LibDem Blogs - Archived!

From ITV News, who have obtained documents relating to the shooting of the innocent Brazilian electrician Jean Charles De Menezes on a Tube train at Stockwell station on 22/07/2005: The documents and photographs confirm that Jean Charles was not carrying any bags, and was wearing a denim jacket, not a bulky winter coat, as had previously been claimed. He was behaving normally, and did not vault

Michael Buerk appears to be having a bit of a crisis and resenting the so-called dominance of women. See this link for an interesting (to me!) comment on his little strop in this week's press.

by Jabez Clegg Like a bottle of a supermarket's own-brand spirits ambivalently snuck out of one's parents' sideboard, a media moral panic cannot long be enjoyed straight. A well-loved and strongly-flavoured mixer is needed to keep it palatable. The BBC, glugging away at the "binge drinking" topic, has poured in a nice seasonal twist - A Level time! Ten percent of parents, apparently, believe

After years of writing letters to the time and not getting one published I found today that I was featured in Saturday's week on the web. It's amazing what happens when you check out the unusual referrals to your site on site counter. Not bad for an infant blog like mine. A shame that all my fellow Blog for Victory signatories couldn't all be similarly honoured.

In my family history research, I’ve come across a few occasions where a pair of siblings married another pair of siblings. I’ve finally uncovered an example of a married couple apparently being first cousins: No definitive proof yet that Maria (aka Mary) Baverstock and Frederick (my ancestor) are siblings, but Jesse is described as his nephew [...]

The other candidate, Michael Bagnall, did not withdraw his nomination, so there is a contested election for the parish council seat. I'm pleased about that, because I'd much rather be elected in a contest than elected unopposed, or co-opted. If I am not elected, then there will still have been a public debate about how the council should be run and that will be healthy for local democracy. I've sent my Manifesto to the local papers and put a link to it in the right hand column on this page.

It is my onerous duty to report that the search term "Little Britain" is the top search engine referrer to this website. It's the result of this post earlier in the year and, as you can probably tell from that post, "Little Britain" being the main reason people come here doesn't make me leap for joy across the nearest green field. I don't want that one In case any Little Britain fans are

BBC News’s AsboWatch VII: Angered by his unruly, boozed-up behaviour, police had hoped magistrates would punish the youth for breaching his Asbo. He hadn’t. Closer examination revealed that he had mistakenly been ordered not to be in public “without” alcohol and that he was also duty bound to act in a threatening manner likely to cause harassment, [...]

The latest Liberator arrives on my doorstep with a very funny Lord Bonkers' Diary (well done, Jonathan). This passage made me laugh out loud but then I have always had a strange sense of humour. One of the great disappointments of the twentieth century was the failure of the airship to maintain its early promise as a means of mass transportation. I remember with fondness those great ships of an earlier age: the Graf Zeppelin, the R101 and, here in Rutland, the First Lady Bonkers. The problem that saw the downfall of these graceful galleons of the sky was ...

Susanne Lamido on suz blog is contemplating how quiet August is. I wish! We got our latest focus for Linlithgow from the printers on Thursday 4th August. Two days later or course one of the West Lothian MPs died. So last night I took a well earned break and went to Linlithgow to delivery about 400 of my own focuses before the rush of time takes over elsewhere. However, As I was walking around I

Liberator 304 - out now! The latest issue of Liberator magazine is landing on subscribers' doormats as I write. Highlights in this issue include: Greg Mulholland MP on community relations in Leeds and maintaining Liberal values, following the London bombings.Lynne Featherstone MP on the need to campaign effectively on crime.David Boyle on the true meaning of that abused political term, a

by Jabez Clegg I were tekkin' time away from t'mill t'other day, and came across a couple o' pieces that took me fancy. First were by them Tories, a scrappin' bunch if ever I saw one. This lad Collins is not happy wi' 'is Masters: As our MPs return to their constituencies, three things come to mind: We could have had a new leader by now. We could have had a Conservative MP for Cheadle. We

by Steve Travis During the relative Dark Ages for the party, between the 1930s and the 1960s, the Liberal Party had little representation in much of mainstream, urban Britain, and a majority of MPs came from what was termed the "Celtic Fringe" of Northern Scotland, North and West Wales and the South West of England. The reasons for this have been well documented by, amongst others Andrew Russell

Feeling very lazy about updating this blog - still in holiday mode. August is always a quiet month. I always think of it as the 'go slow' month with so many people away on holiday. The best thing is very few emails and phone calls. It's a good time to get on with the jobs that keep being left because of normal time constraints. Just filling out an application form (not sure if I'm going to submit it). Found a very strange question. Have you ever......... or supported a non-Lib Dem candidate while a member of the Liberal Democrats? If ...

Nine years too late I know, but have you noticed that the lyrics to the verses of the Blur song Stereotypes can be sung to the tune of Squeeze’s Cool for Cats? Blur Squeeze The suburbs they are dreaming, they’re a twinkle in her eye She’s been feeling frisky since her husband said goodbye She wears a low cut t-shirt, [...]

After week's of failing to inspire, this morning's Western Mail hits home with its gadget spot known as "Big Boy's Toys". They have found a USB cup warmer and 4-Port Hub. Plug it into a spare USB port on your computer and the Cup Warmer will keep your beverage at the optimum operating temperature for as long as you care to leave it. And as if that wasn’t quite enough functionality for your £12.95 thank you very much indeed, it has the added bonus of also being a four-port USB hub, allowing you to connect ...

One of the highlights of my week in Dublin was the visit to Kilmainham Jail. This was, of course the prison that held the ringleaders of the Easter 1916 uprising and it was here that 14 of them were executed. The exhibition at the jail is packed full of information outlining its role in the developing social history of Ireland. Charles Steward Parnell was held here briefly, whilst the courtyard contains the graves of hundreds of prisoners, many of whom were victims of the great Irish potato famine in the 1840s and 1850s. The last prisoner to be held ...

The story so far: When calling companies use predictive dialers (whether it is for TPS unregistered cold calling or any other calling system) they at times (and it can be quite a few times) end up when someone answers the phone and they don't have an "agent" available. These "no agent available" (NAA) calls are what are known as "silent calls". Statutory Intrument 2003/2426 "The Privacy and

Cheddleton parish council hasn't had a contested election for about 10 years, which explains why there are people who think the councillors are appointed. I even know one person who would not believe me when I told her it was part of local government, not part of the anglican church - blame The Vicar of Dibley. The council is elected every 4 years at the same time as the District Council. If there is a vacancy in between, then usually a councillor is co-opted not elected. However, if ten voters claim a poll, then there is a ...