although I suspect that if he were he’d be keeping his gob shut. But there is one point I would take issue with: I’m told he only joined the LibDems in the first [...]

I don't suppose the thought of Canada keeps many of us awake at night; it's hard for your slumbers to be too disturbed by the land of peace, order and good government. But Gordon Brown might just have watched recent events in the Great White North with the slightest twinge of foreboding - in the same way that John Major must have pondered the significance of Canada's Progressive Conservatives

My heart is warmed by The Times' perceptive piece on how Chris Huhne's campaign is now raring forward at a great pace. We're now at 3-1 odds, and I'd still encourage a flutter, even if the return isn't as good as last week! :-) Less, exciting is a piece in The Independent. I'm not entirely sold on this as a shocking revelation; unsuccessful parliamentary candidates and councillors flit between parties quite frequently. This chap left the Lib Dems before Christmas, so I don't see how he reflects recent events.

The Times and The Guardian both have some interesting - but not very convincing - polls today. The Times has a poll conducted by Populus in which people were asked if they recognised the candidates. Not surprisingly, Ming came top at 41%, Simon scored 34% and Huhne scored 4%. In and of itself, this [...]