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Why I'm glad Chris is standing - even if he doesn't win (though I hope he does!)

The Reasons for Voting For Chris

My favourite photo of Jamaica..... And just in case you need a closeup.....

Can you actually be "pelted" with one egg?

I did a quick search on google for a list of leadership qualities and found this. 1. Good communication skills: Nobody not even Simon's opponents and Critics deny that he has good communication skils. He is able to get his message across to people one to one and from a platform or television screen with equal ease and impact. The one differnece that I notice about Simon from Ming and Chris is tha

Government proposals for people to be given individual health MOTs echo Liberal Democrat policy. No doubt David Cameron's Conservatives will support them too. But never forget the first law of politics. When people of good will in all parties are united behind a measure it almost always proves disastrous. So, for a dissident voice, turn to Dr Michael Fitzpatrick on the Spiked website: The new approach to health and illness marks a dramatic break with tradition - but not a progressive one. In the recent past, health was regarded as the normal state of affairs and illness was considered ...

Surely Jack Straw should have been worthy of a Mealy Mouthed Letdown Award for his rather pitiful statement on the Danish cartoons. Intelligently pointing out that newspapers were "disrespectful" for printing the images (when are they anything but?); he left us waiting for the bit where he qualified it with "but of course we respect and support the right of newspapers in free Europe to print them"... and we waited... and we waited...

There was an article by Peter Tatchell on Simon Hughes in last Thursday's New Statesman. My eyes were initially drawn to the griping about the Liberal campaign (see this blog passim), which was all based on hearsay. So I was planning to have a go at Tatchell. But on reading the whole article I found it was actually fair-minded and generous. It's not available online (unless you pay), but this week's edition of the NS is pretty good and probably still available in the shops for another couple of days.

Apologies to the doughty band of regular readers for the lack of posts in recent days. I had intended to spend last evening updating the blog to take my mind off what I expected to have been a heavy Scottish defeat at the hands of France in the Six Nations Championship. Instead Scotland gave the performance of their lives against the mighty French and gained a famous victory, so I was to busy celebrating to blog. Scottish rugby has been through a tough time lately – a lot of internal bickering led to a loss of confidence and the dramatic ...

You should have seen the looks on the faces of the Labour Members of the Scrutiny Panel as a Labour Councillor from another Borough (who's a member of the Opposition) told us how it should (or rather could) be done. Just imagine, all panel members participating equally and actively in the scrutiny topics, and all having a say in how the topics were tackled. Councillors writing the...

I recently wrote about the problem the Lib Dems have in getting into government. It was pointed out by a fellow Liberal Democrat that we are of course in government in Scotland and Wales. I was writing about Westminster but it is a good point. The Lib Dems can get into government if the electoral system is reformed. And when in government we prove we are competent and successful.

Why not visit the site dedicated to this British actor? Because I've never heard of him. Nonsense. He is a notable figure in Shropshire screen history, and he appeared in A Canterbury Tale - recently voted one of Peter Welch's and my favourite films.

This would be less irritating if someone else hadn’t done it a couple of years ago with a baby dragon. Why do they waste our time with this nonsense?

Maybe I should be flattered that this site has started to get its first trickle of spam comments. Some control has been regained through trapping any comment with more than 2 web links in it. You can also filter on specific words, for which the makers of the Wordpress software provide some suggestions.

Why do religious people get very het up when someone insults their god/prophet/god’s child/avatar/incarnation/icon of choice? Given that, from their perspective, the entity being criticised is a being of unimaginable power, usually capable of damning people to eternal torment for the smallest of infractions against the arbitrary code they decided to hand down in some [...]

So now we have 5 people dead in Afghanistan during protests against the Danish cartoons. I've looked at an interesting debate at altmuslim.com, for example: I'm quite troubled over the cartoon controversy in Denmark, not because of the cartoons themselves, which I agree are offensive, but rather, because of the absurd overreaction of Muslims worldwide. We haven't learned from the Rushdie affair -

"The man who is angry at the right things and with the right people, and, further, as he ought, when he ought, and as long as he ought, is praised. This will be the good-tempered man, then, since good temper is praised. For the good-tempered man tends to be unperturbed and not to be led by passion, but to be angry in the manner, at the things, and for the length of time, that the rule dictates; but he is thought to err rather in the direction of deficiency; for the good-tempered man is not revengeful, but rather tends to ...

He’ll be running away from an Education Minister after throwing an egg at the back of her head. And, just to demonstrate quite how microscopic his cock is, he’ll be a member of an organsation called Real Fathers 4 Justice (laugh at their content free, flash riddled site). What a sorry excuse for manhood.

I finally got around the joining the Lib Dems last year. It was my intention to deliver the odd Focus, go to most branch meetings and support the party at election times. To my surprise I've been pretty active ! I'm on the local party Executive, on the national executive of ALDTU, go to all branch meetings and got out of my armchair and done some work for the party ! I shall be going as a local party representative to conference this year too. Now I did the school governor, trade unionist, community activist and then councillor routine ...

Simon Hughes has grandly launched his online ehustings (although I note he still hasn’t answered the 5 questions put to him and the other candidates by Reflecting Britain), so I thought I’d submit this one: Simon, you’ve made a big deal out of the environment and green issues in the campaign, yet you drive a diesel [...]

There has been some progress made by the Gender Balance Task Force and Ethnic Minority Lib Dems in beginning to make the Lib Dems reflect the composition of the UK today. Certainly the increase in the number of younger members of the parliamentary team outshines that of our rivals. But.... the party still seems to be the domain of nice middle-class business and professional people. More Labour-inclined friends still see the Lib Dems as middle-aged cardigan or tweed bedecked people from, and largely representing, principally small market towns, suburban Britain and coastal resorts. I am scheduled to attend Spring ...

If I have time, I will write a post on the ‘Cartoon Controversy’, but in the meantime I was rather surprised to see this by Oliver Kamm: There is a common view that, while publication of the original cartoons was justified, their emergence as a cause of friction entails that they should not be republished. As Parris notes, this has it the wrong way round. The cartoons are indifferent, crude and unfunny, and ought not to have found editorial space when submitted. Now that they have caused widespread offence, it is imperative that they be widely published and circulated. ...

{Sharon Bowles MEP} "We have enormously talented people, male and female, in our party who come from a whole range of different backgrounds, and we should be making every attempt to ensure we are using those talents at the top of our Party." - Sharon Bowles MEP

{Nasser Butt} "If the current candidates are signing up to the support on this issue, than we will have to hold them to account to 'Walk the Walk' and chase thru the delivery on their pledge. If we can do this, we can hope for a change. We only have to look at the news to know how desperately Britain needs to become inclusive." - Cllr Nasser Butt

I am a regular on the Party’s famous “rubber chicken” circuit. I have a peroration which never fails to bring my audience to life. I list two or three of our Shadow Cabinet and their virtues and then I say “And of course, in Ming Campbell we have the Foreign Secretary the Prime Minister wishes [...]

Is it me or am I the only one to find the Lib Dem leadership contest less than riveting ? In one sense the drama of the Tory contest is missing for, despite what the media might say, the differences between the candidates is largely around nuance and emphasis. All three candidates have a political core understanding underpined by a shared Liberal philosophical basis. In terms of policy discussion Chris Huhne has been the most enterprising and has raised his profile within the party hugely. Simon Hughes has started to articulate his belief in redistribution, greater fairness and more equal ...

Chris Huhne today thanked his many supporters for backing his candidacy to become the next leader of the Liberal Democrat party. Chris has spoken himself at the hustings meetings around the country and is aware of a groundswell of opinion going his way as ballot papers today go out to all 73,000 liberal democrat voters in a one member one vote contest.

Much has been written about the three candidates for the leadership of the Liberal Democrats. Today the ballot papers will be despatched to the 73,000 members. Although there's over three weeks to get them sent back, most people who are going to vote will send them back almost immediately. I have a feeling that this contest is still wide open, but time is fast running out to persuade people who to vote for and why. The outcome will decide the future direction and profile for the Lib Dems through some difficult times ahead. Why difficult times ahead? Well, ...

He has been that person who has been speaking for … all those people who feel that their voice has been not represented in Parliament, he’s been the one who’s represented their views. Welcome to the seventh Ming Campbell campaign podcast. In this interview, Sarah Teather MP, Liberal Democrat Shadow Secretary for Community & Local [...]

Be advised fellow bloggers: the ballot papers go out today, which means the first ones will start landing on people’s doormats tomorrow morning. Given that each mailing will include campaign artwork for each candidate, that each campaign artwork will include the URL of the candidate’s website and that one website has a section of blogger supporters, [...]

This great reference was sent to me by a colleague – Wireless Networking in the Developing World. Love the concept, the distribution method and the licensing.

Interesting piece from the BBC about respect and the attitudes between generations. Congratulations to Liberal Democrat Councillor Jane Hollis for getting involved in this discussion and it was good to see her quoted on the Conservatives decision to contract out. Liberal Democrat councillor Jane Hollis calls the local Conservative ledcouncil's recent decision to contract out the services an "absoluteshame". What was even better was to see that all involved in the panel young and old unanimously opposed the cuts in the funding for youth services.

Is this “personal”? Or is it one of the single most important issues of the election? Far from making personal snipes, this question of Chris Huhne’s is probably the most pertinent of the campaign: “Are we going to have an ongoing leadership campaign between these young turks, between the election in March and the [...]

What happens when you have a lift, a deputy director campaigns, a regional chair and 4 members of the regional exec? (Not sure whether you could make it more scandalous by saying there were 4 failed PPCs, but none of them were disgruntled or mentioned defecting).We were only stuck for about an hour, so just enough time to hold a meeting, share a few stories about how Lib Dems in other places are always more bonkers than our own (mainly the welsh), names of people we wouldn't want to be stuck with (fortunately none of us were mentioned...) and gossip, ...

This report by Amnesty reminds us that several hundred people are still in unlawful detention in Guantanamo Bay. While the US Government continue to use human rights abuses as their justification for invading or threatening various middle eastern countries they continue to deprive these detainees of their human rights. Surely by now they have either amassed evidence against each of these people or they have not. If they have they should take them to court. If not they should release them. And our Prime Minister doesn't even appear interested in the 9 British residents that are there. He should ...

Start the week starred the well known somewhat cranky gerontologist Aubrey de Grey, who predicts that some people alive today will live to the age of 1000 thanks to rejuvenation technology. I glanced at some of de Grey's writing about a year ago and concluded that he was exaggerating the potential somewhat. However the most interesting response to de Grey is opposition. Other panellists responded

I read with some amazement this morning that David Cameron will today call for the Queen to lose most of her powers. Ignoring the fact that she doesn't really use of them anymore and that they should reside with Parliament (or at least the Government) for a Conservative Party Leader to say this is big news. I say well done Cameron! However watch out for the rest of your party!

Long-term readers of this blog will know that I opposed the proposal by the Labour Assembly Government to introduce 'golden goodbyes' for Councillors. The idea was that older Councillors would be encouraged to step down to make way for new blood. In reality however, the implementation of this idea was a farce. The genesis of this policy lies in discussions in the Assembly's Local Government Committee. It was proposed to introduce a pension scheme for Councillors so as to compensate them for the general loss of salary, career opportunities and pension rights arising from the sacrifices associated with public ...

Ballot papers in the Liberal Democrat leadership race will be sent out to members this week, leaving precious little time for the various candidates to influence the electorate. As the Western Mail reports many members will fill them in and return them within a few days of the mailing dropping on their doormats. I believe though that most will watch the Question Time session featuring all three candidates on Thursday before doing so. Simon Hughes arrives in Swansea at 12 noon today as part of his campaign and then will join the other candidates in the National Assembly before ...

There must be a large number of Tories spluttering into their breakfast cups this morning as they read headlines that Cameron wants to strip the monarchy of many of its traditional powers. They will not be reading it in the Guardian of course, but nevertheless this may prove to be a seminal moment in the decline of the Conservative Party. He is calling on his party's new democracy taskforce, chaired by Kenneth Clarke, to "consider the use by ministers of the power of the royal prerogative". That covers a vast range of government activity, from the ...

So through out yesterday I kept saying to myself "pop to the shop and buy the observer". As I get older I find myself more reliant on certain fixed points in the week. Structure, order, things that can be relied on. The Observer is one of those things. Frankly its not "sunday" without it and given sunday papers are the size of long novels it can often last long into tuesday. I feel better about myself reading middle brow social commentary, its much easier than taking direct social action. It confirms rather than challenges my prejudices, I can just about ...

I was phone canvassed by the Campbell campaign yesterday and the combination of that and some conversations I've had with members in my local party suggest exactly why my favoured choice for leader isn't waltzing home unchallenged - why, in fact, he is...

I have been away in India for the past couple of weeks and purposely avoided British news. I would have driven my partner crazy with talk of the leadership contest! I came home late Thursday night to be greeted by a Tory friend on my voicemail. The message informed me that ‘your party are [...]