LibDem Blogs - Archived!

Gary Duncan has a good liberal article in The Times this morning: Freedom of expression has been, and remains, the seedbed from which Western economic, social and scientific advancement has flourished. It has been the catalyst for the prosperity that we all enjoy. In earlier times, too, swaths of the history of economic and technological progress are, in fact, a story of heretical rebellion against dogmatic orthodoxy, and thus a testimony to the power of free expression. Read it too for the sad story of Thomas Aikenhead, the Scottish theology student executed for blasphemy in 1696.

Sorry, I keep doing this - replying to people's comments in articles at such great length that I then feel compelled to publish them as new posts. Both Joe Otten and Neil Fawcett asked me some very good questions in response to my What is an Orange Booker? article. As I have said in my reply, but edited out below, I don't have definitive answers: this is thinking in progress, and offered up to

Iain at Eaten by Missionaries has a long post on how he is going to vote. It seems to me very fair. You don't have to agree - but if you haven't made your mind up, it is well worth a read. Actually if you have made your mind up, it is still worth a read. Look, just read it!

Posted by Chris Simon Hughes is still leading the race for member endorsements on his website and now has 257 more than his closest rival, Ming Campbell. Over the past eight days Chris Huhne has picked up 103 more new endorsements than Simon but still lags well behind. The latest figures are as follows (figures for eight days ago in brackets): Hughes.... 1434 (1289)Campbell.. 1177 (1050)Huhne........ 987 (739)

I’m beginning to get very tired of the continuous Big-Up Chris Huhne seems to be giving himself as an economist. He is obviously the best economist standing to be leader of the Liberal Democrats, though, of course, he happens to be the only economist to be standing as leader of the Liberal Democrats. In yesterday’s Observer one frequent dinner party guest at the table of Chris Huhne and his wife (also an economist) commented: 'Chris is bright, intensely ambitious and keenly aware of his own prowess as an economist,' remarks one frequent visitor. 'But it's great to be in ...

In case you missed it (and I imagine you did now they are exiled from Lib Dem blogs), the Darbyshires have come out backing Chris Huhne . In deciding not to put Ming Campbell or Simon Hughes first, Mrs Darbyshire commented: “ God knows how either of them got degrees! ” Ah, the irony.

Those of us who were appalled at the wanton murder of Daddy T-Rex by some made-up dinosaur interloper in Jurassic Park III will be appalled to learn that the idea this “Spinosaurus” thing was bigger and badder than Posh Paws himself is gaining scientific credibility. Is nothing from my childhood considered sacred from you bastards?

Far be it for me to get a reputation as a nay-sayer all the time. I have just read the three leadership contender’s positions on land value taxation (courtesy of ALTER) and pronounce myself Well Pleased. There are subtle differences. I’m not entirely sure about Ming/Cable’s line that LVT should be set nationally rather [...]

So far this blog has avoided anything more than tangential references to the leadership election, although particularly attentive readers might have spotted my name in the list of Ming supporters on the Campbell campaign website. I imagine most readers who reach this site will already have come across the three extended essays (shortly to be published in paperback as part of a commemorative three-volume box set?) by Alex Wilcock at Love and Liberty. That is the post to read for those still making their minds up. For the closest approximation to my own views see Joe Otten’s posting in support ...

Peter Black and Jonathan Calder (Liberal England) have already made reference to Richard Gibbs expose of how newLabour campaigning works in the Sunday Mail. None of it should come as much of a surprise to anyone who has seen newLabour clones in action during walkabouts and leader's visits. But to me Gibbs is not just some character who'll probably not make the footnotes of history, but who stood as one of the Labour candidates in Bournville, and who occassionally turned up to District Committee meetings on behalf of Selly Oak labour (not difficult to spot as the public attendance never ...

Camp Campbell have been very vocal over the past few days to portray Chris Huhne as a closet social democrat. I therefore very much look forward to hearing them spin Bernard “theory and practice of community politics” Greaves’ endorsement.

I have just read this comment on the leadership election from Alistair Carmichael. He can articulate the liberal vision in a way that few others I have ever known can manage. He has an instinctive feel for the correct liberal view on any issue. The Liberal Democrats are at their best when they are distinctive and true to their own principles and beliefs. In an age of spin and sound bite Ming Campbell can be a leader of substance and vision. I am excited and inspired by the idea of having him as our leader. It ...

I find Gordon Brown’s actions over the last few weeks, well, a bit odd. On the one hand we are assured by Jim Wallis that he is not only a man of peace, but veritably a reincarnation of the prophet Micah. One the other hand, he wants to promote military service and to [...]

An influential pioneer of Lib Dem grassroots campaigning has backed Chris Huhne today.

As the crucial ID card votes comes before the Commons, Chris Huhne resolved to take on and defeat the illiberal agenda outlined by Gordon Brown today.

Have you read the Times over the last few months? You have? Then, you’ll know that it has a very simple prescription for what the Lib Dems should do. Essentially it is this: dump all that social liberal nonsense, embrace economic liberalism and turn ourselves into the UK equivalent of the German [...]

Stephen Tall made an excellent point the other day on some of the issues that are being missed in the leadership debate. He argues that it has not been as "policy-based" as some of us would like to think. My own concern is slightly different: that the debate has been too inward-looking. Our challenge is to properly connect with voters. We do that in some parts of the world - but reading this report from Truro and St Austell, I was struck by the scarcity of such moments in the campaign.

Slightly worried since posting my pros and cons for voting for "Hughes vs Huhne" that all the comments on this thread so far "appear" to be from those who are pro Huhne and anti Hughes Perhaps the bloggers for Hughes browse the net at different times of the day but whatever I would welcome their input into what so far appears to be a very one sided debate.

I remember the first time that I met Ming Campbell. It was over twenty years ago when I was President of the Glasgow University Liberal Club and we were looking for a Liberal to stand for the rectorship of Glasgow University. This was some years before he was elected as MP for [...]

After his promises in PMQs the other week not to miss any more crucial votes in the House of Commons it appears that Tony Blair will be missing from this evening's vote on ID cards. The reason for this is that the Prime Minster’s plane had a abortive take off from Pretoria, South Africa this morning. Now either he is announcing this in advance of Hilary Armstrong making excuses about losing

If you’re a Scottish blogger or a blogger in Scotland, consider adding yourself to the Scottish blogs directory and/or coming along the next blogmeet in Edinburgh on Saturday 18th February. Tags: scottish+blogs, blogmeet

This thought was on my mind at the beginning of the campaign, when we had more candidates for the leadership. It came back to mind this weekend, when reading the supporters lists - which contained at least one surprise. There are four MPs in Hampshire. One Sandra Gidley is supporting Huhne. Hancock backs Hughes and Oaten is not saying. There are two MEPs. Sharon Bowles (who replaced Huhne in the EP) is supporting him. Emma Nicholson is backing Ming. I don't know how many Council leaders there are, nor all their names, but I see that Just over the border ...

Ismail Kadare is one of the most interesting writers in modern Europe. Over many years I have read his works (good translations) and recognised Broken April, Generals of the Dead Army, Pyramid, The Three Arched Bridge and especially The Palace of Dreams as real masterpieces, occasionally combining the best of Orwell or Franz Kafka with the magical realism of Thomas Mann. Last year, Kadare won the inaugural Mann Booker International Prize and he is- together with the Estonian, Jaan Kross- talked of as one of the more likely novelists from Europe to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. The publication ...

Inevitably when people debate an ism, differences will be exaggerated due to different impressions of what the ism in question is about. We've had this lately over economic liberalism. What does it mean? Is it necessary? Etc. So, weighing in: economic liberalism is broadly speaking, the idea that it is good for people to have money that they are free to spend. That is, that prosperity is good.

FM has been running just over a month. It's currently getting over 100 hits a day and has accumulated a number of well-educated and interesting 'regulars'. But to truly 'arrive' as a hard-hitting plog, it'd need to be attracting that species known only as 'the truly banal and brain-dead troll'. As has happened over at David Aaronvitch's plog.

by Steve Travis In today's Independent, the paper's founder, Andreas Whittam Smith, indicates his support for Chris Huhne in the leadership contest. In his article he makes a strong case for having an economically literate party leader in contrast to the usual collection of barristers, lecturers and PR types. Whittam Smith's argument is a good one, and he makes a number of points that add weight to Huhne's candidacy. However, he rather spoils his case with this paragraph: I had better also say that I believe him to be honest and trustworthy, no small quality in contemporary ...

Towards the end of last week I received an email that was from Lord Ashdown giving his reasons why he is backing Ming for the Liberal Democrat Leadership. I have re-printed what he says below:

Ok now comes the difficult bit. For reasons which I have already documented here Ming Campbell has now become my third choice which at least makes life a little easier. The difficult bit is weighing up the pros and the cons of the two remaining contenders for my first preference. So here is a brief resume of my list of pros and cons so far Hughes Pros The most passionate and inspiring speaker who communicates a positive Lib Dem vision Bigger constituency majority. Experience in parliament. Deeper understanding over a broad range of subjects. Energy and ...

I had missed this erudite response to Dunfermline.

Jonathan Calder on Liberal England draws attention to this article in the Daily Mail. It is a fascinating insight into the political process from the point of view of an HQ insider. Given all the lectures we have received from the Secretary of State for Wales on the alleged (but untrue) abuse of public money by regional AMs, it is worth noting that the Assembly's House Committee has specifically outlawed this sort of behaviour (and reaffirmed that decision within the last month): One of my tasks as a regional organiser was to arrange large mailshots to constituents in marginal ...

Gordon Brown assumes that the state should control our identities. This is a huge shift away from responsibility and freedom of the individual to decide who they are and to protect their own identity how they like. This is not the British way of doing things, its the authoritarian way of doing things. The IT industry, including Microsoft and other people who might benefit from this system, all

Andy has written a long ripost to LibertyCat's piece about 'What is Liberalism?'. To which Rob Knight over at LiberalReview has written an excellent reply - he summarises what is at the core of the disagreement between 'economic' liberals (the 'Orange Bookers') and 'social' liberals (the Beveridge Group) in the Liberal Democrats when he writes: Many see economic liberalism as somehow linked to

It's a little-known fact that Dr Vincent Cable - the Lib Dems' grimly northern, silent-movie-villain Shadow Chancellor - is actually rather buff when stripped to shorts and t-shirt.Now, before everyone hits the speed dial to the News of the World, I should say the reason I know this is that I once found myself queueing next to him for a machine at my gym and was able to observe that he's broadly the same shape as the fitness instructors (40 years his junior) but rather taller.It's a good gym - quite aside from anything it might have done for Vince ...

So, who’s you’re diamond going to be? Seriously, it only takes a minute, so why not nominate someone who should think should put themselves forward to be a Lib Dem PPC?