LibDem Blogs - Archived! - Tuesday 12th December 2006

Reform in Europe should be at core of Liberal policy

Sir Menzies Campbell (I can’t bring myself to call him “Ming”) has given an interesting speech to the Centre for European Reform in which he calls for a rebalancing on Britain’s relationship with the US and reform in the EU. I have written elsewhere of the need to be an honest friend to the US, supporting them when they are right but telling them frankly when they are wrong. It is Sir Menzies’s comments on the EU that I wish to examine here, for they mark an important shift in emphasis which I think the Liberal Democrats should note ...

What IDS's report didn't say

Conservatism is a peculiar animal, and Iain Duncan Smith’s ‘Breakdown Britain’ report - which cites the collapse of the family as a major cause of social injustice here in the UK - shows just why this is the case. I don’t dissent from his factual analysis (who can?). It is statistically the case that co-habiting couples are more likely to separate than married couples. Though clearly sad for

Day 2160: TORCHWOOD: They Keep Killing Suzie

Sunday: Look! I have found an EXCITING piece of ALIEN TECHNOLOGY! I had better keep quiet about it, or Captain Jack will turn up to steel it. Assuming he is still alive – things have been getting decidedly DEADLY in Cardiff. Daddy is enjoying it lots more, though. Here is what he thinks of the next instalment! I said before that Torchwood hadn't decided what it was about yet. In this episode,

Social exclusion report - good old fashioned Tory round spherical objects

So, in essence, the vast oeuvre of IDS on social exclusion amounts to: Married people stay together, so co-habitees need to get married and then all the problems of poverty will be solved. To achieve this we'll give lots of married people who aren't poor lots of money so they will vote for us anyway even if it doesn't do much for the poor. Brilliant. But I thought, as I swiftly turned off

BA: guilty of a crime against the English language

With my usual smugness yesterday, I waltzed past the queues in Terminal 4 to use the internet check-in. All done and dusted in a minute. Then I went to take my bag to the “Fast bag drop”. Oh dear. The queue for the “Fast bag drop” had 300 people in it and it took 45 minutes to get to the counter! Cambridge dictionaries define "fast" as " moving or happening quickly, or able to move or happen

Another reason to emigrate to New Zealand ?

I heard about this earlier on Radio Five Live, and have now found the link. Wouldn't it be great to have this as a job ? Read the full story HERE.

Ming goes eurosceptic?

Ming Campbell has taken a rather different line on Europe.

Why Ming is wrong and right on the EU

Ming Campbell, who I supported in the leadership contest learlier this year, has today spelled out why he feels that the EU should have a greater role in foreign and security policy. Initially after reading this, I was concerned about the direction he wants the UK to take. Personally I feel there is too wide a gap in the EU between forward thinking interventionist states and those who sit in the corner with a scared look on their faces. I remember well the first Gulf War in 1990 when the Belgians didn't want to sell the UK artillery shells ...

GLA Bill - Blogged As it Happens

As I type the GLA Bill is being read a second time in Parliament. For as long as time permits I’m going to comment on the debate as it happens. 19.40 - Sorry to the 3 people enjoying this (!) but a pre-arranged dinner guest has arrived. We’ll be back with the result of the vote. 19.14 [...]

Brown’s retrospective taxes are affront to the rule of law

I’ve been stung! I’d better declare my interest now, as I believe one should be open about one’s interests. A few weeks ago my wife and I bought two airline tickets to Cape Town. Gordon Brown has since announced that people like me – airline passengers who bought their tickets before this month’s pre-budget report – will be taxed. This gives us no option to change our behaviour to avoid the tax – unless we sacrifice the £450 ticket to avoid the £20 fee – so not only is it unfair and arbitrary, it will not in any way ...

Poetry in Motion

It is often quite difficult to think of things to write, To put upon my blog and keep updating every night. But keeping all the effort up is of value you see. I get to spread the news of liberal democracy. Today has been a boring day and not much news occurs, So I have lapsed into a slightly laboured form of verse. Some out there amongst you may consider it poetic, Frankly I am of the mind that

Tory Councillor found guilty of gay slur

Cllr Peter Willows, a long-standing Conservative councillor in Brighton and Hove has today been found guilty of a breach of Section 5 of the Public Order Act, which outlaws language causing alarm, distress or harassment. He was alleged to have likened homosexuals to paedophiles, at a reception hosted by the mayor of Brighton and Hove. Pink News had a [...]

Blair should be answering on Iraq

Liberal Democrat Shadow Leader of the House, David Heath MP, has said that the fact that a junior minister is to respond to this afternoon’s Urgent Question on Iraq in the House of Commons "a calculated insult to Parliament". I would go further - it is a calculated insult to the British people. On the FCO website its says: Mr Ian McCartney MP Minister of State for Trade Responsibility for:

Selections Yardley and Hodge Hill

On Saturday Cllr Tariq Khan was selected as PPC for Birmingham (Hodge Hill). Liam Byrne has greeted this with an attack on the Lib Dems. Tariq stands in a strong position as the new boundaries make the seat more of a Lib Dem seat than previously. Tariq won with an overwhelming vote of the members. I was also reselected on Saturday. The system for reselecting Lib Dem MPs is complex. It starts

And stop calling me Shirely

Ahmadinejad’s decision to hold a holocaust denial conference in Tehran, featuring assorted Islamist nutjobs, KKK wizard David Duke and David Irving’s whacky posho sidekick Lady Michele Renouf is just too perfect. It must have been orchestrated by the boys at Harry’s Place to give them material. He can’t possibly be this mad. It’s the only possible explanation.

Questions, hanging in fair Albion’s misty ether

Last week my company held its Christmas party in the Crypt at Ely Place. It was a pretty good event, but as I munched on my fillets of venison, I couldn’t help but notice that my table was overlooked by St. Francis of Assisi. I ignored him, but it gnawed at me a little. Whilst Francis lived in a cave and ate either simple food that kind souls had given him or nothing, I live in a heated flat, and was by this point wading through chestnut soufflé. Did this inspire me to live a more humble life in 2007? ...

Shocking, ridiculous and stupid?

Tony Blair condemned the conference on the holocaust organised by Iran as being “shocking, ridiculous and stupid". I reckon it is President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad teasing the West once again about Israel so to raise his profile and establish popular support. According to HaAretz “many Iranians admitted to embarrassment about the event, which follows Iran's decision to hold a competition for cartoons

National Offender Management Bill

Yesterday afternoon was taken up with the National Offender Management Bill - which basically begins to break up the Probation Service and give it to private providers. Whilst the Probation Service has undoubtedly come in for a lot of bad headlines for things going wrong - this Government solution really means that another part of our criminal justice system will be outsourced to the private

Week thus far ...

Was pleased to see Bharatiya Ashram, who provided their Arts Group as part of the Christmas Week events last week, getting a mention in the Courier yesterday. We are drawing the winners from the various West End Christmas Week competitions at the Community Council meeting tonight. Meantime, you can read about my latest West End Community Council Update by clicking the headline above (and if you follow the further link, you can then download the Update). Useful series of meetings about a number of issues yesterday with the Director of Social Work, Council Leader and ...

Attention local party officers!

Just a quick reminder to the good people out there running Lib Dem local parties that the deadline for returning forms to HQ detailing next years officers, conference reps and regional conference reps is fast approaching. The forms were sent to local party officers earlier in the year, and have to be back by the 15th [...]

Child Neglect Ignored by IDS Report

Has Iain Duncan Smith missed a key form of child neglect? And will he do anything about it?

PPC update: Birmingham Hodge Hill

It seems the last PPC update was written while Colin Ross was still updating his site, so we missed the selection of our first BME candidate in the current round - in Birmingham Hodge Hill. Congratulations to Cllr Tariq Khan, who has been selected for this “moving forward” status seat. As Colin says ”At the May 2005 [...]

Pinochet - an appreciation (sort of)

My second cousin Jaime has noted the death of a former fellow alumni, one Augusto Pinochet. And, given that Mark has given me free rein to comment via this wonderful medium, I thought that I would let Jaime add some thoughts of his own... Ah yes, Augusto... I remember him well from my days at military college, where he taught geopolitics rather badly. I did learn some valuable lessons (don't

Opinion: Press picture hides same old nasty Tories

We keep reading in the Westminster-centric press about the “resurgent” Tory party but what’s really going on? Like lots of you I’ve been riveted by the conservativehome website and what appears to be meltdown in the conservative associations out there in the sticks. OK only four associations have come seriously unstuck, but is this the [...]

Tory Tynemouth candidate anger

The anger within the ranks of Tynemouth’s Tories appears to be growing over the imposition of an A-List candidate who was rejected by the membership in favour of the candidate who stood at the last election. It turns out that though the membership can vote on who they want to be as their candidate, that is not the final say in the matter. In the Tory World of Democracy, the local executive gets

Decision time on the budget

With just over 24 hours to go before we vote on the Assembly budget it appears that the three opposition parties and the two independents are resolute in their determination to vote it down. What happens after that nobody knows. We are entering uncharted territory. It has to be said that this determination was not reached without some wobbles on the part of Plaid Cymru. Rhodri Morgan has an additional £9.3m to spend as a result of Gordon Brown's statement last week and I understand that Plaid were asked if they would abstain on the budget if all of this ...

Christmas change

The festive season is fast approaching, in fact it’s not fast approaching it’s smacked me, very hard in the head and I didn’t see it coming. You see to me it’s still September. I’ve been so busy for the last three months or so that I’ve barely noticed the days flying by and now I’m stuck [...]

Odone undone (ish)

Bloglines is an easy way to track those blogs you like to keep an eye on. It does, however, strip out the formatting of the original post - which can have unfortunate side-effects. For example, today in Daniel Finkelstein’s Tuesday comment round-up I was a little startled to see this article highlighted: Cristina Odone: (The Daily Telegraph) – You can’t shame a dodgy father by naming him Dominic

Guardian Advent 12th December

Todays link is here. It takes you to a quiz where you can answer some questions to determine your Christmas Style. It turns out mine is : Boringly Normal. Christmas is all about Christmas. Sometimes that means enjoyment, sometimes that means survival. You pick the bits you like and get through. You think about presents in terms of the recipient, and try and be a little bit original and creative, or at least get them something you know they'll actually use. Your gifts make perfect theoretical sense but sometimes go underappreciated. You tire of the excessive consumerism of the season, ...

How Do We Compare?

I posted a blog on the 30 November with the figures for how much was owed in unpaid parking fines and congestion charges by the staff of foreign embassies in the UK. The United Arab Emirates top...

Tehzeeb/The Culture launch

Last night I attended the launch of the West Midlands newest newspaper - Tehzeeb/The Culture. It is part English language and part Urdu and published weekly. The launch went went and I wish them every success.

Day 2159: ROBIN HOOD: A Thing or Two About Loyalty

Saturday: After a hard day Christmas Shopping on the Internet, Daddy has nipped off to Sherwood Forest to find some financing. I wonder where those bags marked "swag" come from! Moral dilemmas and relationships dominate this week's Robin Hood, in the second episode written by Paul Cornell. Sir Guy has encouraged his friend Lambert to develop his invention of "black powder" known to Robin and

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Tuesday 12th December 2006

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