LibDem Blogs - Archived!

Normal service is resumed by the Conservative Commentariat: Next Thursday there will be local elections. As our poll today shows, sizeable minorities will vote, loyally but without enthusiasm, for their ancient allegiances, Tory or Labour. An American usage of the term "ancient", I presume, as the Labour Party has only been in existence for just about a century. Still, we haven't yet got to the really patronising bit: But most will register their vote as a protest, with various degrees of fury: Liberal Democrat, Ukip, BNP, or none of the above. As usual, the local elections will be won ...

The Independent on Sunday reported yesterday that: The wife of the disgraced Liberal Democrat MP Mark Oaten is to tell her story about the "rent boy" revelations that led to her husband's downfall. In a concerted effort to rehabilitate the couple personally and politically, Belinda Oaten will write an article for Hello! magazine detailing the fall-out from her husband's affair with a male prostitute. Both Iain Dale and James Graham are right when they say that the last thing Mark Oaten should do is become involved with Hello! The strategy most likely to redeem him in the eyes of ...

But this ICM poll does have some interesting findings. Public support for Labour has slumped to its lowest point since the 1987 general election defeat of Neil Kinnock by Margaret Thatcher. The ICM survey for the Guardian newspaper showed the party had suffered a five-point slump over the past month to 32% - fewer than a third of voters. It is not David Cameron's Tories who benefited from the slide in popularity however but the Liberal Democrats under new leader Sir Menzies Campbell. And if that is not enough Backing for the British National Party stood at 2% - far ...

This article written by Chrisco. I have been giving some thought recently to the ubiquitous Frank Luntz, the U.S. Republican strategist and pollster who has been hired by Newsnight to conduct focus groups for their programme. A resurgent Liberal has outlined the main charges against the impartiality of these focus groups and the personal links between Luntz and Cameron. Beyond that, however, I have been giving some thought to what Mr. Luntz does for his day job, i.e. as a Republican strategist and head of Luntz Research Companies. He first came to prominence in 1995 as the brains behind ...

Explaining why he bought a Lexus ‘hybrid’, a less environmentally sound car than the Toyota Prius ‘hybrid’: Mr Cameron argued that the official hybrid might not be big enough. "My problem is that often when I go on tour, I have a lot of people in the car with me and I found when I used a Prius it meant we had to have two cars rather than one, so I don't think it would be very good for the

vote Lib Dem Originally uploaded by mainesformayor. Delighted that John Hamilton (independant candidate) used todays hustings to urge people to vote Lib Dem. He wants to see the back of Labour.

The noise of breaking glass - a sound familiar to generations of families as children play with balls in the street - alerted the neighbour to the fate that had just befallen his greenhouse. Understandably furious, he sought out the miscreant who had smashed the glass. It turned out to be his neighbour's son. The boy apologised after confessing to his parents, who told him his pocket money would be docked until he had made good the damage. Satisfied that justice had been done, the neighbour was happy to accept the apology and the money to replace the glass.Yet what ...

Today I have come across a couple of items related to one of the great British film directors. First, the Guardian obituary of Alida Valli, who was one of the stars of The Third Man. Second, this cinematical.com article looking at another Reed masterpiece: The Fallen Idol.

Bizarre world some of these government types live in. I can't believe pat hewitt is actually saying this is the best year ever for the NHS. Either she has no feedback from the service at local level.. or what she considers good isn't what the rest of us do.Just in the last few days there has been stuff in the press about redundancies, lack of cash for alder hey, deficits etc. And more locally I have real concerns about the dental service and the future of Garston hospital. People who work in hospitals tell me ...

Michael White's latest post on Comment is Free is an interesting one. He makes an argument that will feel counter-intuitive to many: that the media is being too critical of the government over civil liberties. I'm in two minds as to whether I disagree. My initial reaction is that the only reason the media (and I'd very much include bloggers in this) are making such a fuss is that the government has, beyond any doubt, introduced legislation which does curtail some civil liberties. The Hitler/Stalin/Mao comparisons are wide of the mark, Guantanamo is not Auschwitz and Blair ...

Thank you Cristina Odone for revealing to me that Kirsty Alsopp, the smug presenter of Location, Location, Location whose latest wheeze is to do a series on the wonders of buy-to-let, is the daughter of the 6th Baron Hindlip. So it turns out that the poster child of new feudalism is in fact a [...]

Today's Western Mail reports that the Welsh Conservatives are having their usual problems with women. The candidates in all seven of the party's target Welsh seats next year are men, and men also dominate the PR list seats selected last week. Senior party figures in Cardiff and Westminster were hoping a publicity drive would help attract more women and ethnic minority candidates for next year's Assembly elections. However, key target seats like Cardiff North, Clwyd West and the Vale of Glamorgan will be fought by male candidates, as will the safe seat of Monmouth, where sitting AM David ...

From Mahmoud's latest tonto tirade: "You made Europe unsafe for Jews," he said at a press conference. "Allow them to go back to their own fatherlands," he said in a speech about the consequences of World War Two, according to a translation carried live by Bloomberg Television. "You have created a problem which you should solve yourself." And also: "Some 60 years have passed since the end of World War II. Why should the people of Germany and Palestine pay now for a war in which the current generation was not involved?" Ahmadinejad said at a news conference. "We ...

At last the news we have been waiting for. Robbie Rowantree has joined the Lib Dems. He's a big name catch. He fought the last two General Elections in the Conservative interest, last time around in Inverness West, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey - the next-door seat to Moray. He was chairman of Caithness and Sutherland Conservatives and was vice-chairman of the Scottish Conservative Countryside Forum The Liberal Review scoop here is that Robbie was a supporter of David Cameron in the recent leadership election. He joins with harsh words for the Conservative campaign in Moray: “After nine years it ...

I have commented before on the draft guidance currently out to consultation on appropriate behaviour when teaching drama in schools. However, an article in the Pendennis column of yesterday's Observer has broached this subject once more. They report that Melvyn Bragg has booked outspoken playwright, Mark Ravenhill, for the South Bank Show's forthcoming edition about Romeo and Juliet. Apparently, Mr. Ravenhill feels strongly that the alleged ban on kissing in Welsh schools is rubbish. "'The idea that Romeo cannot kiss Juliet makes a mockery of drama' says a source at the SBS. 'He'll go round schools encouraging plenty of kissing ...

Top Highland Tory Robbie Rowantree who stood against Danny Alexander in Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey last May and against John Thurso in Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross in 2001 has today defected to the Liberal Democrats. He was Vice Chairman of the Scottish Conservative Countryside Forum but has increasingly become disillusioned with the Scottish Conservatives. He was welcomed

In US presidential elections it’s often referred to as the ‘October Surprise’, when either the Democrats or Republicans wheel out a scandal or a killer news story that they’ve been sitting on in order to effect the outcome of the election at the last minute. Perhaps a grandiose parallel to draw on this occasion but the defection [...]

At last, some good news on the Civil Liberty front. I think we are beginning to get somewhere. Tony Blair deigned to engage Henry Porter in an exchange over Civil Liberty. Somebody is paying attention. Well done Henry. Elsewhere Charles Clarke has published a fourteen page retort to one of his critics (read the abridged version in the Indy here). Today, the Independent itself has a front page devoted to promoting Civil Liberty, while Jenni Russell has devoted yet another excellent article in the Guardian to attacking the Government on its authoritarian record. The salience is clear. The Government ...

out campaigning Originally uploaded by mainesformayor. Simon Hughes MP, President of the Liberal Democrats, was campaigning with us in Blackheath on the day of the London Marathon. I hope everyone who ran had a great time, and that you raised lots of money for your chosen charities!

It’s clear that the threat to ‘net neutrality’ is increasing (as mentioned in this previous post) - and it’s not just a US problem. Find out more at the SavetheInternet.com coalition website. You can read more about net neutrality on the BBC website. Given Tony Blair’s apparent unconditional desire to accept, and even reapply, almost everything done by [...]

The script for the pilot episode of West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin’s new show, Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip, is now available to read online. Sounds like it should be a good show, but the proof of the script is in the making, so we’ll have to see if they can pull it off. [...]

In the final weekend frenzy of By-Election activity all parties, with the notable exception of Labour, were out on the stump in the picturesque constituency of Moray. I was truly amazed by the level of support that our campaign is generating both in terms of local recognition and in the legions of activists arriving from all over the country. 8 hours in a coach on Saturday [...]

Stephen Glover in the Independent has a look at the flip side of all those photos of Dave: These are dark days for David Cameron. An increasing number of Tories are grumbling about his leadership, a few of them openly. Some are asking what on earth he was doing jetting off to Norway to inspect a glacier in the middle of a local election campaign. A YouGov poll in last Friday's Daily Telegraph put the Tories at 33 per cent. They are back where they were in the days of Michael Howard. Meanwhile, though Mr Cameron attracts some sympathetic ...

Parents in Kingston really value education. That is one reason why, over the last four years, Kingston schools have remained near the top of all the league tables. Remaining at the top is just as difficult as getting there in the first place, but there is a real buzz in our schools. In the background the council encourages and supports schools through its team of advisors. But it...

Labour Councillor Ann Holtom has today left the Labour party to join the Liberal Democrats. Councillor Holtom who represents the Tyburn Ward will take the number of Councillors on the City Council's Liberal Democrats group to 33, up from 28 just ten months ago making it the growing party in Birmingham!

Having fiddled about a lot myself I have brought in an expert to gave the blog a professional makeover Changes include : - The new header A move back to one sidebar A consolidation of all the links into drop downs The introduction of categories or tags Hope everyone likes it - let me know what you think

Campaigning all day on Sunday - except for a journey to a working men's club in Harlesden to take part in the London part of the Sunday Politics show on BBC. The club was divided into a big bar and a small bar in which the filming took place. I was there early and so just chatted with Simon Woolley from Operation Black vote and the crew. Tim Donovan was the interviewer and the other guests were

I don’t want to make a habit of agreeing with Iain Dale, but he is absolutely correct regarding Mark Oaten’s latest bid to rehabilitate himself. Let us not forget that the scandal about him visiting male prostitutes was exacerbated by his breathtaking decision to present himself as the quintassential “family values” leadership candidate. [...]

One thing that puzzles me… the Prime Minister is dead keen changing the “rules of the game” when tackling organised crime so that circumstantial evidence leads to presumption of guilt. Last time I looked, the circumstantial evidence that he has been accepting payment for peerages was mounting pretty high. Does he think the [...]

Sir, As a former and in a few days hopefully future local councillor my heart leapt as I read Danny Kruger today (Telegraph | Opinion | If councils had real power, people wouldn't dream of voting BNP) accurately diagnose the problem with local government and accountability. But I'm afraid it sank again when he listed his tax options. He recognized Local Income Tax as a tax on an economic good - work, but his preferred option, Local Sales Tax is similarly a tax on an economic good - trade. Being fair, he does propose LST should replace ...

I have just received my "Headingley Rose" election special. Once upon a time it was the "Labour" rose but its party political affiliation seems to have been down graded for some odd reason. Never the less I was really pleased to see it. All sucessful political parties define there opponents in the end. In politics people always get sick of you and boot you out eventually. All you can do in the meantime is try and be honest, apply your principles to the problems of today and hope to leave your legacy. And a crucial part of that legacy can ...