LibDem Blogs - Archived!

I'm at conference, so what's my first post about? Number plates! This Saturday on the way across the country I managed to spot consecutively number plates 282, 283, 284, 285, 286, 287 and 288 a consecutive record for myself. The only problem was the I failed to find 281 first :(

An e-mail arrives from The First Post, suggesting I read their article on the Liberal Democrat Conference. As the article is by Sholto Byrnes, who has occasionally reported the thoughts of Lord Bonkers in the Evening Standard and Independent diaries, I was happy to do so. Sholto writes: Far from being a time for the Liberal Democrats to congratulate themselves, this is a moment when the party must ask itself the question to which it has never given a satisfactory answer: what on earth does it stand for?Fair comment. You can read the full article here.

The NHS is dear to the hearts of every Britain. The principles that it is founded on express the sense of fairness and caring that a civilised society aspires to. It was born out of poverty. It was inspired by the examples of liberal policy enacted by Churchill and Lloyd George. It was based on the principles of that great liberal Beveridge. It was created by a Labour Government. Here lies

Last week, in my article on Lib Dem blogs, I mentioned the ReadMyDay project run by the office of the deputy prime minister. As its website says: Increasingly, weblogs are being used in place of conventional websites by elected representatives and local government officials keen to communicate more effectively and efficiently with citizens, staff, media and other tiers of government.In that article I referred to two blogs by Lib Dem councillors - Louise Alexander and Mary Reid - written as part of ReadMyDay. Another Lib Dem councillor who wrote a ReadMyDay was Paul Leake from the City of Durham. I ...

A lot of the media have been asking questions about Charles Kennedy. I have always taken the view that the party should be about more than one person. I explained to the journalists that although I would quite like to be leader of the party (although I am also quite happy to remain a backbencher), I would like Charles Kennedy to remain leader for a while. After all I have only been an MP for

Today was my birthday an event that usually clashes with the Lib Dem Federal Conference, like this year. However, this year I am not raising my arm every so often to vote on vital issues from the body of the hall. Or trying to get a speaker's card accepted to speak in a debate. Regular readers of my blog will know why. Today was not a dry birthday the drizzle pursued me while I was out delivering

Yesterday I had a full day at conference incorporating most of what conference has to offer, so I thought I'd share it with you to give you a flavour of what Lib Dems really do at conference. 10.30 - consultative session on Devolution 12noon - blogged and went around some of the stalls from Lib Dem organisations and pressure groups 1pm - chose from a range of fringe events to go to one run by Liberator about the Liberal Vision 2.30pm - training session on how to deal with negative campaigning 4.30pm - went to the main auditorium ...

Having only just started to really enjoy Conference it is almost time to leave. Together with all of the other Welsh Liberal Democrats AMs I am travelling back very early tomorrow morning and braving the M6 at rush hour so as to get back to Cardiff Bay in time for the first Plenary session of the new term. The few days I have been here have had their interesting moments. The first one concerned the Conference passes. Many people would dispute the fact that AMs are Parliamentarians, nevertheless that is how the Liberal Democrats class us for Conference ...

by Steve Travis Sheffield Hallam MP Nick Clegg is interviewed in today's Indepedent, in an article titled "'The future of British politics will inescapably have to be liberal - with a small L". He underlines his liberal credentials by discussing NHS and Post Office reform, whilst saying that reform does not necessarilly equal privatisation. He also displays a refreshing honesty towards the position of the Conservatives in politics - that they cannot be wished away and we should accept and deal with that fact. With MPs like Mr Clegg around there is a far better chance that the ...

By Jabez Clegg We’re not sure whether Andrew Rawnsley is an avid reader of The Apollo Project, but his latest article shows he might well be. It chimes with many of the sentiments expressed here, and we note that Rawnsley thinks: “These younger [Lib Dem] MPs have given up well-paid jobs and sacrificed family lives to come to Westminster. They are not prepared, as previous generations were, to settle forever for being third best. They are hungry for progress and impatient that Mr Kennedy is not leading them towards power more quickly and aggressively. They are anxious that opportunity ...