LibDem Blogs - Archived!

So the goverment is getting closer to scrapping district councils , and maybe cancelling the 2007 elections. So far, so expected. It follows the trend of combining the police into superforces, and amalgamating Primary Care Trusts. Serving on a council that is forced by central government to be one of the lowest spenders per person in the country, I don't need to hear any preaching from Labour

by Peter Lib Dem Blogs seems to be missing a link to the Campbell campaign. So here is one for anyone missing out on the news. Ming is having a busy day. After PMQs (dominated by Cameron's cock-up), Ming flew to Dunfermline to capitalise on it - and then (I imagine) back south to Harlow for Question Time. I have been trying to understand why the Tories issued that leaflet in Dunfermline. I suppose that they might think it would syphon some of our voters in their direction. But this is a seat where they were fourth and ...

We'd better win the Dunfermline by-election - I just nipped into William Hill during my lunch hour and put a tenner down at 10-1. If it all turns out to be spin I shall be demanding a refund from Chris Rennard. :o)

Best of luck to my fellow bloggers and other campaigners hitting the streets for the last time tomorrow - sorry I can’t be there. I would have liked to have met Nancy the envelope-stuffing machine. All the activists up there have done sterling work in circumstances that haven’t always been easy. There have been times when [...]

PM Question Time Listening to this as I crawled through the Bristol Ring Road tonight I couldnt help wondering how much Tony's rebuttal of the Tory Leaflet in the Dumfirmline By-election was better than anything we may be able to get out and at no cost. I was also pleased that Tony helped respond on our behalf to Cameron's claims to be a Liberal. Had I been a Lib-Dem back bencher in the commons today Tony would have got one of the loudest cheers from my part of the house.

Lots of text messages* from people in the last couple of days saying they’ve put a “1″ next to Hughes on the ballot paper, which is great news - I’ve done the same, and my ballot paper is in the post.  Congrats to the ERS people for getting the ballots out bang on deadline. On Tuesday [...]

(Geddit? GEDDIT? You know, the band that did the theme tune to that time travel film. What was it called? Bridge to the Future or something?) The story today is that Hughes has diverted his fire away from Campbell and onto Huhne. Earlier today, I speculated that this was a miscalculation based on jitters [...]

Assembly Members are slowly getting used to the new chamber but it may take many weeks before they finally settle in. The one issue we all have are the acoustics - not that they are bad but that they are too good. The slightest whisper can be clearly heard the other side of the room, conversations in the inner corridor behind members can also be picked up, whilst hecklers within the chamber itself become disembodied voices booming all around us. The complaint that I hear everywhere is about the cameras. Every time a new speaker gets up they rattle around ...

The Isle of Man is to become the first part of the British Isles to lower the voting age from 18 to 16. Manx politicians hope the move will encourage more youngsters to get involved in politics. The amendment means that around 2,000 16- and 17-year-olds will be able to vote in elections. Where the Isle of Man leads Britain should follow.

Bird Flu: an informed analysis of recent developments by Dr Bob Gleeson comes well recommended and would be a good place (along with Effect measure) to read calm, rational comment on the prospects of a pandemic. Of course, he might crack and recommend stockpiling gasoline and shooting trespassers, but I very much doubt it.

by Peter This is the Guardian on Dunfermline - in the last hour. In his appeal to Lib Dems in the Dunfermline and West Fife byelection, Mr Cameron wrote: "Issues that once divided Conservatives from Liberal Democrats are now issues where we both agree. Our attitude to devolution and the localisation of power. Iraq. The environment. "I'm a liberal Conservative. I hope many Liberal Democrats will want to join us." Given Mr Cameron's strong support for the 2003 Iraq war Mr Blair delighted Labour backbenchers in reading out the leaflet when he was accused of "flip-flopping" over schools ...

according to this story from the BBC. Another local government shake up is on the way, so to avoid electing councils that would sit for just one year the 2007 English council elections might be scrapped. Would such a move require legislation, and if so would it (like many other items of legislation that affect England) be passed using the Scottish payroll vote of Labour MPs to deny England the

The editor of Cardiff University's student newspaper, Gair Rhydd, has been suspended after publishing one of the caricatures, which sparked protests across the world when it was previously published by a Danish newspaper. I understand that it was done so in the context of a legitimate news story detailing the aftermath of the original publication of the cartoons. According to the South Wales Echo the Students' Union has justified their action in taking disciplinary action and pulping the entire edition of the newspaper by accusing the editor of actioning irresponsibly: A spokeswoman for the Cardiff University Students' Union ...

No less a paper than the East Anglian Daily Times has come out in favour of Simon Hughes. Something that leaps out of the piece is this: AN Edinburgh lawyer and Scottish MP, Sir Menzies Campbell made the strange decision to launch his campaign in a Westminster restaurant, making nonsense of the party’s support for devolution. At 64, [...]

Ever since the party got racy, started binning leaders and making headlines for the wrong reasons, a number of bloggers reported visits from strange sources. Mostly from hacks looking for stories about rent that doesn't involve housing finance. Over in the States, things may be taking a more sinister turn: irrepressible splenetic Mad As Hell (does what it says on the tin) has been getting regular

Three months ago, following Mr Blair’s Commons defeat on 90 days’ detention, the Prime Minister’s authority was said to be non-existent. Here’s what I wrote then: This defeat is part of politics natural rhythm, its ebb and flow. … Today, [Mr Blair] is written off as a lame duck. What will be written three months from now? That Mr Blair has bested Mr Cameron at the despatch box, and that Tory MPs

Liberal Democrats have never had a high economic profile, but since 1992 what financial credibility we’ve gained has been through the ‘honesty’ of hypothecated tax rises, on the principle that if we say “We want this so much here’s a specific tax to pay for it," people reckon it must be true or why take the hit? Every party claims they’ll cut bureaucracy, but polls show almost no-one believes that. If you believe in a shift to an entirely fiscally neutral position, where will the money come from for any spending commitments? And why should anyone believe it? I ...

Surely what the bulk of Lib Dem members and supporters are thinking about the Leadership, along with ‘For goodness’ sake, why are they all being so beastly to each other?’ I’m at least reasonably familiar with each of the candidates, but I’m still unpersuaded – not least because despite their numerous advantages, none of them seem to hold a candle to Charles. So I’ve been working on some questions I’d like to see answered, and what each of them could do or say that might win my vote. I’ve no doubt each could be impressive, and I know that after ...

I've kept quiet on this, but I thought I'd say where my voting intentions lie at the moment: 1. Ming Campbell 2. Chris Huhne If Ming wins then I think he should continue as leader for as long as he likes (or until he's challenged and loses the election), I don't see him as a stop gap candidate. Chris has started to impress me recently, but I feel Ming is the best candidate from what I've seen so

Do you think Galloway will put his grandmother up on eBay soon? How much do you want for a barrel of oil, by the way? UPDATE: I should point out that the real humour value in this is that it is a “Cuba” top.

Or what additional things are going to be criminalised by an offence of 'glorification of terrorism' that aren't covered by existing legislation or the amended Terrorism Act if: Glorification of terrorism is not incitement to murder/violence (covered by existing law)?And if it's not the making of a statement describing terrorism in such a way that the listener should infer that he should emulate

Chris Huhne today hit the streets of Dunfermline to once again lend his help in the struggle that is taking place over the former Labour stronghold. He welcomed the news that five Lib Dem members of the Scottish Parliament now back him. This means that Chris now has the support of more MSPs than any other leadership contender.

Yesterday I wrote: The fact that, for example, the Mingcasts are now all from people eulogising about the Great Man and not the Ming himself, is starting to become apparent. Aren’t we important enough for him to waste his time on? It would there for not be terribly fair to fail to mention that the latest Mingcast [...]

This used to be an unnecessarily long comment on Someone Else's blog but on reflection I think it really ought to be an actual post on my blog as well. Because I think that possibly those of us intending to vote for Simon Hughes have been a little bit too quiet so far. That particular Someone said: "Most people look on voting for Simon Hughes in the same way they would look at eating a whole box of chocolate eclairs - they'd really, really like to do it (and some will) but they know it's bad for them so ...

This morning I met with the accountants investigating the saga of MG Rover. That was an interesting discussion and I will be interested to find out what their conclusions are in months to come. Clearly manufacturing is suffering we have 1,300 redundancies at Lode Lane and also in phone canvassing in Dunfermline there are issues with redundancies there. I am not sure that the government fully

This news story appeared on the BBC Website yesterday.Some Gmail subscribers would begin to see the changes instantly as the service was rolled out on 7 February, the company said.But it seems those subscribers are only those from America.Seemed to be a bit early to announce it on the Beeb, if I can't use it yet.

Well my ballot paper arrived at my home yesterday, I have read the 'manifestos' that came with it and still haven't filled it in! Also my online poll has shot through the 500 vote barrier and it looks neck and neck between Ming and Chris (details on figures below).

The leadership election has spawned lots of new blogs, which is to be welcomed, and I hope these new bloggers keep it up once the election is over. I discovered three blogs (either new, or new to me) over the weekend which seemed to be from that large intersection between LibDems and Doctor Who fans. Alex [...]

I managed to get up to Inverkeithing on Saturday to deliver some leaflets for the Dunfermline and West Fife by-election. It was my first time travelling over the Forth Bridge. There was so much mist over the Forth that all you could see on either site was whiteness and the Forth Road Bridge rising up [...]

Went on a tour of the National Library of Scotland last Friday, and very informative it was too. The most interesting part was seeing behind the scenes. Their meeting room has a lovely view of the top of St Giles Cathedral and out towards Arthur’s Seat, which was peering up out of the mist. I had [...]

politicalbetting.com has more debate on yesterday's supposed YouGov poll results. Peter Kellner denies these are the right figures, but the site's informant is standing by his claim. Meanwhile, Chris Huhne can be encouraged by a report in this morning's Times.

For the answer to this and other teasers, listen to Guido and the Monkey’s interview with him. Tags: john+hemming, guido+fawkes, recess+monkey, podcast

I've finally made up my mind! Simon Hughes 1 Chris Huhne 2 I think all 3 candidates have different qualities they can bring to the leadership and choosing betwen them has been very difficult. They are all good candidates and the Lib Dems will thrive whoever wins. Simon Hughes inspires Liberals. He is committed to social justice and civil liberties and communicates his deeply-held beliefs in a

From today's Independent: GM food must be allowed into Europe, WTO rules Europe faces new pressure to open its markets to genetically-modified food from the US after the World Trade Organisation ruled that the EU broke international rules with its moratorium on new licences. A lengthy and complex preliminary ruling from the WTO said that a de facto Europe-wide ban, which prevented new corn, cotton and soybean products from entering the European market, was not based on scientific concerns. American sources also said that the WTO had found that six individual states - France, Germany, ...

I have heard some criticism of Chris Huhne because he was previously a member of the Labour Party. It is frankly ridiculous to say this should harm his leadership campaign. Firstly, Charles Kennedy was once a Labour Party member but left and then joined the SDP. I think he's shown his liberal credentials firmly, as did the late Roy Jenkins as Shirley Williams does regularly. Indeed, Conrad Russell, the first peer to take his seat as a LibDem and undoubted Liberal was at one point a Labour Party member. When you look at the period when these people ...

Just as I was coming round to the idea that Chris Huhne was serious contender I saw the article in the Times on line (see link). He lives, he tells The Times after some prompting, in his Hampshire constituencyand Clapham, South London, is married with three children and two stepchildren,drives an environmentally friendly hybrid car and supports Chelsea andSouthampton football teams. How someone can support two teams is beyond me. I just hope that this is normal journalistic inaccuracy and that he supports Southampton and follows Chelsea (or vice-versa). To me it is impossible to "Support" two teams. ...

From today's New York Times email: Some Democrats Are Sensing Missed Opportunities By ADAM NAGOURNEY and SHERYL GAY STOLBERG Heading into this year's elections, senior Democrats said that they sense they had failed to exploit Republican vulnerabilities. To which the only possible response is "NO F***ING SHIT, SHERLOCK..."

I’ve been told off before for over-exercising the right side of my brain, but was yesterday’s botched YouGov leak an over-enthusiastic Huhne supporter, or a cunning Campbell supporter who wanted to undermine him? After all, Camp Campbell is the team with all the past form for anonymous briefing. Secondly, regarding Peter Kellner’s denial, is it [...]

I've been accused of some things in my time, but never before of faking YouGov figures (see comments to previous post). But I must admit that it's fun to lurk on politicalbetting.com and see the punters getting into a lather trying to work out how Lib Dems think. More indicative, I think is the survey in The Times today of Lib Dems coming away from a hustings which puts Huhne in first place. Of course it's a small sample, but it backs up what I've said all along - that when people hear and see Chris for themselves it's ...

Special Advisors (DoH) Q: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if she will list the special advisers in post in her Department, broken down by pay band; and what the total budgeted cost to her Department of special advisers is for 2005–06. (John Hemming) A:Since 2003, the Government have published on an annual basis the names and overall cost of special advisers and the number in each pay band. For the most recent information, I refer the hon. Member to the statement made by my right hon. Friend, the Prime Minister on 21 July 2005, Official Report, ...

A report in the Times says that Chris Huhne is the front-runner in the Liberal Democrat leadership election, according to members who attended one of the party's official hustings events.

Over on quaequem blog James posts without comment the responses by the Candidates to the questions set by the LD Peace and Security Group on Trident replacement, on the place of Conference in setting policy, and on the Meacher EDM on having a full public debate before any Trident decisions are taken by the government. I do have a few comments. Ming’s contribution is long, balanced, has good stuff in it, and is in short quite an acceptable essay. But you do have to quarry it for the key points. This does reinforce my own feeling that Ming’s statesmanlike interventions ...

Ouch. These figures (published on Chris’s very pretty redesigned site): Are a complete fake.

Get to Dunfermline. UPDATE We're in the ball park! Labour spent yesterday evening frantically calling up their vote to make sure it was still theirs. Just think how the media attention would shift on Friday morning from the travails of the last month with a new Liberal Democrat MP. So stop right now. Book a flight, hop on a train or gather a car load of fellow Lib Dems and get to Dunfermline

There now - see what happens when everyone plays nicely?

by Peter My last post expressed scepticism about the "leaked" You Gov poll figures. Now Peter Kellner confirms that these are NOT the correct figures. Writing to Mike Smithson at politicalbetting he said I have been authorised by our client to say that all the figures that you, and Guido Fawkes, attributed yesterday to our recent poll of Lib Dem members are wrong.One candidate's web site continues to link to these disavowed figures. This seems an error of judgement. Update: I'm told that the link has now gone. Credit where credit is due - this reporesents good judgement!

Imagine the scene. It's a few weeks before the next general election. Gordon Brown - now Prime Minister - is reeling off another of his lists of economic statistics. He is about to launch New Labour's general election campaign centred - as they have all been - on their economic record. Who as Liberal Democrat leader could match him economic fact for economic fact in the debate in Parliament? Who

Two interesting polls today. First of all the Times publishes its rather unscientific exit poll of 171 Liberal Democrat members after Monday's Cardiff Leadership hustings meeting. They find that 52 of those asked would give Chris Huhne their first preference, 42 would vote for Menzies Campbell and 32 for Simon Hughes. Somebody should explain to the journalists how to transfer second preference votes under an AV system however, though it is clear that Chris Huhne gains most on that measure as well. What this poll suggests to me is that there is a lot of support amongst the membership for ...

I've just heard Reid on the radio refer to the 'New Labour Project' which is troubling in itself, he then goes to say this is 'freedom through collectiv...' before being cut off.They then go on to discuss the 'decline of the left'. There is the suggestion that we now have cultural marxism and its pointed out that Reid was using some of the rhetoric of Marxism.This gives more evidence to my view that some of the views held by the extreme left are more and more becoming the norm. We are heading to the logical outcome of socialism, we have ...

Judging by the reports in yesterdays Guardian Campbelland Huhne now see themselves as the main rivals to win the leadership battle. I guess that may make the 2nd preferences of Simon Hughes supporters critical to both candidates as to who will ultimately win this contest. I guess I am also slightly concerned about the tone of some of this although I guess it is entirely natural. I just hope the entire parliamentary party will get back on an even keel following the election and give their wholehearted support to the new leader (whoever it is)

Trains are c**p. Although from my experience, the title should have read "One train cancelled every five minutes... and the rest are at least ten minutes late". And in other news, Chris Huhne is revealed to have 3 children (not 5). The other two belong to his wife. This has scuppered any tasteless quips (if I wasn't linked to the bloggers4chris site) that you have to watch out for economists.

9 student journalists came on assignment last night to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee. I love it when the public come to meetings, it reminds Councillors that we are there to represent people and to do that in a way that makes sense to them. So I decided to give them something to write about. We started with a presentation on housing which was all about how the Council is...

…I’d have so loved to have goaded him over this: We were warned: Liberalisation of drink laws would fuel disorder The sober truth: Serious violent crime has fallen 21% - and is down by twice that in some towns - while there are 14% fewer woundings As for drinks firms? They are reporting no windfall profits As Iain Sharpe [...]

Just because Cameron is committed to pulling out of the EPP, it doesn’t mean he wants to pull out of the EU entirely does it? I’ve come across this webpage, encouraging people to bombard Tory MEPs with standard letters about leaving the EPP. Two things scream out to me with this campaign. Firstly, these two notes: 1) [...]

Latest Populus poll: CON 37%(+1) LAB 36%(-3) LD 18% (+2). The Lib Dems are doing well in the Dunfermline by-election stakes as well. That stuff I said about Populus being unreliable earlier? I’d eaten some bad cheese, forget it. Seriously, there are two good things about this poll. Firstly, journalists have rather [...]

(with apologies for that title) The Times polled about a third of Lib Dem members who attended the Cardiff hustings on Monday, and the runaway winner was Chris Huhne. See this article and this graphic for details. As Peter Snow used to say, this is just a bit of fun. But it does suggest that [...]

So everyone knows who the Mps are backing what about the other candidates who stood shoulder to shoulder with those who got elected. After all if we are to move on as a party some of these people are going to be in Westminster next time around and will want to have a leader they can trust to firstly get them there and then work with in the Commons. The three leadership websites list the opinions

This doesn’t appear to have been put anywhere else online, so I thought I’d post it here. The LDPSG (or whatever they’re called) asked the three candidates three questions. These are their responses, which I am adding here without comment: Ming Campbell As you will know, the Government is at the early stage of reviewing [...]