LibDem Blogs - Archived! - Sunday 15th July 2007

Ealing Southall - You really could not make it up !

This has got to be the most interesting by-Election in recent memory. We have had mass defections of local councillors, Tory MP's getting caught posting spurious messages on websites and a Conservative candiate that joined the party some minutes before being delcared as the candidate.It transpires only days before Tony Lit's road to Jerusalem conversion to the Conservatives he was photographed at a Labour (!) fundraiser where it is alleged he donated £4,800 to the party. As far as we can tell he was not offered a Labour Peerage.

Prom 3, or “what went wrong there, then?”

The Proms is a hugely diverse festival of music, so if you attend a lot of the concerts you’re bound to run in to something that isn’t to your taste at some point, and that’s fine. But what is weird is to get two… at least two hugely contrasting styles in one evening - Prom 3, [...]

Adil Rashid and the history of English leg-spin

This blog has long entertained great hopes for Adil Rashid, the Yorkshire leg-spinner. He did not set the outfield on fire at Chelmsford, playing for England Lions against India, but time is on his side. But if time is on his side, history isn't. Because it is an awful long time since England had a test class leg-spinner. Chris Schofield was tried in 2000, playing two tests against Zimbabwe. In the first he didn't get a bowl: in the second he didn't get a wicket. He subsequently dropped out of county cricket, though this year he has been ...

Dr David Owen: Expert on hubris

In his Guardian column yesterday Simon Hoggart revealed that David Owen has written a book on hubris. To anyone who remembers the Alliance years, this is far too funny to be true. Still, as Hoggart wrote: we buy cookery books by people who are famous for cooking, we'd take driving tips from Lewis Hamilton, and I see no reason why we shouldn't learn about overweening pride from Doctor Death.So... The full title of the book is The Hubris Syndrome: Bush, Blair and the Intoxication of Power. Enjoy.

I wasn't going to even mention Harry Potter and then I read this

“But Dad…” “No, listen. If we went to watch the new Harry Potter film and Harry and Ron had enormous breasts, but nothing about it was ever mentioned, explained or alluded to, how easily would you be able to suspend your disbelief?” “But…” “All the way through you would just be thinking ‘this is soooo wrong.’” Confused? Read on here.

Top of the Blogs: The Golden Dozen #21

Welcome to the 21st (yes! - we’ve finally come of age) of our weekly round-ups from the Lib Dem blogosphere, featuring the seven most popular stories according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (8th-14th July), together with a hand-picked quintet you might otherwise have missed. For some reason, events in Ealing seem to have dominated the blogs [...]

Why this week won't change my view of Ming at all.

I've not been able to go over to Ealing because of work commitments, which has made me reluctant to blog about the by-elections this week. However I've been annoyed by those bloggers and other commentators who are trying to build the next few days into a make-or-break time for Ming. I don't want to see any more blog posts for a while about leadership contests, nor to get emails about currently

Back in Ealing

Friday 13th July 2007 - Good job I am not superstitous as I head back to Ealing on Fridy 13th to join Charles Kennedy and our candidate in the Ealing Southall by-election Nigel Bakhia for a walkabout in Ealing and then on to Friday prayers at the local mosque. After a busy week in Strasbourg it was good to have a couple of hours on the train with Dave - my UK office manager - to catch up with

Rise against rain

Rise festival in Finsbury Park today. Got very, very wet. But all good fun. The sun was still shining when the Holloways (top photo) played around 1pm, and they were great live as they always are. They only had a fairly short set, but still packed in loads of excellent tracks. And as they were one of the first bands up, it was still fairly quiet - so managed to get a decent position right near the front. There wasn't a lot of dancing going on, but a couple of groups going mad down at the front countered ...

What was the threat against Tesco?

The Times says that the nature of the threat against Tesco "remains a mystery". Judging by events in Market Harborough, it must have been a bomb threat. You don't close roads if you are afraid someone may have tampered with a jar of pesto.

Good evening Iain!

A lovely and cheery good evening to you Iain. I hope you are having a lovely birthday. I thought it might be helpful to point out that, as you’ve run a story about how awful the Liberal Democrats were for using a photo, you should perhaps check out your own blog posting of July 3rd. I’m afraid [...]

Blog Posting Headline of the Day

Well done, The UK Daily Pundit: Lib Dem by-election win could see Cameron resign

Cameron's judgment called seriously into question by Lit cheque to Labour

David Cameron hand picked Tony Lit to be the Conservatve candidate at Ealing Southall. Cameron over-rode the normal selection process to get the man installed. Lit wasn't even a member of the Conservative party and had no track record in politics. Now we find out that a few days earlier Lit had queued up to be photographed with Tony Blair and handed over a cheque to the Labour party for £4,700.

Full speed ahead at Ealing Southall

I am just back from a day's delivering at Ealing Southall. The Campaign HQ is in full swing and it is wonderful to see 17 columns of ticks against the delivery rounds - that's 17 complete deliveries made in the last couple of weeks - wow! I also counted well over 300 volunteers signing in just for today. And it is great to hear that Ming and Simon spent a full day there yesterday. It is amazing

Dear Iain Dale, my name is Duncan Borrowman, I claim my copyright fee

Dear Iain, I see that on your Pravdale blog you have a scan of a Liberal Democrat leaflet designed by me and which is my intellectual property. This contains a photograph which was taken by a colleague, who owns the copyright on that photograph. A cheque for £200 payable to "Ealing Southall Liberal Democrats" will be due settlement for your copyright infringement of my intellectual property.

Six to Fix

In the run up to the election Cherry and I made some pledges, drawn from what you had told us. Our 'Six to Fix' are the issues that you told us you most wanted us to look at and that gave you most concerns. We will keep you updated on our progress with these pledges on this Blog site and in our regular Focus news letters. Any comments and ideas are very welcome. The first update is below. Six To Fix Progress 1. Road Safety and Congestion – Advisory 20 mph speed restrictions ...

Calling the numbers - Bingo in the Sedgefield by-election

Another live action video from Sedgefield. Greg Stone and Phil Willis MP play bingo and call the numbers!

Tom Watson gets it wrong

Now, this is either a rather sneaky attempt at a political smear or an honest mistake. Over on his blog Tom Watson posted up the following: News has just reached me that there was a small incident involving the opposition parties earlier this afternoon. Apparently, their supporters were getting a little hot under the collar, so [...]

New Olympic logo

It turns out all that was needed was a slight adjustment. From this… To this… There is remarkably little difference between the two!

Serious questions need to be asked of our security services

One of the astonishing things about the somewhat farcical terror attack that occurred in Glasgow, and the failed one in London’s West End is just how much information journalists have been able to uncover about the men carrying out the attack, worryingly, it seems as these men were well known radicals. For example, Bilal Abudllah [...]

Can a leopard really change their spots?

I often joked that there were three things that I couldn't do... people, animals and plants! But things have changed and I blame Sheila Baccarini. Sheila knowing full well about these three things gave me two plants (an a gnome- just don't ask!) as a house warming guest. Well obviously the gift was enough to knock down one of my pet hates. I am now well into my garden, cutting the grass, wedding

Campbell backs Bakhai to the finish in Ealing Southall

Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Menzies Campbell, Party President, Simon Hughes, and Nigel Bakhai spent a full day campaigning in the Ealing Southall by-election on Saturday. Together they met with leading members of Ealing Southall’s Hindu and Sikh community and renewed the call for people to elect local campaigner Nigel Bakhai as an MP for the [...]

Iconic

I suppose that with all the defections and switching between parties going on in Ealing, the news that a former Conservative and Independent Councillor has joined the Welsh Liberal Democrats in Swansea will not make much of a mark. However, it is worth noting that Sketty Councillor Huw Rees is no ordinary politician, he has a life. Huw is a former head of music in three secondary schools in Swansea and has been the Assistant Conductor at the Morriston Orpheus Choir for 34 years. He is also an accomplished actor and has appeared in Pobl y Cwm, ...

Still no Ffynnon Oer money for communities

Readers of Paul Lewis's article in the Evening Post might be forgiven for believing that new money has suddenly become available for "greening" our communities' schools. "Council officers are now thrashing out a deal to decide how the cash resulting from the 16-turbine npower development will be spent locally," he writes, no doubt from a press brief prepared by the County Borough Council. In fact, £32,000 has been available since May 2006. Investigations by Richie Northcote in Resolven, as to what had happened to the money, started soon after. (Resolven is just one of the communities which would ...

Secretive and Corrupt Family Court System

It has been accepted for some time that the Family Justice System in the UK is secretive. I came to the conclusion after studying it over the past year or so that it is also corrupt. That is a strong allegation that I make in the Mail on Sunday today. However, it is justified. Some reasons for corruptionMany solicitors also work for the local authority. This does not necessarily mean that a

Planning Aid for London

Just had a postcard from an organisation which might be able to help people who need help in making sense of and commenting on planning applications. It's called Planning Aid for London, it's a registered charity, and provides advice and support on planning matters for individuals and groups. For more information, see their website. Their contact details are:tel 02072474900 fax 02072478005e-mail info@planningaidforlondon.org.uk The Planning Aid Resource Centre Unit 3.01 Whitechapel Technology Centre 66-75 Whitechapel Road London E1 1DU

Mayoral run will wreck Boris’s career

Tomorrow at 10am, if we're lucky, Boris Johnson will finally tell the world whether he wants to be the Conservative candidate for Mayor of London. According to his blog a couple of days ago, it was a definite yes – for about 10 minutes. The article suddenly disappeared from the front page, although it stayed in the archive until this morning. Perhaps he panicked and backed out; perhaps he wanted to tease us, to whet our appetites before the big announcement. Either way, we’ll know tomorrow. He’s right to think it over carefully – and the armies of ...

True to Form?

My Mother in Law has just left reminding me that it's St Swithens Day - so as its wet today, it will be wet for the next forty days too - I'm sure wet householders all over the country will be delighted! Trying to get leafleting and grass-cutting between showers done is a real pain. However, the sun came out yesterday for St Gabriel's Family Fun day - bouncy castle and the vicarage lawn, tea

Tony Lit - Tory Twit

There's a saying in Devon that the Tories are the cream of England……rich, thick and full of clots. Tony Lit is the Tory candidate in a Parliamentary by-election for a seat in the House of Commons that...

Sorry Iain, but it just gets worse and worse for you

As I’ve already pointed out, Iain Dale should really have asked a question or two before printing the story he was fed yesterday by the Conservative Party about horrible Lib Dem deeds involving the use of photos. Perhaps something along the lines of, “Look, this horrible thing you want me to write about the Liberal Democrats [...]

Observing the Observer

Andrew Rawnsley’s Observer column predicts a harsh and bloody future combat between Cameron and Brown in the run to the next parliament whenever that will be. It will be personal and bloody. The truth is that it has to be personal because they have no policy or ideological differences. Cameron far from being the end to partisan politics, where real practical policy comes over stubborn opposition is the pinnacle of party politics. Abandoning everything, all philosophy and ideology in the cynical attempt to get the Conservative Party back in power. It’s not about the merits of a Conservative ...

Got a question for Mr Lit?

So it looks like the slipperiest man in Ealing has finally ended up on his arse. It’s giving the Lib Dem and Labour blogging communities cause for much amusement today, but it’s the feeling in Ealing (!) that really matters. On Monday evening, residents get a chance to grill the candidates in a Question Time event at [...]

South Staffordshire Conservatives vs Sir Patrick Cormack

According to the Express and Star earlier in the week the latest in the Sir Patrick saga is the Executive tied when voting if they wanted to keep him or not!

A moveable feast

It is nice to see that Matt Withers still has his finger on the pulse down in Cardiff Bay. His lead story in this morning's Wales on Sunday column tells us that the Tories have decided that, as Her Majesty’s official opposition, they want all their offices to be grouped together. The easiest way to do this at the Assembly is for them to take over the Welsh Liberal Democrats’ rooms and, according to Matt, what the official opposition want, they get. So yes we will be packing up to move next week and so will the Tories, all ...

Warley Woods Washout

According to Bob Piper, today’s Picnic In The Park at Warley Woods has been cancelled due to the weather. Boooooo! Where’s the Glastonbury spirit!? Seriously though, the weather is poor and I don’t think any of us want to see Warley Woods turned into a mudbath. What’s frustrating is knowing the quirks of British weather, the [...]

Iain Dale - Why becoming your own party's mouthpiece devalues you

I was once approached to run a story by more senior Lib Dems than me. I actually supported strongly what these Lib Dems wanted me to promote, but I didn't run the story. So I can quite honestly say I will not use this blog as an alternative means to promote party press releases. So for me the question is why has Iain Dale allowed his blog to be the means by which the Conservative Party releases all its lies and twaddle during the by-elections in Sedgefield and Ealing Southall. I made the point in an earlier story ...

Murkier and Murkier activities in Ealing

Tom Watson reveals that on 15th June 2007 the company Tony Lit was then MD of donated £4,800 (just below the declarable limit) to the Labour Party. (see link) Prague Tory reveals that this action is clearly against the assurance that Labour give on their website. "The information you have provided will not be shared with any organisation or individual outside the Labour Party without your

And another example of how CCHQ made a fool of Iain Dale

Time for a quick leaf through my leaflet files this morning and what do I find from the Conservative leaflets in the Cheadle Parliamentary by-election? Well, let’s just say that I don’t think the CCHQ staffer who fed Iain the line about how awful it is for parties to use photos of other party’s candidates in [...]

Housing, housing, housing? No, it's location, location, location that matters, Gordon!

There's lots of stuff in the weekend press about the government's plans to tackle housing shortages. The Observer runs with "It's housing, housing, housing as Brown builds a new vision" and is typical of the genre... "The new Prime Minister has signalled his intent by kick-starting what could be the biggest building programme for 30 years, writes Nick Mathiason "Sunday July 15, 2007 "The Observer "Since 2000 Labour has promised a major change in the number of new homes. Headline-grabbing announcements from ministers came and went. But though Britain is now ...

Carpetbagger?

OK it has got all over the bloggersphere since I heard it much earlier this evening, but it goes like this: On 15 June Sunrise Radio (MD Tony Lit[e]) writes a cheque to the Labour Party for £4,800 On 20 June Tony Lit[e] is standing beaming with Tony Blair at a Labour fundraiser. On 27 June Tony Lit[e] joins the Tories. On 28 June Tony Lit[e) is appointed as Tory candidate in Ealing Southall

Tory hot air over copyright

Iain dale reports that the Tories are getting a bit under the collar about us using a picture of their candidate from their leaflet in Ealing and allegedly breaking copyright (actually I think it counts as fair use). Meanwhile, also in Ealing, there is a council by-election> The latest Tory leaflet uses a picture of our candidate from our website, which is our copyright. Before throwing stones in

Out of his depth ? Grant Shapps

Without the spotlight of the press and the blogging community, Grant Shapps MP seems to have gained a reputation as some sort of rising start and whizkid of the campaigning part of the Tory Party. The problem for Grant is that under the glare of the heat from the spotlight of the press and other political parties, his gloss has peeled away like some cheap veneer, leaving a rather sorry mess behind. Let's look at the evidence. 1) He made allegations which he has completely failed to substantiate about poster boards. 2) His campaign claimed defections to ...

Bollywood Tony, the Blair Years

Well, we is all pretty shocked, seem Hollywood Tony, Don Cameron's choice of Conservatori Capo in Little Ealing, is best friends with former Labouristi Don Blair. Labouristi hit squad leave brown envelop full of incriminating photos with local paparazzi, showing the two laughing and smiling together, only week before joining Signor Cameron's Bollywood project. Signor Lit issue statement: "It is true that in the recent past Signor Blair and I attended rehearsals for small amateur dramatics performance of West Side Story. We have shared love of theatre and while Signor Blair hogged limelight in lead role of Anton, ...

Iain Dale: Not the best source on the Lib Dems

Today Iain Dale has a story headed: Tories to Sue LibDems Over Ealing Leaflet. But then he has also said... A friend of mine from Yeovil was at a business lunch over the weekend and David Laws defecting to the Tories was the talk of the lunch.And... The spectre of jailed fraudster Michael Brown has returned to haunt the LibDems, who, according to Scotland on Sunday may not only have to repay the £2.4 million they took from him, but may also face a £2.4 million fine from the Electoral Commission.And... The Conservatives alleged that the LibDems ...

Ealing 5: Spin and Sensibility

The campaign in Ealing Southall rolls on. We are clearly putting out far more literature than the other parties, put together, with bells on. To give you an idea, I was delivering leaflets to many doorsteps which still showed more signs of the two previous Lib Dem leaflets than of anyone else's. A swing is in the air! The Conservatives are still going on about how their candidate is in the lead. Since their shadow cabinet are spinning that they're not trying to win, I don't think this is a problem. Particularly since it seems Tony Lit himself is ...

Sunday 15th July 2007

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