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Much fun was had by all, I feel. Had a chat with a good few people and the discussion in and outside of the ‘formal’ session was stimulating. The session was very well chaired, and it was different to the usual very heavy and serious ‘mmm. good point!’ seminars I’ve been to on a similar [...]

Welcome to the fourth Ming Campbell campaign podcast. In this interview, Shirley Williams talks about her personal experience working with Ming in his role as leader of the foreign affairs team and explains why she is backing him to lead the Liberal Democrats. Download and listen to the Shirley Williams podcast (MP3, 608kB) If you don’t know [...]

This written question came up in the work context. The question clearly asks one thing and the answer is to something completely different. The current average cost of a PQ is estimated at £138 (although this calculation comes up with something lower). The Minister's answer demonstrates the most common myth about higher education funding: that it is per capita funding at a set unit of resource per student. The figures provided in the answer are the theoretical "standard resource", and not the actual resource. The actual resource is a combination of the assumed fee income, and the block grant. This ...

Have the worst head cold I've had for ages, and it came on suddenly yesterday afternoon. I'd thought I'd got over a bug last week, but it was probably just the start of what I've got now.Lemsips all round.

In an interview with online women’s lifestyle magazine nuts4chic, Jo Swinson MP gives this advice to anybody thinking of a career in politics: Do it. I think that a lot of people get put off and think it’s not for them. And the one thing I have always said is ‘If you really care passionately [...]

“A national residents’ association” and “An electoral dustbin for protest votes” are two of the major jibes that have been levelled against the Liberal Democrats down the years. (It’s possible a few more have been added in recent weeks.) This has often struck me as a massive over-simplification, so it was good to see it exposed as such by today’s Guardian, which offers a sneak preview by Patrick

There is a very important by-election in Scotland next Thursday. The Lib Dem candidate is the excellent Willie Rennie who I knew well when he was our Campaigns Officer in Devon & Cornwall. I also enjoyed a few days training with him in Lithuania two years ago. Willie will make a great MP for the constituency. I will be going up to help over the weekend and look forward to seeing Lib Dems from acroos the UK there.

The Liberal Democrat MP for Torbay gets it absolutely right: The ECB should have had more faith in the England cricket team to succeed in the Ashes. A lack of confidence in the England team to inspire the nation and increase interest in the game resulted in a hasty agreement with Sky to end free to air cricket coverage. Cricket was sold short by its governing body. For more on this issue, see a posting of mine from December 2004.

Full details of the Lib Dem campaign in the Dunfermline and West Fife by-election can be found here.

Earlier, I bumped into Matt Sellwood and tipped him off that I'd criticised him here, as I felt it was only fair to encourage right of reply. "Dishonestly" representing his views was the furthest from my mind, so it could be useful to have this debate, if I've misread his position, as expressed in a letter to the Grauniad last year. There is - of course - a fundamental right to peaceful protest, as represented by the anti-war vigil we were both at tonight. It is perfectly consistent to hold an opinion of opposition to the lab, and to condemn ...

On proper inspection, I fear I was a little over-generous on Ming’s statement on environmental policy yesterday. My point that Chris now needs to meet the challenge now that Ming has thrown down the gauntlet still stands, but the detail of this chapter is very disappointing. First of all, if you are going to make [...]

Contrary to what most people say. For a couple of years my yacht Jeru (Miles Davis nickname for Gerry Mulligan) lay on a floating mooring off Tate Hill Pier, Whitby. The very place where that old haemophagic illegal immigrant Dracula leaped ashore in the guise of a black dog. A small boat, but she looked very bonny in Whitby harbour and I often watched with sinful, sinful pride as photographers

As of now, we are the number one hit returned by an MSN search for forceful sex. This doesn't appear to be a reference to Mark Oaten either.

"Whadda they mean, fat?! I'm not fat - I'm training to start a family"

Liberal Democrat Leadership candidate Chris Huhne has called for troops to be withdrawn from Iraq, preferably by the end of the year. He has also questioned the need for Trident and a serious look at where UK troops are stationed. These are exactly the kind of things I want the Liberal Democrats to be saying and hope Chris can help focus the debate on these and other issues.

It is clear that Chris Huhne is tuned in to current debates on Europe, in Europe, and has a strategy for campaigning realistically in Britain. The problem is often that national politicians blame the EU when laws are controversial or unpopular. They act as if they had nothing to do with drafting or approving the new rules, while claiming credit for popular acts and playing down EU involvement. This is disastrous for the democratic legitimacy of Europe and constipates more local decision making at all levels. For others debates on this see (for example) the comments on ...

The animal rights people now suggest that anyone in the university is a legitimate target for their activities. Oxford residents may be interested to read the Green Party's defence of these activists' "moral purpose and determination".

7 THINGS TO DO BEFORE I DIE Finish my thesisLearn to singGet my French up to the point where I can read Volatire, Montesquieu and Condorcet in the original language, then do soDrive across AmericaPlay in the main event at the World Series of PokerGet elected to public officeGo to my childrens' weddings and my grandchildrens' christenings7 THINGS I CANNOT DOSuffer fools gladlyFeel your pain, unless

Well Michael Connarty who I stood against last May does not appear to have voted on the Racial and Religious Hatred Bill last night. No doubt Labour where putting his erudite and charming style to use in Dunfermline and West Fife. Jim Devine proved that he yet again is no Robin Cook and lived up to that promise in his Livingston by-election literature by voting for the Bill. Obviously he is too

Liberal Democrat leadership contender Chris Huhne has called for British troops to be withdrawn from Iraq by the end of the year. The move comes as vigils are taking place following the death of the 100th member of the UK's armed forces since the conflict started three years ago.

Rosie Boycott today announced her support for Chris Huhne's leadership campaign. The journalist and broadcaster, who is a party member, has decided to support Chris, praising his Green credentials.

Help persuade Hewlett Packard to eliminate toxic chemicals from its products.

I have now heard this joke twice. The votes yesterday were on the details of what should be unlawful. I am always worried about laws where people break the law when they did not intend to. The problem with the government's approach on Religious Hatred is that they approached it much like breaking the speed limit. With the Speed Limit is entirely fair to have a strict liability rule although

Whatever else you might say about the First Minister, the Welsh Assembly Government and the Assembly, we have our priorities right: Q3 Alun Cairns: Will the First Minister make a statement on his policies to develop sport in Wales? OAQ1172 (FM) The First Minister: Our policy is to ensure that, within the next 20 years, sport and physical activity are at the heart of Welsh life so that we are a fitter and healthier Wales. It is also to beat England on Saturday. [Laughter.] Alun Cairns: I rarely agree with the First Minister, but ...

Paul Daglish, son of Kenny, and Livingston's highest goal scorer of the 2005-2006 season has been sold for a nominal fee and in return Sam Morrow. Now I'm no expert but if you are bottom of the SPL and struggling to get goals getting rid of the guy who scored most for someone who has scored none all season looks like a potential nomination for the Darwin awards. Considering the club had offered

Chris Huhne has enjoyed a remarkable rise within the Liberal Democrat party, and thanks to the audacity of standing to be leader despite a wafer-thin majority and only having been in Parliament for a few months, has eclipsed many younger MPs. He surely will hold a significant role on the front-bench once the leadership election is over – whether he is leader or not. In general I have been impressed with Huhne. Huhne has, however, been disappointing in two ways. Firstly, talk of increased environmental taxes is electorally foolish. Unilateral action by the United Kingdom would be merely tokenistic when ...

It seems we are witnessing the beginning of the end of the New Labour project. Tony Blair always knew there were rebels in his ranks - but it is clear from last night's defeats that he has no idea of the scale. Charles Clarke accuses those who defeated the government of political point scoring. He's wrong, the Lords did their job of amending poorly drafted unenforceable legislation - and the house agreed. But his comments point to the control freak mentality of a government that believes anyone who has the temerity to disagree must be wrong. The sheer arrogance of ...

One of the most disturbing things about the spate of illiberal bills put forward by the government is the government line: Its okay, it won't be used in that way. or There will be Home Office guidlines on the use of the powers. These are meant to assuage our concerns, but they offer us nothing. I am willing to give government the benefit of the doubt, I don't think there is any concious malitious

Rumours abound that John Hemming will be guesting on a podcast with Guido and the Monkey. Not entirely sure if this is wise, surely the internet equivalent of entering the Big Brother house in terms of credibility. Rumours that Guido showed up cavorting in a bright red leotard and that the Monkey put his face [...]

I know at least one reader of this blog is going to be very disappointed as Reading thrashed Norwich 4-0. A weird game as Reading had handed out plastic cards with "Be Proud Be Loud" on one side and "Bring It on" on the other before the game. These were waved before the game and then seemed to descend into a barrage of paper darts some of which only narrowly missed the players on the

More than Labour 40 MPs given permission to not turn up… Tony Blair himself advised he wasn’t needed… Pussy Galloway lending Tony Blair his indefatigable support… The Tories only on a two-line whip… Oh yes, the Pants of Power are well and truly back. When were you thinking of leaving Tony?

There is an interesting piece in the Guardian today, article below, which is a study by Patrick Seyd and Paul Whiteley. Seyd and Whiteley are well respected (and I have used their studies before academically) so I certainly believe their findings, it also happens to co-incide with what I have found by meeting members.

The Government was last night defeated on two votes on the Racial and Religious Hatred Bill, both votes confirmed votes that had previously taken place in the House of Lords. It would appear that the Labour Whips failed to ensure that there were enough Labour MPs voting with the Guardian suggesting the Chief Whip Hilary Armstrong will offer her resignation. The second vote was lost by one vote and whilst Tony Blair voted int he first he did not in the second!

Of course, I welcome these defeats, but what I find more interesting is where the blame is being placed. The government chief whip is being blamed for the second defeat after Tony Blair went home and didn't vote. True, this was a cockup but why was Blair leaving? It shows the disdain he holds the legislature in, he'll only be there when he has to. The government spin machine has not yet brought

Yesterday saw the sad milestone of 100 UK service people have now died in Iraq since the invasion in March 2003. I have do not know how many have died in Afghanistan, which seems to have dropped off the front pages - even thought the Government has committed more troops there.

by Alex Sweet Last night's victory on religious hatred was a fantastic result for the parliamentary party. Well done to all of them and to Andrew Stunnell -- if just one fewer of our MPs had turned out to vote, the story everywhere today would be "Lib Dems fail to defend free speech". Lessons have evidently been learnt from prior debacles. Of course it was *also* a great tribute to all of us foot-soldiers who got every single Lib Dem MP elected. Just one fewer MP elected in May would have reversed last night's vote, ...

Today Simon is visiting the Islington Energy Centre at 2pm where he will be looking at the work that Lib Dem run Islington Council is doing in encouraging fuel efficency in the home.

One of the excuses Labour are spinning for losing two votes on the Religious Hatred Bill last night, apart from Tony going home for his Cocoa, is that a number of MPs were absent from the House campaigning in Dunfermline. There are differences of opinion over how many Labour MPs were in Fife, the BBC say 15 however The Scotsman is saying as many as 25. Now I have two questions for Labour. 1) Why

by Peter The Guardianhas a piece about us, this morning. They have a higher average age for the membership than I would have guessed (59) and say we are unusually highly educated (42% with degrees - which sounds more likely). They find us relatively coherent the members share a coherent set of Liberal principles which go beyond local concerns. As the party's name suggests, contemporary liberal democracy encompasses both liberalism and social democracy. The former emphasises individual freedom and market solutions, while the latter emphasises equality and redistribution. In relation to the former, our survey ...

Wordpress 2.0.1 has been released.

Two of Ming’s regional campaign organisers have been in touch to point out that we left off two further council leaders who had signed up to the Campbell campaign from the list we published two days ago. So apologies to Andrew Smith and John Morrison, and here is the latest list of twelve Council Leaders supporting [...]

This could be a good week for defeating Governments. Later today, the Welsh Assembly Government is expected to lose a vote on its proposal to neuter the Arts Council. Yesterday, the UK Labour Government suffered two significant defeats on its Racial and Religious Hatred Bill. Home Secretary, Charles Clarke, has just been quoted on Radio Wales that he thought the vote was a purely political act by the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, using an opportunity to defeat the Government rather than voting on principle. If anything that statement sums up Labour's problem, they have stopped listening. On the Liberal Democrats' ...

Nice quote from David Cameron in the current edition of Private Eye taken from an article he wrote for the Mail on Sunday on 1 January: "I don't believe in 'isms'. Words like communism, socialism, capitalism and republicanism all conjure up one image in my mind: extremism." We are still waiting to hear what he does believe in, however the odds are that it is Conservatism rather than Liberalism.

And they lose... twice... Mr Clarke claimed what had happened had been "a purely political act" by Tories, Lib Dems and members of his own side to defeat the government, rather than a genuine consideration of the issues in the bill. Because no one in parliament could have any *real* objection to such a widely drawn bill...