Liberal Democrat Voice flags up the creation of LibDig....great idea, kudos to Ryan Cullen; want to put it on the blog....shame i can't because I am STILL waiting for Cowley Street to a) acknowledge my change of address and b) to send me a new membership card after I lost the old one *blush* after firing off a fair few emails in pretty random directions....SORT IT OUT PEOPLE...I want a) a vote when it comes to Party President and b) one of those cheesy Christmas cards from Nick Clegg so GET WITH THE PROGRAM.....rant over, that is all.
The BBC has footage here of John Prescott flicking the V's at SNP activists at Glasgow Central Station, as they wave off new SNP MP John Mason, embarking on his first trip to Westminster. And who can really blame him? This is of course the latest in a long line of indiscretions from Prezza, but its nice to see he still has the Prescott touch with his political opponents. He was one of the characters in politics, a breed that are becoming rather thin on the ground in the current day and age. I don't often agree with Prezza on ...
This month's public surgery has a change of date and venue. Cllrs Coombes and Edwards shall be at King Edward's School on Saturday 11th October at 11am. This month's venue is an attempt to move the location of the surgery around the ward to make them convenient to different areas. King Edward's School have kindly provided us with space in the foyer of their theatre building; this is directly opposite the Cleveland Walk junction on North Road. The surgery will be signed from the car park. Bathwick St Mary's Church have previously provided an excellent venue and service for nearly ...
The more eagle-eyed among you may have spotted that I've replaced my Politigg buttons with LibDig buttons. Built by LibDem codebodger Ryan Cullen, LibDig has the potential, in my opinion anyway, to be the biggest thing to happen to the Lib Dem Blogosphere since LibDemBlogs (which Ryan also built). The beauty of LibDemBlogs, unlike anything else out there, is it's democracy. Anyone who is a party member can have their feed included in the aggregator and as such unknowns can become must reads literally over a couple of weeks. The downside is that it does not seperate the wheat from ...
Wouldn't life be so much simpler if we all lived in the Moroccan desert in luxurious riads? Me and my partner think so; so we urge you all to Join the Riad Revolution....please wander on for a look at life and politics from the vantage point of the riad....creative writing and cutting edge commentary are the name of the game....
I was very pleased to be able to join Stuart Murphy, our newly selected candidate for the Old Hastings & Tressell County Council seat, out and about on his patch yesterday. We took with us our '1 Million Door Challenge' leaflets (the party has been tasked by Nick Clegg to knock on 1 million doors across [...]
Peter Mandelson's resignation from the European Commission (to rejoin the British Cabinet) means that the Prime Minister has to nominate a new Commissioner from the UK. Technically, the appointment has to be confirmed by Parliament in Brussels but rejection of Gordon Brown's Prime Minister is highly unlikely. No British nominee has ever failed to be confirmed. The nomination [...]
The Daily Mirror was today reporting "senior Tories" as stating that the minimum wage can no longer be allowed to go up by the rate of inflation each year. The "Source" is quoted as saying: "The minimum wage won't be scrapped but it will be allowed to wither on the vine. A series of smaller, more affordable increases will mean it will just melt away."This is outrageous, and shows once again that Cameron is not on the side of working people despite his claims. I accept that minimum wage rises aren't good news for small businesses, but surely allowing the ...
Some parts of the Middle East, notably parts of Iraq and Afghanistan are too dangerous for reporters to venture, so we do not really know what is going on. So from time to time, we are told that things are going well in Afghanstan. Prince Harry loves it out there. He would far rather be there than at home, he said on a TV interview. But consider this. Our troops have been there for nearly 7 years, and although by now they should have started leaving, in fact we are putting more in. This is a sign of it NOT ...
I have thus far refrained from commenting on the race for party President although I have made it pretty clear in comments on Liberal Democrat Voice that I fully intend to support Ros Scott. Chandila Fernando is the first candidate to benefit from it's platform. I am quite willing to admit I knew little about him and I have to say his platform didn't change my mind one jot. The below in particular attracted my ire; "The Liberal Democrats must become the first mainstream political party to move away from the tired concept of card-carrying membership. Lib Dem membership is ...
I congregated with a group of Lib Dems recently to go on a march against child poverty organised by the Child Poverty Action Group. Nick Clegg is determined that the Liberal Democrats have a high profile on this issue. It was a dominant theme at our last conference with lots of fringe meetings. Martin Narey of CPAG had a high profile at conference and is helping the party develop our policies on this theme. So I was delighted to see Nick Clegg join the march. I may not be his favourite activist given my opposition to some of his policies, ...
The sun shining tempted us out and away from all the good intentions to get on with my book, sort my photos and all of the other things on the list. We didn't regret it though, having a lovely walk in nearby Thorpe Perrow. It smelt good (autumny); looked good ( leaves just turning); sounded good (birds singing, rustle of leaves, children playing); felt good (sun on face, fresh air),...
So John Prescott has the misfortune to turn up at Glasgow Central Station just at the same time as a proud SNP Crowd is waving their new member for Glasgow East, John Mason, off on his first trip to the House of Commons. He gave them a gesture that can only be described as rude. I would say from having watched the clip here that the dishonour is fairly equal. Sure, Prescott should have just walked on with his head held high. We can probably be grateful he didn't repeat his wee faux pas from the 2001 election because that ...
Last weekend I seemed to lose my debit card. At first I thought it had dropped out my pocket in my house, but after clearing up it was clear I had left it somewhere. I thought it may have been when I was shopping last weekend at Morrisons, although I wasn't too sure. So I visited the store during the week. I was convinced that I hadn't left it there and I would be on my sixth card within the
Have you ever wanted to say that a blog post is great, or that a video on YouTube should be watched by all LibDems, or found an article on LVT in an online journal? Never got around to blogging it, or don't even have a blog? I know that I have, and that many others have [...]
Two people separately have mentioned to me that they have seen blood spatter on a building in town, close to the Victoria centre. There's a story about in in the Evening Post - it seems no-one knows where the blood came from. POLICE are today continuing their enquiries into a pool of blood found on a city street. An area around York House in Mansfield Road was cordoned off yesterday as forensic officers took samples. Inspector Gordon Fenwick said he didn't know where the blood had come from. "Officers found the blood on the pavement at around 4am," he said. ...
Being a bit of a fan of The Boss I much enjoyed reading this account of the first of three rallies he is holding for Obama. I tend to agree with Daniel Pearlman (quoted towards the end of the article) that Thunder Road is just about the best song ever. (Well that, Atlantic City, Born to Run and The River) But I really was amused at the idea that some youngsters were bribed to attend a Springsteen gig on the promise that they might get to see Obama! Given that it's unlikey that we'll see the great man doing a ...
I'm listening to Feedback on Radio 4. They just played Evan Davies' finest hour again, in full, and two nice long comments from listeners about how awesome it was to hear George Osbourne skewered like that. Win, radio 4. Epic win. Speaking of Epic Win, Stephen Gillan has posted an Ambitious Aquatic Analogy of British Politics on Lib Dem Voice. It's awesome. All together now? We all live in a yellow submarine... * cackle * arvindn has a great post about why LJ is awesome, and why it has so far failed... I made the Golden Dozen again. Go me! ...
The great British bands of the 1960s generally began their careers by doing faithful cover versions of Black American singers. Every Little Bit Hurts was recorded by both the Spencer Davis Group and the Small Faces - from which we can conclude that Steve Winwood was a more convincing soul singer than Steve Marriott. And if you listen to this version of the song by The Jam you will conclude that both are better than Paul Weller. Anyway, this is the original Motown recording of the song that all three are copying - particularly the wonderful piano part. Brenda Holloway ...
That is a Picture of Andrew Stephenson's Website at Pendle Conservatives. The Caption under this Picture is very interesting: "Andrew pictured with Conservative Leader, David Cameron, during a recent visit to Darwen" Andrew Stephenson is parading Pendle with a Stupid Sign that says "Still No Visit" yet we haven't had a Visit from Cameron. Everyone knows the Tories are most likely to get elected into Government at the next election, so why hasn't the Tory PPC Andrew invited or even had Cameron visit Pendle as clearly he is going to be the next Prime Minister. Or is it that the ...
The importance of personal heuristics (mental short cuts) based on presidential candidates' (for which read, party leaders') character and narratives is being highlighted yet again. Character and narrative are helping to tilt the presidential election contest Barack Obama's way. Just after the first presidential candidates' debate - and McCain's abrupt and somewhat weird foray into Washington's negotiations over a Wall Street bailout bill, followed by his unsuccessful attempt to postpone the debate -- E.J. Dionne jr. observed: "McCain, once the candidate of tested experience, must now battle the perception that he has become the riskier choice, a man too given ...
Coming to the defence of the British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is not something I do instinctively, but he, Nicolas Sarkozy, Angela Merkel and the dreaded Silvio Berlusconi are right to have come up this weekend with a call for a global summit on the financial crisis, bringing in not just the G8 countries but [...]
I sense that Jennie is lonely, so it's high time I added another name to my blog roll. Step forward Jonathan Calder, whose blog 'Liberal England' has been a source of amusement and food for thought for a long time. Of course, Jonathan's role as secretary to Lord Bonkers (my favourite slogan, "Don't be plonkers, vote for Bonkers!" will live long in my memory) is what he is perhaps best known for
There is a story in the Shropshire Star by the paper's rural affairs editor Nathan Rous which, if I understand it correctly, makes clear the problem with the farming industry in Britain today. He writes: Beleaguered Shropshire farmers still struggling to get their harvest in as a result of the bad weather have been granted a reprieve after a further extension by the Government to use heavy machinery on waterlogged soil.It is the second time the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has stepped in to save crops from rotting in the field.Farmers across the region were delighted ...
So I went to a wedding this weekend, the entertainment part of which was a "Ceilidh" - Scottish dancing which is like Working Men's Club Linedance night crossed with a fiddle and an accordion, all set to the dictatorial shouting of a man in a kilt. I was dreading it, but in truth it was actually very enjoyable, and I now regret my overly negative build-up in Friday's post. Yes, I did look like a cross between a marionette and a man being executed by Old Sparky, but I had a splendid time, and can now do-si-do with only minor ...
The North Eastern newspaper the Sunday Sun has a short interview with the Lib Dem leader. Two points: pineapple on a pizza may not technically be incompatible with the fundamental tenets of Liberalism, but it is still wrong;it is not a good idea to say: "Anyone who knows me knows I'm not a bragger."Apart from that, well done.
Hat Tip to Iain Dale and yes, Palin's line about gay marriage is very funny - "Marriage is a sacred institution between two unwilling teenagers"
I am a child of the mid-sixties, studied at a pretty left-wing university in the mid-eighties and have seen a shift in British politics whereby more women and ethnic minorities play a role in the governance of this country, and whereby the sexual orientation of an individual does not define his or her place in society in the way that it once did. That is not to say that society is entirely blind
The headline on a press release this week from Kingston Council read 'Health promotion in fish and chip shops' Now I'm happy to admit dropping into the chip shop at the end of my road for the occasional haddock and chips - but I always feel guilty. It doesn't seem to sit well with Flora-that-I-can-easily-believe-is-not-butter and my weekly organic vegetable box. And indeed,...
Earlier this week our ambassador to Afghanistan, Sir Sherard Cowper- Coles said that our mission to Afghanistan was doomed and the best thing was to install a dictator, then this morning, I wake up to the news that Brigadier Mark Carelton-Smith, our most senior military commander in Afghanistan, declares the war against the Taliban cannot be won. "We want to change the nature of the debate from one where disputes are settled through the barrel of the gun to one where it is done through negotiations," he told the Sunday Times. This lead to an interesting debate on the Sunday ...
Former Dundee East Labour MP, Lord (George) Thomson has passed away at the age of 87. A hardworking MP for the City for twenty years, Lord Thomson later chaired the Independent Broadcasting Authority and was a Liberal Democrat House of Lords spokesperson on foreign affairs and broadcasting. His widow, Lady Grace Thomson, said: "He loved his time in Dundee. It was his own town and he loved the people." George Thomson served Dundee well and Nick Clegg MP, LibDem Leader, said, "George Thomson was a man of great stature and integrity, who dedicated his life to public service. My thoughts, ...
Welcome to the 85th of our weekly round-ups from the Lib Dem blogosphere, featuring the seven most popular stories according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (28th September - 4th October), together with a hand-picked quintet you might otherwise have missed. How about starting with the most popular blog-posting, and we work our way down? [...]
Whilst the other two presidential candidates have live website, that show there supporters, how to get involved and why you should vote for them, the same can not be said for Chandila Fernando In an election that ends in a little over 6 weeks time, surely every second is valuable, especially when you are the unknown 3rd candidate. So why is, it that Candila's campaign website is still not live? At time of writing there is approximately 1 day and 5 hours until the website goes live. Candila is missing out and valuable campaign time, and for what? A big ...
I got some interesting comments on the Facebook feed of this post. Apparently, the reason that equality isn't front and centre on the Lib Dem website is because it's not front and centre in policy development. So, you know, can't really blame the website folks: they just put up there what they are told to put up there. The policy departments are:# BETTER GOVERNMENT # COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY # COMMUNITIES # CULTURE, MEDIA AND SPORT # ECONOMY # EDUCATION AND SKILLS # ENVIRONMENT AND RURAL AFFAIRS # HEALTH # INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS AND DEFENCE # JUSTICE AND CRIME # PENSIONS AND ...
Prescott has been caught on film giving a "two-fingered" salute to SNP activists, according to the BBC which has the relevant bit of film on show. Since the SNP appear to be doing what I'd previously thought impossible and proving themselves to be more centralising and nannying even than Labour, all I can say is (and I never thought I'd write these words) well done Mr Prescott.
As a follow up to my last piece on moving Haringey's Civic Centre, I was looking for a pic of Woodside house, Haringey's soon-to-be Civic HQ. I can do no better than this lovely shot from my iconoclastic Labour colleague, Alan Stanton on his Flikr site. If you're not tempted to click through, Alan accuses the Labour council of playing "bullsh*t bingo" in justification for its refurbishment of Woodside House: "Woodside House is planned as Haringey's new "sustainable civic building". Naturally, it will contribute "to the council's carbon reduction targets" and, of course, have "a new state-of-the-art council chamber and ...
Glyn Davies made a memorable blog recently, he says 'When I was a young man, there was a mad Irishman named Willie John McBride leading the British Lions. He was fantastic. No-one in his teams ever took a step backwards - and if there was trouble anywhere on the park, Willie's supporting battalion were on the scene in seconds. Didn't matter who started it. He was a great leader, respected by his men - who would have died for him. His force of personality made him a winner as well. Perhaps its because of the years I spent as a ...
One of the great sadnesses of watching the Kerry campaign in '04 was that he'd take five days to respond - badly - to attacks on his character. So it's great to see the Obama campaign getting their retaliation in first. McCain's campaign say there will put out loads of ads after Tuesday, linking Obama, falsely say CNN in at least the main case, to some dodgy boys in Chicago. So the Obama campaign
I am not a huge fan of American Politics, I am looking out for Obama and hoping he can get elected but I am not actually fused about what is going on in the USA. But one Blogger not to be critical of, actually a Blogger that I honour Paul Walter AKA Liberal Burbling is always posting about Politics in the USA. When reading his blog, a thought comes to my mind which is that are all American Politicians coming out with these little TV Ads that are sometimes quiet impressive. If so Why Don't we start using this Campaign ...
I've assembled all the CBS embedded videos of the Katie Couric interview with Sarah Palin. Each video starts with a brief ad. Segment 1 - Foreign Policy: Segment 2 - Alaska's foreign policy role Watch CBS Videos Online Segment 3 - The financial crisis Watch CBS Videos Online Segment 4 - The Bail-out bill Watch CBS Videos Online
The British political scene in 2008 can be compared to three vessels on the sea. Currently the Titanic is the ship in the spotlight. Many passengers got on board, but the only place it's going fast, is down. Passengers are panicking, looking for a rescue ship, and the only thing they can see is the [...]
Sadly, I can't work out how to embed an image but click here to watch. I cried with laughter.
Image from Guido Sorry for the image, and I apologise if the Labour Party on the Picture above have put you of life but I have to show that image to progress onto what this post has to say. On the Comments on Guido's blog someone has mentioned an interesting point about the new Cabinet which is: "has the cabinet ever been so gay?" This Comment left on Guido's Blog made me think, that this person who left the comment who was anonymous is actually quiet right. The Labour Party are getting more gay day by day. Soon we will ...
Sometimes I put my anorak on (quite alot really!) and came across a certain Tregaron Avenue. I know what your thinking. This must be in West Wales. Probably a Cardigan or Aberystwyth place name. Nope. When I got off the tube yesterday and walked a mile or so this was in fact an Islington place name. A whole avenue of Edwardian houses. Absolutely perplexing to me. Tregaron is a small and quite remote Ceredigion town. With a small population in one of the least densely populated areas of the UK. How on earth it got to be a place name ...
I'm catching up. Here's the Saturday Night Live take-off of the Sarah Palin interview with Katie Couric. It's hilarious. There's a bit where she asks to use "phone a friend". That had me in stitches. Tina Fey, who "does" Palin, is carving out quite a reputation for herself - The Independent on Sunday has a profile of her here entitled "Queen of Satire".
"Befoulers of the Verbiage"It was an unfair attack on the verbiage That Senator McCain chose to use, Because the fundamentals, As he was having to explain afterwards, He means our workforce. He means the ingenuity of the American. And of course that is strong, And that is the foundation of our economy. So that was an unfair attack there, Again based on verbiage. More of this on the Slate.
From my occasional postings on the Daily Kos, my review of the last week.
When Gordon Brown came to power last year he promised a "government of all the talents". A year or so on and with what, 45,000,000 adults to choose from (most of whom of course would not touch his government, probably any government, with a very long barge-pole), one has to wonder just what talents he had in mind to bring this motley crew together: {200810051527.jpg} {200810051528.jpg} {200810051535.jpg} Come to think of it, there's probably not one talent between them. These three, and this choice by the "dear leader" to bring them into government, just highlights for me how hopeless the ...
I was doing a quick surf of Lib Dem blogs, when I found a post by Sharon Ball attributing the new graphic images on cigarettes to Lib Dem MEPs working within the EU as if this is something to be proud of. Say it ain't so. You cannot fix the problem of Tobacco with more regulation. It is regulation that is killing people. Patches and Gum are deliberately ineffective and deliberately more expensive than tobacco, because those are the rules imposed by The Government. I'm going to keep saying this until the penny starts dropping, so that the seeds of ...
The Lib Dems among you might want to skip this post (unless, of course, you want to pick holes in it ;)), as it will be all olds to you. However, I know I have readers who are overseas, or non-political, or interested but uninformed in political matters. I therefore thought that it might be useful to present a cut-out and keep guide to how a general election in this country works, and how your vote can be used effectively. What is the Structure of Parliament? Our parliament is divided into the House of Lords and the House of Commons. ...
As seen on Daily Kos, funny and perceptive - the Presidential candidates as trains.
Tim Harford, economist and journalist, has posted a very interesting piece about moral hazard. Like everything in life, it is a question of proportion. Moral hazard plays a part in developing policy but should not be used as an excuse for a do nothing approach.
We are currently driving through Birtley having been out to deliver our survey on the rising cost of living. 500 delivered to various parts of the constituency.Yesterday we were out taking photos for forthcoming Focuses. I now have to go home and finish making hedgrow jelly. And then write some Focus leaftets!---Sent via BlackBerry
It seems that the government is only waiting to get the Glenrothes by-election out of the way before unveiling plans which will make all post offices unviable.
Well the Scottish version of the Atticus column* in today's Sunday Times is finally picking up on this post by Kezia Dugdale. They say: Showing impeccable judgement, HBOS decided that wih its business going into meltdown and jobs on the line, it was a good time to offer customers free bubbly and flute glasses. Kezia Dugdale, a Labour researcher and HBOS customer, who recently recieved an e-mail offereing the freebie if she agreed to buy a case of wine, reckons it's taking the fizz. Well the Sunday Times with impeccable lack of timing is picking up a blog post over ...
Liberal Democrat Voice has offered each of the three candidates for the post of Party President three platforms pieces on LDV during the contest to make their case to party members. How they choose to use these platforms is entirely up to them. First up is Chandila Fernando, whose campaign website can be found here. 1. [...]
"Graphic pictures of throat cancer and rotting teeth are to appear on cigarette packets to illustrate the health risks of smoking, the Department of Health (DoH) has announced. Other images smokers will see include rotting lungs, a corpse in a morgue and a body cut open during surgery. The UK is the first country in the EU to introduce the photo warnings, which will...
I have a couple of comments on this one, though. Firstly, what is it with quizzes that ask book questions without an "all of the above" option? Secondly, for question 19, I selected the last option for two reasons: 1, it applies to beer, and 2, I'm allergic to two of the others. Your result for The Which Ancient Language Are You Test...OghamYou scored jennier_lc_feed
The Muggle Prime Minister sat at his cabinet table unaware that he was under an Imperius Curse. Before him was an almost blank sheet of paper with the positions of his cabinet. Next to the title Business Secretary he'd already scrawled in his own blood the name of Lord Voldemort of Hartlepool. The Dark Lord had been an ally to the Muggle Prime Minster's predecessor but he had for years stood up to the dark arts as practised by the Dark Lord before his seemingly expulsion to continental Europe. Indeed when he'd been appointed to the highest position in the ...
Despite a late rally Bath lost at the Recreation ground 15 - 19 to Leicester Tigers in the Anglo Welsh EDF Cup. It was a brave performance by the Bath side who only three days earlier beat Wasps away form home. To read more follow this link Bath Rugby
I spent a bit of time this morning trawling through the detail of the Populus Conference poll taking in early September. (Yes, my life really is that exciting). What I've realised is that the results of this poll are pretty much just what we'd expect pavement politics to produce. Good news in the sense that our strategy seems to be working on its own terms, but it also reveals some big limitations. Let's look at the details (please check the polling data from this and other polls to draw your own conclusions). First, we'd better remind ourselves what pavement politics ...
Earlier this week I was at the City Council's Corporate Services Select Committee. I am one of the Exec Members reporting to this committee - but its probably fair to say that most of the work relates more to the other two - Flo Clucas and Steve Hurst. A long agenda including at least one rather lengthy report. A few things however stood out for me Firstly - the council is not only meeting its target for recycling, it is exceeding it. Given the number of times I hear people say the target is not being met, this actual statistical ...
I went along to Liverpool One on Friday.Managed to miss the ceremony for the opening of the second phase earlier in the week. After a day of rather too many meetings, it was good to go along to the new Odeon to see a film. The building was so very new it had tha new carpet smell and even workmen's footprints still outside some of the doors. It'll be a great venue though, and the fact that there is a choice of eating places both immediately outside and round the corner means this should be quite a lively part of ...
Well, it was bound to happen, wasn't it. The McCain/Palin Campaign is in freefall after McCain appointed himself saviour of the global economy and then botched it by failing to ensure that his own party backed the bailout early last week. Sarah Palin herself hasn't helped with her performances in tv interviews which have raised concerns about her ability to mind the shop if McCain were incapacitated for some reason. You would have hoped that they would have stuck to the issues rather than play dirty, but this is the US Republicans we're talking about. Sarah Palin has now started ...
According to a new report from Locallife Wolverhampton is the fourth most working class area in the UK (Barrow-in-Furness, Crewe and Doncaster).
Haven't done a 3BT for a while and so 'ere tis: 1) In a moment of random navel gazing indulgence I discovered that if I add up the day, month and year of my birthday it totals 2000. 2) Last night's Strictly...sadly I haven't the time to devote to blogging about it this year but if you are a fan you can relive the last night's action on the Strictly website (check out Tom and Camilla's black and gold brilliance!)Also Jaye's blog has updates and news... 3) Garden blogs, great for when it's hounding down with rain like today..try: Blackpitts ...
So Gordon can still surprise us. Pulling off Mandelson's return to Government was quite spectacular. Everyone expected Mandelson to be put out to grass, not brought back into the Cabinet. Now, rather than the media pulling him apart, they will be constantly looking for and stirring up conflict between him and his old enemy Mandelson. It will be like Blair and Brown all over again. However the audacity of this move was not matched by the decision to keep poor old Jack McConnell in this country. Everyone has been waiting for his posting to Malawi for ages and I'm sure ...
Following the sad loss of Lisa Pontecorvo last month, details have been announced for a memorial service on Friday November 14th. Appropriately, it will be in Edward Square - Lisa was the dynamic secretary of the Friends of Edward Square who led the efforts to save and transform this space. For more information and updates on [...]
Bath is about to say farewell to King Bladud's Pigs that have been around on our streets for nearly six months now. The "farewell" pigs event will be taking place on 18th and 19th October in the Royal Victoria Park. This is a last chance to see all the pigs together and will be open 10.00am - 5.00pm with a small entrance fee. The main gala auction is on Friday...
Campaigning tip of the day: As I was delivering Focus leaflets yesterday, my mind drifted to a fantasy of a somewhat dubious nature (don't be coy, you have them too). After a pleasant few minutes, I was suddenly struck by a rather good campaigning idea (which I won't bore you with: I don't suppose it's especially original but I think it could work well in my area). Over the next few minutes, two or three more reasonably good ideas came to me: all in all one of my better mornings. So my tip is to indulge yourself in those dodgy ...
Glyn Davies got quite excited last night about the contents of this morning's News of the World, urging us all to go out and buy it because it contains 'a really juicy story' about Welsh politics. Well I did not buy it but I did look on-line and sure enough there was the story Glyn was alluding too, though whether it lives up to its billing is doubtful. If we are to believe the piece health chiefs are set to pull the plug on free prescriptions in Wales, because they are too expensive. Apparently, the policy has cost far more ...
This morning's Observer reports on research which predicts that Britain's rivers could nearly run dry because long hot summers caused by climate change will not be sufficiently compensated by wetter winters. Now, I do not wish to trivialise this issue in any way, but when exactly are we getting the long hot summers? Isn't this a rather simplistic view of the impact of climate change?
With Rumours that Lembit is going to appear on Big Brother and many other TV programmes is just actually quiet funny. Newspapers are just releasing rumour's left, right and centre just to try and catch Lembit out and destroy his chance of becoming Party President. Lembit might have a strong character but people, Please he isn't Boris. If you want to find a Boris like Person you don't need to look to further in the Conservative Party with Guido and others who blog using Avatar's, I mean, Libertarian Party. Can't seem to distinguish the difference these days with people like ...
"Hey can I call you Joe?" "Of course" "Okay, cos I've practised a few zingers where I call you Joe" Here's the Palin/Biden sketch from Saturday Night Live last night:
Thursday night's Full Council meeting veered from party political bickering and rudeness to laughter, through to the surreal sound of Cllr Doris Jones, erstwhile scourge of the Labour Group, being applauded by members of the Labour Cabinet. And the "mixed up chick"? Well, regular readers of this blog will recall that I moved an amendment at this year's Budget Council which would have devolved
According to The Observer, The Liberal Democrat Nick Clegg leader opens the door to his private study in Putney, London How could you resist?
Blimey - who ever would have thought that Gordon had the balls to bring back Peter Mandelson? In my view - a master stroke - unless M messes up again. Which is a gamble - though still as he said on the news clips - third time lucky. But in terms of keeping your enemies close and your friends even closer - bringing in Mandelson (who manages to be both enemy and friend) that close is to undermine the Blairite underminers of Gordon and bring in someone who is clever and regarded as experienced in trade and industry. Hmmmmmm - ...
{Featured on Liberal Democrat Voice} (and follow-up post here) A comment from one of my f-list today:Also, miss_s_b? Am very much considering joining the Liberal Democrats party, but I can't find anything anywhere about their stance on women's rights. (Any stance, from rights in the workplace through to abortion rights, etc.) Point me in the direction of some info, yes/no? (:Now, I admit, I haven't spent a lot of time on the main Lib Dem website, but is this for real? Is there REALLY nothing on there specifically about women's rights? Jo Crispy-Strips talked about this a few weeks ago, ...
Whatever thoughts crossed my mind that weren't worth a whole post. 16:58 wishes his friends would shut up about some conference in London. What is #smclondon08 anyway? ;-) #Microblogging using LoudTwitter and Twitter. matgb_twitter is there if you're mad enough.
For the past few months, I have been encouraging LibDem local parties round London to organise European evenings, featuring the cuisine of one of the EU member states, as a way of reminding people of our rich European heritage and destiny — and of the European elections next year. But in Sutton's case, I didn't [...]
