Bring The Boys Back Home

After popping down to Sutton for an election debrief I headed to Hyde Park on Saturday to watch Roger Waters perform a set which included The Dark Side of The Moon in its entirity.

(Note to younger viewers - this is a classic Pink Floyd album from the early 70s - Roger Waters was the main songwriter, joint vocalist and bass player)

At one point in the set he launched into the song 'Vera' from 'The Wall' - an unusual choice for a live set. All became clear though when the chorus kicked in: 'Bring the Boys Back Home' - and for anyone who didn't get the point these words were displayed across the back of the stage in VERY LARGE red letters.

Roger also spoke very movingly about his personal experience of the hospitality of arab families when he was travelling in the middle east as a teenager and performed one new song based on those experiences aimed firmly at 'George and Tony'.

I'm sure they won't listen to him, but he made the point very well.

Tom Baker sings

The fourth doctor as you've never heard him before.

Charles Clarke gets more ridiculous by the second

New Labour has produced some ludicrous figures in its time - Mandelson and Blunkett to name but two. But can anyone claim to be quite as ridiculous as Charles Clarke?

The Labour Party is going down the pan due to 'Honest' T Blair's decision to accept secret loans to fund a bankrupt election campaign and who does Clarke decide to attack? The one bloke who appears to hold the only remaining shred of decency in the party.

Liberal Democrats - get thee to Norwich!

Happy Harrogate

Lovely weekend here in Harrogate. Snow on Friday, bright sunshine today.

Harrogate is my favorite conference venue. It is a lovely town with a warm northern welcome.

I came to my first conference her in 1987 - the last Liberal Assembly -when I camped in atent and lived on fringe meeting food.

I did my first conference speech here - opposing a woolly arts motion and being savaged by Bob MacLennan as a result. (Well - okay - perhaps 'savaged' is a bit strong)

I also well remember coming up to stay with Phil Willis many years ago to help produce his first constituency newspaper. He was very impressive. Wonder what happened to him ;-)

This weekend has been very positive. Those that were involved in the leadership contests have been able to relax, there is a very positive sense that we are now moving forward. With Ming as Leader, Chris Huhne's profile high and a talented top team we are set to do very well against Cameron's phoney liberalism.

Everyone is now focussed on the local elections in May with campaigners reporting a positive response on the doorstep across the country.

And it was nice to see so many other Lib Dem bloggers here too!

Going Underground

Add together two unhappy london doctors, Tim Ireland's hilarious use of Flash and a bit of Jam and you get this witty ditty about the joys of london transport.

Be warned - it does use rather uncouth language.

Well done Willie

Congratulations to Willie Rennie - newest Lib Dem MP and all round good bloke.

Cheers also to Peter Barrett and thanks for looking after me at the weekend.

And wel done to Chris, Paul, Mark, Ed and the whole by-election team and everyone who delivered leaflets, canvassed and put up stakes.

A personal thanks to the teams round the country that helped with the blue envelope writing!

Guantanamo prisoners still exist

This report by Amnesty reminds us that several hundred people are still in unlawful detention in Guantanamo Bay.

While the US Government continue to use human rights abuses as their justification for invading or threatening various middle eastern countries they continue to deprive these detainees of their human rights.

Surely by now they have either amassed evidence against each of these people or they have not.

If they have they should take them to court.

If not they should release them.

And our Prime Minister doesn't even appear interested in the 9 British residents that are there. He should hang his head in shame.

Go North

There is a very important by-election in Scotland next Thursday.

The Lib Dem candidate is the excellent Willie Rennie who I knew well when he was our Campaigns Officer in Devon & Cornwall. I also enjoyed a few days training with him in Lithuania two years ago.

Willie will make a great MP for the constituency.

I will be going up to help over the weekend and look forward to seeing Lib Dems from acroos the UK there.

7 things to do before I die

I knew someone would make me do this ...

7 things to do before I die:

1. Learn to play guitar properly
2. Record an album
3. Work on a US Presidential campaign
4. Visit Iceland
5. Organise a big party for all my friends
6. Do a rock gig as lead singer of a band with a set made up of the best of 70s & 80s rock classics
7. See my children grow up and lead fulfilling lives

7 things I cannot do:

1. Play guitar very well
2. Speak a foreign language
3. Run
4. Avoid being distracted
5. Suffer fools
6. Anything that involves blood or needles
7. Watch Desperate Housewives

7 things that attract me to Abingdon:

1. The Dil Raj
2. The River Thames
3. Bun Throwing
4. Abbey Meadows
5. Old Anchor Inn
6. Near a lot of beautiful countryside
7. London is far enough away to be distant but near enough to be accessible

7 things I often say:

1. “Maybe just a quick half then”
2. “In a minute!”
3. “With the greatest of respect...”
4. “I shouldn't be back too late”
5. “Well where did you last have it?”
6. “Maybe we'll get it for you for your birthday.”
7. “How ya doin'?”

7 books that I love:

1. Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
2. Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy – Douglas Adams
3. The Dark Tower series - Stephen King
4. Killigrew RN - Jonathan Lunn (my mate from Uni)
5. Husbands – Adele Parks (another mate from Uni)
6. Mort – Terry Pratchett
7. Executive Orders - Tom Clancy

7 movies I watch over and over again

1. This is Spinal Tap
2. The Blues Brothers
3. Lord of the Rings trilogy
4. The Usual Suspects
5. The Italian Job
6. Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence
7. Se7en

7 people I want to join in too:

Most of the people whose blogs I read have already done this, so I'll do this instead:

7 favorite albums:

1. A Night at the Opera - Queen
2. The Black Album - Metallica
3. Appetite for Destruction - Guns 'n' Roses
4. Afraid of Sunlight - Marillion
5. Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd
6. Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen
7. Earth vs. The Wildhearts - The Wildhearts

Spooky!

This is a bit spooky ...

... until you work out how they do it!

Fifth candidate enters leadership race

The fifth candidate revealed

Cybermen

No, not a comment on the speeches yesterday, but news that my favorite Who monsters have been spotted in Cardiff.

Thank You Charles

Whatever the rights and wrongs of the latter part of his leadership I feel very sad that Charles Kennedy has ended up having to stand down as party leader.

I can't claim to know Charles hugely well, but I have met him on many occasions, mainly through work, and I have always been impressed by his personality and politics. He must be going through a difficult time at present and I wish both him and Sarah all the best at what is undoubtedly a very difficult time for them.

At the present time it is easy to forget just how well the party has done while he has been leader. I well remember the period when Paddy finished, and all the questions about whether 1997 would prove to be the party's highpoint. Yet Charles went on to lead us into two further successful General Election campaigns, gaining seats and votes each time. Several of my friends are now MPs as a result.

In my view his impact on the party's ability to take on Labour in its former heartlands - not least by making the right call on Iraq, tuition fees and a host of other issues - is an equally important achievement. Again we should not forget that if, six years ago, you had told political journalists that we would hold parliamentary seats in Brent, Birmingham, Cardiff, Bristol, Manchester and Leeds six years hence, they would simply have laughed.

I also believe that Charles did a good job because he tried to keep the party together politically. His comments today about the direction of the party rang very true with me. He is right to say that there is a genuine debate going on within this party - somewhat crudely caricatured at times as being in rather redundant terms as between left and right; in rather simplistic terms as between social liberals and economic liberals; in rather misleading terms as between traditionalists and modernisers.

I, and I think the majority of members, do not see myself as either a 'social' liberal or an 'economic' liberal - rather I see myself as a liberal, trying to balance the maximum freedom for the individual, socially and economically, with the need to ensure that the weak and disadvantaged are not left behind.

Also Charles is spot on to argue that It should be a debate driven by ourselves. It must not be allowed to become dictated by others who do not share our long-term hopes and goals. We must stand and argue - politically independent and intellectually self-confident.

We have always done best when we draw up policies based on our liberal principles as applied to today's circumstances and not driven by whatever position either of out main opponents have chosen to adopt this week.

As far as the leadership is concerned I have to be somewhat circumspect because I am a member of party staff. However I will make these general points:

1 We should not fear a leadership contest if there is genuines support within the party for more than one serious candidate. The recent leadership contests in our party, and the even more frequent ones in the Tory party, have not, in themselves, caused problems. They have often been beneficial.

2 Neither, if there is clear and solid support in the parliamentary party for one serious candidate, should we fear an unopposed contest.

3 One way or another we have to move the political debate forward, and preferably not as a battle between two 'wings'. A genuine debate about how to apply our principles to the Britain of today is essential, with or without a contested leadership election.

4 We have to get back to solid, integrated campaigning on the ground, and we have to continue to expand our organisation to enable us to sustain it.

Most importantly of all we have to work together as a united liberal party.

John Peel book

In an uncharacteristic display of good taste my Dad bought me the John Peel auto/biography for Christmas.

It is one of those books that, once started, it was hard to put down.

The first half of the book was written by Peel himself before he died, the second half written by his wife Sheila with help and support for their children.

Peel's humour, humanity and wit shine throughout his chapters. There were several real laugh out loud moments and a lot of genuinly interesting stories as well. Sheila's half was equally compelling and brought a different perspective to Peel.

If anyone who listened to Peel either on late night Radio One (as I did as a teenager and student) or who enjoyed his dry wit on Home Truths hasn't got hold of a copy yet I would strongly recommend it.

When he died I listened to the tribute programme on the saturday on Radio 4 on my way to a Lib Dem training event and arrived, untypically for me, with tears running down my face. I guess after years of listeneing to him that I felt he was more friend than DJ. This book reinforced that feeling.

Ben Rammisatosser

As Jonathan Calder and Stephen Tall have already pointed out the online petition organised by The Liberal calling for Charles Kennedy to resign appears to have no way of checking whether the people signing are actually Liberal Democrat members at all.

For example I was able to sign it with the entirely ficticious name of Ben Rammisatosser giving the email address as Ben.Ramm@libdems.org.uk.

Any news reort quoting the number of people signing it should be ignored as a result and any journalist reporting such figures as fact - without finding out first how The Liberal has verified the membership of each person signing - should be ashamed of themselves.

Doctor Who Digital Episode Disappointment

Apparantly there was an interactive digital episode of Doctor Who following the Christmas Special.

We pressed our red button when told to by David Tennant but the best that was on offer was Coldplay live.

It appears that the episdoe was not available to those of us on NTL, Telewest or quite a lot of Freeview boxes. The only reliable way to get it seems to have been Sky Satelite which I for one refuse to subscribe to.

The BBC trailed this episode widely and should have made it clear that access to it was so restricted. They should now make amends by showing the episdoe online.

Tennant Triumphs

Well after sitting round waiting all day for it I thought David Tennant's debut as the Doctor was 'fantastic'. He appeared to pick up the role and run with it from the off. Billie Piper was as good as ever and I thought the storyline in this episode was good and fitted the one hour spcial well.

There were just enough Christmassy elements to make it festive without getting in the way of the plot. And there was plenty of humour too - pulling out Tennant's Casanova costume in the wardrobe, the 'very Arthur Dent' comment and the Star Wars references all raised a chuckle with me.

And the final twist in the story was brilliant too, and could lead to some very interesting developments along with the forthcoming Torchwood series. Seemed to me to be quite a big hit at Thatcher's attack on the Belgrano and Blair's weakening as PM in one short scene.

And then the trailer ... Sarah Jane Smith, Cyberman and K9! What more could a small boy want for Christmas?

Cabinet Ministers to be asked to pay back profits from their diaries

Although this article doesn't specifically mention Cabinet Ministers ...

... I am sure they wouldn't be so hypocritical as to apply one rule to their servants but another to themselves ...

... would they?

Surely a christmas charity carol service isn't illegal?

I am more than happy to promote this christmas carol service which is being held to raise money for medical aid for Iraqi children. And after the bombing they've had by the british and american invasion forces, by golly they need the help.

There seem to be some concern that such a service might be illegal. Personally I think such such a suggestion is so utterly ludicrous that it can't possibly be true.

Not in a country that is so keen on defending our 'traditional freedoms' that we are willing to slaughter thousands of innocent people just to prove the point:

You are cordially invited to a public carol service in Parliament Square at 6pm on Wednesday the 21st of December 2005.

This inclusive service will contain both Christian and secular verse, and is expected to last no more than an hour.

Candles and song sheets will be made available, with donations going to Medical Aid for Iraqi Children.

Please note that if you attend this carol service, it will classify as a spontaneous demonstration (of faith, hope, joy and/or religious tolerance) and there is a possibility that you will be cautioned or arrested under Section 132 of the Serious and Organised Crimes and Police Act 2005.

Click here for more information.

And merry christmas Tim Ireland and well done for consistently challenging Blair and showing him up for what he is.

Picard for me

I'm not unhappy with the result of this one: