LibDem Blogs - Archived!

Tomorrow I'd love to be in Dunfermline to see my team win for the third time in that great city. The first was to watch Livingston beat the Pars with a spectacular Paul Daglish, sadly now a Hibee, goal the second of course being Oor Willie's sucess in the by election. Well tomorrow sees a vital game in Livingston's battle for survival in the SPL after two wins on the bounce we are now only 6

This is my new "thing". An andedote to trendy bars its a fairly traditional small pub just by Leeds City rail station. Traditional decor with amazing red leather arm chairs. However the real attraction is the scrumpy. Along side the real ale they stock a guest selection of scrumpies some of which are organic. you have to watch the % (one is 7.5%!) as you get a 3 for 2 effect on pints at that level. I haven't tried the food yet but it looks like its a kind of deluxe version of tradional pub food with an emphasis on ...

Have just watched on More 4 the Presidential debate between Santos and Vinnick. I undertstand it was a "live" episode in the series swan song of season seven. I agree with the description of the show as "political pornography for liberals". Love it dearly thought I do I accept it never really recovered from the loss of Aaron Sorkin. However it is going out in style with trade mark fantasy senarios about what a Clinton presidency would have been like had he kept his trousers on. I love it becuase it shows politics as noble and decent and slags off ...

Back in May 2004, Matthew Parris wrote a brilliant article, Why I will be rooting for a George Bush election victory: What the President and his advisers are trying to do will be a colossal failure. But failure takes time to show itself beyond contradiction. The theory that liberal values and a capitalist economic system can be spread across the world by force of arms, and that the United States

Look carefully at these two photos. When were they taken? OK, so the first was taken this month at the Cox Land Recycling site. The second one was taken no later than January 2005, and possibly in January 2004 or 2003 You may recognise it as the photo on the Conservative manifesto, which gives the impression that it shows the current state of...

Here's another bewildering use of an ASBO: BBC NEWS | Wales | South West Wales | Asbo for Pc carrying baton in pub : A policeman who took a baton into a pub has been given an Asbo banning him from the premises for two years. David Burrows, 43, will resign from South Wales Police before he can be sacked, Swansea Crown Court was told. Burrows, of Rhyd-y-fro, Pontardawe, who was found guilty last month of possessing a weapon in a public place, was also given a suspended jail term. So, was he found guilty of ...

‘Body Art Studio’   For purposes of clarification, I would just like to point out that I, as a Councillor, fully support the endeavours of the gentleman who wishes to open a ‘Body Art Studio’ in Castlegate, Malton. The premises of which had been in such a sad state of repair (picture below) for such a considerable period of time.  

So folks, with people throwing all sorts of dodgy loans at you... what would you do with all the excess cash in a general election campaign? Maybe lots more leaflets? A campaign helicopter perhaps to get you to certain places? Or how about making sure your partner's hairdo is alright. Looks like we need to redefine the term "champagne socialists".

There’s something about a leadership election that gets the adrenalin going…………isn’t there? The problem is, when its all done it’s a bit deflating isn’t it? Well…………truth to say…………completely deflating! Hence my silence, what’s left to say? My disappointment at my chosen candidate losing has been replaced by total despair at the incumbent. We all knew Ming would be a caretaker………….but I for one didn’t think that would mean hiding himself in the cleaning cupboard never to be heard of again! Sorry, a bit harsh maybe, but really………..I am the only one who longs for the dulcet ...

OK on first look today's Northern Scot makes bad reading for Liberal Democrats within a week of the Moray by election. But on close inspection one comment from their Leader article gives a very subtle clue to where the paper's sensibilities lie. The phrase in question is: Full-time party officials from the south have been mobilised to conduct the sort of campaign Moray has never seen in the

And this time it's Pauline... (Photo courtesy of bbc.co.uk) Cherie .oO "I'll bet her's cost £7.70 with a tip at Betty's on the Beverley Road" And, could we be assured that none of my UNISON dues went towards any hair-dos, either affiliated or general?

This week's House Points from Lib Dem News. Regular readers of this blog may notice a lot of familiar material - from here, here and here, to be precise. Well, it was Easter and I had an article to write for the Guardian. Headline to come Last week, I hope you will recall, House Points looked at the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill. This is the sinister plan to give government powers to amend legislation without going back to the Commons. Just after I sent that column off, the minister in charge of the bill, Jim Murphy, conceded ...

As blogging is going to be light for the next week due to the fact that I am representing the Welsh Assembly at a Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Conference, I thought I would provide a picture caption competition to keep you all occupied. The story behind the photograph is that Welsh Liberal Democrat AMs and MPs were in Edinburgh at one of our regular strategy meetings and were also

The Liberal Democrats have moved to distance themselves from their biggest donor following his arrest on fraud charges in Spain says the BBC. You bet they have. Meanwhile Iain Dale is trying to make Lib Dem flesh creep: The LibDems were faced tonight with the prospect of having to pay back the £2.4 donation received from Michael Brown (left), who was arrested in Spain today on 53 charges allege forgery, perjury, dishonesty, perverting the course of justice and obtaining a passport by deception. The Crown Prosecution Service applied for a European arrest warrant for Mr Brown on behalf of ...

It looks like the Brown-Cameron green pissing contest is game, set and match. What Dave would do for a book title like this. (and yes, I know the fact that a book has the word “brown” in the title is a little tenuous, but its a lot more concrete than anything either of these pillocks [...]

From NBC: Gas stations in three East Coast states ran out of fuel on Thursday as gas prices soared. Shortages were reported in Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania starting on Thursday afternoon. They could last as long as 30 days. This is only indirectly related to hydrocarbon depletion. It links moreso to a changeover to ethanol mixed fuel. I am really not sure that ethanol is a good source

…it really should be this splendid piece from everyone’s favourite furry heffalump, Millennium Elephant, who was fortunate enough to find that one of Newsnight’s focus group participants for David Cameron’s friend Frank Luntz was “the lady who lives upstairs”. Tags: frank+luntz, newsnight

BBC News: Lib Dem donor faces fraud charges: Scottish businessman Michael Brown is being extradited to the UK to face a number of charges including fraud, forgery and obtaining by deception. I know we’re supposed to be grateful for his generosity, but I can’t help thinking “Haha”.

The government of the Russian Federation continues to act as though there is no such thing as a win-win solution. The country continues to through its weight around in almost every sphere: the seizure of Georgian mineral water (see link) is just the latest in a series of heavy handed restrictions on trade with countries that the regime in Moscow doesn't like. Essentially Russia continues to believe that if someone wins in a negotiation with Moscow, then by definition the Russians must have lost. Economics has become a continuance of politics, or even war, by financial means. This one eyed ...

Apologies to the Guardian. I spent a delightful few hours in the Retro Bar on Sunday night just down from Charring Cross Station. Its a oasis from global McGay (TM) bars and a miserabilists Heaven. I worked my way through a couple of broadsheets while killing time waiting for my train listening to Radiohead, Morrisey, Kate Bush etc. I felt like I was in "Cheers" as I was on a bar stool receiving personal attention from a caring barman. The slightly alternative feel to the place was reinforced by him being kitted out in indie gear but heavily pierced and ...

We are now less than one week away from the By-Election that has kept everybody guessing - and what a fortnight it has been. Scandal and intrigue have rocked the north coast of Scotland and even the most rabid of political pundits would have to admit that this is very much a three way marginal. The discussion [...]

I was sent a link to a relatively new site this morning. The site is called Voters Revolt and claims that it "was born out of deep anger and frustration at a political establishment which over the decades has increasingly treated the British public with contempt" I have not yet explored the whole site but I find much there that I agree with. If you want to see their site click here. Tag Politics

The protest for democracy in Nepal brings hope that the will of the people will always prevail in the end, when in the West we have grown complacent about our democratic rights, to the point that they are being taken away.

means 'earth lion': you'd have thought with all Dave's glacier tramping someone might have made something of that. Or maybe its too obvious. Or maybe Dave's aides are planks. And if they use it now, I'm going to invoice them.

Seems the paper has taken an interest in me - how sweet! Unfortunately they have taken an exception to my nationality and my pop at another paper. Yes, I am officially an immigrant, my ancestors were also immigrants from Europe to Australia, South Africa and America from England and mainland Euro

Back in 1977 I bought the Sex Pistols single and did not celebrate the Jubilee. Like good teenagers everywhere, I was a convinced republican. Since then I have changed my mind - and living in a couple of republics has helped bring this change about. The Jonathan Freedland article (quoted by Tabman below) tries to make the case for republicanism. It fails utterly. The nub of Freedland's article is that the monarchy somehow impacts upon our political system in dreadful fashion Our politics is warped by this institution too. If we have an over-mighty, over-centralised executive it is because the ...

Where should Hyde Parks' new CCTV cameras be? I'm not an uncritical fan of CCTV. I'm less keen on the traditional Civil Liberties grounds for objecting but more on practical ones. I always remember a night shift I did with the police in Holbeck in south Leeds. I was with the duty inspector and he took me to watch the divisional CCTV centre. It was full on a saturday night of screens recording live, Vandalism, Fighting and Anti Social behaviour. The inspector asked me what I thought to which I replied " you have all this infomation comming in and ...

So a Populus survey has revealed that 62% of people think Dave doesn’t care about the environment, and believe his jaunt to Norway to be a cynically motivated exercise. He has also kindly deposited five tons of CO2 into the atmosphere in the process of getting to the frosty Artic. It’s not all doom and gloom though, as the Sun points out, at least he didn’t wear a hat .

Well, another year , another election address - and another photo of me which will be the standard one for the next 12 months or so and is now in my blogger profile. So out goes the one that was allegedly "Cameronesque" (presumably David Cameron, not Doctor Cameron) and in comes a photo that ,well, makes me look more like 50 than 40. Well, I am 47. And then I depressed myself slightly by finding

I am a Republican. Well I try. If you were starting a society from scratch then frankly you wouldn't impose a monarchy. It institutionalises class, deference and social imobility. You certainly wouldn't impose one on the British model which on some levels still seems to assume we have an Empire and its still 1953. The problem as ever is "What would you put in its place?". We aren't starting from scratch and wether some of us like it or not the monarchy is an important national symbol respected by many. I suspect we are in the first stage of the ...

In common with most of her subjects I tend to wish Elizabeth II well- so congratulations to her on the occasion of her 80th Birthday. Also today is Good Friday in the Orthodox church. I therefore wish a Happy Easter to my orthodox friends.

The news that an Ashes cricket Test match will be played in Cardiff in 2009 has not gone down too well in England, where a number of people seem to think that the existence of the Welsh Assembly has given us an unfair advantage in the bidding war. Nevertheless, I think I can safely predict that seats at next month's Council planning committee meeting will be very rare indeed. Will we see ticket

Thanks to Guido Fawkes and Iain Dale for drawing my attention to this rather good re-working of Labour's Dave the Chameleon PPB. Beware, it is a big file and will take some time to download.

In today's Guardian, Jonathan Freedland argues persuasively that the institution of Monarchy should die with the present holder, using some good Liberal arguments: As the Queen and her enduring place in the national imagination proves, the office of head of state matters a lot: it embeds itself deep in our collective marrow. By preserving it in perpetuity for a single, pampered family we send a powerful, subliminal message to every generation of Britons. You may work hard, we say; you may be full of talent and virtue. But you will never, ever, fill the highest office of the land. Your ...

Ludlow's former Conservative MP Christopher Gill (1987-2001) has defected to UKIP in protest at David Cameron's approach to Europe. He said Cameron had dragged the Tories to "a new low" by "playground name-calling" directed at UKIP.

Spent several hours delivering yesterday. The weather was so dismal it's made the task feel more arduous. Don't mind general deliveries, the famous Libby leaflets but specifically addressed envelopes need concentration and take much longer to deliver. Was praying it wouldn't rain, nothing worse than trying to read names on soggy envelopes. At the end of it almost fell asleep on my feet. Just my bad luck or rather stupidity, about to go home for a much needed cuppa and found one envelope at the bottom of my bag which somehow had got left behind. Just had to be ...

...but the Tories are possibly in the best position to do it, if they dare. Much has been made of David Cameron's attempts to persuade us that a vote for the Tories is the real environmental vote for Britain. And whilst I will suspend judgement personally until I see policies defined, because I do fancy that old fashioned small "c" conservatism can be very environmentally sustainable, I have yet to hear him propose any of the sort of change that I believe can only truly create a sustainable world. And nor am I saying that any of the mainstream ...

In today's Daily Telegraph Frank Field writes about Why Labour is losing the working class: Amongst other things he places much emphasis on social housing allocation practices: Housing remains a flash point. The working-class sense of fairness is mocked by allocation policies that put at the top of the list groups who, in the local community's eye, have less claim than other groups. A policy of housing the homeless is noble. It is the way it is carried out which is so objectionable Certainly I am sure anyone who has ever stood on a doorstep canvassing ...

In an homage to (otherwise known as blatantly ripping off) Iain Dale and Mike Ion - both of whom are running polls to find out the most impressive MPs from the 2005 intake among the Tories and Labour respectively - I'm conducting a similar exercise over at my other gaff for the new Lib Dem MPs. The shortlisted 10, chosen pretty arbitrarily, but displayed alphabetically, are: Jeremy BrowneNick

... the campaign continues to heat up. Our side are throwing their hearts and souls into the campaign and our gallant opponents are plumbing new depths in their plot to terrify every little old lady in London. It's reached the point where winning is more than just a desire, it's a necessity. Nothing would give me greater pleasure than to send a clear message to Southwark Labour telling them that