LibDem Blogs - Archived!

I have spent most of the evening struggling with the Assembly laptop that I have the use of whilst I remain a member of that austere body. On more than one occasion I have called it a 'useless piece of junk' as it has taken an age to perform even the simplest of tasks. At increasingly more frequent intervals it decides for itself to terminate the antiquated dial-up connection it operates on, apparently out of sheer malice. In the end I gave up trying to read my e-mails and went to use my own computer which operates ...

There's an interesting new blog called The Apollo Project. The first two posts look promising, giving a Liberal perspective on current British politics.

The Apostrophic Church has pronounced its first fatwa. I have found, via a posting on Castrovalva, an article on the BBC website which reports the views of Kate Burridge. She is a linguist who questions the need to use possessive apostrophes at all. Apparently she has written a book called Weeds in the Garden of Words . No doubt we shall have to burn it (and quite possibly the author too). Arguments like this, along with calls for "spelling reform" or the promotion of Esperanto, miss the point. What we should be asking is why, when the rules for ...

No excuses - it has dominated the week. A quick recap for those not familiar with the situation. The local Primary Care Trust (Eastleigh and Test Valley South working in alliance mode with the New Forest) is consulting on "Community Services for Older People". You may well think that this is a laudable aim but the sub plot is that apparently a whole host of wonderful home based services mean

Just checking out the Conference venue in Blackpool - Brings back child-hood memories. Doesn't seem to have change very much. Was looking for a photo of the Winter Gardens but the interactive layout of the ground and first floor seems more fun.

It is said that imitation is the highest form of flattery, so now that Plaid Cymru have all but adopted Liberal Democrats policy on how to fund a Federal Britain, we should be quite pleased with ourselves. If they can now bring themselves to accept that this is not just about fair play for Wales but a matter that is driven by the need for constitutional consistency across the whole of the UK then we will be making progress.

Anybody who has visited the National Assembly for Wales when it is sitting will notice straight away the large variety of protestors who gather there. We have had hunger-strikers, demonstrations, lobbies and a wide-range of colourful and imaginative banners draped across the pedestrian guard-rails outside. When I called in earlier this week all of these had packed up for the summer. They will be back in September. It is my view that this is a good thing. Protest has an important place in a democratic society. It really can change things, it can help hold politicians and governments to account ...

Work has begun on the new 55,000sq foot retail park at Linlithgow Bridge. Earlier this year this project caused major concern to local residents as many felt it would detract from the unique shopping environment on the historic High Street of the Burgh. However, objections were overcome as the retail outlets that were proposed, Homebase, a garden centre, Argos Extra and Acorn Pets Centres, were

We have been told that next year's NRF for Birmingham will be over £32,000,000. That is obviously good news for the city. There is a difficulty, however, in that in informal meetings representatives of the government have been threatening to not pay that money to Birmingham unless I am sacked as chair of the BSP. I confirmed this in an informal discussion with Graham Garbett (director

by Peter Tall, blond and blue-eyed, Edward Leigh is the very image of a Conservative Member of Parliament. Admittedly he is Catholic rather than High Anglican, but the Church of England has not been conservative enough for true Tories for some years now. And Edward Leigh is steeped in Conservative traditions. One could imagine that a leather-bound edition of Filmer's Patriarcha sits on the desk in his study. An elected politician for more than 30 years and a Tory MP for more than 20, he was Mrs Thatcher's speechwriter in the opposition years, and held ministerial positions under both Thatcher ...

by Steve Travis “There are those who'll bet love comes but once, and yet I'm oh, so glad we met the second time around … “ The lyrics of this Frank Sinatra song refer to a couple re-kindling their early love later in life, in the face of the prevailing view that such love can only occur once. The prevailing view in politics is that the Conservatives benefited during the Twentieth Century from the schism caused by the establishment of the Labour Party and the loss to Liberalism of the Trades Unionists and the working class. Whilst ...

Halfway point - Construction of Arsenal's New Stadium Arsenal's (Gunners' ) new 60,000 capacity Emirates Stadium in Ashburton Grove, Holloway, has passed the halfway point and is on track for the scheduled opening date of August 2006.I'm not a football fan but driving through parts of Islington north you can't help admire the regeneration of a whole area. Emirates Stadium Picture GalleryIn a recent news report, Manager Arsene Wenger said: "This is a very exciting time for the club. Now we can really start to look forward to the great future ahead of us in our new home."The £350million project ...

To see why capitalism is broadly preferable to communism, one only has to compare South Korea with North Korea. Or to look at the wreckage in Eastern Europe, which will take decades to put right. Such comparisons answer the criticism that capitalism makes people poor. The problem is rather the damage that capitalism does to the social fabric. This is why I disagree with market fundamentalists

The law introduced to stop Brian Haw protesting outside Parliament will affect everyone except him, the High Court has ruled. The legislation requires potential protesters to seek permission before starting a protest within a defined area around Westminster, but Haw’s protest has already started. The law comes into force on Monday 1 August, so presumably anyone [...]

Slugger O'Toole - a fantastic site if you're interested in all things Irish - share my cyncism regarding the IRA statement yesterday: THE IRA statement is now out, giving volunteers an order to dump arms - which we expected a number of years ago. The rest is the usual IRA-style statement - you could have written it yourself, it's so predictable. As we're watching the breaking news on Sky, there's a collective shrug in this office. Frankly, no-one really cares what the republican movement says any more, because no-one believes it - it's what it does that counts from ...

Here is today's House Points column from Liberal Democrat News. It is the last of the current season, but anyone suffering withdrawal symptoms over the summer can find an archive of my earlier columns here. Holiday time When the England cricket team loses an overseas test, the management organises extra net sessions for the next day. Not because the players need more practice, but because the authorities want it to look as though something is being done. Some people want MPs to cut short their summer recess for much the same reason. They are not sure what it ...