LibDem Blogs - Archived!

Two days after coming home from the snow in the Alps we have some impressive snow falls in Harrogate where I am attending the spring party conference. We seem totally unable to cope with snow in this country. As I walked to the hotel last night the pavements were becoming treacherous as the temperature dropped. I attended a consultative session on International Law, quite a complex issue. Our table was discussing the question of when is it right to intervene in the affairs of another state. We agreed that intervention could be anything from Diplomacy, International Aid, Sanctions, Peacekeeping or ...

I’ve obviously been spending too much time politicking and not enough time marketing - because I’ve managed to mix up two of the world’s leading hotel brands on the flyer for tomorrow evening’s LDO fringe meeting on ‘The Leadership Campaign and the Internet’. So, just for clarity, the fringe is at 8 p.m. and in the [...]

Looks like some disturbances in Belarus - according to reports on the Charter 97 website 10,000 people protested in Minsk against the government. This is unheard of. Story starts: 10,000 Belarusian citizens have gathered today in Svaboda (Freedom) Square inMinsk to meet the candidate of united democratic forces, Alyaksandr Milinkevich.Thousands of interior troops, SWAT, riots police officers, have been drawn tothe city. SWAT commander Dzmitry Paulichenka was in charge of the forceoperation. He is suspected of abductions and murders of Belarusianoppositionists and a journalist. Don't forget to back the LDYS campaign on Belarus, which I hope is able ...

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The FTP are a party I created for my own amusement: the letters stand for the Financial Times Party. What would a Financial Times Party look like? Well of course it would be economically and socially liberal (flavour of the day this - when you have finished this use the links to transport yourself to Inner West Central and Cicero's Songs), The Financial Times have this to say today Sir Menzies takes over at a time when the party has the highest number of MPs in 80 years and a strong base in local government. At last year's general election, ...

I’m surprised this article on Equality by Vice Chair of the Meeting the Challenge working group Duncan Brack hasn’t provoked any discernable debate so far. No doubt everyone has had other distractions this week. I certainly don’t have time to deal with it in depth right now. It is laying down the gauntlet to [...]

Given my previous posting about scrapping the Ministry of Fun, I think this story is worth linking to. I remain sceptical as to why the Government needs to be involved with culture and sport at all, and why it can’t be devolved to Parliament, especially while we have a license fee funded public service broadcasting service. [...]

Gary Glitter reacting to his prison sentence: I haven’t done anything - I am innocent. It is a conspiracy by you know who. Just what does Lord Voldemort have against ageing Glam Rockers anyway, that’s what I’d like to know.

The Guardian has an article by the Sandman himself today.

Iain Sharpe suggests it was all down to that endorsement from Polly Toynbee. Makes sense to me.

I think a new star may have been born. Yesterday I pointed to a profile of Lady Ming on the BBC website. There was also one by Michael White in this morning's Guardian. Better still, try this profile in the Scottish Field. You have to subscribe to read the whole thing, but the free sample is wonderful as it is: After two years the family moved to peaceful occupied Austria and her photo albums show a large sugar pink house beside Lake Woethersee, where the children skied, swam, played tennis and rode. Her father had an official train and ...

It would seem Ms. Toynbee has had something of a change of heart in the wake of the results of the election. In the Guardian today, she writes: But as Lib Dem power and influence grew, so both Campbell and Chris Huhne seemed to head back to the crowded "centre" in search of "credibility" just when, paradoxically, conviction and authenticity may, in the post-Blair era, score better than political

Steve Travis on the Apollo Project (did I mention that I won the Apollo Project prediction competition btw?) has some advice for Ming. Personally I am prepared to allow Ming to advise us for a while, but Steve has wise words: we should pick some key themes; we should try to build the media profile of a relatively small group of rising stars; we should concentrate on a few departments. There are risks in some of this. Restrict the media opportunities too strictly and there will be tears before bedtime. And why should we stick to shadowing a few departments ...

If I were, I would vote for the Post Office motion. Last time around I was in the reference back camp, and my prejudice is generally against such detailed policy motions. But in this case detail is the inevitable result of the negotiations following the reference back. So we should vote for it.

On the eve of the Harrogate regional conference the Liberal Democrat leadership should give serious thought to the potential benefits of adopting a more classically liberal policy stance. This leader in today’s Times argues precisely that, and is interesting not just for the argument – with which I wholeheartedly concur – but also for the wider context. For as long as I can remember the Murdoch Press has been deeply unhelpful to the Liberal Democrats. There has even been some speculation that the New of the World revelations about Mark Oaten might have been a calculated attempt to damage the ...

The Lord Harris of Haringey has been asking government departments how they manage their internal IT - using virus infections as a measure. The Q&As are here. But in short, DFES is impervious to viruses, DWP could do better - much better.

Along with everyone else, I am off to Harrogate, which makes a nice change from Dereliction-on-Sea where we all had such a lovely time in September. For many people the highlight of the conference will be Ming’s first speech as party leader. However, many of the more discerning delegates will have their eyes on the item immediately preceding it on the agenda at 11.10 on Sunday morning. This will provide an inspirational tale for all Lib Dems of heroic campaigning and Liberal Democrat principles in action in local government. Yes, Watford Liberal Democrats have arrived – it won’t ...

Everyone seems to agree that the Huhne campaign got off to a flying start but had a much worse second half. So what happened at that crucial midway point to derail the Huhne campaign. Yes, you’ve guessed right! It was Polly wot lost it. That Toynbee endorsement really did send the Huhne campaign into freefall as I predicted , more in hope than expectation.

Ming Campbell has a great opportunity to push the Liberal Democrats to centre stage. The Liberal Democrats have always stood up for the socially liberal agenda. The clarity with which we express opposition to the political might of the state is part of the very bedrock of what we do well. The commitment to international law and to the social limits of the state have been two things that have made the Liberal Democrats stand out over the past five years. The opposition to the war in Iraq and the "war on terror" has marked us out as principled and ...

Well after the excitement of the Leadership Election yesterday I am just about to set off to Harrogate for the Spring Conference of the Liberal Democrats. I am looking forward to this Conference more than normal - I suppose it is the prospect of Ming's first Leader's speech.

Having survived my reselection and once more emerged as top of the South Wales West list, I am very aware that the run up to the 2007 Assembly elections has started. Judging by this article Labour are planning ahead, but they are using public money to do so. Whether in the normal course of events the Welsh Assembly Government can justify employing six "Heads of Ministerial Communications Teams", each on a salary scale from £37,918 to £48,990 is debatable. To do so in the face of acute service pressures in local government, education, and the NHS and an abandoned ...

Well with one leadership contest over, we are now embarked on a second. However, as this is rugby it is far more serious. Bring back Mike Ruddock I say.

by Steve Travis Congratulations to Sir Menzies Campbell on a hard-won victory in the leadership election. In deference to the four phases of team-building alluded to in the title, I'd like to take the presumption of offering him some advice on the immediate priorities requiring attention: - Restructure the parliamentary team. Focus on maybe half a dozen (at most) key departments, and ensure that those chosen for these briefs are strong candidates. We should aim to get our stars in the media as much as possible. - Give the party's professional structure a complete overhaul. Evaluate the performance of all ...

If this story has any truth to it then I guess I voted correctly. Innovation by all means but the last thing that British politics needs is another Centre Right party

LibertyCat and I are heading to Harrogate for the Liberal Democrat Federal Conference this weekend. Am hoping to blog live from conference, but if I don't manage it then fear not! It's entirely possible you may be enlightened, stimulated and entertained by our new group blogger, GoodLiberal. If you're on the libdemblogs network and are heading to Harrogate yourself... if you can recognise us

I can't get my blood worked up about this, but in fact it goes to the heart of what is wrong with the British political system. Femme-de-Resistance has told me to produce more short, snarky posts, so regard this as the short, snarky version of my long post about the POWER inquiry. The school dinners at my local school are lousy. In a sensible political system, this has a sensible solution 1) I

The Safer Neighbourhood Team of police dedicated to Weavers Ward are currently focussing on George Loveless and James Hammett House and Ravenscroft Park. Surveys conducted by the Lib Dem Focus Team last November highlighted this as a crime hotspot. I'm talking about the "windmill" blocks, just off the Hackney Road and a lot of the problem stems from what was an innovative design idea of 3...

Ming Campbell has been elected as the new leader of the Liberal Democrats, taking over from Charles Kennedy. The full results of the all-member postal ballot were: Name First round   Second round     Votes % Votes % Menzies Campbell 23,264 45% 29,697 58% Simon Hughes 12,081 23% eliminated   Chris Huhne 16,691 32% 21,628 42% Turnout 52,036 72% (1999: 62%) In his acceptance speech Ming Campbell said the challenge for all of us now is to lead ...

Even I can't find an excuse not to go to conference when its on my door step so I will be around if anyone wants lunch or a trip to bettys. I may be cheap skate and just get a free pass for the training/fringe events but do call me and say hello if you are comming "up north."

Why this sudden explosion of Lib Dem toy animal blogs? First Pink Dog, now Millennium Dome - don’t these people realise that the fur gets in between the keys? I would allow my toy to blog, but I would fear the consequences to the world if I did - he can be a little temperamental.

Bagehot in this week's Economist hits the nail on the head: yes, we should make our democratic institutions more, erm, democratic. That means fair votes, an elected second chamber, local government with real budgets, and caps on donations to political parties. But we're kidding ourselves if we think this will lead to a surge in election turn-outs: The real problem, which the commission recognises