Bob Piper is another blogger currently without a platform thanks to the events surrounding Uzbek millionaire Alisher Usmanov. Rather annoying for us both as judging by my blog stats, a large number of people have tried accessing his opinions on democracy in the Labour party today. We all hope you get back up and running soon, Bob! 
Sir Menzies - having sat behind you in Brighton today - I see why you stated that experience and age over rides youth. The press have suggested that the 'Young Turks' are waiting in the aisles, but with your gravitas, your delivery and the strong messages that you belted out, there are very few in the Party who can command an audience like you did today. I was proud of the Bill of the Rights, I was proud of you mentioning the financial and social disparity between London Boroughs only a few miles apart (Hackney and Hampstead) and I was ...
An interesting annual meeting tonight for the Leathermarket JMB, Southwark's largest tenant-managed housing organisation (TMO). Although I'd like to say it was due to the return of the Resident Directors, myself included, and other standard items of business, it was more due to the presence of Tony Blair's former Director of Strategy and current RSA Director Matthew Taylor who gave a speech on community engagement. Matthew's mum lives in the area and has been involved in local community projects for some years so he made time to drop-in. He is also a huge fan of TMOs Despite his background his ...
Odd last day of conference for me as I got to bookend Ming’s speech. I was in the fundraising video they showed at the start, having agreed to be a prop for Greg Stone to talk about the value of online advertising. In retrospect, it looked rather like a Children in Need appeal with a celebrity asking for money to support special needs kids. Not the most glorious start to my new sideline in whoring out my “celebrity” status for the good of the party (which I suspect has already come to an end). At the other end of the ...
Watching Everton tonight in the UEFA cup was, quite frankly, embarrassing. Playing a quarter of the game against 10 men, missing two penalties, conceding a goal against ten men, laughable defending and no proper formation. Then the opposition went down to nine men, and still no Everton goal and nothing even close to it. It was embarrassing to watch. Had they dressed up in clown costumes with red noses they may have played better. I am not at all happy.
Earlier today I compared Gareth Young in unfavourable terms to Bernard Manning. In light of Gareth’s subsequent comments, I now accept this was entirely unfair. Bernard Manning was at least honest with himself about what he believed in and never took himself too seriously. It is clear that no-one could ever accuse Gareth of either. My favourite line is this: James’ idea that all decisions that affect England are best handled at a UK or local level are a mechanical, almost fascist (sic), idea of democracy; it’s not about what form of government the people would want, but rather what ...
How craven can you get? Tim Ireland's Bloggerheads blog has vanished this evening. Iain Dale reports that this is because Tim's webhost withdrew its services after receiving a legal threat from an Uzbek billionaire named Alisher Usmanov. Other sites affected include www.boris-johnson.com. If the mere threat of legal action means that blog publishers fold and cut blog writers off from the outside world, we might as well give up on the idea of free speech altogether. In the short term, I'm sure Bloggerheads (and Boris Johnson) will be back up - I wish Tim the best of luck in finding ...
The latest Liberal Democrat film shows the reaction of people who watched Ming Campbell’s speech in the Brighton conference hall:
Back from Brighton, a fine week. I said I would pass this on Creative Torbay has been successful in gaining a grant from the Arts Council to build a new website.We are looking or creative's to ...
Enjoyed conference in Brighton. On Monday, attended the lunchtime event jointly organised by Ethnic Minority Lib Dems (EMLD), and Ming's office. It was an invitation-only event, billed as a 'training event for BME members'. In reality it was an opportunity for many BME members to take stock of where we are on the thorny issue of BME representation in the Party, and hear from Ming and the new Diversity Adviser, Issan Ghazni. Ming reassured us all that he is absolutely committed to increasing the diversity of Lib Dem representatives at all level, and in particular, Parliamentary level. Its an issue ...
Ming can breath a sigh of relief. It’s not just the Lib Dem conference delegates and blogosphere which have lauded his speech - even the media, which has delighted in reporting a conference taking place in an alternative parallel universe all week, has been forced to admit his speech was pretty damn good: … the moment [...]
Congratulations Ming, the speech was superb ... really really superb. I just thought the delivery was fantastic and the content was hitting all the right buttons. Hello there leader of the Liberal Democrats, it was just so lovely to see you at last! I heard journalists discussing it afterwards trying to identify if it was more attacking Labour or the Tories ... I would say it was in equal measure ... but they missed the point. The speech was all about us. Heartfelt, passionate and above all else ... Liberal to the core. I think it will have reassured so ...
Just back from Brighton. (Well, just back and a bit of sleep). I can't, or won't, tell you about the secret tactics one Presidential candidate is going to be using, and a case of mistaken identity involving Brian Paddick. It does look like a snap General Election is more likely than ever, after the Guardian poll on Wednesday which indicated a decent Labour lead, Labour dominance of all the important issues, and a very poor personal rating for Cameron. Indeed, even Iain Dale thinks there's likely to be a snap election. I could see quite a lot of stressed agents ...
The government are keen to impose things on schools centrally, and some of these things are good and work well, whilst others don't. One of the biggest problems I have is with the National Numeracy Strategy. I have no problem with teaching it or with the ideas behind it, but I do worry about the resources that are provided. For example, one "resource" for display on a projector shows a 100 number grid with the numbers from one to one hundred displayed, but the only problem is that 37 is displayed twice and 38 is not displayed at all. Whilst ...
With the price of the rival HD-DVD units less than one half of the price of Sony's Blu-Ray High Definition DVD systems and HD-DVD outselling Blu_ray by three to one in the US, the system, although technologically probably more advanced than HD-DVD is starting to look like a format already. But with Playstation 3, the games system with a built in Blu-ray player, failing to sell anywhere near the numbers that Sony had hoped and with the latest US sales figures showing that 404,000 Nintendo Wii's were sold last month, 277,000 of Microsoft's XBox 360's but only 131,000 Playstation 3's ...
Back now from a really good conference in Brighton, have been back in work today finalising preparations for the other two conferences. Lib Dem conference went really well all round - the work side went well for me and also managed to get some time to catch up with old friends and make some new ones, as usual. It was the first time I've been at Lib Dem conference for work rather than pleasure, so it was a bit odd - I only ended up getting into the hall once, and even that was work related, for Norman Lamb's speech. ...
Conservative MP Andrew Pelling sounds like a thoroughly lovely guy. Whilst his wife, and mother of his three children was away visiting her dying father, he started an affair with a woman 20 years younger than him. Upon his wife's return, he apparently couldn't face her (or didn't have the guts to) so it is reported that he posted money to her through the letter box (such a brave man). He then divorced her and married his mistress. Now Mr Pelling has been arrested by the police for allegedly assaulting his new wife, who is now pregnant. Rather surprising given ...
Anyone worried about the rise of the oligarchs and the lack of accountable and democratic government in some former Soviet states should read Iain Dale's comments about the removal of Tim Ireland's Bloggerheads sire from the internet because his web host panicked after receiving threatening letters from solicitors acting on behalf of a Russian Oligarch. Everyone should be worried by this.
Yes, a big but in my mind is that the problems in the Post Office could so easily have been avoided. In great part the problems have been caused by the government insisting that the UK postal market be opened up to foreign competition whilst many of the countries the foreign companies are from do NOT open up their own services. In much the same was as it is very difficult now to find a UK company that provides water, gas or electricity because they have been bought by foreign companies whose home markets are still monopolies, the same is ...
If you thought the TASER was a horrific bit of kit, take a look at the Silent Guardian. Manufactured by RAYTHON, These are examples of ‘active denial systems’, colloquially known as less-than-lethal devices. They are intended for use in crowd control by throwing an energy beam that causes intense pain. Even the Daily Mail is shocked about the torture possibilities of this device. A square transmitter as big as a plasma TV screen is mounted on the back of a Jeep. When turned on, it emits an invisible, focused beam of radiation - similar to the microwaves in a domestic ... 
Although I have been paying more attention than most members of the public I have viewed the Conference entirely through the media. I must say it's looked pretty grim. The party seems to be fizzing with ideas and some good ones at that but the pre ordained media agenda has been Ming, Ming and Ming. This is not fair but it is what has come across. I'm not sure Ming has helped him self by saying a woman will be a candidate when he goes or Nick Clegg ruling him self in. Harmless in themselves the comments validate rather than ...
Got a bit of a thrill after the pub last night, as Newsnight carried an interview with Martin Amis, on his new professorship at Manchester University. I know, it doesn’t take much. I’m currently reading The Rachel Papers, a tale of juvenile lust, which is about as much fun as you can have without a crackpipe. And on the subject of romance and the young, Amis said "The novel gives the reader an inner communion with themselves, that they first got when they were adolescents".He expressed sadness that great novels "indifferent to momentum" are dying out, I suppose suggesting that ...
I see that in this morning's Independent Michael Brown makes the case for an alliance between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats. I find it hard to feel warm and cuddly about such an alliance, but that is not because I have any great ideological hang ups about working with Conservatives. The problem is that, were cross party coalitions required in the future, I find that the Conservatives have more in common with Labour. It is Labour who have proposed most of the key planks of the surveillance state, which the Conservatives have supported. It is Labour who proposed the ...
Conservative councillors on the North London Waste Authority have provoked outrage by ramming through a series of controversial measures – such as paying recycling credits to Tesco and ending subsidies for reusable nappies – whilst most Liberal Democrat councillors were at their party’s annual conference in Brighton. The NLWA – which is the waste disposal authority for seven north London boroughs – is made up of five Tories, five Labour and four Lib Dems. The Tory Chair – Cllr Brian Coleman of Barnet – owes his position to the support of the Lib Dem group. The meeting (Wed 20 Sep, ...
Ok first a confession - I have never really been a great fan of any political leader. Now a second confession - Ming's speech today at the Lib Dem conference was exceptional. I really felt it hit the...
One thing that’s impressed this conference virgin has been the quality and variety of the fringe events. Of particular interest to me as a campaigner in Sandwell was the Liberalism v Fascism debate featuring a chap from Searchlight. It inevitably turned into a “how to beat the BNP” training session, which was a shame in one way, but useful in another. I stood up to personally thank Searchlight for their outstanding efforts in Sandwell earlier this year, which combined with the other parties campaigning, resulted in the BNP losing in every ward. One point though, inviting someone to represent the ...
This post is for Nick Assinder, BBC political analyst, who wrote this piece on the Liberal Democrat party leadership this morning. Nick. We have just enjoyed a conference week where the “talk on the street” has been anything but party leadership. I know all you hacks arrived in Brighton desperately hoping for a members revolt against Ming. But there was nothing, zip, zilch. So you have spent the entire week harassing potential future leaders and making up ridiculous statements about “the feeling amongst members”. We have passed some outstanding, radical policy on tough issues. Where is the truly insightful analysis ...
Halle-bloody-lujah! No, not Ming's speech (though I'll come to that in a bit!) No, I refer to the fact that BBC News Online have finally given us a plug for Lib Dem Top Trumps, LDYS' big fundraiser at Conference. I'd be more impressed, mind you, if they hadn'tplugged another organisation's free Top Trumps on carbon reduction two days ago and if the plug wasn't just under a story saying that the
The mood walking out of conference for the final time this week was joyous. Ming delivered a speech we so desperately needed to round off what I feel has been an extremely positive week. My only worry is after an attack on the media, they will misrepresent some of the policies, notably on immigration and Europe. We shall wait and see.
She’s no friend of freedom. She is no liberal, even when you take into account ‘New Liberalism’. Her language is the language of a totalitarian. “There’s no such thing as other people’s children” she asserts - presumably the state should look after all children. Trifling things like life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness? Throw them out [...] 
Bravo to Ming. That passion that I saw him display at the last South East/Central Regional Conference came through strong and clear today. A good strong Liberal speech which should give food for thought to one or two people closer to home. We should practice what we preach. I think the heat has gone from Ming to where it truly belongs, on the faltering performance of David Cameron and the increasing pressure he is going to come under to retreat back to the "core" vote which has constrained and undermined all his predecessors post John Major. The trouble for the ...
Is a supporter of Ming Campbell a "Minger"?
Liberal Democrat leader Ming Campbell put the Al Yamamah arms deal at the centre of his criticism of the Labour Government during his leader’s speech at the party’s Brighton Conference: Our mission is to change the British political landscape, once and for all: To throw open the doors of government and let the people in. No more sleazy patronage, no more dodgy dossiers, no more abandoned investigations into secret arms deals – in fact, no more secret arms deals, full stop! Read his full speech on the Liberal Democrat website.
I found the speech both reassuring and slightly unusual. It was very clear with some punchy lines. What impressed me most was the passion and ANGER that was shown. I had not seen this side of Ming before. To my mind it was well-crafted, rounded with complete CLARITY. Substance was the key indeed depth. No glitz or gloss - people are fed up with that anyway - just Ming being Ming and stating it like it is. Well done Ming!
In his leader’s speech Menzies Campbell has attacked the cosy consensus between Labour and the Conservatives and committed the Liberal Democrats to rattling the cage of British politics: “On so many of the major political issues there is a two-party consensus – comfortable, cosy and complacent. On the environment, taxes, pensions, nuclear power, tuition fees, Iraq.” He launched a sustained attack on Gordon Brown’s record, arguing that despite all the talk of change very little has actually changed: “Brown hasn’t taken the tough decisions to tackle climate change, he hasn’t scrapped ID cards, he hasn’t brought the troops home from ...
Quick reaction on the speech. Great. He pressed all the right buttons. A real liberal speech - outlined a real, distinctive position and made clear Brown/Cameron's appalling failings. There was a tricky patch when he mentioned the EU referendum. I think he was particularly strong with his devastating critique of Brown. Ming's speech really could be offered as a summary to answer the question "
As usual I was in the photographers' scrum for Ming's speech. Good inspiring, uplifting stuff. Now could the doubters shut up!?---Sent via BlackBerry
Ming Campbell has just finished his second speech to the Liberal Democrat conference as party leader. My impressions… Ming seemed far more assured than last year. He opened strongly - no attempt to start with a scripted joke - and gave a defiant definition of his liberalism, and how the Lib Dems will translate that into [...]
The convenience of having an internet cafe right next to the conference hall has given me the opportunity to say a few words about Ming's speech before having to run off. I think it was much much better than last year, punchier, more confident and more inspiring. At one point (when he was talking about an injured soldier he had met) I confess I was dabbing my eyes..........now everyone will be waiting for the but........ I guess I have some little buts which I will return to when I get home, the biggest one is about how our messages will ...
Paul Walter has been live blogging the leader's speech. As part of this he was first with the news of the winner of the Liberal Democrat History Group's vote on the greatest ever Liberal: 11.59 Dead Liberals are in the spotlight. Chris Rennard announces that John Stuart Mill has been voted the greatest Liberal in history. When you think about it, a bit of a no brainer. (But then again a no brainer surely needs no thinking about....I hate this waiting) Well done to the Millster.Well done, indeed. It was the right result.
I watched last night’s Lib Dem party conference broadcast with a mixture of boredom and depression. It really was a disappointment. I know the environment and climate change is very important. The problem for us in trying to make a film about it is that everyone else thinks it’s important now as well, so where once banging on about it made us look radical and modern, now it makes us look like we’ve got nothing else to say. People associate us with the environment more than anything else, and whilst we may have scored a moral victory in getting Messrs ...
Fasthosts are a British website hosting company - but it seems they may not be willing to stand up for British values of freedom of speech. Ian Dale reports that some British political bloggers h...
The Daily Telegraph reports: A Conservative MP has been arrested following allegations of assault by his pregnant wife, it has emerged.Andrew Pelling, 48, the MP for Croydon Central, was held after police received a complaint from his 26-year-old wife Lucy.The father-of-three, who is also a London Assembly member, was arrested at his home in Croydon on Tuesday and later released on bail without charge.And there's more in the Wimbledon Guardian.
No, it's not an experimental rock band. It's a rather shaming story from the youth of our shadow home secretary.
Another first for Liberal England. I am minding the shop while everyone goes to hear the leader's speech. I've no idea what Ming is saying, but I am sure that it will silence all doubters and show that three-party politics is here to stay.
11.52 Tim Clement-Jones is "shaking the tin", bless him. 11.59 Dead Liberals are in the spotlight. Chris Rennard announces that John Stuart Mill has been voted the greatest Liberal in history. When you think about it, a bit of a no brainer. (But then again a no brainer surely needs no thinking about....I hate this waiting) Well done to the Millster. 12.06 Chris Rennard looks forward to his 50th
In the debate on Israel-Palestine at the LibDem conference in Brighton yesterday, I stressed the need to integrate the Arab League into new efforts to find a peaceful settlement to the festering Middle East situation, despite reluctance on the part of the Israeli government to deal with Arab states with which they do not have diplomatic relations. As I pointed out, it is completely contrary to diplomatic protocol and international norms for a country to veto who a regional organisation appoints to represent it in discussions, be it the Arab League, the EU or whoever. Moreover, it is counter-productive for ...
Along with others I lazily boarded the bus to the London Mayoral Hustings yesterday (its the shoes darling!) for what was a great and well attended event. Clearly I have nailed my colours to the mast in terms of supporting Fiyaz Mughal, but I was impressed by Brian Paddick it has to be said. Despite his public profile it can't have been easy for him being thrown into the deep end with a bunch of potentially lairy activists. I thought he spoke well, he came across as warm, funny and relaxed. Chamili was clear and articulate, with my background it ...
Conference this morning discussed the recent flooding and how to manage the impact and risk of flooding. Annual flood damage now averages £2.3 billion per year, and this total is rising as climate change increases the variability of weather patterns. Over two million homes are currently at risk from flooding, and this may underestimate homes at risk from inadequate drainage and extreme rainfall.
It's Thursday - and my final conference diary webcast. Darfur is one of the big issues for debate today - and there's also Ming Campbell's big conference speech: Running time: 68 seconds
Away from the drama of Brighton, its back to the Planning Committee for me. The major trend down here, and elsewhere I suspect, is for people to build houses in their back gardens, or to knock their houses down and build bigger ones. As we saw from the Football Club the green belt is to be protected, even though farms are uneconomic and farmers are desperate to sell. But anything goes on the so called brownfield sites, which includes back gardens. So last night we have an application to knock down a cottage on a suburban site in Truro, and ...
Simon didn’t want to be a soldier or an astronaut like his chums. He wanted to be a ‘columnist’! So one Christmas his parents bought him a shiny new ‘paradigm’ which told him all about two party politics. Simon was thrilled and he immediately started to use his ‘paradigm’ to write about politics to his parents’ great delight. His paradigm served him well for years and years, although he often had to sellotape it back together as it was so old it often fractured. Then one day, Nice Old Mr Ming and his friends decided they wanted to have a ...
Gordon Brown has made a stand against Robert Mugabe, threatening to boycott a meeting of European and African leaders if Mugabe is allowed to attend. It's a symbolic but important move, and I'm glad he's making it. I have only one worry. Ming Campbell is speaking this afternoon - isn't there a risk of the Prime Minister's brave words, words which people need to hear, being eclipsed by the Lib Dem leader? Either Ming's timing today is desperately unfortunate, or he has a cynical media agenda to steal the limelight from poor Gordon Brown. But only a true cynic would ...
Liberal Democrat selections don’t normally generate a buzz of excitement, but yesterday afternoon’s hustings for the London mayoral candidate showed that they can and with good cause. Despite struggling to get a selection going earlier in the year, the party can now be really proud of the people that are being put forward. Chamali Fernando was first up and completely wowed everyone in the room. She was confident, passionate, articulate and managed that difficult feat of appearing to be intelligent and serious whilst also being fun and down to earth. She was less confident in answering questions from the audience, ...
So this week did not do for Ming Campbell, as some of the wilder speculation had forecast. Instead it has done for Jose Mourinho. As a life-long Chelsea fan, I feel nothing but gratitude towards the Special One. Until his arrival the thought that Chelsea would ever win the Premiership still seemed a fantasy. Yes, he had Abramovich's millions to spend. But most of the silly money was spent under Ranieri (or at Abramovich's insistence) and Mourinho's real skill lay in his ability to engender a fierce loyalty and team spirit in a small group of players, much as he ...
Sometimes you read a political story that truly baffles. The Scotsman has revealed the “secret strategy” to groom Julia Goldsworthy for leadership in the far distant future. Who? “A handful of people”. Why? She’s quite bright and has “grown up” in the past year. When? “The next leader-but-one”… What??? “If this gets out, it will upset the grassroots as they really want to feel they are the ones driving the decisions”. I think this implies that delusion has set in amongst a small coterie of grandees, who perhaps rather like the idea of being les éminence grise with secret plan, ...
I am looking for ideas. I am going to be asking my PR students this year to look at two or three political blogs and analyse them in terms of communication and intent. Obviously I am aware of some of those out there, but am asking here if there are any that readers would particularly recommend. The students would need to be able to read through enough entries to come to a conclusion about the purpose behind the communication, the desired audience etc. They would also need to be able to come up with thoughts about whether that particular communicator ...
As regular readers of my blog will know, one of my three Labour councillors representing me is the infamous Bob Piper. Take some time to read his rant about the lack of democracy within the Labour party these days. Of particular interest to me is the “closed doors” local party decisions taken by John Spellar MP, described to me as “the soft quiet one” by one senior Lib Dem MP this week. Well Bob, we have just enjoyed a conference of democracy. Watching the beads of sweat roll down an MP’s face as their motion is debated openly and in ...
That was a phrase that Ming repeated several times at the interview last Sunday with the LibDem Blogger of year shortlisters. It's not two on one, now. It's one on two. What he means is that instead of the two non-governmental parties opposing the government, we now have just one of the non-governmental parties, the LibDems, opposing both Labour and the Conservatives - what he is calling the "
An interesting comment from Ming Campbell, as reported in The Guardian: “When the moment comes, it won’t just be Huhne and Clegg, there will be others, including at least one woman. There’s some very bright cookies around.” Any similarity between that statement and this article in The Scotsman is surely coincidental: ‘Revealed: Lib Dem version of Margaret Thatcher, [...]
This is it: ‘Lib Dems accused over donor link to company in offshore tax haven’ The report continues: The Liberal Democrats have been accused of hypocrisy after The Times discovered that the party’s biggest business donor is controlled by a company in an offshore tax haven. Alpha Healthcare, a residential homes firm which gave the party £125,000 [...]
The Guardian reports that the latest fake phone-in scandal centres on Socks the Blue Peter cat: Richard Marson is said to have been sent home on Monday after it emerged that the wrong name had been chosen for the new Blue Peter cat in an online poll. It is understood that the name - Socks - chosen for the cat that joined the show on January 9 2006 was not the one that came out top in the online poll and the situation was not explained to viewers. This is of course a national scandal and will shake the foundations ...
Yesterday Liberal Democrat leader Ming Campbell was interviewed about his views on a wide range of issues, including immigration, why the Liberal Democrats exist, taxation, leading the party and the next general election. You can watch the interview on the BBC’s website.
Vince Cable MP's self-effacing character is such that I expect he'd be the last person to want celeb status, but his sheer quality shone through here at Brighton on Tuesday morning when he summed up the debate on taxation. His understanding of financial and economic issues is a deep well from which he draws apparently effortlessly the clear, easy language with which he is able to explain complexities and take a diverse lay audience with him. He explained, in his nice way, that although the leadership feels now is not the time to propose a new land tax, and although ...
Sanddef performs an invaluable service once again when he offers a translation of Eleanor Burnham's contribution to this week's Golwg. Eleanor's perspective is interesting however I disagree with it on a number of points, not least her assertion that the Welsh Liberal Democrats have become a party of monoglot English speakers with its roots planted firmly in South-East Wales. Her presence alone as a high profile bi-lingual politician based in North Wales contradicts this view, and of course she is not alone. There are many other bi-lingual members of the Welsh Liberal Democrats in prominent roles in the party scattered ...
is if they say “all the talk in the conference bars is about the price of a Gin & Tonic, and which married MP was seen sloping off to the bedroom of a pretty girl… or better still a pretty boy… last night.” Anything else is tosh.
Fiyaz Mughal posted this extraordinary rant at 2.15am on Wednesday morning: Come on! Don’t get taken in by ‘Big’ Names, Look at the Experience in Front of You 2.15.00am BST (GMT +0100) Wed 19th Sep 2007 Tomorrow is the first hustings of the mayoral candidacy for the Party and the past few days have shown me that British politics is being corroded by a desire to see ‘big names,’ rather than individuals who have experience and Party know how as basic skills. Ken and Boris need to be ‘matched’ in name value, yet I hear very little about having the ...
Though this is not a techno-blog, I do do a fair amount of work behind the scenes myself in php, css and html to get it looking like it does (not a winner I notice!). But one thing has bugged me for some time... The observant amongst you may have noticed that it is developed using the Drupal content management system. This has lots of add-on modules contributed by nice people all over the world. One of these is supposed to process "trackbacks". You'll have seen these on others' blogs - where if someone on another site posts something about ...
Part of joy of Family gathering is fringe discussions, which often showpiece more interesting ideas and techniques than main event. Today I host discussion between two old friends from Euroenforcer days, Signor 'BabyDon' Clegg and Signor 'Carbonator' Huhne. The topic is "Respect, what I like best about my paesano" Carbonator start: "What I like best about my good friend Signor Clegg is his courage. Personally I wouldn't have announced to a room full of Sicilians that I wanted to open the United Territories to waves of immigrants after their jobs and homes. But I salute his bravery in doing so. ...
Wednesday: This morning we debated “By the People, for the People”, a wide-ranging policy paper that seeks to put the over-mighty government back in its box, covering the need for a convention to write a Written Constitution; to defend the Human Rights Act, and further to entrench it into that Constitution; to abolish the unfair and arbitrary powers of Royal Prerogative; for reform of the voting system to ensure everyone feels represented though bringing in single transferable vote; to further empower people though Citizens Juries and Petitions; and finally to finish replacing the House of Lords Club with an elected ...
Tuesday: Daddy Alex managed to squeeze some time into his hectic schedule today to try to speak in the poverty debate this afternoon. Unfortunately he got bounced in favour of some LESS FAMOUS people like Mr Charles! EVEN SO, this was a terrific debate, and made us all very pleased to be a part of the one true Liberal Party. Addressing the way that poverty wrecks freedom is an important part of our Liberal tradition, ever since Mr Squiffy and Mr Lloyd George brought in their People’s Budget at the start of the last Century. The BIG debate was whether ...
Monday: So here we all are, back in Brighton home of the LEGO SHOP for another Liberal Democrat Conference. It almost seems BIZARRE to me that the newspaper and television coverage keeps asking the question “What are the Liberal Democrats for?” If any of them were paying any attention then it ought to be OBVIOUS. Freedom to live: restoring Civil Liberties Freedom to breathe: saving the Earth for the future Freedom from poverty: making taxes and benefits fairer Freedom to have your voice heard: returning power to the people Do you detect a THEME developing? Civil Liberties was the message ...
So fringe things I went to today were: Chris Huhne's new waste strategy thing (excellent free food), the ERS's "Ed Davey answers no questions and Alastair Carmichael answers slightly more" (dull) and Steve Webb and Will Howells's thing on campaigning on Facebook, which was really quite interesting. I won't go into too much detail, but I was impressed to see how much time and effort "Steve Webb | < | September 2007 | > | ||||
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