LibDem Blogs - Archived!

Can't remember being asked to contribute to this survey which highlights favoured reading of MPs and Peers. There is always a dilemma in answering these things. Should I try and hint at my intellectual side or highlight the common touch? Hence the lists of preferred reading range from the politically predictable to something everyone will have heard of (ie Harry Potter). Whatever happened to

There are some people I miss - but I wrote to all of my ex colleagues shortly after the election. Nicest - and most balanced - response was from David Rendel who had lost in Newbury. He was always a most considerate and gentle soul and he always turned up to help at local (and not so local) council by elections. When I wrote to him I expressed the hope that this help had been reciprocated during

Tim Hicks returns to my posting that asked what's gone wrong with comprehensives. He writes: I have to say, I was rather disappointed with some of the comments that I saw to Jonathan's post. Valiant attempts by 'Bishop Hill' to channel debate in such a way that it bore some relevance to the issues actually raised in the post were, sadly, not always successful. The most dispiriting thing for me was that despite explicitly stating that going back 50 years to the grammar/secondary modern dichotomy was neither possible nor desirable, those who opposed the principles that Jonathan was advocating ...

Only a month ago the BBC Chairman, Michael Grade, promised that BBC1 and BBC2 could be "repeat-free zones" within 10 years. I have just watched a repeat of 'Silent Witness'. Apparently this is not a repeat, it is a second viewing opportunity!

It's quiet on the Council front, not so many meetings in August. I've taken the time to stay with the folks and travel to Berwick with friends. We went to the Edinburgh Festival on my birthday. I'm left with the vivid images of Cartier-Bresson and a new historical insight into the Iraq conflict, courtesy of Apocalypso Now - Rob Newman's show. Went out twice on the weekend delivering Focus leaflets - any help gratefully appreciated. That said, I do enjoy hitting the pavements every once in a while, seeing how things are progressing and invariably ...

My communications with Government Office and the Treasury Solicitors (who are the people who act on behalf of the government) continue. Government Office have responded to a couple of my requests for information, but generally not responded and I have been chasing up. The Treasury Solicitors are now claiming that what was said to me by Lin Homer and Graham Garbutt was not said to me. This still

Such cooling rain. A big change from the humid heat. Gave me a chance to catch up and read some of the other Lib Dem blogs - it's always food for thought what others write about.Noticed Martin Young's posting Liberal spiceA step along the way seems to be the labeling of types of LibDems, or factions maybe, depending on how aggressive the writer is feeling.I'm just wondering in which category he puts my blog? Have to agree some of the writers are aggressive and out for a fight - they need to take a chill pill. The styles of writing ...

By Jabez Clegg It may only be the silly season, but already on Politicalbetting.com the future of the Liberal Democrats is being called into question. Apparently we are likely to suffer in a squeeze between GB and DD, as our scepticism over the Government’s authoritarian response to recent attacks will not go down well with the public. Rather like Mao’s comments the success of the French Revolution, it is of course "far too early to tell" what will be important in 2009/10. But standing up for what you believe in is always in fashion.

There is a tendency in football for the Chairman of a club to publicly offer his full and unequivocal support for a beleagured manager just before he sacks him. I wonder therefore if that is what is going on here. Most politicians are waiting for the outcome of the independent police watchdog's confidential probe into the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes before expressing an opinion on the future of Sir Ian Blair or his political masters. This is despite the damning evidence that is leaking out from the inquiry. No such restraint seems to apply to the ...