LibDem Blogs - Archived!

I have just finished listening to George Galloway's new talk show on talkSPORT. (1056/1089 am) Its a piece of counter intuitive scheduling from a station dominated by right wing "shock jock" style broadcasting. Now I appreciate that I may be expelled from Lib Dem blogs and wider society in general but I have to say It was rather good. I listen to a lot of radio and my default setting should be Five LIVE but its gone so tabloid that I increasingley either switch to Radio 4 or go "proper" tabloid with talkSPORT. The format involves punters ringing up, ...

I was recently reading about the have-a-go-hero antics of the Blogging-Artist-Formerly-Known-As-Englishman-In-Philly, and was intrigued by the call for elected police chiefs. As a keen supporter of localism, and democratically accountable localism in particular, surely I should agree? Absolutely not. The key distinction should be between a politicised executive and a depoliticised service branch of government. In local and national government, that division between politicians and civil servants is clear. The existence of unelected Quangos, running so many aspects of local public service delivery, is directly contrary to that, and the bane of all good liberals. But electing police chiefs would ...

I think the Churchill statue at the centre of the recent furore is brilliant. The fact that Churchill never wore a straightjacket is presumably the whole point of the statue-- you wouldn't have a clue it was about mental illness unless he was portrayed in a straight jacket. From that point, even the statue's detractors might start to realise what the point (I am assuming) was always intended to be. All this debate over the statue hs done exactly the job it was intended, I hope it's all over the Sundays. (Rather than the *other* story that's being tipped to ...

One of my favourite books of last year was Matthew Sweet's Shepperton Babylon. I wrote a long review of it here. Last time I was in Waterstone's I noticed it was included in their three-for-two promotion. I still recommend it highly. Incidentally, no one who has seen the still of Dirk Bogarde from The Singer not the Song on the front cover will believe that Brokeback Mountain was the first gay Western.

I am trying to type this using my new "iListen" voice recognition software. It's very slow at the moment but I guess that's my problem, not yours. To begin at the beginning of the month. Wednesday 1 March was the last Full Council meeting until the climacteric local elections in May. The Mayor bade farewell to those of us who were leaving voluntarily and (perhaps with a glance in my direction?) those of us who were going to be thrown out by the electorate for bad behaviour. The core of the meeting was the 2006/7 Budget ...

Blunts slipped up and dropped three points at Coventry but sadly Leeds failed to take full advantage only managing a point at home to Norwich. I know at least one reader of this blog will be pleased with the Canaries point but quite how Andy Hughes managed to score a goal is beyond me. He is a hard worker alright but lets say that his crossing and shooting ability are not the best. Most Reading

... the Museum of American Constitutional Government is closed due to reconstruction work. And who said that Americans have no sense of irony?

Thanks to those who answered my query. The consensus is that the last Liberal elected in 1906 to die was the sixth Earl of Rosebery - the son of the Liberal prime minister. He lasted until May 1974. Judging by his sporting biography, he must have been a good friend of Lord Bonkers.

Catching up on my reading after a very exciting and interesting conference debate on collective worship in schools, I came upon this fascinating piece by Tomos Livingstone in today's Western Mail. The article speculates on what would have happened if we had not had devolution. It concludes: In policy terms, would the UK Government have stumped up the cash for the Wales Millennium Centre? Would the Blair agenda have driven down waiting lists more quickly? Would the M4 toll road already be built, the environmental questions that originally delayed it less of concern in Whitehall than in ...

I think today was the busiest advice bureau with 18 groups of people (some of which were one person). I had over 40 people present which made me so busy I could not find time to eat the Kit-Kat I had bought before starting. I have had 40 people present before, but that involved three substantial groups adding to about 20 plus 20 others. Because I don't run appointments I cannot be certain how

Harold Wilson said it and he was right. Due to work committments this blog has been rather quiet recently. Over the last week or so, we have seen Ming Campbell elected leader of the Liberal Democrats and Tessa Jowell's marriage and bank balance become public property. Are the two related? The obsession by journalists and politicians to second guess how the electorate will behave in a few

Today I:Went to work in Islington in a light drizzleWrote 489 words on the Dublin fashion industryHad a rather pleasant vegan Thai buffet lunchWatched the trailers for 'V for Vendetta' onlineDiscovered...

Just found this video of 2006 Winter Olympics champion, Evgeni Plushenko. It's a funny film where he strips on ice to Tom Jones *Sex Bomb* sound track. Check out this video: Evgeni Plushenko - Sex Bomb!

The National Audit Office have produced a report that I have not as yet read about the relations between MG Rover and the DTI. The first thing to note is that MG Rover produced good cars that themselves were produced at a profitable margin. They, however, sold too few and therefore could not maintain the number of staff they had. Had the deal with SAIC gone ahead there would have been about

Last night's rally at the Welsh Liberal Democrats Conference in Wrexham was a huge success and has set the tone for the rest of the weekend. The appearance of Liberal Democrat leader Menzies Campbell made all the difference, though some inspirational speeches from Wrexham Council leader, Aled Roberts, former Wrexham MP, Tom Ellis and Lord Roger Roberts also helped. We will gloss over the comment from Baronness Walmsley that the beginning of the year had been a real 'bummer' for the party, so as to spare any more blushes. To be fair though her performance was superb. This ...

Today is the second time I have had to check the date of the newspaper I was reading to ensure that it was not 1 April. Yesterday it was the Swanseas University Student Union's 'Waterfront' magazine, which described a proposal for a 'leek island' to be constructed in Swansea Bay. Now it is the Western Mail with the same suggestion, characterised as a 'man-made Daffodil Island'. My colleagues on Swansea Council are too kind about this latest brain-child of the Vice-Chancellor of Swansea University. The Council Leader describes it as a 'visionary idea' whilst a local Councillor points ...

Whilst it isn't very early in the morning, the five hour time difference makes it feel as though it is. Yes, you're right, I'm on the move again, attending another family wedding, this time, my second cousin, Leon (It was his elder brother who got married in Mumbai in December). Leon has managed to reintroduce Judaism back into the family after I carelessly misplaced Rachelle, and he and Patti get