LibDem Blogs - Archived!

Door-step canvassing is when I'm at my best. I have the natural gift of the gab when it comes to talking to residents. Least I've only ever experienced somebody being really rude a couple of times in all the years I been doing it. Learnt how to avoid it - it's all about reacting to the person who answers the door. A lot can be determined from a persons voice. Went out canvassing today near my house in a traditional Labour area. So exciting the way Camden's local party members are moving about the borough. It was amazing how ...

I’ve only just spotted that the Meeting the Challenge Website, which I threw together last year, has done it’s work, and was closed to new submissions a month ago. I hope the site has been valuable - 375 submissions from members all in all. Not a huge success perhaps, but far from a disaster. I confess [...]

See here.. File under: childish and irreverent humour (but good).

{And they're off!} On Friday me and Heather went to Nottingham to meet up with some other Joinees for some duck racing and beer drinking.I tried my luck with a super duck from Asda which came with two small ducks on it's back (allowing me multiple entries if one fell off). However after being tenth for a while a boat got in the way and I finished somewhere around 30th.After the race the ducks were kindly rescued, and mine was donated to a small child in a pushchair (after his mother had washed it).We then ran around Nottingham doing ...

Hampshire County Council have announced that they plan to build a new Park Ride will serve one of the most important commuter routes into the city and reduce car travel not only into the city centre but also to the big employers along Romsey Road (the hospital, prison and university). Brian Collin and I, together with County Cllr Charlotte Bailey, recently met with officers from the county's

Back last night from Winchester (or “Mark Oaten country” as the local Council prefer to market it) to visit Andy, and also share a few light ales with Alex and Paul. I was impressed by the city’s boozers; the eccletically decorated Black Boy and the Wykeham Arms in particular. Back to the grindstone tomorrow.

Off to another part of Liverpool on Saturday to help another Lib Dem Campaign. We had a mass canvass and so many councillors and activists turned up we got rather more done than the candidate had expected. The leader of the Lib Dems on Li verpool City council was one of our helpers along with people from all over the city. A good response - people went away cheerfully.We all treated ourselves to some easter eggs (well walking up and down those terraces did get me some exercise!) One of the things I like about ...

My credit card company has charged me £20 for missing a payment. It's made me really mad with anger. I have been a loyal customer of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation for all of two months: it was'nt the sort of welcome I had anticipated from the HSBC who kept sending me letters to take out one of their credit cards. My relenting to their mail shots has cost me dear. I was reminded

The North Yorkshire Moors Railway runs steam trains through (as the name suggests) the North Yorkshire Moors. The NYMR is a sure way to entertain bored children, has preserved may fine old locos from the scrapyard, gives steam enthusiasts something to do and occasionally it sets the Moors on fire. Spark-belching steam engines will do that especially if, as NYMR's manager said of this Easter's fire, "things are very dry". "Things" shouldn't be "very dry" on the North Yorkshire Moors in mid April. The ground should be pretty wet following a winter and early spring of ...

In the recent Palestinian elections Hamas were returned as the largest party and therefore form the new Government. Therefore the attack in Tel Aviv today takes on a whole new meaning, this being the first Hamas attack on Isreal since the election result was declared. When a terrorist group seeks a political mandate there is a hard choice to make. It has to be either the bomb or the ballot box.

Spent most of Saturday delivering leaflets and campaigning in Lossiemouth for Linda Gorn, the LibDem candidate at the Moray Scottish parliamentary by-election. A really nice day out although a long drive there & back. Campaign appears to be going well and judging by Saturday's "Scotsman", the Tory campaign is in meltdown - http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=572382006. Spent a lot of

I’ve always been pretty rubbish at designing buttons, but here’s a couple for Flock Together. This one is the same size as the Lib Dem Blogs button. And this one is the same size as the buttons on the Federal website. Hope someone else can do better! Comments welcome.

Today's guest column at politicalbetting.com, by Conservative activist Andrew Saywell, draws the conclusion that there is a correlation between good Conservative performances and bad Lib Dem ones, and vice versa. He says: If in 2009/10 David Cameron leads the Tories to a genuine recovery – i.e. a greatly increased share of the vote – where will this leave Ming Campbell’s Liberal Democrats? Although a 1979 type result is unlikely, a substantial national swing to the Conservatives could be devastating for the party both in the South West and across the country generally, for if the previous electoral patterns are to ...

Ming laid into the Tories in an interview on ePolitix.com (see link). I feel this is good ground to be on. Cameron drafted the last Tory manifesto and the Labour Party and the Conservative Party are squabbling over who can run the shop best. If we can sharpen up our act and get our alternative message across we can make some headway.

According to Saturday's Daily Record residents of the Knightsridge area of Livingston are furious about not being granted an ASBO to deal with teenagers in their area who throw petrol bombs and have nightly running battles around the estate. Unlike Mid Calder, Knightsridge is a former council estate and many of the residents there are accusing Lothian and Borders police of having one rule for the

I did not have much time for blogging yesterday due to family commitments so I put off writing about Margaret Hodge until today. In many ways that is fortunate as I am still having difficulty getting past my anger at her stupidity. I do not know if eight out of ten of voters in Barking and Dagenham were thinking of voting for the BNP before, but after this outburst it is almost certain that they are now. It seems that Mrs Hodge has been talking to her electors but not listening. If many of them are considering voting for ...

I’ve been playing “Phoenix Wright, Ace Atorney” for Nintendo DS. This is Capcom’s revival of the interactive fiction genre, almost 20 years after Infocom’s golden age of IF. Phoenix Wright is a playable legal-soap opera; where Ally McBeal style, you have to guide Phoenix and his pals around a series of investigations and courtroom interactions. Phoenix [...]