LibDem Blogs - Archived!

Can anyone explain to my why this article about Julia Goldsworthy, which also explicitly mentions one other Lib Dem and two Tory MPs, is listed on Guardian Unlimited as a Labour story?

In his Conference speech on Saturday, Mike German told us that the new powers coming to the Assembly means that we must find ways to use them to the full: LIB DEM National Assembly leader Mike German yesterday urged members to send him ideas on a postcard as the party looked to find policies before next year's election. Mr German told the party's spring conference in Wrexham the party must "leave no stone unturned" in finding policies likely to go down well with voters. He said: "I challenge all of you here to go home and ...

by Steve Travis Prompted by the anniversary of the Liberal Landslide, adn a recent foray into genealogical research, I have just finished Paul Thompson's excellent The Edwardians . Written originally 30 years ago, and the product of nearly 500 interviews with (then) living Edwardians, it gives some insight into the lives lived 100 years ago. In an occasional series I will dip into this work to look at the differences and, in many cases, surprising similarities with today. First up is the Conservative Party which, like the poor, seems destined to always be with us. The ...

Big annual social at my house. There is a huge turnout because our guest speaker is Shami Chakrabarti from Liberty. She is a complete star - comes early - stays late and entirely captivates the audience who are natural territory for Liberty. Many of my members are her members - and I think she recruits quite a few more by the end of play. Why does Shami work so well? I think it is because she

Well not quite. We have only had a few inches of snow in central Leeds, a lot of which is already melting however it looked lovely tonight. Headingley had a slightly "Narnian" feel to it. I was walking to St Michael's up Cardigan road. Its a moot point where Hyde Park ends and Headingley begins but I always take the COOP as the start. The cardigan road conservation area really was stunning just as dusk was turning black. With the old mansions and flats set so far back from the road and large lawns and trees covered in crisp snow ...

Simon Mollan has closed his blog InnerWest with a post about the underclass and middle-class self-loathing. I find the latter intensely patronising which is why the Grauniad makes me spew. The 'underclass' are doubtless insulted by well-meaning members of the intelligentsia sympathising with the pain of being brought up on a Grimsby council estate. It doesn't achieve anything useful and it breeds

I must admit that I've never been too fond of Charles Clarke. Despite his efforts to play 'good cop' to Blair's 'bad cop' over the 90-day-detention issue, he often comes across as a man with little time for the concerns of others. This is, of course, a useful attribute in a politician charged with pushing through measures such as ID cards, reductions in jury trials and the whole swathe of illiberal 'anti-terror' legislation. It is therefore disappointing, though unsurprising, to have that impression confirmed by this story. Follow the link if you want the details; suffice to ...

This article in today's Sunday Times is yet another example of this governments breathtaking arrogance in ignoring and sidelining parliaments proper role in the decision making process for such important matters. We were promised a proper debate about the replacement (or otherwise) for the Trident weapons system. This debate should take place in the open and parliament should have the final say

Is ITV on the up, transforming itself into a tough, multi-platform market-leader? Or is it on the slide, dying a slow, lingering, undignified death? The answer largely depends on what you think ITV is for. This week, for instance, ITV’s chief executive, Charles Allen, announced that profits for 2005 were up 37% to £425m. Shareholders saw their final dividends boosted, while the company’s pension

Imagine you are a local community leader - an ordinary citizen say, who works as a parking garage attendant - and get cross because rubbish is being dumped on a local football pitch and you complain to the authorities. Sounds like a hard hitting FOCUS story. So what happens to you? Well according to the New York Times if your name is Ali Shalal Qaissi and your locality is in Iraq and the people doing the dumping are the US Army you end up in Abu Ghraib prison being interrogated and tortured as a suspect Al Quaida activist, ...

Paul at Not Little England has a new post up about voter apathy. He begins with a story about 'Fairtrade Fortnight', something I knew nothing about until I read his post, and something he knew nothing about until he saw it advertised in Sainsbury's. He draws a parallel between this and democracy, in that both things are things that we 'should' participate in and yet, often, we don't. For the sake of brevity, I'll leave alone the assumption that Fairtrade is a good thing, as it's a pretty reasonable one. I agree with the broad thrust of his ...

This is the end of the official Cameron honeymoon - and time to reflect on what he has done so far. There has certainly been an improvement in the Tory poll figures. I think the Tories would have expected rather more: Cameron on paper is a more attractive figure than Howard; the other parties have been in considerable trouble during much of this period; and Cameron ought to be having a baby bounce (or have the Great British Public sated their appetitie for politicians with babies). Cameron appears to me to take the line that the function of the Tory ...

Two conferences over two weekends and we are snowed in again. Is there no end to this weather? Meanwhile, the Sunday papers reveal that Tony Blair is being snowed under with a series of sleaze allegations that could well undermine his legacy. The Observer finds two more mortgages signed by Tessa Jowell to help finance her estranged husband's business dealings, whilst other papers detail the growing storm over the number of peerages being offered to people who have donated or lent money to New Labour. Once more I repeat my plea to radically reform the way that political parties ...

The Liberal Democrats will continue to be a heterogeneous group who confound the expectations of stupid Grauniad writers after Menzies Campbell was elected leader, beating both Chris Huhne AND Simon Hughes. The votes of non-active members who hadn't had time to get to know Chris H. but had seen Menzies on the TV allowed the 64-year-old acting leader to secure 29,697 (58%) of the votes ahead of

The death of John Profumo has prompted the re-telling in today’s papers of the scandal to which his name is conjoined. (He was fortunate, perhaps, in one regard: that the addition of the suffix ‘gate’ to the name of whoever was up to their necks in it was not then compulsory.) Profumo’s ‘Keeler interlude’ truly is a morality tale of its time, a wicked potion of sordid glamour and fallen glory: call-girls, a sexed-up Cliveden set, society osteopaths, the Minister of War, Russian spies, Hollywood actresses – it had it all. One man’s brief infatuation came to epitomise an age, ...