LibDem Blogs - Archived!

Seymour Hersh (hit list exposing the My Lai massacre and Abu Ghraib’s abuse of prisoners) recently wrote that George Bush was considering using nukes on Iran’s nuclear power installations. Given GWB’s rash foreign policy, I thought this worth a post. On which Tristan commented that this wasn’t news. To paraphrase (and I hope not wrongly) the US has nukes, and their use is therefore part of their

A big thank you to Simon Werner at Maidenhead Lib Dems for inspiring me to get on with making Flock Together’s Google maps clickable. Now if you submit a meeting, you can move the pin so that it’s in exactly the right place via clicking on the map. Next step is to reapply the pins [...]

Oliver Kamm reminds us that Newts Livingstone is not the only British politician to make a fool of himself by refusing to admit the nature of the regime ruling China. Here is Edward Heath writing in his memoirs: Of course it was right to deplore and condemn the brutal suppression which occurred in June 1989 [at Tiananmen Square] but, in general, we in the West must learn to be rather more cautious about judging the political arrangements in other parts of the world by our own subjective standards.And here is Tony Benn in his diary: Had a long talk to ...

Matthew Turner points us towards a New York Review of Books article on the power of the blog in politics. You always have to ask how relevant the lessons are for the British scene, but there is food for thought there.

We should view the news that Iran is boasting about manufacturing enriched uraniam with equanimity and stout resolve. There seems no doubt now that Iran is determined to provoke and enrage the international community when it comes to having a nuclear capability; equally, however, it is no coincidence that this loud "announcement" follows closely from the faintly hysterical story that the USA had plans to attack Iran with nuclear weapons. There are three things to say about the nuclear attack story: firstly, it is totally plausible that the US military has drawn up plans to attack Iran with nuclear ...

Sorry to go over yesterday’s news, but I do find this latest story about cautions issued for rape rather problematic. I’m sorry to state the bleeding obvious, but you cannot detect a trend from just two statistics, especially when they are such small figures. In the grand scheme of things 40 cautions across [...]

I was out delivering our Focus leaflets in Hook Road this evening. It was raining, and I was pleased I had my usual Focus delivery bag with me. It started life as one of those bags that you are given at a conference to carry all your papers. I've spoken at many e-government conferences over the last couple of years so I have built up quite a collection. The best for delivery...

There has recently been controversy over a case of alleged racist abuse. The accused is a 10-year-old boy, alleged to have used racist language in an insult to a fellow classmate. The case has gained prominence because of the remarks of the judge who, in requesting that the prosecution reconsider their case, branded the case "crazy". The BBC reports his comments: "Have we really got to the stage where we are prosecuting 10-year-old boys because of political correctness? "I was repeatedly called fat at school. Does this amount to a criminal offence? He added: "Nobody is more ...

Good news this week. had a letter from the campaign group at Garston of E school. Now the school has been saved they are working on what they need to do to take things forward.. and they want people who were involved in the campaign to help them and share their views. This is really positive - a good sign that people are determined to make progress and develop the school and its role.

i have discovered a new law of nature.. if I leave the house with a bag of leaflets to deliver.. it will rain.. but not until i am at the furthest point from the house or shelter. Happened again this morning - got loads done early on.. and then a soaking before I finished. Getting the message out makes it worth it - but at the time thats not always what you're thinking!

Labour (broadly defined) has replied in two ways to Steve Webb's revelations that 24000 jobs are about to go in the Health Service. Yellow Peril says it isn't true: Lib Dem's have had a rocket aimed at them as a result of their desperate attempts to get scare stories about the NHS in the media. Jackie Ashley in the Guardian has another point of view: the problems are there, but it was Milburn wot done it: Milburn will be remembered for many years for his long stint at health, where rampant instability now threatens as his erratic market goes ...

Some highlights for 19 September. Events 1692 - Giles Corey is pressed to death after refusing to plead in the Salem witch trials. 1778 - The Continental Congress passes the first budget of the United States. 1796 - George Washington makes his farewell address. 1893 - Women's suffrage: In New Zealand, the Electoral Act of 1893 is consented to by the governor giving all women in New Zealand the

Well after a rather traumatic month starting with the move, then confronting by ex-fiancees father over the money he owed me and then short changed me, all of this while not having a computer, then not having my BT Braodband installation disk I am back in the land of the blogging. I also ended up not being able to get to either conference last month due to getting the new flat up and running so

The Lib Dem appointments to the Lords were made by Charles Kennedy, not Ming Campbell. Unfortunately, it has to be said they demonstrate a lot of what was wrong with the Kennedy administration and why, however it was done, we are better off without him. Firstly, the bizarre appointment of John Lee, a former Conservative [...]

Just got back from a long weekend of surfing (badly) in Devon and am just getting up to speed. On returning, aside from noting that the bird flu epidemic never in fact took off (ahem), I read that the SNP have commissioned a push-poll from You-Gov. I say ‘push poll’ because that’s exactly what it [...]

The Independent has this week begun its second UK sudoku championship. To enter you need to send in nine completed championship sudokus grids. These are being printed daily and yesterday’s was the first of fourteen. As last year, everyone who submits nine correct puzzles will be invited to a regional heat where they will compete [...]

To pass the time before we find out who’s going to run Italy, some anagrams of the protagonists. Did Silvio Berlusconi manage to con bilious livers, or did his vice sour billions? His short concession speech: “I, vincible. Our loss.” Would Romano Prodi be one of Blair’s favourites: a primo donor? Because Italians overseas can elect senators [...]

Here is David cameron's biggest challenge. On the one hand we have a party conference where he is urging his followers against a backdrop with the word "CHANGE" BBC NEWS Politics Cameron sets Tories on journey of change And then we have the Oxford English Dictionary which defines the word Conservative as:- conservative • adjective 1 - averse to change and holding traditional values. Cameron urging the Conservatives to change would be like standing up at the Lib Dem party conference and urging the membership to be Intolerent, Biggoted & Narrow Minded.

I admit that I am notoriously impractical when it comes to DIY and household improvements. It may be that I do not have the knack or just that I am incapable of applying myself, but whatever I try never quite works out right. This article in the Western Mail therefore struck a chord. I can at least wire a plug though I recall that my first attempt at doing so was a bit of a disaster. I had just moved into a hall of residence at University only to find that all the electricity sockets took small round three ...

At the time of the flooding of the Cardiff Bay basin I was my Party's Welsh spokesperson on the Environment. I was appalled at the damage that the barrage did to this area and in particular the impact on the numbers of Redshank and Dunlin in the Bristol Channel. The scheme at the Gwent Levels is of course a mitigation measure and does not provide an alternative habitat for these birds. It is too late for this area, but not for the Severn Estuary. That is why Rhodri Morgan needs to get out of the mindset that the only ...

I’ve occasionally wondered if John Harris is in fact Johann Hari in a strawberry blonde wig - the two names are virtually identical. Now, it seems, he has taken to quoting from his own articles - Johann wrote an almost identical piece, albeit with more brevity, a few months ago. All this tut-tutting though, to [...]

Effectmeasure has taken the British media and government to task over their initial reaction to the dead Swan of Cellardyke. Revere (Effectmeasure's group pen name, honouring American public health pioneer Paul Revere) warns that the media is engaging in an 'orgy of over-reassurance', and government officials are talking bilge, stating scientific conjecture as certainty in public: "So if the British press and the government want to induce panic, they should just keep doing what they are doing, spreading misinformation and false assurances in the name of providing good information and appropriate reassurance." C.P.Snow wrote about the two ...

The Pentagon has announced a rebranding exercise. The War formerly known as the War against Terror" will now be known as "The Long War". Usually in a war it is helpful to know three things: who you are fighting, what you are fighting for and when you know whether you have won or lost. We are given to understand that our enemy, the shadowy and evil people associated with Al-Q'aida could appear in any place and commit any crime up to and including using nuclear weapons against population centres. The definition of success is that such crimes do not take ...

The FTSE 100 is back over 6,000 points for the first time since 2001 and people are charging £85 for a sandwich!! Yes for a sandwich not for a three course meal for two. And people are foolish enough to pay it. I am just waiting for bar staff and shop assistants to start tipping shares.

Yesterday I was blogging about the Labour Party fighting like ferrets in a sack. I also mentioned that the honeymoon was over for the Tories and that they were failing to make real progress. No wonder when you read this article (see link). The candidate concerned says she does not believe what she said. So thats ok then. Cameron says she is in the wrong party - but noticeably has not taken any steps to remove her from his party!

Personally, I have no problem with people who have something to offer and who have been rejected by the electorate being put in the House of Lords. After all that is the system. What I do have a problem with is the system itself. A revising chamber which is appointed on the basis of Prime Ministerial and party patronage is both anti-democratic and constitutionally dangerous. It is not a situation which can be allowed to prevail for much longer. There must be reform so that the vast majority of the second chamber is elected by some form ...

... Anybody any idea what's going on? It's 9.57 pm, and looks like a dead-heat, except that everyone* thinks Berlusconi has pulled a rabbit out of the hat. I'm scarcely wowed by Prodi, but how anyone can countenance voting Forza Italia is as beyond my comprehension as understanding those who supported Dubya. (* except the punters on the Betfair markets. I laid Romano at 1.6, and backed Silvio

Kingston Liberal Democrats have published their manifesto for Kingston - Cleaner, Greener, Safer. It's quite a long document, but we've deliberately spent time getting it right. If the voters of the borough return us as the next administration then it will immediately form the basis for our policy programme for the next four years.