LibDem Blogs - Archived! - Sunday 11th February 2007

ASW workers take the fight to No. 10 and beyond - Willott

Today, as the Judicial review looking into the Occupational pensions Saga begins in the High Court, Jenny Willott, Welsh Liberal Democrat MP for Cardiff Central joined hundreds of people, including former ASW workers, in Parliament Square to protest over this affair that has left over 100,000 people with little or none of their hard earned pensions. Commenting afterwards, Jenny said: “Today was a chance for the Government to see the faces of hundreds of the people they have abandoned in this sordid affair. “The strength of feeling on this issue is enormous, both inside and ...

Mike Oborski

It certainly is obituary week. The third long standing Liberal to do die in a few days Cllr Mike Oborski from Wyre Forest. After the Liberal/SDP merger Mike went into the Liberal Party, not the much larger national Liberal Democrats. This isn't the time to rake over that history, but Mike was a great Liberal Campaigner. As Tony Greaves says in a private forum "He was indeed a brilliant election

Mike Oborski

More sad news this evening: Mike Oborski has died. There is more news on the Wyre Forest Liberals site and Tom Watson, the Labour MP, pays him a notably magnanimous tribute: The title “great man” is overused in this age of easy tributes and casual sentiment but for Mike, it’s application is properly applied. A Liberal - not Liberal Democrat, a Polish Consul, the greatest community campaigner I have ever met and probably ever will, he stood up for what he believed in. At various points in time, he drove nearly every member of Wyre Forest Labour Party ...

Julian Cummins

I was very sorry to hear of the death of Julian Cummins on holiday in Spain. Julian, a former editor of Liberator, was the first Liberal candidate I ever worked for. This was in the council elections in York in 1980 when he narrowly failed to take a seat from Labour. He was later a councillor in Leeds and the Liberal Alliance candidate for Pudsey in the general elections of 1983 and 1987.

Does the "promise to pay the bearer on demand" mean anything?

An interesting point arose at church this morning. Get out a £5 or £10 note and look at it. As you probably remember from some time ago, it says "I promise to pay the bearer on demand the sum of X pounds" and this promise is signed (often) by one Mervyn King, Governor of the Bank of England. What does it mean? I was taught that it used to mean that if you turned up at a bank and asked

It's official - Ted Haggard is straight

The Guardian reports: Just three months after admitting that he'd had sex with a male prostitute, the former president of the US National Association of Evangelicals has been declared "completely heterosexual" after three weeks' treatment at a Christian centre in Phoenix, according to one of the ministers who oversaw his degayification. Remarkable.

David Steel is number 12 - Men who understand women

The Observer "asked a panel of female authors, politicians, and media and business powers to nominate the men they believed best understood women". George Clooney was number one. Some Spliffy was number seven But I was pleasantly surprised to see David Steel at Number 12, for his work on abortion law.

Public meeting - City Centre & Harbour Community Council - Thursday 15th February

Dundee City Centre & Harbour Community Council’s meeting on Thursday 15th February will give local residents a chance to raise waste management and environmental issues with Council officers. Jim Nicholson from Waste Management and Alex Henderson from Environmental Health will talk about their work and there will be a question and answer session. A Community Council spokesperson said “Excessive noise, seagull nuisance, uncollected waste, graffiti and litter affect the quality of life for all City Centre residents. The officers are coming to tell us how they tackle these and other problems but are also looking for ...

Conrad Carruthers,welcome to the Big Siblings Club

My good friend who lives in Kinross celebrated the birth of her new nephew this weekend. I wish many congratulations to the happy family on their new arrival, Cameron. As an older sibling myself, I also wish to welcome 2 year old Conrad to the Big Siblings Club. I know that he will be an excellent big brother and will lead Cameron into all sorts of mischief in years to come. Today is also his second birthday, so I hope you had a fantastic day, Conrad.

Pink Dog and Dino

Mr Maxfield has sent me down Memory Lane again. My daughter has become addicted to Pink Dog's blog and reads it faithfully. Today's posting just shows how much of a Dog after My own Heart she is. Anyway, last year, Anna was worried that Pink Dog was lonely and so provided a companion. I do wish to make clear at this point that neither Dino nor Pink Dog (to my knowledge) have ever dated a Cheeky Girl.

By-elections and buses!!

Sunday 11th February 2007 - Sorry for the delay in updating the blog lately but the host server has changed its format and it took us a while to switch over and get the archive copied across!! Anyway it's done now and we are up and running thank goodness. It's been a busy time lately across the North West with by-elections coming along like buses - in three's!! Burnley, Carlisle and now Speke

David Rebak's funeral

Very, very sad today. Went to David Rebak's funeral. David died aged 82. David is one of those unsung heroes that you get in all parties. A man who is totally and utterly committed and passionate to the values of the party and spend their life in the party structures - organising, supporting, galvanising and encouraging others to continue the good fight. Such an interesting man with a history of

Iain Dale's made me cross

Very cross with Iain Dale for not defending my virtue (again). When Andrew Marr opined this morning that there were virtually no Lib Dem or Labour blogs compared with numerous Tory ones - Iain failed to leap to my defence! (And once before he forgot about me too - when talking about how no Lib Dem female MPs blog. Tsk tsk Iain!). However, he can be forgiven – just about! - as he was, at the time

The State of British Politics, part 94

It says a lot that when I read the Times headline “Bringing down our own Capone” I naturally assumed it was about the Prime Minister. Bookmark to:

Lets not be too soft on Mr Cameron...

The consensus around the liberal blogosphere seems to be that we should accept David Cameron's line that his past is private and therefore it is inappropriate to ask whether he used recreational drugs when he was younger. I'm not sure I agree. After all smoking cannabis was and remains a criminal offence. Criminal offences are not, by definition a private matter. Now Cameron's hug-a-hoodie

Keith Vaz - Obsession with self promotion may get him in trouble

The following was taking from Nick Assinder's Commons Confidential column on the BBC website. 1215 GMT, THURSDAY 8 FEBRUARY Leicester's Labour MP Keith Vaz may have enjoyed his moments basking in the radiance of his Bollywood guest, Shilpa Shetty yesterday. But, as is so often the case, there may be unforeseen and unpleasant consequences. Mr Vaz found himself on the wrong end of the Commons' authorities ire when he attempted to take Ms Shetty and a huge entourage of media onto the terrace and then, later, a committee room for a press conference. At one point Mr Vaz was ...

Ed Davey will vote against renewing Trident!

One of the things that came from last night's Question Time event in Warwick was Ed Davey 'coming out' after pressure from me he said that he would vote against renewing Trident in a vote in this Parliament. Ed's reasoning is different from my opposition - he simply thinks we can wait a bit and make the decision in 2014 (or thereabouts). This is the first time one of MPs has publicly said that will vote against the Government on this (a couple have told me they will privately, and they told me they will also oppose the motion to ...

Difficult To Swallow

Something in yesterday’s Guardian shocked me. That’s unusual, but I have to admit mainly because my regular Saturday Guardian does nothing most weeks but add to the piles of papers edging us out of the flat; I tend to read Charlie Brooker, and leave the rest. Yesterday, however, with no Mr Brooker there to read, I turned to the rest and found that a restaurant has successfully sued a food critic for a bad review. Paul Walter has given an excellent round-up of the story, but I should declare an interest before covering it myself: writing rude reviews is fun. ...

A Charity Ball

The boroughs of Kingston and Merton have been working together for some years on a number of projects and partnerships. For example, we share expertise and training for school improvement, and we are working together on our major waste disposal strategies. So I have done my bit to encourage good relations by meeting the Mayor of Merton, Cllr Geraldine Stanford, and other councillors...

What a choke!! (Ireland 17 - France 20)

Well the 6nations finally sparked in the France-Ireland game. An open running game full of great moves and even bigger mistakes. To be fair I think France actually deserved to edge it. They absolutely dominated the first 30mins and although Ireland had the majority of the play in the 2nd half their defence held pretty firm. And what a comeback, they didn't panic when they went 4 points down with

Loos Muze Exclusive......Bruce Kent on Lib Dems and Trident

"The Lib Dems are seen as a kind of third force in the politics of this country.People look to them for independent action and judgement.The Trident decision calls for moral courage and conviction based on knowledge. It is not a moment for perching uneasily on the fence." Last week Bruce Kent addressed a packed audience in Bedford on the subject of Trident. Anti Trident local MP Patrick Hall also spoke, and I was invited to outline the Lib Dem position - embarrassing or what?! Anyway, I asked Bruce if he would write something for me addressing our position in ...

Council Tax, Wet Weekend, Tom Spiers, Trees again ...

Much of Friday was spent on City Council budget matters (with Council Finance Convener hat on) - click on headline above to view more about this. We have spent a very wet weekend campaigning in various parts of the City; intend thawing out tonight! A resident contacted me Thursday about a vandalised young tree, in Blackness Road close to the Elliot Road junction. Having contacted the Council's Forestry Officer, he advised me it would be inspected, tied or restaked on Friday and pleased to advise that the tree is now sorted. Have received an ...

Cat wars

Simba had occupation of the small sofa last night as Sheba approached... His facial expression said "Come on bitch, make my day". Never one to back off, she did. Jumping up on the sofa she licked him, turned round, and deposited her full weight on him... There then followed some aggressive licking of ears and neck from Simba, followed by neck biting. But, by the time we get to the photo

Question Time

Last night I took part in a Question Time style debate with special guest Ed Davey MP for members and friends across the region. Questions ranged from the threat to the greenbelt by new homes, climate change and the future of Trident. This proved to be a very successful event and many of our members and friends commented to me afterwards how much they enjoyed the lively and interesting range of questions from the audience and the tone in which our local party chair, David Manuel involved the panel and the audience. Panelists, (Left ...

How's your writing?

The party is updating and expanding its set of two sides of A4 introductory guides on various aspects of e-campaigning. Many of the best ones so far have been written by volunteers (thanks Pete!) - so I’m on the hunt for volunteers again… The new guides will include: Getting started with blogging (using Blogger) Using Flock Together to advertise [...]

Triple-blind chocolate melting test cancelled

I tried. I really tried. I started this weekend with all good intentions about testing out the different methods of melting chocolate for cooking purposes (safely and easily in an oven, as Nigella says in a microwave or the HIGHLY DANGEROUS NEVER TO BE USED method that requires HOT, DANGEROUS boiling water). But once again, the chocolate just well ... didn't quite last from the shops to the melt-off. My stomach is telling me I need to go for a bit of a lie down now.

Comparing Front Pages

The BBC proves we don't need to worry about the trivialisation of the news: Click to enlarge

What A Dope

What I don't understand about today's story that David Cameron MP smoked a joint when he was 15 at Eton, is how this tallies with the allegations at the time of the Conservative leadership election of...

Warwick and Leamington Question Time

Last night Warwick and Leamington Liberal Democrats held a Question Time event at Hill Close Gardens. I was on the panel along with Ed Davey MP, local Parliamentary Candidate Alan Beddow, Phil Bennion and Warwickshire Councillor Nigel Rock.

Scotrail's dismal start to the year

It's not just Ayrshire and Glasgow which has been suffering poor performance on the railways since the start of the year. Those of us who had been moderately impressed with First Scotrail's running of the service are thinking again in the face of delays, ill considered re-timetabling and insufficient coaches. Willie Rennie MP has taken this up with them because it simply isn't good enough. In West Lothian, they have changed the times of the trains so that my husband now can't get home until after 6, when he used to be in nearly half an ...

CSA Bonuses - £25 million for what?

I almost choked on my breakfast when I heard that senior staff at the discredited Child Support Agency were being given bonuses totalling £25 million this year. What on earth would they have been given if they'd done their jobs well? A country house and a private jet? This is an organisation which spectactularly fails in its objectives - it is not efficient in collecting money from those who won't pay, can be unfair on those who can't pay, and there are many families living in poverty as a result of the CSA's poor performance. What ...

One Year On

By rights I should have posted this on Friday but I got in way too late, having been at a dinner celebrating the first anniversary of the election of Willie Rennie MP. Now, much more important than the political significance of the occasion, was the quality of the food, which was absolutely fantastic. I started with pate and oatcakes with plum chutney, which I knew would be a winner from our work Christmas lunch, then I had roast beef, which was gorgeous. Usually when you go to these affairs, the beef is much more overcooked than I would ...

Boots to sell Viagra over the Counter - For a tidy profit of course

The BBC reports that Boots is to sell Viagra over the counter to men, with just a quick consultation with a pharmacist required first. Read about it HERE. I don't see any problems with Boots doing this, but I do think they are taking advantage by charging £50 for four tablets ! If your e-mail inbox is anything like mine, you'll know that occasionally messages get through the spam filter offering surgery to enhance by your body or varying ranges of tablets and medicines, including viagra. It seems to me that the going rate for Viagra is about ...

Cameron's no dope

So David Cameron smoked weed in school... So what? I think he is exactly right in demanding a pre-political private life, and he'd be right ot demand much more than that as well. I've said this before, and I'll say it again - the press should leave these kinds of stories well alone. It does nobody any good at all, and I applaud Mr Cameron for not coming out and admitting his childhood prank (

How Much Does the Mail Hate David Cameron?

I ask ‘How much…?’ rather than ‘Does…?’ because the ‘hate’ is obvious. It’s their mission: to hate and pour bile over anyone not four-square on Planet Mail, and to terrify all those who actually agree with them (I often think Mail-readers must be like ghost train addicts, loving to shriek in pretend horror at illusory threats). This weekend, though, the Mail and Mail On Sunday seem to have mounted a co-ordinated attack on the Conservative Leader. They’ve dug up evidence of his drug-taking (gasp!) and reported in embarrassing detail his failed attempts to persuade Liberal Democrat MPs to defect (shock!). ...

No Prawn Sandwiches, but no atmosphere either

Yesterday I skived off leafletting for the day to attend Manchester United v Charlton, and take advantage of some hospitality tickets won in a raffle. After a beautiful carvery meal involving more food than was strictly necessary (and no prawn sandwiches in sight!), we assumed our seats in the North Stand for what was a fairly straightforward victory for Utd. It was the first time I'd been to Old

Discussion points

Many of the Sunday papers are leading on the frankly shocking (not) revelation that Tory leader, David Cameron, took drugs when he was 15 years old. Personally, I am with Jonathan Calder on this issue. He writes that the story will harm the Conservative leader 'not because people care about cannabis, but because everyone will be reminded that he went to Eton.' Meanwhile, The Scotsman wins the prize for most original headline of the day over its very serious story of how confectionery giant Cadbury is seeking to recall Easter eggs because they have the wrong nut allergy ...

video killed the internet star

According to yesterday's Guardian the rise of video downloads is threatening to overload the internet and the ISPs are grumbling that they are going to have plough lots of money into infrastructure but it will be the likes of youtube who will reap the benefits. Obviously the ISPs are just starting the process of softening people up to either a rise in prices or a return to the metering of

Fallen for 3G

As a post-Christmas indulgence, I bought myself an Xseries phone from 3 and now I think I get the 3G advantage. What is so powerful is the combination of several factors: Having fast enough mobile data rates to do streaming Having an unlimited data package (the ‘Gold’ one at 10GBP per month) Having fast broadband at home (I get [...]

Leeds player stitches Leeds up

According to Dennis Wise he found out at 1pm yesterday that one of the Leeds United players had given details of the team selection to Crystal Palace. On the various fan sites the rumours on the message boards would tend to indicate that the front runners are Thompson, Derry and Sullivan. I sure hope it is not Thompson who has been playing well and seems unlikely to have a motive for such a thing having not long ago arrived at the club. Apparently he picked up a late injury and hence did not play today. Sullivan is rumoured ...

Funding the election

The other article in the Wales on Sunday that caught my eye this morning was one about the BNP picking up hundreds of thousands of pounds of taxpayers money to contest this year's Welsh Assembly elections. The paper makes the assumption that the BNP will be able to find a full slate of 60 candidates for these elections, thus entitling it to a party political broadcast worth £75,000 in equivalent advertising costs and freepost leaflets to all 1.2 million households in Wales. The cost of second class postage on these would be £335,000. Against this would ...

And We Think We Have It Bad? The Trials and Tribulations of Anna Lo

I've just come across this article on the Guardian website. I'm rather sad but not surprised to see some of the problems Anna faces in Ulster. I have to admire her courage and I hope that she succeeds. If she does then I hope that more of the Chinese community in the UK will become inspired to engage in politics. Maybe even my own good lady wife one day? I must give the Alliance Party a call and see if I can do some telephone canvassing for her.

Turkeys, Trident and lessons of the Iraq war fiasco

Dealing with Bird Flu and the deployment of Nuclear Weapons by the UK. Both are situations involving high risks and (sometimes) taking decisions under stress. We know relatively little about the control and risk avoidance systems embedding our nuclear weapons systems. Some bits of it however cast shadows in public. This includes the political evaluation of risks and the decisions on appropriate responses to perceived threats. Our systems for dealing with infectious diseases are being market tested for real right now. We have found some inadequacies. That is to be expected of any control system. Let ...

Cheeky Brits

Matt Withers reports in today's Wales on Sunday that Lembit will be accompanying his Cheeky Girl girlfriend, Gabriela to this week's Brit Awards. However, it seems that the duo have unaccountably been overlooked for an award. The only explanation for this must be that they are not British. That must be right, surely. Matt should rest assured that when I launch a document containing Welsh Liberal Democrat Education policies on Monday I have no fears that its very relevant and effective contents will in any way be overshadowed by this royal occasion.

What's Left? How Grauniad-reading, Castro-mourning, McDonald's firebombing loopy lefties lost their way (keep the liberals out of it)

Apologies for the lengthy hiatus in blogging; the author has been passing a PhD viva and moving house. In my absence, the Grauniad has been making a meal of Nick Cohen's book "What's Left? How Liberals lost their way". The Grauniad might be getting excited about Nick Cohen's latest but I don't see why anyone else should given the inherent problem with the book, so perfectly encapsulated within

Trident debate on Liberal Democrat Voice

At Spring Conference, running from 2nd - 3rd March, the party will decide its policy on the Trident nuclear system. It looks set to be the contentious debate of this conference. Over the next two weeks we’ll run three pieces on Lib Dem Voice. The first, published tomorrow, outlines the situation and proposes an unconventional solution. [...]

UFOs round the corner from my home?

A bit of fun towards the end the week: the local paper has the story and a film clip you can watch online.

The Tories proudly described past leaders' backgrounds- so why not Dave's?

If you look back at past Conservative leaders, we were told a lot about their backgrounds. Ted Heath - son of a carpenter, Grammar School boy. Maggie Thatcher - helped her Dad keep the books at his Grantham Grocer shop. John Major - his humble beginnings in Brixton which loomed large in his memoirs. We even got to hear about soldier Iain, Beer-delivering Willie and humble-beginnings Michael. But

Lib Dem MPs flock to Facebook

There’s been a flurry of Liberal Democrat MPs starting to use the social networking site Facebook in the last few weeks - including party leader Ming Campbell (the first UK party leader to do so, just as he was the first on Google Video and YouTube), Jo Swinson, Steve Webb, Stephen Williams and Lynne Featherstone. Facebook used [...]

Sunday 11th February 2007

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