Just a thought from a Lib dem who has no real business in thinking about who will succeed Rhodri Morgan! How about Alun Davies? The Assembly AM for Mid and West Wales. He plays some Rugger, is bi-lingual and is good at turning up for meetings. Hes also an entrepreneur which is exactly the sort that the Assembly need in an increasingly competitive world. This is my pic of Alun . I got him to smile for this un!
In a recent article on his blog, Ron Paul describes how a centralized system of government is detrimental to the individual and society as a whole. He is right. When a centralist state starts to dictate what resources are available to each of its citizens, they believe that they are solving the problems of the very people that they are striving to help. Nothing is further from the truth, as the communist leadership in the Soviet Union found out to their cost. Being reliant on the state, for the necessities of life, leads you down the slippery slope to serfdom, ...
How many more contentious planning applications can there be ? I've spent hours listening, talking and reading up about the latest on the proposed Vodaphone mast on Darlington Lane. The planning application is now going to be submitted, and Vodaphone say they are writing to lots of residents so we need to let them all know the latest facts - there have been enough false rumours. So yet another...
An interesting report from Associated Press says China and four Central Asian nations have rebuffed Russia's hopes of international support for its actions in Georgia. The Shanghai Co-operation Organization issued a statement today denouncing the use of force and calling for the respect of every country's territorial integrity. The report later says: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had appealed to the Asian alliance, which is made up of China, Russia and four ex-Soviet Central Asian nations, for unanimous support of Moscow's response to Georgia's "aggression."But the alliance, which was created in 2001 to improve regional co-ordination on terrorism and border security, ...
Both the Times and the Financial Times feature the views of Vince Cable in their coverage of the house price crisis. Here is the FT on the problem: Vince Cable, the Liberal Democrats' mild-mannered Treasury spokesman, is a man little inclined to making sensational statements. So his warning on Thursday that "house prices are no longer simply falling, they are crashing," is a sign of the times. The double-digit fall in Nationwide's index, closely matching last month's report from Halifax, a rival lender, confirms that the housing market's problems are now of similar scale to those experienced in the early ...
Many thanks to Richard Coxon for pointing me in the direction of this clever take on the presidential election. Probably sacrilege to post it on Barack's big night, but it's kind of Glee Clubby.
There's a bit of a kerfuffle going about the proposal for the National Galleries of Scotland to buy a couple of Titian paintings from the Duke of Sutherland for a cool £100 million in total. The paintings are apparently worth £300m and have been on loan from the Duke's family since 1947. I'm currently listening to a discussion on Radio Five Live about whether public money should be used to fund their purchase. And as you would expect, people are queuing up to say that it shouldn't and that money should instead be spent on nurses/social workers/transport/other public works of ...
A shed load of e-mails today following my uploading the Carpenters 'Yesterday once more' - so here's another classic - 'Close to you'
Courtesy of The Herald: I once asked Tony Blair how he found being Labour leader while in opposition compared with being in government. He remarked that he would wake up each morning in opposition and ask himself: "What do I have to say today?" In government, he awoke to the thought: "What do I have to do today?"If you are a LibDem leader you arouse yourself with the frustration of wondering what you have to say, but equally then focusing on how you get anyone to report upon it and communicate it to a wider audience.
I really am a great big quivering weapy old woolly Liberal Hector, I know. Last night, it was Kleenex time when I watched Ted Kennedy at the DNC. Tonight I've watched Bill Clinton at the same love-fest (click below). His speech had me enthralled. As usual, he combined a folksy way with words, with technical brilliance in dissecting the world's problems. If you want an example of his fantastic
It's an important thing. Today marks the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr changing the world with what was arguably the most famous speech of the 20th century. The speech that contains the immortal words "I Have a Dream". If you've never heard the whole thing, it is on Youtube here and I urge you to watch and shiver with admiration. What a day in history. Martin Luther King Jr was just 34 years old when he delivered that speech, demanding the same rights for black men as white - I believe he is still the youngest person ever ...
It's all out now - we know this year's Strictly partnerships are out. You can see the full list here. Nice to see Camilla Dallerup has got another good looking young man. She seems to have been compensated for having David Dickinson in the first series with the likes of Gethin, James Martin and now Holby's Tom Chambers. She has come so close in the last few years and it would be good to see her go all the way. I knew Anton would get either Gillian Taylforth or Cherie Lunghi. Gillian has a great sense of humour and it ...
I am really pleased that the Fife Liberal Democrats have selected Harry Wills to be the party's candidate for the forthcoming Glenrothes by-election. Harry is a former Chief Executive of several Fife and Tayside companies and is a former Chamber of Commerce 'Business Man of the Year'. He had a key role in resurrecting the Chamber of Commerce in Dundee and Angus. In Fife, the Scottish Liberal Democrats have two of the four MPs, Sir Menzies Campbell and Willie Rennie. Willie Rennie won his seat in the last Fife parliamentary by-election. So off to Glenrothes then! A good week for ...
Thank you to everyone who voted for me - I truly did not expect to end up on any of Iain Dale's lists, but was at 30 in the Scottish Top 40 and 44 in the Lib Dem top 50. My tribute blog rather proved its point by beating me in both lists. Well done to Stephen who came in 11th in the Scottish blogs and 15 in the Lib Dems. There were a few I thought deserved to be there more than me, most notably Duncan Borrowman, my first point of call when I want to read something intelligent ...
Todays Times shows two great Masterpieces that may come upon the open Market. Titians Diana and Actaeon (pictured) and Diana and Callisto have been offered to the government by the Duke of Sutherland for a mere £50 mill a piece. It may be a great deal but there is no way that any government should fork out so much for a masterpiece like this. With the economy contracting there are more pressing concerns . Even if Diana and Actaeon is a magnificently erotic scene. Poor old Actaeon stumbles upon Diana's naked nymphs. They run to Diana who is really peeved ...
Last week we reported on the GCSE results from King Edmund and Chipping Sodbury Schools, and we promised to let you know the results for Brimsham Green when they were available. We haven't got detailed statistics, but the Gazette has reported that results have improved slightly from last year. The number of students staying on for the sixth form has also increased, which is excellent news. Congratulations to students and staff!
Following on from Stephen Tall's post on Lib Dem Voice about the Democrats lack of fight when it comes to using, and responding to, negative advertising one thing has struck me watching coverage of the Democratic Convention all week - they're being far too polite and respectful about McCain. Sure, there have been attacks on his voting record, and the similarity of his policy positions to Bush. They've even mentioned (although not enough) his proclamation that the US economy is doing fine. But almost every speech last night started with the words "Now Senator McCain has served his country ...
...something I think needs saying before the party troops down to Bournemouth. I'm definitely on the warm side on the subject of Make it Happen. It's nicely written, it covers the basic liberal points without too much bland mainstreamy window-dressing, and hell, it did the dog-whistle job with the press and you can't argue with that. My [...]
Just noticed I am number 40 in Iain Dale's list of Lib Dem bloggers, bit of a surprise really.
It seems that my old friend Lord Bonkers has an American cousin who is also involved in poltics. The Bonkers Institute for Nearly Genuine Research is an antipsychiatry site. Explore it and you will find that: Methodius Isaac Bonkers is the pseudonym of Ben Hansen, a mild-mannered writer and storyteller who lives in Traverse City, Michigan. In psychological terms, Dr. Bonkers is Mr. Hansen's alter ego; i.e., the two men are actually the same person, though each posesses a distinct personality and character traitsI know just how he feels.
LibDemBlogs has gone Bust. Can anyone answer the Question Why? We need it back it better not be the same issue as the issue with Harry's Place. How can us bloggers get good quality reading with that down?
I am offering a service that will be hopefully used in the coming days and coming months by people. The service that is being offered is the chance for anyone from any Political Party or organisation to write a Guest Blog for this Blog. If someone does want to write a Guest Blog then please email it to me at irfanahmed91@gmail.com and i will try my best to post it. Please remember that i can not guarantee that all posts will be published. So people get emailing me Guest Posts.
Film and television fans can discover more about productions, including the forthcoming blockbuster The Duchess, that were filmed in and around Bath and North East Somerset - thanks to a brand new Movie Map being launched this week. The map has been developed by Bath & North East Somerset Council's Film Office and Bath Tourism Plus following the recent filming of two major productions in the...
Thanks to everyone who voted for me in the poll for the Liberal Democrat section of Guide to Political Blogging in the UK 2008-9. The top five this year are: Lib Dem VoicePeople's Republic of MortimerNorfolk BloggerQuaequam BlogLiberal EnglandCongratulations to Lib Dem Voice and everyone else. Iain Dale has the top 50. In 2006 the Lib Dem list was chosen by Iain himself. I came fourth. In 2007 it was chosen by a panel of Lib Dem bloggers. (I was not a member.) I came first. Note that I was careful to add a caveat about this year's voting method ...
From the Guardian: A map of Antarctica identified the point at which Ernest Shackleton's unsuccessful polar expedition of 1908-09 turned back as 97 miles south of the south pole. That should have been north of the south pole,
Double Beijing gold medallist Rebecca Adlington officially opened a prestigious sports competition in Bath tonight (28 August). The Olympic swimmer, who has become a household name in recent days, declared open the UK School Games. Adlington, 19, from Mansfield was in attendance at the Recreation Ground in Bath to start the three day event. The 19-year-old joined Bath Bullet Jason...
Speaking of polls, Barack Obama has just had a big bounce according to Gallup Democratic candidate Barack Obama has gained ground in the latest Gallup Poll Daily tracking average from Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and now leads Republican John McCain among registered voters by a 48% to 42% margin...Gallup's interviewing for last Friday through Sunday, the last three days before the convention officially began, showed the race at a 45% to 45% tie. Thus, there is already a six percentage point bounce evident in the data, although the final "official" post-convention bounce used in comparison with other recent conventions will ...
This poll closes tomorrow. Our very own Susan Gaszczak was sitting on a tidy lead as they passed the bell. But this is no time for complacency...
Before anyone says anything, yes I know the list of the top 50 Lib Dem blogs doesn't mean anything and that we are massaging Iain Dale's ego by writing about them. But I am sure the majority of people who say they don't care about it are still intrigued to see where they come in [...]
In November, the Welsh European Election Campaign is holding a fundraising breakfast at the National Liberal Club (Whitehall Place, London) to see the US Presidential election results come in. Starting at 8am and going on until about 11am, individual tickets cost £25 (or five tickets for £100). More details or tickets from Roger Robers on [...]
{mine above ground} Sunday 14 September 11.00 am to 5.00 pm Come and explore a local pit - see the pit shaft and head tunnel, rails, drift entrance wheels and trucks. There will be guided tours of the Colliery site remains and a display of mining artefacts. Entry is free and refreshments will be available. Oldwood Pit is on Tanhouse Lane, Rangeworthy, BS37 7PZ - It will be signposted from the B4058 south of Rangeworthy. For more information see the South Gloucestershire Mines Research Group's website: (check out their fascinating photo gallery!) or contact Jenni Humphris, Tel: 01454 228160. {mine ...
News reaches me that this blog has been ranked twelfth amongst Liberal Democrat blogs, much to my surprise. Mark had encouraged me to blog, noting that there were very few active members of the House of Lords who did so, and that it might provide an interesting insight into my campaign for the Party Presidency. However, given the high quality, and wide variety of Lib Dem bloggers, many of whom have been doing this for longer than I have, I feel quite flattered by this recognition. Ironically, Mark has disappeared from the top fifty altogether, but he doesn't appear to ...
According to Iain Dale's diary, I've made it into the top 50 Lib Dem blogs voted for by readers of 'Total Politics' - at number 49!
Neil Stockley has a fascinating piece on this on his blog. But it is fascinating in "Silver Blaze" style (why doesn't the dog bark?) Neil frequently writes on our narrative. I find him interesting and persuasive on this subject. This time around he has policy wonk hat on (and - given that he writes in apparently defensive terms - that hat seems to be a crash helmet). As a result he spends a lot of time asking himself whether it fits in with last years´"Zero-Carbon Britain" paper, and whether even that was tough enough. This is crucial in one sense ...
Lets make it quite clear, I do not blog for positions on tables or for awards or nominations thereto, I blog because I enjoy it, it gets things off my chest and because I'm vain enough to think that my views and opinions are worth sharing. However I must admit to being a bit chuffed to discover that this blog has been listed on the other Iain Dale's list of Top 50 Lib Dem blogs at number 32 and also on his list of Top 40 Scottish blogs at number 26. This despite the fact that I've barely been blogging ...
Iain Dale has published his list of the Top 50 Lib Dem Blogs today, as voted for by the blogging public and, well: You're all a bunch of bastards. Gracious loser my arse. Don't you go thinking I'm going to forgive slipping from 24 down to 47. I know where you all live and I'm coming to [...]
The Stupid EU has now listened to the Liberal Democrats and is yet still considering sanctioning Russia. The Lib Dems have been bloody shouting this from the hill tops that the EU need to speak out and now finally they speak out. Are the EU deaf if they had listened to the Lib Dems they could have Tackled this problem at the grass roots.
My next-door-neighbour-until-recently, Matthew Davies, is no longer presenting the Breakfast Show on BBC Radio Tees. I appeared several times on the show and neither of us ever gave the game away that we'd be discussing the interview later in the day at home. Well tomorrow I'm on again, with another interviewer, to discuss the problem of rogue traders selling cars on North Road, in my ward. It
Compiling lists always struck me as a mildly weird thing to do ("Top 50 all-time great Mr. Spock moments on Star Trek" is a very minority interest). On the other hand bloggers are indeed a fairly strange bunch, so it does seem that people do take notice of Iain "Fluff Freeman" Dale's annual list of top UK bloggers, and sure enough Fluff, sorry- Iain- has come out with his annual view of the top bloggers in different categories. I think last year I was seventh or eighth in the Lib Dem list. This year- prepares modest shrug and rueful smile- ...
I on this blog try to engage with readers but the problems that i have come across are that on some posts i get loads of comments and when i start a open debate i hardly get any comments. With this in mind i would like to ask readers: What they rather have a General Elections Proportional Representation or First Past the Post? I would prefer Proportional Representation as this will ensure that the votes of minority party's don't go to waste and this would be better for the Liberal Democrats who are the third Largest Political Party at the ...
According to a report out by the BBC Political Parties in the last three months received donations estimated at around £10.7 Million. Half of the donations went to the Conservative Party. I now ask the question to readers of this blog that why is so much money being pumped into the conservative Party? They are second most in debt from all the three Political Parties. Just behind the Labour Party but that doesn't still give any more light to the question that why are they getting so much donations. I think its because they have pulled the wool over the ...
Given that the Liberal Democrat party is an advocate of proportional representation for elections (Single Transferable Vote being the preferred type - I understand), why aren't polls on Lib Dem Voice conducted using a PR system? Thoughts?
So asks Justin McKeating. Now, normally I wouldn't indulge in such things but I was fascinated by this response to a Liberal Conspiracy article: According to the moonbats the Is Brown Bonkers? meme is cooked up by Guido on the orders of Andy Coulson at CCHQ. But if you read the actual article he links to, no mention of Andy Coulson or CCHQ is made in it. There are a couple of CCHQ refs in the comments, but the only person who refers to Coulson is Guido himself. Rebutting an allegation that isn't being made against you is a pretty ...
The prospective struggle for the leadership of the Welsh Liberal Democrats is not the only Welsh-related development that may transfix the rest of the UK in the coming months. The Open University is weighing in with two (count them) courses on Wales and Welsh. First up is an introductory course in the Welsh Language that begins presentation in November 2008. 'L196 Croeso: Beginners Welsh' Now this sounds very welcome, and my contacts in the OU say there is great interest outside Wales - people in Norfolk and Cambridgeshire for example are showing so much interest that local tutorial provision may ...
Following the revelation about Treasury minister Angela Eagle's less than magnificent economic forecasting ability, I've been reading through some of her other contributions in Hansard. Amongst them is this gem, in response to a question from Conservative MP Philip Hammond: Q. To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how much his Department and its agencies spent [...]
Party conferences are memorable for all sorts of reasons. I'll always associate the Harrogate conference of September 1992 with 'black Wednesday'. The day interest rates went through the roof, I was worried about losing mine. I'd moved to Islington earlier that year and we had a big mortgage to support. A group of us abandoned [...]
We will shortly be relocating the People's Republic to the Dodecanese for a couple of weeks, (weep, rainbound miserablists!) so there has been a certain amount to do lately - powerless regent councils to appoint, exchequer accounts to nobble, rogue outlying provinces to subdue with a show of military force &c - and owing to [...]
Last night of a group of Wolverhampton South West Liberal Democrats went over to Halfpenny Green Vineyard for a tour and winetasting.
I was informed yesterday that a site visit had taken place to see the missing street sign on Butterstile Lane. Apparently the sign exists! Any problem is all a figment of my imagination, apparently... Unfortunately, it transpired that the site visit had been to the wrong end of the road, and the operatives involved had not deduced that, like many roads, this one has two ends. The end that they inspected does indeed have its full complement of signs. The end I wanted them to look at does not. And so they returned to base thinking that all was well. ...
As we will be reminded often, today is the 45th anniversary of Marin Luther Kings 'I have a Dream' speech, a suitable coincidence of dates for the first Afro-American nominee for the US Presidency (by a major party) to make his acceptance speech. Worth remembering how the 'race issue' tore apart the narratives of both 'Major Parties' in the USA. The Civil Rights Act (enforcing the right to vote for example) passed the US Congress with the support of half the Senators and Congresspeople of the then-ruling Democratic Party. And two -thirds of the Republicans voted in favour. Roy Jenkins ...
Next month I'm off to Bournemouth for Lib Dem party conference. One of the many things I like about our conferences is that the members who attend really make policy - it's not just a rally. So it's appropriate that the very first motion for debate is all about improving direct democracy at national level. [...]
You can see the full list over at Iain Dale's blog, but here's the top 10: 1. Liberal Democrat Voice 2. People's Republic of Mortimer (Alix Mortimer) 3. Norfolk Blogger (Nich Starling) 4. Quaequam Blog! (James Graham) 5. Liberal England (Jonathan Calder) 6. Lynne Featherstone MP 7. Millennium Dome, Elephant 8. Peter Black AM 9. Love & Liberty (Alex Wilcock) 10. Liberal Burblings (Paul Walter) Thanks [...]
We are fat, it's official. Today's government report on the areas most affected gives us a map of obesity rates compiled from GP records. Five places in Wales feature in the top six worst areas, whilst Shetland tops the list. Obesity is also spreading. It appears to be increasing in Cornwall, Devon, Kent, East Sussex, London and the Isle of Wight. In the meantime, the South of the world is
It's award season. This blog has already done well in one contest, but with the big one being announced in stages, I was interested to see if I could improve on my 12th place last year in the "Top Lib Dem Blogs" category in Iain Dale's/Total Politics political blogging awards. So I am delighted to be ranked at number 3, up 9 places from last year. Thank you to all those who voted for me and all those who read my blog regularly and leave comments.
Thank you to all who voted for me - I've come in at 29 on Iain Dale's list of the top 50 Lib Dem blogs. Sights set on posting more regularly and interestingly to catch up on the likes of the Burbler...
My latest Guardian blog - covering thoughts on GCSE results, direct democracy and housing policy - is now online. And I'll be posting related items on this blog shortly.
Kingston Carnival is becoming one of big events locally, with costumes fresh from the Notting Hill Carnival, food, live music and dance all day. This picture was taken last year, and it's going to be bigger and better this year. So this Sunday catch the main procession along Clarence Street and in the Ancient Market from 12 noon. There are two stages, one in the Market...
If ever you needed convincing that the battle against climate change is being undermined by 'departmentalitis', you need look no further than today's interview in the Telegraph by energy secretary John Hutton. In a nutshell, he says that his job is to guarantee energy security and if that means that climate change has to take second place then so be it! For example, he says: "Of course we've got to tackle climate change, it's a real and present danger for used, but we've also got to be absolutely clear that our energy policy has got to be figured first and ...
After the glory of being nominated for best New Lib Dem Blog last year and coming 38th in Iain Dale's Top 100, I see I have crashed and burned and am not even in Iain Dale's top 50 this year. The possible reasons: 1. My blog has not been very good this year 2. There are many more good Lib Dem blogs out there I have to say both are true. Firstly, on the standard of my blog. Most days I have
For the past two days, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) has been hosting a seminar in the European Parliament in Brussels on the theme 'Secularism and Religions'. Not the most inspiring of titles, I admit, but discussions about religion's place in society and in politics are particularly pertinent, given the rise [...]
Staff at ACAS, the independent arbitration and conciliation service, have voted to strike. When the ballot was launched earlier this month, Dave Cliff, the the Public and Commercial Services Union's national officer, said "Management and the government need to act quickly in order to avoid embarrassing industrial action in ACAS." So who is going to sort this one out?
Morus' Denver diary over on PBC has an interview with Chris Rennard and Ed Davey. One of Morus' questions was the fundamental question Lib Dem activists up and down the country: what are our two battleground issues (or in other words, what is our USP)? Rennard's answer is that we neither have issues nor a USP. Its truly a breathetakingly depressing answer. Apparantly the next election will be about the "stresses" in people's lives and how we can alleviate them. Sound familiar? Sound pretty bloody far from unique. The other two parties are running on variations on the theme of ...
{Liberal Democrats for Obama} A while back I sliently closed the focusFodder spreadshirt shop. However after looking at the Barack Obama site I decided that I wanted a nice Obama top. Due to foreign donation laws I'm not allowed to buy direct from the Obama Store, and the graphics on CafePress weren't that great. So I'm pleased to annouce that I've launched two logos for UK buyers to purchase. The first is the Liberal Democrats for Obama and the second is an Obama '08. Postage to the UK is only £2.20 and their turnaround should be around 5 days.
Apologies for the fact that this will only appeal to computer using political junkies, but hey, you are reading this blog aren't you... Aaron Sorkin, the man who created the West Wing and the much under-rated Studio 60, is now on Facebook and he's writing a movie about it. His Facebook page is worth reading simply for the movie geek joke at the end.
Iain Dale has now published the top 50 Liberal Democrat blogs and this one comes in at number eight. Thanks to all those who voted for me. The only other Welsh Liberal Democrat blog on the list that I can see is the irrepressible Stephanie Ashley's Dib Lemming blog. She is at number nineteen.
new statistics show that the police know 90% of Knife attackers and nothing is done to prevent them by working with them. Instead the Police are stop and searching people which is making Gangs more stronger according to a report. If these statistics are right then the police and government have got it all wrong. The Police need to target this brand of people who they think might use knifes and then that can help them decrease the number of knife crimes. The Police need to work with the people that are known to them but i still don't understand ...
The other day I came across an article making the familiar argument that politicians these days increasingly have no background in anything other than politics. Unlike their forbears, it is claimed, who had wide experience running other organisations, our leaders these days are woefully ill-experienced. The author of this article - George Walden, who ten years ago I regarded as the intelligent face of the Conservative party, but I'm afraid I now tend to see more as just a miserable old man - particularly compared them with Churchill. This is now a familiar claim. But - aided by an interesting ...
It's now a year since Zero Carbon Britain, the Liberal Democrats' policy mega-paper on climate change was published. [Declaration of interest: I was the chair of the policy working group] Since then, a lot has happened in the fast-moving climate change debate - from the Bali conference to the publication of the EU climate and energy action plan to the G8 climate declaration and the UK government's renewable energy strategy; from the biofuels backlash to the government's climbdown over road taxes and the fiasco over selling British Energy. Still, Zero Carbon Britain is standing the test of time. First, we ...
The Scotsman today is warning party activists across Scotland to carbo-load, take plenty of fluids and pace themselves as it seems that senior Labour officials are tired of being beaten in a sprint are taken on a longer distance for the Glenrothes by election. As has been mentioned in various Scottish blogs in recent weeks it appears that two dates are being looked at for polling in the election
The Total Politics List is out and the top 50 Lib Dem Blogs has me in it. I would like to thank everyone who voted for me to get me into the List. To View the List go to www.iaindale.blogspot.com
Yesterday Vince Cable and the Liberal Democrats proposed a series of measures to help tackle the soaring number of repossession: Vince Cable, the Lib Dem Treasury spokesman, said change was needed urgently to stop the "downward spiral" of Britain's housing market. Proposals include a mortgage rescue scheme, which would allow families struggling with repayments to sell all [...]
Well yet another day when I turned straight away to Iain Dale's Diary as today he revealedTop 50 LibDem Blogs. After just mising out of the top 10 in the Scottish Top 40 yesterday I wasn't sure what to expect today. However I'm sitting there quite impressively at number 15 behind Lib Dem Voice understandably, a Baroness, a MP, an AM and a cuddly elephant. 1. LibDem Voice 2. People's Republic of
The Conservative Party's summer offensive has centred on obesity and how they are the party to deal with people's excesses. They are adamant however, that they will do so without resorting to a 'nanny state'. They will just lecture us instead. Recess Monkey has already highlighted the Tories' inconsistencies on this matter by rather cruelly pointing out that their fairly hefty front bench is failing to lead by example, but there are other mixed messages as well. For example in today's Western Mail there is a report that a future Tory Government will drop the "traffic light" labelling of fatty ...
Most of us care about planning policy - even if we don't know it at the time. I was door-knocking in Canonbury the other day and called on an eminent economist. "Aha, I'm glad you've called, there's something very important I want to ask your views on"; so in I went, frantically invoking the spirit [...]
Thu 28th
08:45
Conference policy motion: "Extention of the remit of the International Criminal Court"
This motion is being moved at conference by North Somerset, North Wiltshire and Westminster Liberal Democrats. The mover, Brian Mathew, explains. Our policy motion, entitled "The Extension of the Remit of the International Criminal Court", was conceived a year ago, following a long consideration of the plight of populations persecuted by their own governments. We want [...]
A comment on my latest New Statesman website column sends readers to Telford & Wrekin Council Watch. It has taken up the case of the Telford penguins.
Harry's Place, one of the blogs I link to, is having problems at the moment. Full details on ModernityBlog.
I recently heard a presentation about the progress with the plan to build a hospice/respite care centre in mid-Essex for young adults. There is only one other in the country (in Oxford) but a growing need. Children's wards or hospices for the elderly are rarely ideal for young adults in need of different surroundings. The Js (named after Jonathan Whiffin) will be the appropriate alternative: The
Much of what I'm writing about, and due to write about, is based on the principle that one should never be blind to the proper solutions to problems because of dogma or ideology. For those that don't know me, I'm generally speaking on the libertarian wing of the party, meaning I support freedom for the individual and free trade, but I'm also a pragmatist and a realist, and understand that the state must protect some kind of underlying framework upon which individuals can then have meaningful liberty. Humanity is at its very best when it is free, and nothing scares ...
