LibDem Blogs - Archived!

There was a rather odd letter published in the Oxford Times this week, and mirrored by a press release on the Oxford Labour Party's website. An open reply to Bob Price: Dear Bob, I am a bit surprised if you think Liberal Democrats have a "cavalier approach" to recycling, on account of our promise to consult and to collaborate with the people of Oxford. I can only assume you've confused 'cancellation' for 'consultation', when you use the former word in your letter! If we were cavaliers, we're laughing at Labour clutching at straws. You mention the defeated Labour administration ...

Everyone is doing it: Pickled Politics has one too.

I won't publish the full text here, but I received this response from Rob Wilson, to my earlier letter regarding the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill. Read it if you dare, etc.

I keep hearing mumbles about an "early general election" from all sorts of unlikely people, including columnists, bloggers of all political persuasions, and even some of our elected representatives - it's a refrain that seems to be prominent in strategic thinking in both the Lib Dem and Tory parties at the moment. I'm wondering if it all stems from this? "David Cameron today

The latest selection has been posted.

A nice comment on last night's contest: a sort of cross between Klingon warriors ... and The Wombles won.And a note to whomever (hem, hem) wrote the British entry: It was not teachers who said "what did you learn at school today" but parents. Still, I liked those St Trinian's girls.

Well, since my last post, we've had a few more episodes. It's somewhat more difficult to read messages into these. Tooth and Claw, I suppose, advocates trying to understand the actions of a being whose actions are reprehensible, rather than simply killing it. School Reunion, meanwhile, pits the Doctor against a manipulative group who are taking over the curriculum of a school for their own agenda,

Looking forward to a boozy return to Exeter next weekend. My life revolves around tinned lager and bacon sandwiches as much as it did at university, though sadly my daytime telly intake is severely restricted now. Lying on wet grass with a bottle of vodka is no longer considered a great night out, and attending a one hour lecture no longer constitutes “a busy week” but all things must come to an end. My good friend Sam and his gracious girlfriend (life-partner??) Alison have kindly agreed to accommodate us for a couple of days, so we can get pissed. I ...

Its been an incredibly busy two weeks. Several meetings with various levels of our local police force. Our new beat bobby in Southdown is great. We had a long walkabout round Rosewarn Close - PC + 2 Southdown Councillors - talking to the residents and looking at the problems. We got a lot sorted. Then on the Friday eve after having removed a lot of flytipped rubbish a rumour went round the...

If the figures published in today's Sunday Times really were presented to Labour MSPs earlier in the month they may well be deluding themselves. While the figures are bad for Labour they do not, on first inspection, appear to be as bad as those publised by Professer Curtice earlier this week there is some doubt to their accuracy. The figures translate into the following seats (Curtice's figures

Our Mayor-making this morning went very smoothly and about 400 turned out for the ceremonial and civic service. As usual it was very enjoyable and some amusing speeches were made. Once again I was particularly impressed by Rev. Andy Warren who is the new Mayor's chaplain. He can certainly engage an congragation. I am sure Gill Durrant will make a very good mayor and she has certainly broken the

According to the BBC's headline results, the second-biggest winner in this month's local elections were no-one - 66 councils are now in no overall control, up 6 from before the poll. By and large, this is good news for the Liberal Democrats - despite our only gaining one council overall*, Labour's collapse across the country is likely to mean that we now have representatives on significantly more

I went to the Hyde Park Highlights festival yesterday. It was another sign post to the begining of Summer by which I mean it was the first event of the year to be rained off. It was a celebration of adult learners week and a show case for all the training and learning oppertunities in the area. It was being run in tandem with the annual "Bargin Hunt" orgainised by the LS 6 Project. It was due to be held in alexandra park behind my house and i fool that I am had bought picnic stuff with the view to ...

A very busy week with West End and City Centre issues; firstly pleased that, at my request, the City Council has written to the owners of the former Homebase on Riverside Drive about the state of the site. As you can see from the photo (right) the walling on the pathway to the west of the site is badly damaged and (left) the graffiti on the building is really bad. Whilst its appreciated the site

The world is only just recovering from seeing Mother Teresa on a potato, now a Kenyan fisherman has caught a piscene prophet: a tuna whose tail scales (when translated from Tunisian to the original Arabic) read that 'God is the greatest of all providers', a verse from the Koran. The fish has caused such a flap among the locals that it had to be taken into protective custody and is now safe in a

If I was an American I wouldn't be a Libertarian. But I do think their new animation is quite effective... (found via Hammer of Truth)

On Tuesday, I did my swan-song for the M6 campaign, speaking at a meeting in Congleton Town Hall. On Wednesday I attended my last Staffordshire CPRE executive meeting. I am going to miss all the friends I've made, but I can keep in touch with the campaign over the internet from Edmonton. We've paid for a carbon offset for our flight to Edmonton with The Carbon Neutral Company. The idea is to pay for projects, e.g. tree planting, that will offset the amount of greenhouse gases produced by the flight. I'm a sceptic about how effective the scheme ...

Heard (sleepily) on BBC Radio 4's Broadcasting House this morning: Q: How many Home Office officials does it take to change a lightbulb? A: I haven't the faintest idea.

I was certainly aware of the intention of the English Democrats to contest Monmouthshire at the next Welsh Assembly elections. Apparently, they believe that the county should be returned to England after 722 years of being erroneously placed on the wrong side of Offa's Dyke. I was also attracted to the rather frivolous suggestion that I read somewhere that we should retaliate by seeking to claim the Forest of Dean for the Welsh. However, it has taken Matt Withers' column in today's Wales on Sunday to drive home to me precisely how out of touch the English Democrats are with ...

If today's Sunday Times is anything to go by, next May's elections for the Scottish Parliament and the Welsh Assembly are going to be very interesting indeed. The biggest upset could well be in Scotland, where the more proportional electoral system will better reflect changes in public opinion. The Sunday Times says private polling conducted for the Scottish Labour Party reveals that they are haemorrhaging support and face being voted out of the Scottish executive for the first time since devolution: Research shows that just 30% of voters intend to back Labour in the constituency vote at next year’s ...

It's the mayor making ceremony this week (wednesday) which is a combination of the first council meeting after the elections and a ceremonial so the new Lord Mayor can take over. The new Lord Mayor is cllr Joan Lang - a Lib Dem who represents a ward in the north of the city. We are also nominating a deputy Lord Mayor, and that'll be cllr Paul Clarke who is another long serving Councillor.

It's been raining cats and dogs all week. Very good for my grass seed which is sprouting up and now there's a beautiful carpet of green. From a laymans point of view, at the moment it seems unimaginable all the talk about drought measures being put in place. There's already a hosepipe ban in the area and only this week residents received a letter from Thames Water 'Lets beat the drought together' with a reference to the website explaining the problem and giving advice on what residents should or shouldn't do. ...

Over at the Museum I opened the Brill exhibition, which is well worth a visit. It is a fascinating set of paintings and drawings of buildings in the borough, past and present. Each year the collection grows as new work is commissioned or a competition is held. Here are the three students from the University whose interpretations of 133 London Road are all joining the...

Congratulations to clarinettist Mark Simpson on becoming BBC Young Musician of the Year following his performance of Nielsen's Clarinet Concerto. A young British man who has spent years learning his instrument, hours every day practising, he gave a stunning performance of an horrendously difficult concerto in front of the Northern Sinfonia and critical judges. I watched it, and wanted to snap my