It has to be said that the notion of this bureaucrat at an ALDC 'Kickstart' event is almost as unlikely as a fun English Council meeting, but that's where you would have found me yesterday evening, accompanying Ros, who was the guest speaker at their dinner session, in a Holiday Inn just north of Birmingham, on the road to Walsall. What impressed me was the number of younger members present, 
Here are the facts of the matter as we know them so far: 1. “A wealthy North East property developer has admitted being behind a series of large donations to the Labour Party. David Abrahams gave more than £400,000 to the party through “friends” Janet Kidd and Ray Ruddick because, he said, he did not want [...]
Despite a real desire not to get up the next morning, I had no choice, I had to go to English Council. Worse still, I had to get up early, as we were scheduled to meet in Birmingham. I caught my train, intending to arrive fifteen minutes in advance of the start time, but, due to signal failures, didn't arrive at the venue until comfortably after the 11.00 start time. Fortunately, I was never
Friday saw Ros and I attend a ball. Now, whilst I'm not a dancer, I do enjoy a good party, and the Railway Ball, live from the Grosvenor Hotel on Park Lane, was a chance to let my hair down and do good at the same time. The ball is a gathering of the elite of the railway industry, raising funds for a charity called 'Railway Children', which supports street children, predominantly in India. The
I felt quite angry when I heard this on the radio this morning. Once again this Government seems to be putting the interests of the US before the UK. I've seen this blog on Labour Home, and it seems that there are a few Labour supporters out there who feel the same.
{Image Hosted by ImageShack.us} It’s funny, it sort of rings a few bells…
Leeds are demanding justice from the FA and want the case to go the High Court. Twice they have asked the FA to intervene and overturn the 15 point deduction and twice the FA have refused. Interestingly contrary to the rules of natural justice both refusals were made by the same person the FA’s Director [...]
S154 - the yeast experiment,which observes what happens to yeast at different temperatures. This is at 37°C, or roughly body temperature. After the potato experiment, Ollie was a little apprehensive. But he soon.... got more.... courageous.... Then he asked Ruffles if he could smell it. Oh. Not very nice. My most accurate jug wasn't big enough...
I still can't make up my mind, I think I'll the keep the ballot paper on the matlepiece for a few days more...!
{Chris Huhne banner} A month ago I wrote: In the last election campaign I used this blog to declare my support for Chris Huhne. It was not a hard decision to make. To my mind he was by some way the best of the four candidates set before us. This time I find the candidates - Nick Clegg and Chris Huhne - much more evenly matched. Therefore the sensible thing to do is to see how the campaign develops and decide whom to vote for when the time comes to send my ballot paper in.I have watched the campaign develop ... 
Thanks to Jonathan Calder for linking to this post on Nick Clegg (and a history of leaders) in this week's Britblog Roundup.
The leadership ballot papers have arrived today. Every Liberal Democrat member gets a vote in this contest, and every vote is counted equally, and I am proud of that. Chris Huhne, number one, is in the post.
{Picture of a sad child} This week was anti-bullying week, so it was the subject of my column in the Ham & High: No school should tolerate it. No bully should get away with it. No child should experience it. And yet we know it goes on day in and day out in our schools.There were two sets of bullies in my class at secondary school. They terrorised their victims with threats and intimidation. They were ghastly girls and most of us, who were not the target, just kept clear. There was also bullying of the ‘exclusion’ variety – less ...
Welcome to this week's selection to all that is best in the British blogosphere. Well, some of it anyway. Football Best to get it over with. Narey's Toepoker may believe "The future's bright, the future's tartan" but we are less confident south of the Border. Cruella-Blog thinks we make too much of sport anyway. Into the Ibyss thinks that international football is now a poor relation of the club game, with the result that players are less bothered about it. Westminster Wisdom suggests an alternative team, composed of characters from Dickens's novels. I am sure that Betsy Trotwood would give ...
I was watching Charles Kennedy on channel 4 news interviewing Claire Short on the leadership contest when along came the revelation that Shirley Williams tried to poach Claire!!! And Charles Kennedy knew nothing of it! Apparently Shirley, according to Claire, couldn't quite bring herself to ask her so how she knows I don't know but anyway thought you should know... Pass it on...shhh!!! 
"Peter Garrett has claimed victory in his Sydney-based seat of Kingsford-Smith. The opposition environment minister spokesman received a rock star welcome from hundreds of supporters at the Randwick Labor club. "This is an extremely, extremely proud moment for me to be representing the people of Kingsford-Smith again in the federal parliament," he told the crowd. The former lead singer of
Mark Littlewood’s latest ‘diary’ for the BBC’s Politics Show highlights one of the less welcome stats exposed by the current leadership contest: The number of ballot papers issued - less than 65,000 - shows the party has lost more than 10% of its members since Ming Campbell was elected last Spring and now has less than [...]
Deborah Lipstadt, whose free speech David Irving so notoriously tried to suppress, explains why it is simplistic to imagine that either he or Nick Griffin will be 'crushed in debate' at the Oxford Union.
I can't resist correcting Martin Bright on a point of fact in the aformentioned interview with Huhne. He writes that 'in the two elections held in the 1960s, the Liberal vote collapsed to around two million, and the Parliamentary party was almost wiped out.' This just isn't so. In fact the two elections held in the 1960s, saw the Liberals increase their number of seats for the first time in a generation, from seven to nine in 1964 and then to 12 in 1966. The two million plus votes achieved in 1966 was considerably higher than in the elections of ...
I have just watched 'Strictly Come Dancing' and would like to know - can you really be the dark horse of a competition if everyone says you are the dark horse? I am of course referring to Letitia Dean.
The Staggers' political editor Martin Bright interviews Chris Huhne in this week's issue. One curiousity is the statement that Huhne 'has been a New Statesman reader all his adult life'. If true, this means that he managed to read the magazine between 1978 (after Anthony Howard resigned as editor) and the late 1980s, during which time it was pretty much unreadable. The magazine was obsessed by politics, peddled a very narrow leftist line and was devoid of humour (the saintly Arthur Marshall was sacked as a columnist). I remember finding it a battle to read even a single article, never ...
Recently I was told I look immature as I smile and giggle too much when I can't think of anything spectacular to say. So then I stopped smiling and have attempted to look serious when discussing work with colleagues. The other day someone told me I looked miserable.
When Charles spoke at the Hackney Lib Dems AGM last week, he mentioned that he was doing a piece for Channel 4 News on the leadership contest, interviewing Clare Short, and Norman Tebbitt. Clare admitted that she had been so disillusioned by Labour to the extent that she had considered joining the Lib Dems, and had even been taken out for lunch by Shirley Williams. She decided against as she felt the Labour Party were like her family. Tebbitt thought that Nick Clegg was the person the Tories should fear the most. Charles watched the infamous Politics Show piece, commenting ...
This time next year the American people will have voted for a new President, and as long as the Supreme Court doesn’t get involved we should know who the next President will be. But 4thNovember 2008 is a along way off and for now we don’t even know who the candidates are going to be, as the primary races don’t start until January (despite the fact that the campaigns kicked off in January of this year). So today we got yet another clue about who will be the nominees; A Reuters/Zogby poll has seen Senator Clintons lead drop by 10 ...
This is easy, an open goal of a caption competition. Give us your finniest caption and you win a visit to the Oxford Union. Don't worry, you'll get there because you will be taken there by TNT parcel delivery.Please note, for legal purposes there is no prize.
A really scrotnig issue as the storylines begin to slot into place. {Prog 1564} Cover: A Peter Doherty-drawn montage of the main characters in the current Mandroid storyline. Well drawn and timely if a little underwhelming. Doherty is currently doing colourist duties on Dredd and in that respect is woefully underutilised. When will he resume artistic duties? He doesn’t seem to have drawn anything of substance in over a decade. Quote of the Week: “Amassed! The man was a bloody menace! You couldn’t put anything down for a minute without him whipping it! Half the lost treasures of the ancient ...
Thank goodness for Peter Riddell, the senior Times political columnist, and one of the few (only?) newspaper journalists who is both watching the Lib Dem leadership contest, and reporting it intelligently. His latest analysis appeared yesterday - do read it in full here, but for those who always skip to the end for the conclusion: Mr [...]
In line with my first post about the humanities, what have I been up to? Art history - no. Music - Nightwish and Eliza Gylkison, mostly while preparing a really big nut roast because we had friends coming round. Religion, philosophy, history of science, classical studies - no. But the big one this week is history, which is reviewed in the previous post on this blog, on "The Relief of Belsen" and David Irving on the Holocaust. And, under literature, I'll put The Relief of Belsen, which I saw on More4 last night, which reminded me about one of the ...
I see from the Oxford Mail that Oxford City Council are considering saving some money by not contributing to crowd control at Magdalen Bridge on May Day morning next year. Not that it bothers me much either way - all I will want next May Day is to be sure that people who want to vote can safely get to their polling place! And I've never really understood why it ought to be a City Council function to deal with the crowds that congregate, ostensibly at least, to watch (if not hear) the choir of Magdalen College serenade the dawn. ...
Extraordinary restraint, I would say.
As well as my 20-1 bet on Hackabee to be Republican nomiee, I have a slightly less "slam dunk" tenner on Barack Obama to be Democratic nominee at 13/5. My spirits on this one were lifted today by this article in the Observer. Obama has changed tactics from being "Mr Nicey-Nicey" to being "Mr Hardball" and, as a result, his poll ratings have recovered and he is looking very good in Iowa. I have
The Yorkshire content of the BBC Politics Show this lunchtime took a look at a couple of parts of what had been Yorkshire (Saddleworth and Redcar) to set up a discussion on Yorkshireness. The indomitable Len Tingle was interviewing some folk in Delph in what is now Oldham MBC and our own (and blogger) Chris [...]
For some reason I have Oliver Kamm's blog in my daily reading list. I have no idea why - I don't like his style, his politics or his opinions most of the time, but today he has a go at Chris Huhne about that nuclear issue. He says, at the end, that he's "doubtful that the Lib Dem contenders have thought much about this issue beyond their internal party positioning, and I wouldn't trust them anywhere near this country's security policies." I think that's just wrong. Kamm picks on one word in Huhne's article on Trident..."independent". He says that the ...
As Liberal Democrats do we agree or disagree with this statement: "There will be no peace in the Middle East while the Palestinians are subject to daily humiliation, settlements are expanded on the West Bank and the Palestinian people have no viable homeland they can call their own. As long as this continues, Israel's legal and moral right to live in peace behind secure and recognised borders will be undermined." http://www.ldfp.eu/
One of the possible perils of political blogging is that you leave a trail of words behind you - on the public record - even as events and your own views may have moved on. So it was with a little trepidation that I went back to check what I wrote about the previous Liberal Democrat leadership election. However, reading why I said back then that Chris Huhne was the right choice, I think the words are still just as relevant this time round: Imagine the scene. It's a few weeks before the next general election.Gordon Brown - now Prime ...
{Jail cell} Well, I've blogged about my scepticism over the government's case just once or twice before! But there's also a good list of who has spoken out against increasing the current 28 day limit - and their key quotes - over on Liberal Conspiracy. And these opponents are no starry-eyed people with their heads in the sky - they are hardened experts such as Lord Goldsmith - former attorney general, Ken Macdonald - head of the Crown Prosecution Service and Lord Woolf, former Lord Chief Justice. Given Lord Goldsmith's willingness to back the war in Iraq then frankly - ...
Back in July I wrote: Let's face it: the 1970s had few redeeming features. There was Basil Brush, the keyboard player from Sparks and after that you are struggling.A trifle harsh, perhaps, but thanks to Youtube you can see who I was praising. Sparks was an American band who grew up listening to the great British groups of the sixties and enjoyed some success over here in 1974-5. They were a beacon of wit and lightness of touch in an ocean of of clumsy glam rock. This week's video shows their song "The Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of ...
This is sparked by the news that David Irving is to speak at the Oxford Union, together with watching "The relief of Belsen" on TV last night. When it comes to giving freedom of speech to those whose words are poison to my ears, I find I have to think carefully about each case. I have always been uneasy about the speech implications of race relations legislation. But I'm not an absolute libertarian. I believe the freedom of movement of your fist ends some way short of my nose, because a swinging fist carries threat as well as physical force. ...
Yes, its just a month until Christmas and I don't really care if you like Christmas or not. I like it, and mine is very much a time for catching up with family and having a few drinks. So the "Which Christmas film are you like" quiz is right up my street. Have a go yourself and see which Christmas film your Christmas is most like. Your Christmas is Most Like: A Charlie Brown Christmas Each year, you really get into the spirit of Christmas. Which is much more important to you than nifty presents.What Movie Is Your Christmas Most ...
My vote for the Lib Dem leadership election, that is. And as I said earlier, it's gone to Chris Huhne. My reason for plumping for Chris was that I think of the two candidates he is the most likely to be able to articulate a liberal vision which can attract people to us. He has also shown himself to be a tough campaigner who is also calm under pressure. His economic experience and insights will also be important for us, as economics is not an area in which Lib Dems have often been associated as having much to say. I ...
Jo Anglezarke wrote a post which highlighted the need to appeal to ‘Soft Tories’ and suggested that Huhne would be the best man for the job because he’s offering Tories something different. I wrote a reply which I’m reproducing here. The problem is, what is a ’soft tory’? What makes them ‘tory’ and what makes them ’soft’? We certainly should be trying to attract all liberal minded people which does include a large chunk of Labour supporters and a healthy chunk of Conservative supporters too. That we fail to attract all liberal minded people means that we have been too ...
My prize for being one of the winners of Liberal England's DVD competition arrived on Friday. I haven't yet had a chance to see Taking Liberties, but I'm certainly looking forward to it. For those of you who don't know the film, it examines Labour's shocking record on taking away our civil liberties since 1997. My thanks to Jonathan Calder for running the competition and to Lord Bonkers for drawing my name out of his top hat. And never let it be said that Keith Chegwin does not have his uses.
OK time to get the words right this time (seeing that the World Cup qualifying line-up is Croatia, England, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakstan, Andorra) (Couldn’t resist the chance to link to the headline ‘England flops shafted by enormous todger’) Lijepa nasa domovino, Oj junacka zemljo mila, Stare slave djedovino, Da bi vazda sretna bila! Mila, kano si nam slavna, Mila si nam ti jedina. Mila, kuda si nam ravna, Mila, kuda si planina! Our beautiful homeland, Oh dear, heroic land, Fatherland of ancient glory, May you always be happy! Dear, as much as you are glorious, Only you are dear to ...
On Thursday, I was at the newly-refurbished Eden Court Theatre in Inverness to see Blazin' Fiddles. This was my first visit to the theatre since it reopened a few weeks ago after being closed for more than two years for a refit which in the end cost £22m. This has been somewhat controversial locally and even cost the chairman of Highland Council's ecucation, culture and sport committee his job earlier this year after he called it "a bit of a waste of money". However, just like the Scottish Parliament, if you go to the theatre, you can see just where ...
Well done to Tory MP Julian Lewis for having the courage of his convictions by resigning from the Oxford union over their invite to BNP leader Nick Griffin and Holocaust denier David Irving to speak to the Oxford Union. It shows that for all their money and so called knowledge, the some Oxford students have badly misjudged the public mood on this issue and with the BNP now haling the Oxford Union's decision as "a big breakthrough for our party to spread its message", it shows how stupid they have been. There is a difference between freedom of speech and ...
I’m sure that readers will have already seen Diet Coke Plus Vitamins and Diet Coke Plus Antioxydents in the shops by now. What you may be unaware of is that they are planning to expand this range of health conscious drinks: Coca Cola and the Society of Homoeopaths are delighted to announce the launch of Coca Cola Pure. The Coca Cola Corporation have worked with a team of homeopathic practitioners to develop this new variation of classic Coke, based on the success of our leading worldwide brand Dasani. Diluted in pure water to the precisely measured proportion of 1:1060, Coca ...
One unambiguous good from the current leadership discussion is that the party is discovering it quite likes Liberalism. And the potential leaderships are discovering that party supporters will back Liberal positions. Maybe this means the end of clenched buttocks on green benches as Parliamentarians tiptoe around issues of freedom. No more constipation as shown by our home office team in the last General Election period. (Ah if only Simon Hughes had still been our shadow home secretary then…) I look back at the high spot for me in the 2005 campaign, our adoption meeting in Milton Keynes where Lord Dholakia ...
If I wanted a garden and driveway full of foul smelling excrement, I would use my own garden as my toilet. I don't want this, therefore I use a toilet . Simple. However, for my neighbours, it appears that my garden, my privacy, my right to do as I please on my own land is not something they hold dear, for if they cared one jot, if they were actually good neighbours, they would not own a cat. I have a simple policy. I treat others as they would wish to be treated. I am afraid, therefore, that if some ...
Posted by Chris: The campaign for recognition of our Yorkshire status in both Redcar and Saddleworth got a huge boost when the BBC Politics Show gave it coverage over it's entire Yorkshire and Lincolnshire edition. You can watch it by clicking the following link But why was Labour MP Austin Mitchell talking about recognition of the real county of Yorkshire and then Humberside in the same breath? I don't think Labour understand what we are trying to achieve. In Redcar quango mad Labour say we should be promoting the area as Tees Valley one day and then the next day ...
Whenever I talk to tories about the state of our party I always receive positive feedback. They are attracted to our stance on a lot of issues but we tend to lose them on a single key policy (or perhaps that's their way of winding me up! ;@)) such as the 50% tax on high earners recently binned. There is a group in our party that believes we need to attract tories to be able to win power. I think they have their finger on the pulse of our party. I think Chris Huhne is more likely to attract tories ...
Did you know what really did Richard Nixon is going on live television and saying, “I’m not a crook!” Suddenly 100 million Americans all imagined their leader as a crook. It’s one of those, “Don’t think of a pink elephant” examples. His fate was sealed from that very moment. Crook became the word that defined him, and it told the American people exactly why he should be impeached. So Blair’s admission to the BBC on the extent to which his faith influenced him, with his reason for keeping quiet about it being that he feared being thought of as “a ...
Michael Pennington is a bit of an obsessive about Shakespeare. At age 11 he was inspired to become an actor by a production of Macbeth, has spent, at his own estimation 20,000 hours performing the Bard, and even went as far as forming the English Shakespeare Company in the 1980s when he felt that the theatrical establishment weren't addressing the politics in Shakespeare's writing. He has
No, not a candidate in our election... “You know, I made some bad decisions that I’ve actually written about. You know, got into drinking. I experimented with drugs,” he said. “There was a whole stretch of time that I didn’t really apply myself a lot. It wasn’t until I got out of high school and went to college that I started realizing, ‘Man, I wasted a lot of time.’” The full story (and
I'm currently watching the West Ham v Spurs match - not at Upton Park but in the Quality Hotel in St.Alban's. My youngest niece, Sasha, was christened earlier and there is a big party going on. Fortunately, Sasha herself is asleep and someone was needed to look after her away from the party... the quiet spot I've found happens to be the bar area here the football is also on. Just saw Michael Dawson rise majestically to head us an equaliser. Hopefully with 20 minutes to go now we'll find a winner too. Spent a lot of yesterday watching the ...
As a member of staff I am not in a position to give a view on either of the leadership candidates. However, at the fayre we held yesterday in Crawcrook in Blaydon constituency, members had a good and informal discussion about the candidates. Views were pretty evenly balanced. Yet there was a complete absence of hostility by anyone towards the candidate they were not supporting. So the verdict
So, it turns out that I have a fat face, and now 200,000 viewers of BBC1’s “The Politics Show” are as painfully aware of it as I am. People keep telling me that the camera adds ten pounds, but this is both irrelevant and inaccurate, as I have checked my wallet several times since this morning’s interview and it is still as bare as it was before. So even that can’t comfort me. I found out of course because today was the day that I was interviewed live about the leadership hustings. My thanks to the BBC for the positive ...
In his blog “The Poverty Trap”, Andy Mayer wrote of his disappointed that we are allowing “empty rhetoric” to enter into the language of the Liberal Democrats. Is Andy right? Are we? Jo Anglezarke doesn't think so. In fact, far from being empty rhetoric, she believes equality and poverty are uppermost in our minds. So, whose right? Personally, I think they both are. You only have to look at your membership card to see Jo has a point. Printed in a column to the left of your membership number are the words “we exist to build and safeguard a fair, ...
Andrew Rawnsley has an interesting analysis of Gordon Brown's problems in this morning's Observer. Having built his political reputation on his competence, the Prime Minister is finding his strongest suit being undermined by a series of errors and scandals that have left the government reeling and public trust in freefall: As Chancellor, Gordon Brown gained a Macavity-like reputation for disappearing at times of trouble. As Prime Minister, he is discovering there is nowhere to hide. Before he moved into Number 10, I remarked that he would be one of the most dominant Prime Ministers of all time. He is now ...
A first ever visit to Whaddon Road for Leeds United who started brightly with three good chances in the first nine minutes against rock bottom Cheltenham Town. Chances continued to come as United dominated play throughout the first half but they just could not get the ball into the net. The second half started in the same way with two shots from Jermaine Beckford in the first five minutes. The Robins followed that with two chances but the Whites were still dominating play. A less than effective first half performance by Seb Carole did not improve in the second half ...
Another extremely busy - but very exciting - week. On Monday, children, parents and teachers from an excellent local school, Dobcroft, came to visit. The trip - for the kids at least - finished with a dusk flight on the London Eye and pizza on the way home, while I went to a local cafe to [...]
The ballots have now gone out, and the choice is yours as to who will succeed Ming Campbell as Leader of our party. It is clear from today’s article in the Guardian that the contest is wide open, with many members still deciding who to support. I wanted to write to you today to make clear why [...]
I was disappointed to see that the Government has failed to take the opportunity to tighten up the rules on the advertisement of artificial baby milk. In particular, I am concerned that advertising of follow-on formula, for babies over 6 months has not been subjected to the same regulations as that for younger babies. These follow-on formulas started appearing a few years ago, not because there was any great number of poorly anaemic babies around, but simply as a wheeze by formula manufacturers to get round the law. What annoys me most about it is that the advertising and promotion ...
We human beings like to think that we order our lives, but so much that happens is a matter of chance. This thought came to me powerfully as I read the obituaries of the French choreographer Maurice Béjart, who has died, aged 80. Although often derided for his exoticsm and experimentalism by British dance critics, [...]
As part of Dundee City Council’s celebrations for St Andrew's Day, the Wellington Consultancy and Friends of Wighton have arranged a programme of musical happenings in the city. Many thanks to Sheena Wellington for the information and very pleased to see the St Andrew's Night Party at Meadowside St. Paul's Church Hall - very handy for West End residents! ST ANDREW'S DAY - FRIDAY 30th NOVEMBER Care Homes for Senior Citizens: 11am: Janet Brougham House, Robertson Street 2pm: St Margaret’s Home, Victoria Road 3.30pm: Wellburn Home, 118 Liff Road Fiddle player Karen Read and singer Mike Kelleher will be the ...
I wonder whether it was incredible chutzpah or mere ignorance on the part of our Chancellor Alistair Darling. On the Today programme, he suggested that the loss of records on half the population was an argument IN FAVOUR of ID cards. The reasoning goes something like this: OK we might hand over all your person details [...]
“The Liberal Democrats exist to build and safeguard a fair, free and open society, in which we seek to balance the fundamental values of liberty, equality and community and in which no-one shall be enslaved by poverty, ignorance or conformity.” Preamble to the Federal Constitution. Are you a fully paid member of the Lib Dem Party? If you are then you will be familiar with these words, written in a column to the left of your membership number and name, etc. They are obviously deemed important to the party and, by printing them on your membership card, meant to be ...
All this talk on the BBC website and blogs about Blair and his relgious views somewhat miss the point. I don't think his religious views are the problem. The problem with Blair, and his legacy will be that he will go down in history as a warmonger, a liar and has the blood of tens of thousands on his hands. Which ever god he believes in, he'll need to pray for the rest of his life to avoid hell being his final destination. At least he'll be there with George W Bush and Saddam Hussein. What a chat that will ...
Lib Dems in Broadland, a seat already identified as a target seat at the next general election for the Lib Dems, are celebrating after winning the Aylsham County Council by-election by an astonishing margin. Norfolk CC, AylshamLD David Harrison 1696 (60.6; +23.2), Con 854 (30.5; -6.4), Lab 177 (6.3; -19.4), UKIP 71 ( 2.5; +2.5).Majority 842. Turnout 39.0%. LD hold. Last fought 2005. The seat, which was something of a surprise gain in 2005 when the Lib Dems won it by less than 20 votes from the Tory deputy leader of the county council, now has a thumping majority of ...
I have strange thoughts when I’m a bit bleary. Well, all the time, really, but watching David Davis talking to Andy Marr just now I was struck by the two people he seems to be turning into. Now, I don’t like the man or many of his more loathsome views, but I’ve long thought he was the most effective Tory spokesperson and, to his credit, he stuck up for some civil liberties when the rest of his party didn’t – against ID cards when the rest of them thought they were a great idea for bossing people about, for example. ...
The BBC reports that plans to use an RAF base as part of the USA's missile defence programme were released by the government as parliament was about to break for the summer, thus denying parliament the opportunity to questions the decision and also meaning the information was not known by many MP's because they were back in their constituencies for the summer. The government say there was "no attempt to conceal this information". This I doubt strongly. That said, if the government really did want to let people know this decision had been made surely they would have put the ...
Last night I attended Solihull's Annual Dinner where Charles Kennedy was the guest speaker. It is always good to go to Solihull I have many friends in the Liberal Democrats there and they always put on a good social.
Sometimes it’s just too easy: Tony Blair avoided talking about his religious views while in office for fear of being labelled “a nutter”, the former prime minister has revealed. Yes, because there’s absolutely nothing nutterish at all about this, is there?: Holidaying on the Mexican Riviera in August 2001, they underwent a “rebirthing ritual” in a temazcal - a Mayan steam bath which represents the womb. Herb-infused water was thrown over heated lava rocks to create a cleansing sweat and balance the Blairs’ “energy flow”, while their therapist, Nancy Aguilar, told the credulous couple to imagine animal-shapes in the steam ...
As most of you probably know already, I didn’t go to Oxford or Cambridge. Instead, I spent my University days by the sea at Swansea, which may be why some of the shock and horror at the latest brouhahaha about the Oxford Union confuses me. One of the complaints from those opposed to Griffin and Irving speaking there is that somehow they’ll be legitimised by being allowed to speak in the hallowed halls of the Oxford Union, as if this one student-run debating society has the power to decide the opinions of the nation. And this is where the bit ...
Gordon Brown’s response to crisis week, “Sorry, I will change” is symptomatic of what is wrong with the government of Britain today and why I support the Liberal Democrats, the only party who actually seems to understand that Britain’s problems are deeper than people and personality. Britain today is run by a bureaucratic government with all [...]
It's perverse I know, but any mention of Mike Huckabee as a potential winner of the US Republican Presidential nomination, gets me embarrassingly excited. Why? Because it could be one the of the few political bets that I have placed that pays out any money. (The last one was on the Newbury by-election in 1993). It was just this "boy from Hope", "Governor of Arkansas"and "plays musical instrument
Never underestimate the discipline of the Labour Party, but it’s a truism that it’s far easier to keep a united party when you’re winning then when you’re losing. When you’re winning, people are willing to trust your judgement. When you’re losing, doubt begins to creep in. Of course, every Labourite knows that as soon as the party starts fighting amongst itself it’s over for them. Blair told them this over and over: As long as we’re united, we can’t lose. It is their ultimate trump card and the one thing they have that the Tories cannot replicate, a problem exacerbated ...
I’m just watching the webcast hustings (volume problems now sorted). This video: Hustings webcast: Questions on party management (6/6) Uploaded by libdem interests me a great deal - Nick Clegg seems to indicate that the press office and campaigns department need to work much more closely, and I agree entirely. I don’t know how Chris Rennard would react to the leader telling him how to structure the party’s HQ, but I think he’d keep an open mind. I was also interested to see Chris refer to what is said on the blogs, indicating that he’s in touch with the emerging ... | < | November 2007 | > | ||||
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