Andrew Reeves' Running Blog - but what am I running for.....

Ban Spanish cucumbers and all fresh produce as a precaution

2011-06-01T09:37:00.001+01:00

There is a sense of irony with this story because whenever Britain gets a sniff of an outbreak, whether salmonella in eggs or mad cow disease in our beef other European countries ban our produce within minutes.

So, why does Spain think there is a sense of injustice with Germany over the 15 deaths and over 1,150 cases of suspected e-coli from Spanish cucumbers?

The response from Rosa Aguilar, the Spanish agriculture minister was;

"We want Germany to provide, without any delay and distractions, the necessary information of its investigation"

What utter crap, Spain should be working hand in hand with Germany to rule the cucumbers out if they are that confident, instead of getting on a high horse with such an arrogant attitude.

This would mean then that we would know whether the cucumbers are the cause of these tragic deaths.

I feel we must ban Spanish cucumbers until it is proven they are clear and we have to seriously consider banning all other Spanish produce.

Before you jump on me for being anti-European (which I'm not) just take a step back and imagine this was British cucumbers - there would have been a shut down across Europe, absolutely no doubt about it.

It is time for some sense in Europe, and I leave the last word to George Lyon MEP;

“With reports that deaths have been caused by produce contaminated with E.Coli outside of Germany there is a real possibility that some of this contaminated produce could be reaching British shores.

“The UK Government should call an immediate halt to all produce coming from Spain until test results can identify the exact source of the outbreak.

“As a precaution, we must take this action to limit any potential risk to British consumers.

“When we have a more detailed picture of events we can reevaluate the situation, but taking this precaution now will help to reassure anxious consumers.”

Some sense from a politician. Now we need sense from the Spanish politicians.

Scottish Labour in turmoil as Malcolm Chisholm stands down from front bench

2011-05-31T16:06:00.002+01:00

Just eleven days after Scottish Labour announced their new front bench team, they have been plunged into turmoil as Malcolm Chisholm resigns.

Malcolm Chisholm was their education and life long learning spokesman.

Malcolm Chisholm said he reconsidered his position after failing to be appointed by his party as convener of Holyrood's health committee.

A Labour spokesman said:

"Iain Gray asked Malcolm Chisholm to use his experience and ability in the shadow cabinet and he had agreed to do so.

"He has since reconsidered and changed his mind."

Ken Macintosh has taken his place as education spokesman while Patricia Ferguson becomes the culture spokeswoman.

Malcolm Chisholm MSP, Edinburgh Northern & Leith

This is Malcolm Chisholm's fourth resignation, the first back in 1997 was over child benefit cuts, then Iraq and in 2006 over trident which was a "matter of principle".

In 2006 Malcolm Chisholm was the Communities Minister and resigned from the Scottish government after voting with the SNP over the replacement of Trident.

He was one of four Labour members who supported the SNP's motion opposing the replacement of the nuclear submarines with up-to-date models.

Is this the end of Malcolm's front bench career and was the resignation just sour grapes?

Former Conservative peer Lord Taylor jailed for expenses fraud

2011-05-31T12:56:00.000+01:00

Another one bites the dust.

This time a peer is jailed.

Basically, Lord Taylor lived in Ealing, West London but actually claimed his main residence was in fact in Oxford. The property in Oxford was owned by his nephew.

He pleaded not guilty to the charges - saying had been told by senior peers it was normal practice to make false expenses claims - but was convicted in January.

His legal team argued that he should not face prison because, as a peer, his crimes were less serious than those of MPs found guilty over their expenses.

They said a custodial term would "destroy him", adding that: "Every fibre of Taylor is motivated by public service."

Lord Taylor claimed travel costs between the Oxford home and Westminster, as well as subsistence for staying in London between March 2006 and October 2007, Lord Taylor submitted six claims for overnight stays in Oxford and mileage to and from the property totalling £11,277.80.

Passing sentence, Mr Justice Saunders said Lord Taylor had lied to journalists investigating his expenses and lied while giving evidence to the jury on oath during his trial.

He said: "The expenses scheme in the House of Lords was based on trust.

"Peers certified that their claims were accurate. They were not required to provide proof. It was considered that people who achieved a peerage could be relied on to be honest.

"Making false claims involved a breach of a high degree of trust.

"The expenses scandal has affected the standing not just of the House of Commons but also the House of Lords."

Mr Justice Saunders is spot on when he says the whole expenses scandal has affected the standing of the Houses of Parliament. It will take time for the public to trust politicians in the same way as they used to.

Although we should remember that it was a small minority who committed fraud with their expenses, but they have tainted the majority.

"Football is not in a crisis, only some difficulties," says Sepp Blatter

2011-05-30T22:14:00.000+01:00

Oh dear, as usual FIFA's President Sepp Blatter cannot see the wood for the trees.

This Wednesday FIFA will select its new President, however, there is now only one candidate, that is the current controversial President, one Joseph Sepp Blatter.

His opponent and the only rival candidate - Mohamed Bin Hammam, president of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) - pulled out having been suspended by Fifa's own ethics committee over allegations that financial incentives were offered to Caribbean Football Union members.

So, on Saturday there was a Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) press conference in Zurich, but only one person was present, El Presidente Blatter himself - you can see it here.

From BBC Sport:

"Football is not in a crisis, only some difficulties," said the Fifa president.

President Blatter brushed off suggestions, from the British government among others, that Wednesday's presidential election - for which he is the only candidate - should be suspended.

"If governments try to intervene then something is wrong," he said.

"I think Fifa is strong enough that we can deal with our problems inside Fifa."

Blatter then went on to discuss Saturday's Champions League final between Barcelona and Manchester United, played at Wembley stadium as an example of the sport's strength and insisted there would be no re-run of the controversial vote for the 2022 World Cup.

"If you see the final match of the Champions League you must applaud," he said.

"We are not in a crisis. We are only in some difficulties and these will be solved inside our family."

I am really sorry but this guy is on another planet, he also thinks that Wednesday's Presidential election should proceed despite the fact that he is now the only candidate, and is covered in controversy himself.
As well as Governments around the world getting involved, now the sponsors are wading in on the accusations and arguments that are surrounding FIFA, earlier today, two of Fifa's largest sponsors - Coca-Cola and Adidas - expressed concern at the widely publicised in-fighting.

"The current allegations being raised are distressing and bad for the sport," said a Coca-Cola spokesperson.

"We have every expectation that Fifa will resolve this situation in an expedient and thorough manner."

An Adidas spokesman said: "The negative tenor of the public debate around Fifa at the moment is neither good for football nor for Fifa and its partners."

FIFAs Vice President, Jack Warner is now mired in controversy himself.

This constant stream of rows, accusations of fraud, corruption and controversy divert away from what FIFA should be representing, grassroots football.

One line of their mission statement did make me laugh - Our core values of authenticity, unity, performance and integrity are at the very heart of who we are.

If Sepp Blatter believed any of the words above then he would suspend the Presidential election immediately, resign, ensure the Executive Committee also resigned to clear all of the allegations and then run new elections for President and Executive Committee - where no-one accused of any corruption or wrong doing should re-stand.

To read an alternative view, read G's spot - FIFA’s mafia family goes to war.

A day out in Portobello on the beach

2011-05-25T21:36:00.000+01:00

Caron Lindsay will be proud as well as slightly annoyed, sitting there going, told you so.

I am on three days annual leave starting today, but true to form, I started by going into the office for 90 minutes to finish some bits off that needed to be done and I have answered a few emails during the day.

Once I had finished I walked back to Princes Street via a few shops and then decided to catch the first bus that came to the nearest bus stop and see where that took me.

So, a 26 bus was first so I hopped on and read the Metro and decided to jump off at Portobello, somewhere I have never been to in my 3 years in Edinburgh (yes, 3 years on Tuesday next week).

To the right of the post in the water, in the centre of the picture is a blob in the water, that is in fact a man swimming in the freezing water.

Portobello is a beach resort located three miles to the east of the city centre of Edinburgh, along the coast of the Firth of Forth.

The area was originally known as Figgate Muir, an expanse of moorland through which the Figgate Burn flowed from Duddingston Loch to the sea, with a broad sandy beach on the Firth of Forth.

The name Figgate was thought to come from the Saxon term for "cow's ditch", and the land was used as pasture by the monks of Holyrood Abbey. In 1296 William Wallace mustered forces on the moor in a campaign that led to the Battle of Dunbar, and in 1650 the moor was the supposed scene of a secret meeting between Oliver Cromwell and Scottish leaders.

A report from 1661 describes a race in which twelve browster-wives ran from the Burn (recorded as the Thicket Burn) to the top of Arthur's Seat, Edinburgh.

Edinburgh Capitals aim for Elite League ice hockey with new sponsor

2011-05-23T10:19:00.000+01:00

Despite a torrid season and many promises from the Edinburgh Capitals (Edinburgh's ice hockey team, based at Murrayfield), none of which were forthcoming, there is hope for next season and currently it does look as if the Caps will be playing in the Elite league once again.

However, as I said, last seasons promises were not forthcoming so I am not holding my breath this time.

As usual news from the club has been quiet.

In fact, just two news stories of any substance.

The first being the welcome return of Keith Butland, who will once again head up PR and Communications. I really hope this includes the website, although I've offered to Scott Neil that a friend of mine is happy to re-design the website at no cost, I never got a reply. Perhaps I will contact Keith.

The second story, announced yesterday was that the Edinburgh Capitals have agreed terms for a brand new sponsorship deal with Crest SportsGroup.

From the Caps website:

The Crest SportsGroup LLP is a consulting and investment firm operating in the professional sports industry, focusing on the business side of professional sports.

Kai Isaksen, Crest SportsGroup, said, "Crest SportsGroup see great potential for ice hockey in Edinburgh in general, and Edinburgh Capitals in particular, and we are happy to get involved. In addition to financial value, we bring a large network of contacts and extensive experience, and we aim to use this to help Capitals develop further as a club."

Craig Henderson, Crest SportsGroup UK Senior Partner, commented, "We are impressed by what Mr. Neil has built over these years, and look forward to working with him to develop the Capitals brand even further. We hope to use our involvement to develop new methodology and concepts for sponsorship in ice hockey.

"We are confident the problems experienced by the Capitals last season are now sorted and we look forward to a good season for the Capitals in the Elite League. By signing up for a sponsorship agreement this early, we hope to contribute to bringing back the enthusiasm surrounding the club, from sponsors and fans. This is the time to stand up for the club we support, and we hope many will join us in making firm commitments to the club."

Edinburgh Capitals General Manager, Scott Neil, said, "I am delighted to have secured sponsorship and professional assitance and advice from Crest SportsGroup and view this relationship as a vital mechanism in developing the club in order to compete long term. We have already discussed many interesting avenues that may take time to deliver but certainly have exciting potential for the team to become a top competitor in the Elite League."

This does sound great news, but nowhere does it say whether this is the clubs main sponsor for next season, or whether this is just a secondary sponsor.

When will the club start sending out season ticket requests?

I do with that Scott Neil would learn to use the media and website better for communication, rumours wouldn't happen as much if he did.

The Sunday Herald names the footballer who cannot be named

2011-05-22T20:12:00.001+01:00

So, this week has been the week of super injunctions, gagging orders and accusations.

The Sunday Herald, or as it is known on some of its competitors websites, the newspaper that cannot be named, has taken the plunge and named he who cannot be named.

The Sunday Herald’s front page;

“Everyone knows that this is the footballer accused of using the courts to keep allegations of a sexual affair secret. But we weren’t supposed to tell you that…,”

Due to the increased traffic to the Sunday Herald’s website, it’s down, although the Guardian reports that the article and photo have not been published online.

Was this a stunt to get more readers, or a move to show the lawyers that there are ways round the law, especially when injunctions are only applied for in one country, therefore exempting other countries.

Let us see what this week brings.

The Press Complaints Commission versus the Daily Telegraph

2011-05-21T20:56:00.001+01:00

I had meant to blog about this when the PCC announced the ruling, but I was recovering from the election.

I am very pleased that the PCC have ruled against the Daily Telegraph, for two reasons.

The Daily Telegraph articles quoted a number of private comments made by senior Liberal Democrat MPs in their constituency surgeries which had been secretly recorded by the newspaper's journalists posing as constituents.

The MPs featured included the Business Secretary, Vince Cable, in addition to Under Secretary of State for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, Ed Davey, Minister for Work and Pensions, Steve Webb, Scottish Secretary, Michael Moore, Under Secretary of State for Transport, Norman Baker, Under Secretary of State to the Department for Communities and Local Government, Andrew Stunell, Parliamentary Secretary (Deputy Leader) to the Office of the Leader of the Commons, David Heath and Health Minister, Paul Burstow.

A pity the PCC spelt Andrew Stunell's name incorrectly.

I have worked directly for one of these, worked closely with four and worked with the other three. In fact one was at my wedding earlier this year.

I therefore reserve the right to be biased against the Daily Telegraph.
I have read the ruling, a number of times and the most interesting paragraph is this one;

The newspaper denied that it had undertaken a ‘fishing expedition'; rather, it had acted upon specific information it had received from parliamentarians and members of the public. In private meetings at the Conservative party conference in 2010, the editor had been informed by Conservative ministers including a Cabinet minister (themselves informed by local party activists) that the public and private views of some Liberal Democrat ministers were increasingly at odds, particularly on the issue of Coalition policies which had been backed publicly. Similar concerns had also been expressed separately to senior reporters and the issue was raised with several MPs in the course of various engagements. A consistent theme began to emerge of growing Liberal Democrat private dissatisfaction. The newspaper said that the Conservative ministers were understandably reluctant to go on the record, or provide information or contacts in Liberal Democrat constituencies to back up their concerns.

The specific line within the paragraph above that caught my eye was this one;

In private meetings at the Conservative party conference in 2010, the editor had been informed by Conservative ministers including a Cabinet minister (themselves informed by local party activists) that the public and private views of some Liberal Democrat ministers were increasingly at odds, particularly on the issue of Coalition policies which had been backed publicly.

Wow, the editor must have been really shocked?

Come on DT, when Labour were in power they had Ministers and MPs expressing views against their own Government - did the Daily Telegraph think it was appropriate to go and pretend to be constituents and secretly film or record them?

No, because in other news the Pope is Catholic and bears crap in woods.

So, what is different?

The difference is that the media are not used to coalition government - unlike the Scottish media - and therefore don't know how to deal with it. The only way they have come up with so far is to to attack, and find things to attack, sometimes like this story, on things that don't interest the public and breaking the rules to get the story.

Interestingly the ruling also states;

The newspaper had said that it had acted on information from various sources, who had been unwilling to go on the record.

I assume that includes the Conservative Ministers and Cabinet Minister? Strange that.

Is it because they are jealous they didn't get more senior roles within the Government because Cameron went into coalition rather than going it alone in a minority government?

The second reason I am pleased that the ruling went against the Daily Telegraph was because knowing how hard MPs work and how important their constituency surgeries are, it is utterly appalling that the journalists wasted time pretending to be constituents.

This, as well as being sneaky and dishonest has deprived a real constituent with real problems from seeing their MP and potentially getting help.

When I worked for Vince Cable, he held his weekly advice surgery every Friday from 5pm to 7pm. Joan and I often would be still in the office with Vince until 8pm, sometimes even later working through the people and trying to help.

I have to be honest, it is a bloody good job I didn't work for Vince when the sneaky journalists met him, because I would have been furious. We put a lot of effort into helping constituents, so depriving a real person of time with their MP to explain a real life problem is nothing short of pathetic.

The Daily Telegraph were out of order on this occasion, they didn't generate news, and they have gone down in my estimation. You can read the ruling here.

Calling all Edinburgh animal lovers - help find Leda

2011-05-19T21:47:00.000+01:00

If you see a Dobermann in Edinburgh, it may well be Leda.

Local artist, Dylan Lisle had his Dobermann puppy Leda stolen on Tuesday evening.

There is a possibility that Leda is in the Newhaven/Granton area. Please call Leith police station or Dylan Lisle on 07914 817947 if you see ANYONE with a Dobermann. A dog like this does not simply vanish.

You can read more details on Dylan Lisle's website HERE.

Willie Rennie MSP takes the reins of the Scottish Liberal Democrats

2011-05-17T22:26:00.000+01:00

I'm delighted that Willie Rennie decided to take the plunge and go for the leadership of the Scottish Party.

As nominations closed at midday today, Willie Rennie was the only candidate for the leadership, so no all member ballot was required this time, unlike 2008.

Willie Rennie chose the Fife coastal village of North Queensferry where, in the shadow of the Forth Bridges, he announced to the media that he had been confirmed as the new leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats.

Willie replaces Tavish Scott, who resigned 10 days ago in the wake of devastating Scottish Parliament election results.

Despite the three leaders of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, Scottish Labour and the Scottish Conservatives all resigning following the elections results twelve days ago, it is the Scottish Lib Dems who announce their new leader first.

Following the leadership announcement, Willie Rennie said:

"I will be working with my colleagues in the Scottish Parliament to stand up to the SNP bulldozer.

"We will not sit on our hands in the face of an SNP majority - we will be that Liberal voice standing up for the values that Scotland holds dear."

I am delighted to be working closely with Willie Rennie and relish the challenges that we will face over the coming years.

What do Sunderland FC and Edinburgh Zoo have in common?

2011-05-17T21:08:00.000+01:00

Interim Chief Executive Hugh Roberts, that's what.

Edinburgh Zoo has recently been mired in controversy and now Hugh Roberts has been appointed to sort it out and bring some stability back to the zoo.

There has been no-one in the Chief Executive role since November 2010 when David Windmill retired.

Then, all within the last two months, two senior staff, Gary Wilson (Chief Operating Officer) and Iain Valentine (Director of animals, conservation and education) have been suspended while inquiries into anonymous allegations were carried out.

Gary Wilson is now due to return to work after "There was no disciplinary case to answer".

A third senior member of staff, Anthony McReavy (Director of development) was sacked and Max Gaunt (honorary treasurer) resigned.

Just last week over 500 members attended an emergency meeting and recorded a vote of no confidence in Donald Emslie, the Chairman of The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland.

However, last week he refused to step down ignoring the wishes of Zoo Members - I would have attended if I could have got back from London in time.

Mr Emslie finally caved into public pressure and resigned on Monday.

The Board has also appointed an interim Chief Executive, Hugh Roberts, who starts work tomorrow.

His previous roles include Hugh’s previous positions include Chief Executive of Sunderland Football Club PLC and Managing Director of UK brewer Adnams PLC. He has also held the post of interim Managing Director and other senior directorial roles with the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH), Chadwick House Group Limited and Women’s Royal Voluntary Service (WRVS).

Hugh Robert’s most recent role was with the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH).

Recently the zoo has wasted valuable resources in members mailings - two for the emergency meeting, one for the AGM and then the members magazine, advertising 13 events at the zoo and wildlife park.

Unfortunately 7 had already passed by the time the magazine reached us, leaving just 6.

This isn't the first time this has happened and it needs to stop.

Surely the AGM mailing could have been included in the magazine?

Let us hope Hugh Roberts is going to bring stability and some common sense to Edinburgh Zoo, it is certainly needed after a period of arrogance and uncertainty.

Kill the gays Bill off the table for now

2011-05-14T07:25:00.000+01:00

Earlier this week I blogged Less than 72 hours to stop the Ugandan “Kill The Gays” Bill after religious extremists presented a petition to the Speaker of the Ugandan Parliament, Edward Ssekandi.

The original bill was shelved in March. Claiming 2 million signatures, the petition demanded continued passage of the bill. Using the riots currently roiling Uganda as a distraction, supporters of the bill tried to pass it before the legislature expired on May 18, 2011.

Bishop Christopher Senyonjo, Frank Mugisha, and other activists deliver
your 500,000 petitions to the Parliament (Credit: James Akena)

However, the LGBT community mobilised against it, over 500,000 around the world signed the petition to stop Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality bill.

The international outcry was heard and the Ugandan Parliament has adjourned for this session. In fact the parliament was closed early in the face of an unprecedented global outcry, abandoning the Bill for now - but the fight isn't over yet.

We must ensure that when the parliament returns that this bill is opposed once more and removed forever.

Statement by David Laws MP

2011-05-12T12:05:00.000+01:00

Statement from David Laws

David Laws, MP for Yeovil, today commented on the conclusion of the Inquiry by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, and the Standards and Privileges Committee.

The Inquiry identified a number of breaches of rules, in particular it found that Mr. Laws was in breach of the partner rule, and should have designated his constituency home as his main home from 2004/05, on the basis of the nights spent test.

However, the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards accepted that Mr. Laws' motivation was privacy and not financial benefit, and both the Commissioner and the Committee accept that his claims would have been "considerably more" if he had claimed in accordance with the rules.

The Inquiry received evidence from Mr. Laws that his claims would have been almost £30,000 higher over 2004-2010 if he had made these against his Somerset home, as the Commissioner has ruled that he should. There was therefore no loss to the taxpayer from the breach in rules.

On the issue of rental levels, the Commissioner has concluded that the amounts charged by Mr Laws were "broadly similar" to the levels of Assured Shorthold Tenancy rent estimated by his advisers. Although the Commissioner's advisers suggested that the rent should be lower because Mr Laws had a lodging agreement with less legal security, the Committee and Commissioner have agreed that Mr Laws' living arrangements were in fact more advantageous than the agreements documented.

Last June as the Commissioner stated "to his personal credit" Mr. Laws paid back all of his claims from July 2006 to July 2009, even though Mr Lyons has now concluded that he would have been entitled to more money if he had claimed correctly over this period.

David Laws MP said: "I accept the conclusions of the Inquiry and take full responsibility for the mistakes which I have made. I apologise to my constituents and to Parliament. Each of us should be our own sternest critic, and I recognise that my attempts to keep my personal life private were in conflict with my duty as an MP to ensure that my claims were in every sense above reproach. I should have resolved this dilemma in the public interest and not in the interests of my privacy.

"However, from the moment these matters became public, I have made clear that my motivation was to protect my privacy, rather than to benefit from the system of parliamentary expenses, and I am pleased that the Commissioner has upheld that view.

"I have also, from the very beginning, made clear that I believed that my secrecy about my private life led me to make lower overall claims than would otherwise be the case, and this has been confirmed by the Parliamentary Commissioner and by the Committee. The taxpayer gained, rather than lost out, from my desire for secrecy, though I fully accept that this is not an adequate reason for breaking the rules.

"This last year has been a difficult one, and I am grateful to family, friends, constituents and colleagues for their support and understanding."
------------------

Less than 72 hours to stop the Ugandan “Kill The Gays” Bill

2011-05-09T22:39:00.000+01:00

I have just signed an online petition demanding that the Ugandan President Musevini veto the “kill the gays” bill should it be passed in Parliament. We have just learned the “kill the gays” bill – a death sentence for all LGBT people in Uganda – could come up for a vote in the next 72 hours if we don’t act now.

The Ugandan Parliament may vote as early as May 11 (Wednesday) on the “kill the gays” bill previously reported as shelved. Religious extremists presented a petition to the Speaker of the Parliament, Edward Ssekandi, shortly after the bill was shelved in March. Claiming 2 million signatures, the petition demanded passage of the bill. Using the riots currently roiling the nation as a distraction, supporters of the bill may try to pass it before this legislature expires on May 18, 2011.

Conservative leaders are trying hard to push the bill forward before the millions like us who oppose it have a chance to speak out. If we can create a massive international outcry, theres a chance to stop this bill from becoming law.

This hateful bill appears to be a political diversion, a way to distract from the legitimate grievances of pro-democracy activists, who have been beaten, teargassed, jailed, and even killed in recent weeks.

There are only hours left to make sure your voice is heard.

Will you join me in demanding the Ugandan President Musevini veto the “Kill The Gays” bill should it be passed in Parliament?

Sign and share this urgent petition: http://www.allout.org/en/petition/uganda

Tavish Scott resigns as the Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats - my view

2011-05-08T22:03:00.000+01:00

Thursday night and Friday was hard for me to take as many candidates (and friends) across Scotland were losing seats and deposits as the domino effect of the SNP majority was happening before our very eyes.

The whole team had worked so incredibly hard, some candidates and their teams doing the volumes of door knocking and leafleting they hadn't seen since the early 1980's.

We had deliberately reduced the team in Clifton Terrace, our Edinburgh HQ from the levels of the 2007 campaign because we knew we had to get our teams out in the constituencies.

Despite some criticism from people we did not take our voters for granted in any area, in fact more resources went into some of these areas than originally intended.

When I left the office on Friday I had been awake and out of bed for 35 hours, when the final result came in from Mid Scotland & Fife regional list, announcing Willie Rennie as our 5th MSP, I was exhausted and needed sleep, badly - I'm not as young as some of my team.

I had actually left the office at 7.30am to go to the hotel to get some kip, unfortunately as I fell asleep Sir Robert Smith MP telephoned, closely followed by Elspeth Finlay. So much for that idea.

I awoke on Saturday morning around 8am, as Loco, my cat was scratching the door and miaowing - she wanted breakfast, and wasn't letting my lack of sleep or the SNP get in the way.

I then fell asleep in the chair and awoke just in time to head into town for a staff meeting with Tavish and the new parliamentary party ahead of a meeting of the Scottish Party Executive.

It was at this meeting that Tavish dropped his bombshell, he was resigning with immediate effect!

If my emotions weren't all screwed up already, then this news gave them another bash.

In his resignation statement he said:

“I want to announce that I am resigning the leadership of the Scottish Liberal Democrats with immediate effect.

“Thursday’s Scottish General Election result was disastrous and I must and do take responsibility for the verdict of the electorate.

“The party needs a new direction, new thinking and new leadership to win back the trust of the Scottish people.

“I am honoured to serve as Shetland’s MSP in this Parliament.”

I have only been in Scotland since the end of May 2008. Tavish became Leader in August of the same year and we had enjoyed a good relationship since, we didn't always see eye to eye, but we always had the debate.

I will certainly miss working with Tavish and look forward to working with the new leader - whoever that should be.
Since the General Election, Tavish had known that this election was never going to be just about Scotland, firstly we thought the AV referendum would divert attention but then as time went on we knew the coalition would be the focus.

I will also say I have continued to be disappointed by some strands of the Scottish media for not being fair on Tavish. Glenn Campbell for one in the Leaders debate often cut Tavish off mid sentence and got his own personal digs in on the coalition, but never did the same to Annabel Goldie.

I'm not playing cry baby about this, but Scottish journalists need to learn to be consistent across all parties, not behave like Premiership referees and respond to behaviour from some angles favouring one party or another.

Tavish didn't need to resign yesterday, he could have made the announcement and then set a date in the future, but he stood up and took full responsibility for the result.

In the short term, Jo Swinson MP, currently the Deputy Leader becomes acting leader. The timetable for the election of the new leader will be announced in due course.

The April 2011 stat porn for my little blog

2011-05-01T00:14:00.000+01:00

Continuing my regular monthly stat porn figures for anyone who is remotely interested in who reads my little blog, what stories they read and from where they read it, the monthly summary of my visitor stats according to google analytics is as below for April 2011.

The busiest day on my blog last month was Sunday 17th April, the day I blogged about John Lamont's short term memory loss, as he attacks an opponent for wanting to be an MP - as he did just twelve months ago!

Last month I had 1,182 absolute unique visitors, a slight dent on last month. They made 1,458 visits and 1,792 page views.

13.99% of the visitors were through direct traffic, 34.22% from referring sites and 51.78% via search engines.

So, my top 10 referring sites for the last month were;

1. Facebook (1)
2. Blogger (7)
3. Google.co.uk (5)
4. Twitter (2)
5. Better Nation (12)
6. Lib Dem Voice (4)
7. Mungiuns Republic (9)
8. Lib Dem Blogs (6)
9. Planet Politics (14)
10. Google.com (11)
During April I wrote just 7 blog posts, another poor month.

The top 10 stories by direct page views that you've read most were;

1. Police Federation go for scaremongering advert
2. Conservative candidate John Lamont has short term memory
3. Labour leader Iain Gray: "I want a zero tolerance approach on literacy"
4. Supporting the NUS Scotland LGBT mental health campaign is important - DO IT!
5. Jack Frew - murdered in cold blood for being gay?
6. The biggest story in Scotland today
7. Adam Levine gets naked
8. Who reads which newspaper?
9. Angela Constance MSP is new Scottish Minister for Skills & Lifelong Learning
10. Save our Scottish Police from the SNP, Conservatives and Labour plans

Once again a real mixed bag this month and as I only wrote 7 blog posts, the top 10 was always going to include stuff from previous months - so this month a naked Adam Levine returns as does the tragic death last year of Jack Frew, in addition we have the NUS LGBT campaign and the single police force issue.

The visitors to my little blog came from 48 countries this month, the top ten were as follows;

1. United Kingdom (1)
2. United States (2)
3. France (3)
4. Australia (=8)
5. Canada (4)
6. India (12)
7. New Zealand (47)
=8. Brazil (21)
=8. Netherlands (11)
10. Italy (10)

Enjoy the porn because, that's all folks!

Labour leader Iain Gray: "I want a zero tolerance approach on literacy"

2011-04-18T19:25:00.008+01:00

The Scottish Labour Party have distributed their regional election addresses across many parts of Scotland and in many editions there is an interview with their leader, Iain Gray.

Iain Gray is quoted within this interview as saying;

"I want a zero tolerance approach on literacy,"

A very odd line to take.

Does he mean he will stamp out literacy in our schools?

That is certainly what he implies, did he mean to say he wanted a zero tolerance to illiteracy?

According to the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary, the definition of literacy is;

• the ability to read and write
Far more resources are needed to improve adult literacy.

• knowledge of a particular subject, or a particular type of knowledge
Computer literacy is becoming as essential as the ability to drive a car.

According to Dictionary.com, the definition of illiteracy is;

• a lack of ability to read and write.

• the state of being illiterate; lack of any or enough education.

• a mistake in writing or speaking, felt to be characteristic of an illiterate or semi literate person: a letter that was full of illiteracies.

I think that Iain Gray and Scottish Labour may have made a mistake here....why would you want a zero tolerance approach to the ability to read and write?

Conservative candidate John Lamont has short term memory

2011-04-17T13:12:00.001+01:00

I noticed in John Lamonts latest leaflet ironically titled "Common sense with John Lamont" a moment of short term memory loss.

In the leaflet, John Lamont has criticised Euan Robson, his Scottish Liberal Democrats challenger (SNP and Labour are over 4,000 votes behind Euan), for wanting to become an MP.

Is this the same Conservative John Lamont who spent tens of thousands of pounds trying to beat Michael Moore to become an MP only last year?

It certainly is.

Maybe John Lamont and the local Conservatives have got some short term memory loss?

The biggest story in Scotland today

2011-04-16T22:03:00.000+01:00

I was invited to take part in the ‘Bloggers’ takeover‘ at Liberal Democrat Voice today by Paul Walter who is guest editor of Lib Dem Voice today.

Paul invited a selection of bloggers to write today including yours truly.

You can read my opinion piece on the biggest story in Scotland today.

A huge thanks to Paul for asking me to write for Lib Dem Voice.

Supporting the NUS Scotland LGBT mental health campaign is important - DO IT!

2011-04-11T21:47:00.000+01:00

It's funny how Twitter starts a relationship. I sent congratulations to Nathan Sparling who announced on Twitter he had won the election to be the new NUS Scotland LGBT Officer.

Nathan soon got into his new role and then got in touch asking if Tavish Scott and the Scottish Liberal Democrats would support the new NUS Scotland campaign on mental health in the LGBT community?

Tavish Scott was very quick off the mark and more than happy to support the campaign and said;

"One in four people in Scotland will experience a mental health problem at some point in their lives. Given that Stonewall has reported that approximately half a million of Scotland’s population are lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender, it’s clear that these are issues that affect a great many people. And with research suggesting that LGBT people may experience higher levels of mental health problems, we recognise that more should be done to improve the experiences of the LGBT community when accessing mental health services.

"We therefore warmly welcome the NUS campaign and agree that mental health services in university and college campuses, health services and communities in general should be free of discrimination and fully accessible to all."

Did you know that someone from the LGBT community is four times more likely to commit suicide then other people?

With homosexuality only being declassified as a mental illness by the World Health Organisation just 19 years ago, in 1992, it is not surprising that accessing mental health services is often daunting or simply not an option for LGBT people.

This was a fact I did not know and was I actually shocked by it.

So the Scottish Liberal Democrats today announced their full backing for NUS Scotland’s innovative new LGBT campaign ‘There’s More to My Education’, which is pushing for better representation of LGBT people in the Scottish Government’s anti-stigma and mental health campaign, and wants university, college and community mental health services to be more friendly and accessible for LGBT students.

I recall when I came out when I was 15, it was a massive issue for me, it was one of the biggest decisions of my life and yet was one of the loneliest.

The gay scene is fun when you have tons of friends around you, I worked in the Admiral Duncan pub, one of the gay nightclubs in Nottingham so I had a huge circle of friends, but strangely when you really needed friends they weren't always there for you.

I've been lucky over the years with some great friends helping me through some tough times in my life, including the period when I was 18 through to 21 when after I came out to my Mum, we never spoke once during that period.

The time my closest friend died - he had the very same heart disease I do - that was a tough time.

I'm not going to list everything but needless to say, like many others in the world, I've had tough times to get through, they are not all to do with my sexuality but trust me when I say, the gay scene is great when you are young, but it can be bloody tough too.

That is why this campaign by NUS Scotland is so important.

Please encourage your candidates, of whatever party to sign the petition.

Nathan, good luck in the new job!

Save our Scottish Police from the SNP, Conservatives and Labour plans

2011-04-09T19:42:00.000+01:00

There is a massive campaign brewing here in Scotland and the political parties are lining up on one side or the other.

The SNP put forward proposals to scrap the current eight Scottish Constabularies and replace it with just one.

The cost will be at least £92million and cost between 3,000 - 4,000 frontline police officers.

Both the Labour party and Conservatives have joined the SNP and now all three also want to create just one fire service as well. Labour also want to centralise care and NHS services.

Although the Liberal Democrats are often against centralisation, the proposals by Alex Salmond, Iain Gray and Annabel Goldie just don't make sense in many areas of Scotland - especially in the rural communities and the many islands that make up this great country.

Their expensive proposals must be stopped.

You can watch Tavish Scott and Charles Kennedy explain why below.

You can sign the online petition HERE and like the facebook campaign page HERE.

Police Federation go for scaremongering advert

2011-04-04T18:55:00.001+01:00

When I got to page 15 of my Metro this morning, I was somewhat taken aback by the advert from the Police Federation.

I think it is cheap and nasty scaremongering.

Don't get me wrong, organisations have the democratic right to their views, and to voice them, but cheap scaremongering from the Police Federation is just that, cheap.

The Police Federation is an organisation I have worked with over the years, mainly when I worked for Vince Cable MP, who at the time was the Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Police.

According to their website:

the Federation is reliant on negotiation alone to reach agreements on pay and conditions.

I'm not keen on their current attempt to negotiate.

Here in Scotland we have the SNP, Conservatives and Labour planning to scrap local policing putting around 3,000 frontline police jobs at risk.

Not through cuts to funding streams but through a massive and expensive centralisation programme.

The Scottish Liberal Democrats are fighting this disastrous proposal from the other three parties, we want local police to be local police, not directed by bueracrats in Edinburgh.

Police should be out on the beat, not filling out paperwork in back offices and certainly not all pulled from communities around Scotland to police football matches in the big cities by the Edinburgh bueracrats.

They also want to centralise our fire service as well, what is next after the police and fire services?

Sign our petition today to add your voice to Save our Police and Fire services.

The March 2011 stat porn for my little blog

2011-04-01T21:40:00.000+01:00

Continuing my regular monthly stat porn figures for anyone who is remotely interested in who reads my little blog, what stories they read and from where they read it, the monthly summary of my visitor stats according to google analytics is as below for March 2011.

The busiest day on my blog last month was Sunday 20th March, the day I blogged about the iphone app that claims to cure you if you are gay.

Last month I had 1,543 absolute unique visitors, a decent increase on last month. They made 1,946 visits and 2,460 page views.

11.30% of the visitors were through direct traffic, 23.77% from referring sites and 64.91% via search engines.

So, my top 10 referring sites for the last month were;
1. Facebook (2)
2. Twitter (4)
3. Delicious (16)
4. Lib Dem Voice (7)
5. Google.co.uk (3)
6. Lib Dem Blogs (8)
7. Blogger (6)
8. Politicshome.com (New Entry)
9. Mungions Republic (14)
10. Lallands Peat Warrior (13)

During March I wrote just 9 blog posts, that is 3 times as many as last month but even so, it is still rubbish.

The top 10 stories by direct page views that you've read most were;

1. Glasgow Labour Councillor William O’Rourke sacked over rape remarks
2. Are you gay and need curing? There's an app for that
3. Dunfermline Labour Party in election blunder
4. Ben Bradshaw - MP or candidate?
5. Ed Miliband's insult to the voters of Scotland
6. Labour run Haringey Council - the truth about the cuts
7. Adam Levine gets naked
8. Can you afford £15 to help fund a new business?
9. Jack Frew - murdered in cold blood for being gay?
10. Angela Constance MSP is new Scottish Minister for Skills & Lifelong Learning
A genuine mixed bag this month and as I only wrote 9 blog posts, the top 10 was always going to include stuff from previous months, although it is just 3 - so this month is about naked men, curing gays via your iphone, Labour gaffe's and Jack Frew.

The visitors to my little blog came from 52 countries this month, the top ten were as follows;

1. United Kingdom (1)
2. United States (2)
3. France (4)
4. Canada (6)
5. Germany (New Entry)
6. Belgium (=7)
7. Philippines (13)
=8. Australia (=9)
=8. Spain (5)
10. Italy (19)

Enjoy the porn because, that's all folks!

Ben Bradshaw - MP or candidate?

2011-03-26T15:13:00.000Z

I'm sat in the Scottish Lib Dems HQ, as you do on a Saturday afternoon, trying to get the scanner to work to send Elspeth some paperwork she needs for a piece of literature she is working on.

I happened to turn round and look out the window and there was Ben Bradshaw MP wheeling his suitcase along carrying a bouquet of beautiful flowers.

Initially I couldn't remember his name, so did what everyone does, I googled MP for Exeter.

I was somewhat shocked when I then visited his website as it is really out of date, in fact so out of date he is still described as the candidate for Exeter, not the MP (re-elected) with references to 2009 here and there.

Ben Bradshaw's blog however is more up to date but still out of date, with stories from November 2010.

I'm a little surprised to be honest, but maybe if he passes the office again I will mention it to him.

Anyway, yes, he is still the MP, according to another part of his website:

In the 2010 General election Ben retained the seat for Labour

Ed Miliband's insult to the voters of Scotland

2011-03-20T14:40:00.000Z

Yesterday was Scottish Labours conference, if you missed it, it's understandable as media coverage was lower than that of other Scottish Parties because Labour chose to have their Autumn one covered in more detail.

Maybe Ed Miliband realised that with hardly anyone watching, he could say whatever he wanted?

So, despite the fact that in their thirteen years of government, of which Ed Miliband was part, Labour sold off Britain's gold at a twenty year low price, offered Britain's pensioners a miserly and insulting 75p increase, failed to link the basic state pension to earnings, oversaw a £10 million tax credit bungle, insulted people by doubling the basic rate of tax from 10p to 20p, let bankers run riot, oversaw £3 billion of benefits being overpaid and took us into an illegal war in Iraq.

They also left no money in Liam Byrne MP's own words and left us saddled with paying interest payments of £120 million per day on their debts!

So, what were Ed Milibands words of wisdom to the voters of Scotland?

Hitting out at the Tory-Lib Dem coalition, Mr Miliband told the conference:

"I have never wanted this to be a five-year government because of the damage it will do.

"And when people ask me, 'what are you going to do to reverse things in 2015', I say 'we can't wait until then'.

"So let's use these elections to give us the best chance of stopping it going to the full term."

Sorry? Mr Miliband, I hate to tell you this, but it appears your advisers forgot to mention that the Scottish Parliament elections on May 5th (or May 6th in Dunfermline according to Labour) have nothing to do with removing the coalition government as voted for in last years election.

The Scottish Parliament election is about voting for your local and regional MSPs (use both of your votes) and who then forms the Scottish Government.

Don't be so patronising and rude to the Scottish voters a d insult them that they should make this a vote on the coalition because you lost last year. Isn't it time you stopped blaming the voters for voting you and your party out of office?

I realise you blamed the previous Tory government for most of the thirteen years you were in power, but they rejected you and your party last May. Get over it.

As red Ed mentioned the coalition, let me just mention four of the achievements made by the new coalition government because of the Liberal Democrats being part of it (in no particular order) in just ten months;

1. The link between pensions and earnings, scrapped by Margaret Thatcher, was restored in the Coalition’s first budget. The annual increase in the state pension will be protected by a ‘triple lock’ - the rise will be in line with earnings, prices or a 2.5% increase, whichever is the greater.

2. We have scrapped the ID card programme. The ID card database was publicly destroyed on 11th February 2011.

3. In June’s emergency budget we increased the rate of Capital Gains Tax to 28% for higher rate taxpayers while keeping it at 18% for basic rate taxpayers. This will raise an extra £1bn and end the disgraceful situation of bankers paying a lower rate of tax than their cleaners.

4. In June’s emergency budget, we raised the tax threshold by £1,000, lifting 880,000 low earners out of tax completely (from this April). It will increase each year of the Coalition Government until it reaches £10,000, which will lift an additional 3 million people out of tax altogether.

In Scotland Tavish Scott fought for local Post Offices to receive over £1million support, last year 50 of Scotland's Post Offices developed their business thanks to the Post Office diversification funds, a further £1 million has gone into the fund for this year.

Other concessions made to the Liberal Democrats in the Scottish Parliament budget include:

· Additional funding for FE bursaries of £15 million, spread across 2010-2011-12 to provide additional student support for current student numbers.

· Additional funding of £8 million in 2011-12 that would support an additional 1,200 college places and associated student support.

· 1,500 additional Modern Apprenticeships, including 500 places for the renewables sector, at a cost of £2 million

· 2,000 additional flexible training opportunities

That is what the the voters of Scotland are looking for, solutions for Scotland, not a power grab as Ed Miliband has suggested.

Are you gay and need curing? There's an app for that

2011-03-20T12:15:00.000Z

Yes, you read it right, there is an organisation, Exodus International, an organisation that promotes and endorses "conversion therapy" for gay people, launched an iPhone app earlier this month.

The Exodus app is intended to reach tech-savvy young adults, and deliver this dangerous message: you can be "freed from homosexuality" and have your sexual orientation "cured" if you're LGBT.

One, I have never heard such crap in all my life, you cannot be cured if you don't have a disease that needs curing. Being gay is not a disease, believe me.

Michael Jones of Change.org explains;

Apple has been a strong ally to the LGBT community for years, even donating $100,000 to defeat California’s Proposition 8, the state’s ban on marriage equality. Just a few months ago, Apple actually removed another app from iTunes that labeled same-sex couples "immoral sexual partnerships."

Given the tragic wave of teenage suicides in the USA, all of whom have been LGBT (which must be halted) this awful app by Exodus International must be pulled, because if it encourages just one young LGBT person to commit suicide then the damage has been done.
From Change.org;

This new iPhone app is the latest move in Exodus' dangerous new strategy of targeting youth. According to a study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, LGBT teens who experienced negative feedback from their family were 8 times more likely to have attempted suicide, 6 times as vulnerable to severe depression, and 3 times more likely to use drugs (Caitlin Ryan, San Francisco State University, June 2009).

Apple doesn't allow racist or anti-Semitic apps in its app store, yet it gives the green light to an app targeting vulnerable LGBT youth with the message that their sexual orientation is a "sin that will make your heart sick" and a "counterfeit." This is a double standard that has the potential for devastating consequences.

Apple needs to be told, loud and clear, that this is unacceptable. Stand with Truth Wins Out -- demand that the iTunes store stop supporting homophobia and remove the Exodus app.

Please sign the petition HERE and add your name to the 34,000+ trying to persuade Apple to pull this homophobic and hateful iphone app.

This is the letter that gets sent out in your name once you sign the petition;

Please remove the dangerous "ex-gay" iPhone app
Dear Mr. Jobs:
I am writing today to ask you to remove the Exodus International application from the iTunes store.
Apple has long been a friend of the LGBT community, opposing California's Proposition 8, removing the anti-gay Manhattan Declaration iPhone app, and earning a 100% score from the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index. I am shocked that this same company has given the green light to an app from a notoriously anti-gay organization like Exodus International that uses scare tactics, misinformation, stereotypes and distortions of LGBT life to recruit clients, endorses the use of so-called "reparative therapy" to "change" the sexual orientation of their clients (despite the fact that this form of "therapy" has been roundly condemned by every major professional medical organization), and targets vulnerable, suicide-prone LGBT youth with the message that their sexual orientation is a "sin that will make your heart sick" and a "counterfeit," contributing to and legitimizing the ostracism of these youth from their families.
Your company would never allow a racist or anti-Semitic app to be sold in the iTunes store, and for good reason. Apple's approval of the anti-gay Exodus International app represents a double standard for the LGBT community with potentially devastating consequences for our youth. This is unacceptable, and I urge you to take a strong stance against homophobia by removing this dangerous "ex-gay" iPhone app from the store.

Dunfermline Labour Party in election blunder

2011-03-20T11:11:00.000Z

The Scottish Parliament election is hotting up, finally the journalists are starting to talk about it but the political parties have been working on this for a long time now.

In Dunfermline the Labour Party are keen to take the seat back from the Liberal Democrats Jim Tolson, who won the seat in 2007.

They are so desperate to win it that they are on their second candidate already!

Following the announcement of their second candidate, Councillor Alex Rowley, the local Labour Party produced a slightly odd sized tabloid and are asking voters how they will be voting on May 6th.

The problem is, polling day is the day before, May 5th - whoops!

We have only known the date for polling day for four years.....

Comic Relief - a light moment with Margaret Smith MSP

2011-03-18T20:53:00.000Z

One of our top MSPs, Margaret Smith (Edinburgh Western) popped into the HQ today and donned a comic relief nose once again, she has been active today supporting comic relief but still found time to come and see the election team and say hello.

A school visit and a cake sale.

Margaret Smith MSP gives me a hug

Can you afford £15 to help fund a new business?

2011-03-15T03:24:00.000Z

Probably, if you are honest, the answer to that question is yes. That is a weeks worth of your favourite coffees, or newspapers, okay if you earn very little then maybe that would take a while to pull together, but it is still affordable.

However, for what I'm about to tell you about it would take these people perhaps years to save this money up especially as the daily wage is only around £4 and then they have to eat.

I never thought I would find myself listening seriously to something Kate Garraway had to say, I've never been a GMTV fan and Daybreak is well, worse, but yesterday on Loose Women, Kate was talking sense.

“In Togo I discovered that many of the women don’t even have birth certificates because their families are more likely to register the birth of a son than a daughter. That, combined with the rural locations in which a large proportion of the country’s population live, means that traditional banking methods and loans are nigh on impossible to come by for the average man or woman, 70 per cent of whom live on less than $2 (62p) per day.

“Most of the world’s poorest families have no access to financial services, so CARE International UK set up lendwithcare.org, so that those in developing countries can lift themselves out of poverty.” It seems the perfect scheme for a post-credit crunch economy.

What Kate is talking about in the Daily Express is a new website set up by CARE International UK, where you are the 'bank', you pick a business (entrepreneurs) you want to help from the list provided, from Benin, Indonesia, Philippines or Togo and you can read about what the entrepreneur is proposing, their loan repayments once the loan in 100% funded and which other people have funded the same business.

The minimum loan you can give is £15.

So, I have signed up today, and you can too. Read how it all works HERE and then if you think you can help, set up an account and help finance a new business today.

Glasgow Labour Councillor William O’Rourke sacked over rape remarks

2011-03-08T07:27:00.000Z

I do wonder sometimes if elected politicians get up in the morning and say to themselves, time for a major blunder?

I write this post, not for political point scoring, I can do that anytime with real facts and figures against the SNP, Labour and the Conservatives, instead, I write this post in sheer amazement and disgust.

Only last month my good friend Caron blogged about Bill Aitken, the Conservative MSP who implied a rape victim was a prostitute just because the area she was attacked in was a known area for prostitution. You can read HERE why Caron felt he should have resigned.

Well this time it is a Glasgow Labour Councillor who has made a stupid and completely unjustified comment and even worse it is about a nine year old alleged rape victim.

The only difference is that the Labour Councillor has been sacked for his comments by the new council leader, I applaud him for his swift action.

What is concerning though is that two other Labour Councillors were present at the meeting in January and it appears they failed to do anything about the comments made by Councillor O'Rourke, which is as bad in my opinion. The complaint was in fact made by a police officer present at the hearing.

I'm pleased he has been sacked, losing around £37,000 worth of salary in the process, but he now needs as Carons suggested for Bill Aitken to visit Rape Crisis Scotland and meet them to understand more about what rape victims go through, believe me, it really is not pleasant.

Today's Herald carries the story;

A female police officer, who investigated the case, raised the matter after giving evidence at the personnel appeals committee. She referred her complaint to one of her senior officers, with Strathclyde Police then referring the matter to the Standards Commission.

Mr O’Rourke, who had been touted as a possible future chairman of the police authority, is reported to have asked if force was used during the alleged rape and when she told him it was not, he is alleged to have asked: “So she wanted it to happen?”

He is then alleged to have commented on the fact the child’s mother was a prostitute and made arguments about lowering the age of consent.

If the young girl's mother was a prostitute, what the hell has that got to do with the alleged attack on her daughter? Nothing, absolutely bloody nothing and Councillor O'Rourke should never have said anything about it. It doesn't add anything to the hearing and should have been ruled out immediately.
You can read the full story in today's Herald.

Labour run Haringey Council - the truth about the cuts

2011-03-08T05:06:00.000Z

I tend to keep my eye on the political situations in the areas I have worked for the last decade, after working for Lynne Featherstone MP as her head of office immediately after the 2005 general election for eighteen months, Harinegy is one of those on my watch list.

In 2006 we were just 94 votes away from taking control of Haringey Council, unfortunately in 2010 that goal slipped, but the silver lining was Lynne holding her seat and then going on to become a Minister of State.

Haringey Council run by old Labour for years has never been shy of blaming other people when they have had to make cuts, so this year when they announced they were having to slice £60million from the budget, everyone wondered who's fault it was.

The Labour Councillors blamed the new coalition government.

The Daily Telegraph journalist, Andrew Gilligan decided to look at the books, rather than just believe the hype.

Long-suffering readers of Haringey People, Haringey Council's taxpayer-funded propaganda newspaper, used to know what to expect. Smiling Labour politicians at new Sure Start centres, holding shovels. Happy multi-ethnic children in eco-friendly wigwams. Page after glossy page on how their brilliant council had turned this grimy chunk of north London into a municipal Shangri-La, one composting bin at a time.

Now, however, to the consternation of local residents, Haringey People's world has suddenly and dramatically darkened. Uplifting articles about new fairtrade procurement schemes have given way to vast pieces printed on sinister black backgrounds and illustrated with tottering piles of pound coins.

"The government cuts are a hammer blow to the people of Haringey," says a grim-faced council leader, Claire Kober, in the rag's latest issue. Overnight, it seems, evil Tory cuts have transformed Avalon into Hades.

Photo: Demotix/melpressmen

In Andrew Gilligan's article he really does look at everything the Council published, and then looks behind the closed doors and investigates the figures in great detail, leaving no stone unturned.

Last week, in rowdy scenes, Haringey voted to close four residential care homes and six old people's day centres, halve park maintenance and cut three-quarters of its youth service: hammer blows indeed, at least for users of those services, and a tale repeated across the country as local authorities struggle to come to grips with the spending cuts demanded by the Lib-Con coalition.

The article goes on.

Haringey says the £60 million was their estimate before they knew their full grant settlement, and the £46 million was publicised before some last contributions from Whitehall came in. They insist there is "no question of our having exaggerated the impact of these unprecedented cuts".
Yet the story doesn't end there. According to the council's own budget papers, the cut in its Whitehall grant next year will actually be £27 million – less than half the amount it initially claimed.

So, if the council's grant is going down by only £27 million, why is it cutting £41 million? Well, a few months ago (coincidentally, just as the anti-cuts campaign was getting up steam), a mysterious need to spend an extra £26 million next year, described as a "change and variation" figure, popped up in Haringey's accounts. Without this, the budget would be more or less in balance without needing many cuts.

We asked the council what this £26 million was for. They said it was partly inflation – which you'd think they might have allowed for already – and partly because they expected there to be "increased demand pressures" on their services over the next three years.

Service demand may indeed grow as the economy continues to stutter. The population is also getting older, and the elderly are a big part of council budgets. But, according to its own figures, Haringey is budgeting for 85 per of the "increased demand" over the three-year period to come in the first year alone. And though "changes and variations" are, insists the council, annual events in its accounting process, it just so happens that next year's is unusually large – though Haringey denies front-loading to make the squeeze look worse.

Even ministers admit that a lot of money has been taken away from councils this year, and it seems clear that some cuts have been forced on Haringey. But the actual amount needed is anyone's guess. It could be the council's £41 million. Or it could be as low as £10 million. Local government finance has been more or less deliberately designed – by Whitehall as much as town hall – to be hideously complicated, to frustrate real accountability and to allow everyone to blame everyone else.

On the subject of £10 million, there's one last nugget from the Haringey Council paperwork. As part of its budget process, the council was obliged to assess the impact of each cut. This has been buried pretty deep, but once you find it, it turns out that just under, well, £10 million of the cuts next year – nearly a quarter – are assessed by even the council itself as having nil, minimal or even, in a few cases, beneficial impacts on service users. In other words, it is at least possible that Haringey might have needed few, if any, "hammer-blow" cuts.

But that might not have made such a good headline in the Haringey People.

Well done to Andrew Gilligan to not just believing the hype coming out from Miliband and his cronies across the country.

You can read the full article here as I have only used two extracts.

They have left this country paying £120million per day in interest alone on the debts they left behind, it really is time that they and their councillors in Haringey started taking some responsibility for their actions instead of trying to blame everyone else around them.

The February 2011 stat porn for my little blog

2011-03-01T22:35:00.001Z

Continuing my regular monthly stat porn figures for anyone who is remotely interested in who reads my little blog, what stories they read and from where they read it, the monthly summary of my visitor stats according to google analytics is as below for February 2011.

The busiest day on my blog last month was Friday 18th February, the day I blogged about the Conservatives European bedfellows being a bunch of homophobes.

Last month I had 1,113 absolute unique visitors, a massive drop from last month. They made 1,317 visits and 1,657 page views.

14.88% of the visitors were through direct traffic, 31.06% from referring sites and 54.06% via search engines.

So, my top 10 referring sites for the last month were;

1. Google.co.uk (6)
2. Facebook (2)
3. Blogger (5)
4. Twitter (1)
5. Betternation.org (11)
6. Google.com (7)
7. Lib Dem Voice (4)
8. Lib Dem Blogs(3)
9. Planet-Politics (16)
10. Scottish Roundup (17)

During February I wrote just 3 blog posts, I have really found it hard to connect with my blog this month.

The top 10 stories by direct page views that you've read most were;
1. Jack Frew - murdered in cold blood for being gay?
2. "I don't understand why anyone should want to be proud of being a homosexual."
3. Adam Levine gets naked
4. The first Royal Wedding of 2011 - Andrew and Roger Reeves
5. The November stat porn for my little blog
6. Clinton Cards - homophobic or just plain lazy?
7. Rugby star Gavin Henson strips off to raise awareness for male cancer
8. Angela Constance MSP is new Scottish Minister for Skills & Lifelong Learning
9. Why I'm getting married today!
10. Edinburgh Capitals ice hockey team on the turn?

A genuine mixed bag this month and as I only wrote 3 blog posts, the top 10 was always going to include stuff from previous months - so this one is about my wedding, naked men, homophobia and ice hockey.

The visitors to my little blog came from 52 countries this month, the top ten were as follows;

1. United Kingdom (1)
2. United States (2)
3. India (7)
4. France (8)
5. Spain (6)
6. Canada (3)
=7. Belgium (15)
=7. Poland (52)
=9. Netherlands (=11)
=9. Australia (5)

Enjoy the porn because, that's all folks!

"I don't understand why anyone should want to be proud of being a homosexual."

2011-02-18T14:26:00.001Z

Honestly, I am astounded that these views are still being peddled by senior politicians of David Cameron's European bedfellows, Poland's Law and Justice Party.

The Guardian carries the story today that;

"Professor Ryszard Legutko has been chosen by MEPs of Poland's Law and Justice party to stand for the chair of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR), the Tories' anti-federalist group in the European parliament."

The election to pick the new leader is due to take place on 8 March and is expected to be close run.
Will David Cameron remove the Conservative whip from Timothy Kirkhope who is standing against Ryszard Legutko?

He did when Edward McMillan-Scott successfully stood against Michał Kamiński, the Polish MEP chosen to lead the new group, for the post of vice-president of the European parliament, and as a result he had the Tory whip removed.

Edward McMillan-Scott then defected to the Liberal Democrats.

Michel Kaminski, who described gay people as "faggots" on Polish television, has resigned from the Law and Justice Party claiming the party had been taken over by extremists.

Slightly ironic given his own extreme views.

Last year during the general election campaign our own leader, Nick Clegg accused David Cameron of aligning himself in the European Parliament with "nutters, anti-Semites, people who deny climate change exists and homophobes".

Ryszard Legutko's views seem to back that view up, even now.

According to the Guardian Legutko insists he is not homophobic, coming out with the classic line;

"Some of my closest friends are homosexuals and I don't have a problem with them,"

Legutko went ton to say he doesn't see the point in gay pride rallies either.

Why does Cameron claim he is pro-gay rights and yet still seem happy for his Conservative group in the European Parliament to sit with these right wing homophobes and even be led by them?

I say to David Cameron - stand and cast these people adrift and show people that you practice what you preach on LGBT issues.

To Ryszard Legutko I say, I'm gay and I'm very proud of being gay.

Scotland gets a better budget thanks to the Liberal Democrats

2011-02-10T08:55:00.003Z

I’m so proud to be a Liberal Democrat today

As both a member of staff with over ten years service and a party member even longer, the last eight months or so have often been difficult with the media developing an acid tongue against us many times.

But yesterday in Scotland we had some exciting news.

Yesterday was the day when the Scottish Parliament approved the budget.

It is a better budget because of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, after securing concessions to the budget on college bursaries and places, modern apprenticeships and support for Post Offices across Scotland.

This is a better budget. It’s better for young people wanting the skills they and we need for our economy. It’s better for our colleges that will be able to provide more opportunities. And it’s better for businesses that will have more opportunities to take on apprentices.

This is a better Scottish budget because of Liberal Democrat involvement.

Students now have additional places at college and bursary support. We have also secured funding for additional modern apprentices and funding for a second year of our Post Office Diversification Fund.

The Scottish Liberal Democrat Budget wins are:

Additional funding for Further Education bursaries of £15 million, spread across 2010-2011-12 to provide additional student support for current student numbers.
Additional funding of £8 million in 2011-12 that would support an additional 1,200 college places and associated student support.
1,500 additional Modern Apprenticeships, including 500 places for the renewables sector, at a cost of £2 million (an issue Tavish Scott raised at First Minister’s Questions on 9 September 2010).
2,000 additional flexible training opportunities.
Funding of £1 million for the operation of a further Post Office Diversification Scheme in 2011-12.

The Scottish Liberal Democrats have been fighting hard for students and even NUS Scotland are pleased with what we have achieved.

Commenting on the student support package, Liam Burns, President of NUS Scotland, said:

“This is great news and testament to the hard work of thousands of college students across Scotland and the Scottish Liberal Democrats. Students across colleges and universities have mobilised fantastically well, with over 32,000 letters and emails sent to MSP’s on this issue. To win £15m college bursaries, and £8m for college places, in a budget which is being cut is a fantastic result. We hope this will now end the yearly ritual of college bursaries running out and end the threat of cuts to 40,000 of our poorest students.”

We also know that Post Offices are often the hub of local communities across Scotland, which is why we are also very pleased that we have secured funding for a second year for our idea of a Post Office Diversification Fund. This benefited fifty Post Offices in the last year and can now benefit more this year. The fund helps post offices introduce new types of business (such as hot food or drinks). It will help them stay open, serving their communities.

Of course, this budget and the changes Tavish and the team have secured will not solve all of the problems that Scotland faces. Our colleges and communities still face enormous challenges. Much will have to wait until after May. Our plans for government envisage a spending review and budget revisions very quickly after the election.

The steps we have secured mean a better budget for Scotland than would have been the case without the Scottish Liberal Democrats.

However, because of their hard work – students gain, the economy gains, employers gain and most importantly Scotland gains.

So, today all in all is a great day to be a Liberal Democrat in Scotland.

This article was written for and appears on Liberal Democrat Voice.

The first Royal Wedding of 2011 - Andrew and Roger Reeves

2011-02-06T11:48:00.000Z

When I first set out writing my blog I never imagined I'd be writing about my own wedding nor that my family would be people who read it, but whether it is only the wedding that has drawn both together, I'm not 100% sure.

2011 is the year of Royal Weddings it appears, first there was Roger & Andrew, next will be William & Kate and finally Zara and Mike will end the run later this year.

I jest, if ever there were two gay men you would never class as Queen's, then it has to be Roger and I - perhaps in my much, much younger days, but not for a long while.

Anyway, I have already posted why we chose the date, Friday 28th January 2011, so now let's go for the details of the day, the emotions, the people and the event.

As usual, I was up first and by 9am was on the bus into town to collect my suit, the button holes, get a haircut and a shave.

We had heard from Roger's sister, Maxine that they were all safely in Scotland and then my sister, Jennifer called to say they had landed as I was wandering down Broughton Street to BoomBarbers. I went and had a coffee and scone as I was early.

Had my haircut and walked round to the barbers at the top of Leith Walk for a hot shave, yes, the one with the cut throat razor blades - an awesome shave - then over to the dry cleaners to get my suit and then to Garland's to pick up the button holes - thistles and berries for Rog and I, thistles for the rest of the family.

When I got back home, Rog was up and we packed everything we needed and headed over to the Orocco Pier. We checked into our room, we had a tour round the Fuchsia and Orocco room's then popped to the bar and had a quick bite to eat with my sister Jennifer and her boyfriend John.

I took Jenny round the two rooms where we would be.

Jo White then appeared so we had a quick catch up and gossip, a mini tour of the wedding room and then off to see Jo's room, the only one in the hotel with a balcony, then Rog and I headed off to our room to chill and get ready.

Still, neither of us were nervous, I had been stressed as the days and weeks had gone on especially as the date got closer, but once everything was tied up and sorted I was starting to look forward to the day.

Our room at the Pier (15) was amazing, with stunning views, as below.

I had wanted our wedding to be in either North or South Queensferry, mainly because for me the years of memories of going over either bridge as a kid on our summer and/or winter holidays up in the Highlands and that always reminds me of Mum.

Rog and I were like kids, checking everything in our room (the bathroom downstairs, the size of the shower, baxter bear, the self closing lid on the loo), you wouldn't think I had worked in the hotel industry for years, but this was our day and we were just enjoying it.

We started to get ready, I had by this point stopped checking my blackberry for work emails and was doing an odd twitter message or two including a picture of our lovely socks, bought for us by my sister.

At 3.15pm we made our way down and met Maxine and Ian with our nephew Aaron, Chris & Sue, Uncle Nigel and Judy, Aunty Sue and Tony and others before we went off to meet the Piper and then the Registrar, Marion.

Maxine, Jenny, Rog and I sat down with Marion and went through everything, handed over the rings and had a quick drink - of water!

Then, this was it, Robin (the Orocco Pier operations manager) came and met us, making sure that everyone else was downstairs and in the room and then talked us through the next five minutes, now we were both getting quite nervous - I nearly lost it just thinking of Mum - but as we made our way down the stairs as the piper was serenading the guests, not sure a piper serenades given the volume but it was amazing listening to Highland Cathedral and Flower of Scotland and then the doors opened and we were walking in.

I now had lost my memory, I had no idea what was about to happen, given I had been in complete control of everything from last September through to five minutes ago, with my wedding folder, plans, artworked everything to do with the wedding, times to the minute and instead of a P- plan, I had a M- plan (political joke) I was now in the hands of the Registrar and Robin.

Marin started off with all the formalities and seconds later we were already lighting the candles (in memory of Mum, Vera and Buster), I just pushed Rog forward to do that, my mind was blank, I couldn't even believe we were at that point already.

My sister jenny then did a reading, called friends. She was obviously really nervous and in my mind I knew she would be, the last time she had done that was at Mum's funeral - she was brave on both occasions.

Then we had the declaration of the Civil Partnership, exchange of vows, then the rings.

Next, Roger's sister, Maxine did a reading called love, again Maxine was also nervous, but little Aaron was sat there so proud of his mum.

There were a couple of funny moments during the service, once when a train went over the bridge because eagle eyed Aaron spotted it and told us all and when Marion the Registrar asked people to applaud (I can't even remember why now) again Aaron stole the show because he started clapping later than everyone else so went on afterwards on his own, Maxine or Ian told him to stop and he just replied "but the lady said to clap" - you can't answer that back!

We then had the pronunciation and signing of the certificate.

Then, the piper started as we walked to the back of the room for a glass of bubbly, that was it, it was all over, I was amazed it was so quick.

We both then went around the room circulating and I was trying to ensure everyone got spoken to - the control freak was back - and then it was time for the photos. Now I know what it feels like when I boss a candidate around at a photo opportunity. Will I change, no, not one little bit.

We went out on the beach, had pictures with the piper - who knew you could grow a moustache that long?

After a load of photos outside, we went back in and then we cut the cake (for the first of two times), the piper presented us with a ceremonial knife to perform the deed then we presented him with a dram and then he piped all of the guests upstairs to be seated for the wedding breakfast.

Robin came back downstairs and told us to relax and take ten minutes to gather ourselves.

The food was amazing! Smooth chicken liver parfait on toasted brioche with red onion and plum chutney followed by lamb shank braised in red wine with baby onions, bacon & rosemary with crushed new potatoes and broccoli with almonds followed by white chocolate and toffee cheesecake and then coffee.

My lovely colleagues Chris, Rhiannon, Elspeth and Fiona then completely tricked me into coming over to their table and as soon as I stood they were all clinking their glasses for me to make a speech - I was caught, hook, line and sinker.

I said a few words, none of what I had actually thought about in advance ending with "enjoy your coffee", I'm not sure I will ever see it in the book of greatest speeches.

Before we knew where we were, evening guests were starting to arrive so we all went back downstairs where the room had been transformed once again - we did another cutting of the cake, this time with a normal cake knife.

Then it was time for the music, the drinking and the dancing.

I want to do two thank yous - one to all our guests, whether you were there as friends, family or work colleagues - we really enjoyed having you as part of our very special day.

My second thank you is to the team at the Orocco Pier;

Leonie for the initial discussion and persuading me to book and then running the evening part of the big day;

Claire, the events manager for just being bloody amazing from the day she returned from her own honeymoon right up the weekend before, guiding us through every possible eventuality;

Robin for being a rock on the day, from the meeting the Monday before right through to leaving in the evening, made me completely relaxed;

The kitchen team including the porters (the often forgotten part of the team) - the food was as amazing as everyone in Edinburgh told us it would be;

The waitresses and bar staff - you were all wonderful, including getting the food round a tight space

THANK YOU, each and everyone of you from the bottom of our hearts, the day was amazing and we will remember it forever.

A selection of photos is available on my Flickr site, which is being added to all the time, so please do visit it on a regular basis.

Why I'm getting married today!

2011-01-28T07:33:00.000Z

It is the one question most people have asked, why now, why today?

Simples.

Ouch, I can't sit like a meerkat for long.

On the 28th July 2009 my Mum was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

Mum being Mum (you will soon realise where my stubborn streak comes from) she started to make a list of stuff she wanted to do before her death.

However just six weeks later, she tragically lost her battle with this shit disease - only 3% of people survive for 5 years, pancreatic cancer has the worst survival rate of any cancer -and passed away on the 2nd September 2009.

Ironically, this date was my Dad's birthday - although he left us when I was 15, never to be seen again.

One of the things on Mums list was seeing one of her two kids get married.

Now, if it was down to tossing a coin in the air and picking me or my Sister, the coin probably would never have come back down to earth, amusing us all.

However, if either of us had realised Mum had so little time we also would have done the wedding before, but we didn't know, that was one criticism I had of the staff around Mum (they didn't warn us) - I say one, it's the only criticism I had of the team who looked after her in those final days in hospital - and Daniel was amazing.

So last year, after speaking to my Sister, and me getting down on one knee in our kitchen to propose (he said yes) the wedding was on - and picking the date was easy, we chose my Mums birthday.

Today is one and a half years to the day from when Mum was diagnosed but more importantly today is Mum's birthday - my Sister put Mum's invitation under her memorial tree last night - and during the service Roger and I will light three candles - one for Mum, and then one each for Vera and Buster (Roger's Nan & Grandad).

They are never out of our thoughts and today is no exception.

That's why I'm getting married today. I love my Mum.

Ed Miliband is forced into a reshuffle Balls-up

2011-01-20T22:08:00.002Z

Veteran Labour politician Alan Johnson MP has resigned today as the Shadow Chancellor for personal reasons after just three and a half months.

In a statement, Alan Johnson MP said:

"I have decided to resign from the shadow cabinet for personal reasons to do with my family."

Today's announcement follows several recent gaffes by Alan Johnson when discussing tax and economic matters, including a recent in an interview when didn't know the rate of National Insurance paid by employers!

Rumours are rife in Westminster about why Johnson has gone. Guido has more details.

So, Ed Miliband is forced into reshuffling his titanic team - Alan Johnson is replaced by Ed Balls, previously the shadow home secretary. Mr Balls' wife, Yvette Cooper, takes over at home affairs, Douglas Alexander becomes shadow foreign secretary and Tessa Jowell becomes shadow Cabinet Office minister.

So, Balls gets a promotion - Gordon Brown's left hand man gets what he wants.

Liam Byrne, the Labour MP who left a note on his desk in the treasury saying "there is no money left" when Labour were kicked out of Government is made shadow work and pensions secretary.

It is somewhat astounding that someone who can be so flippant finds themselves promoted.

The other strange thing about this new look cabinet, it is just like the Gordon Brown cabinet, full of people denying they had anything to do with forcing us into the position we are in now where we face paying £120million per day in interest alone, enough to build a new school every hour!

Stephen Williams, Co-Chair of the Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Treasury Committee, commented earlier on the resignation of Alan Johnson MP:

“I wish Alan Johnson good luck for the future.

“The decision to appoint Ed Balls as Shadow Chancellor shows that the Labour Party is now determined to carry on with the Gordon Brown economic plan that caused so much trouble for this country.

“Ed Balls isn’t just a deficit denier, he’s a deficit enthusiast.”

Well done Stephen Williams MP, great line.

New Owner at Edinburgh Capitals - Edinburgh's ice hockey team

2011-01-17T07:55:00.001Z

This press release hit my inbox late last night. It was also posted in Forum Jar, nothing yet on the Edinburgh Capitals website or Forum though - not entirely surprising though!

Although it is the only posting in the Edinburgh Capitals forum on forum jar and if you google Roger Soles Media, the provider of the press release, nothing comes up on the first page of google!

So, is this a fan hoping, a complete wind up or a new weird discreet way of announcing major news?

Or just R Soles Media?

When things sound too good to be true, they usually are!

Edinburgh Capitals are delighted to announce a change of ownership.

Edinburgh Capitals new owner, a prominent local businessman with a track record of supporting and developing Edinburgh spectator sport has, after long and detailed negotiations, secured the franchise and the rights to participate in the Elite League. He will be introduced to the current cohort of loyal fans at an already arranged Fans Forum, where the current owner will outline his strategy as Director of Hockey.

The new owner has invested heavily and is committed to a five year plan.

It is intended that a full squad of 7 new top class imports, who have already agreed terms will ice once paperwork and contracts are finalised. They will ice on the first weekend of February after intensive training and familiarisation.

There many exciting developments both on and off ice planned, one of which will be a rebranding of the organisation.

The new team name and logo will be launched in February.

Labour's one trick pony Ed Miliband appeals to Lib Dems (again) - my response

2011-01-15T22:08:00.000Z

Ed Miliband takes over the leadership of the Labour Party thanks to the Union votes after the Labour MPs and members turned their back on him and he declares this the new generation Labour and that New Labour is dead.

Since then he has denied the last thirteen years happened and blames the Liberal Democrats and Conservative coalition government for absolutely everything he can.

Including the introduction of student tuition fees, the disgraceful 75p pension increase, the complete waste of money introducing ID Cards, the fingerprinting of children, the illegal war in Iraq, doubling the 10p basic rate of income tax, selling off the UKs gold at the lowest price for 20 years, the major tax credit bungle, not standing up to the bankers and leaving us to pay off debts including £120 million per day on interest alone.

Now he has scrapped all of their policies and swapped it for a blank sheet of paper.

He has appealed to Liberal Democrat members and voters to join him and his lack of vision, not once, but four times in as many months.

He claimed today that thousands of Liberal Democrats had joined Labour since May, yet thousands of Liberal Democrats have not left since May, in fact we have seen an increase in our membership so more nonsense from him.

Philip Hammond MP, the Transport Secretary (Conservative) said;

"Most Liberal Democrats understand that we have to address the fundamental economic challenges this country now faces before we can build the progressive society that we all want to live in and until Ed Miliband has a credible plan for dealing with the deficit he's not in a position to make a pitch to anybody,"

That is exactly the point, the other option in May was the supposed rainbow coalition, but Labour included caveats such as they would work with the SNP for example, so that option was doomed before it started.

Yes, the Liberal Democrats could have not bothered with either party and left the Conservatives to operate as a minority government, but given the childish behaviour of the Labour Party they would have voted against everything they ever proposed meaning nothing would have happened and we would have faced a second general election in 2010.

I don't think the voters would have stood for that either.

Yes, I agree with Nick - going into coalition government was the right way forward for the country and the media and Labourites are gloating over our national poll ratings of 8/9% yet on Thursday night in Oldham East & Saddleworth we once again polled over 30%, not just a poll but real votes in real ballot boxes.

So Ed, we are all getting bored of your repeated requests to join your blank page party, we remember your record over the 13 years despite you repeatedly forgetting about it - you are a one trick pony and your trick of asking Lib Dems to join your party is wearing thin.

Ed you need a new trick, maybe you should do the same as your Deputy, stay silent and say nothing until you have something to say.

Who reads which newspaper?

2011-01-15T19:39:00.000Z

THE ORIGINAL (1987)
Jim Hacker: "Don't tell me about the press. I know exactly who reads the papers":

* The Daily Mirror is read by people who think they run the country;
* The Guardian is read by people who think they ought to run the country;
* The Times is read by people who actually do run the country;
* The Daily Mail is read by the wives of the people who run the country;
* The Financial Times is read by people who own the country;
* The Morning Star is read by people who think the country ought to be run by another country;
* And the Daily Telegraph is read by people who think it already is.

Sir Humphrey: "Prime Minister, what about the people who read the Sun?"

Bernard Woolley: Sun readers don't care who runs the country, as long as she's got big tits.

THE (2009) UPDATE BY STEVE PUNT & HUGH DENNIS

The episode from 14 August 2009 - Steve Punt & Hugh Dennis's "The Now Show":

* The Times is read by the people who run the country;
* The Daily Telegraph is read by the people who think they run the country;
* The Guardian is read by the people who have run the country for the past 12 years and realised they're blown it;
* The Independent is read by people who got to the newsagents after they'd run out of The Guardian and The Times;
* The Daily Mail is read by the wives of the people who run the country;
* The Express is read by Marcus Brigstocke to wind himself up;
* The Mirror is read by the people who vote for the people who read the Guardian and have now blown it.
* The Sun is read by people who'll vote for people who'll run the country to suit the people who read the Financial Times while somehow convincing themselves that those people will give a toss about the people who buy The Sun the moment the election's over;
* And The Star is read very ... slowly ... with your lips moving.

Conservative Christian Richard Carvath makes vicious homophobic attack

2011-01-14T22:17:00.002Z

When Andrew Tibbs tweeted this earlier today to say I was shocked was an understatement.

"Tory @RichardCarvath makes some appalling homophobic comments on his blog http://bit.ly/eEwhji The Tories should get rid of him. Pls RT"

This nasty individual has some very vile and disgusting views of gay people and the reason I am linking to his blog is to ensure that the Conservative Party dismiss him completely and that people know of this horrible individual.

Although Richard Carvath stood in the General Election as an independent candidate, he proudly boasts on his blog that he is a member of the Conservative Christian Fellowship, the Christian wing of the Conservative Party.

They should take immediate action and expel him.

I am appalled that Carvath generalises that not only are all gay people perverts in his mind but he also states that all gay people carry disease and have poisonous blood and hints that all gay people are paedophiles!

"Given that homosexual-perverts are generally riddled with disease - from HIV to syphilis to hepatitis etc - as a result of their sodomitical activities, it is entirely right and proper that the National Blood Service refuses to accept their poisonous blood."

I have been subjected to homophobic views many times before but am shocked that Carvath is allowed to put so many of these untrue and misguided thoughts into the public arena, especially the sheer hatred he has.

He goes on to personally attack Matthew Sephton, the Chair of the Conservative Party's LGBT group and although I am in a different party, I am here supporting Matthew.

Personal attacks such as the one by Carvath on Matthew in his blog post are simply not acceptable.

Although I am not religious, I respect other people are but all of the people I know who are religious, not one is homophobic to this extent (yes, some are homophobic), Carvath's views are so right wing and extreme it is appalling.

On the whole blood ban part of the attack by Carvath - poppycock.

To sign the petition and read more about the ban on gay men being able to donate blood, visit the website.

UPDATE MONDAY 17th JANUARY 2010 23:11
Tweet from Matthew Sephton.

Monday 17th 21:07 - "I can pass on that @DavidBurrowesMP has confirmed that he wrote to that person last month to withdraw #CCF membership"

Matthew has also stated that the post on Carvath's blog, where he claims he re-joined the Conservative Party is wrong because his membership application was returned.

Happy to let you all know the Conservative Party has nothing to do with this particular individual or his vile views.

Nick Clegg's Liberal Democrats in by-election meltdown?

2011-01-14T06:29:00.000Z

No, we are not.

Despite the best efforts of the United Kingdom's media pack, the Labour Party with their new leader Ed "I know nothing of the last 13 years" Miliband and even some whingers in our own party to destroy us during the Oldham East & Saddleworth by-election, they failed. They all failed.

Our share of the vote went up, only a small increase, but it went up.

Am I disappointed?

Of course I am. I'm gutted for Elwyn Watkins and every single one of the campaign team, who gave their all, trying new techniques and some of the old favourites to take the seat from Labour.

The public never really see and understand the sheer determination and work rate party workers and volunteers put into a by-election - yes, for many of us it does become personal, but that's because we believe.

We believe in our candidates, we believe in our policies, maybe not all of them but then none of us ever join an organisation because we believe in every aspect of that organisation do we?

I joined the Chelsea FC Supporters Club because I passionately believe in my team, I don't agree with what Roman Abramovich is currently doing at the club, especially getting rid of Wilko or the fact the players have become a little nonchalant.

Politics is exactly the same, I don't agree with some of the policy decisions made now we are in coalition the same as I disagreed with some when I started delivering leaflets twenty plus years ago, but it is a compromise, just like life.

The majority of voters in Oldham East & Saddleworth didn't vote last night and that makes me angry, people have died in this country to ensure we have a vote within our democracy and yet some people never vote - often the loudest complainers afterwards and that is a sad state of affairs. I hope that changes after May once the referendum on fair votes has taken place, a great step forward in reforming our politics.

The media have been almost obsessed with the Liberal Democrats during this by-election, predicting doom, gloom, the collapse of our vote, the party going into meltdown, Clegg's resignation, the collapse of the coalition, ~~the end of the world~~. Okay, not the last one, but that was the general direction of their mood, spiralling downwards.

Once again they were wrong.

When will the media start reporting on the news and using facts not guess work and their own wild predictions?

The Conservatives suffered the worst in this by-election, losing over 7,000 votes since May, a drop of over 13% in the share of the vote.

Also, a note of warning for Ed Miliband who no doubt is going to be smug about the result - just remember Ed, more people voted for the coalition in this by-election than voted for Labour. You aren't out of the woods yet.

You may have forgotten what Labour did to this great country and the people who live here over the last thirteen years, but they haven't.

The by-election had been called after disgraced former MP, Labour's Phil Woolas was found guilty by two High Court judges of knowingly lying to voters in a last-ditch bid to hold his seat at the General Election.

A mixed week for Miliband - one former MP jailed, one found guilty of fraud and an election hold.

The result of the Oldham East and Saddleworth Parliamentary by-election:

Lab 14,718
LD Elwyn Watkins 11,160
Conservatives 4,481
UKIP 2,029
BNP 1,560
Green 530
Monster Raving Loony 145
English Democrats 144
Bus Pass Elvis 67
Pirate 96
48.06% turnout

Labour HOLD.

Mark Pritchard MP tells Speaker Bercow "You are not fu**ing royalty, Mr Speaker!"

2011-01-13T13:23:00.000Z

Mark Pritchard MP attended Business Questions, wanted to ask a question and was penalised for nipping to the loo and accused of not being present.

Paul Waugh has the full story in The Waugh Room on Politics Home, it really is an excellent read and will cheer you up no end.

Why won't Eric Illsley MP quit today?

2011-01-13T07:28:00.001Z

Earlier this week, on Tuesday Eric Illsley, MP for Barnsley Central pleaded guilty to dishonestly claiming £14,000 of parliamentary expenses. There were three charges of false accounting, where Illsley admitted to dishonestly claiming payments for insurance, repairs, utility bills and council tax at his second home between 2005 and 2008!

In a statement issued by his office, Eric Illsley said:

"I would like to apologise to my constituents, family and friends, following my court appearance, for the distress and embarrassment caused by my actions that I deeply, deeply regret.

"I have begun to wind down my parliamentary office, following which I will resign from Parliament before my next court appearance.

"I will be making no further comment."

So, former Labour MP (stood in May 2010 as Labour candidate) Eric Illsley is winding down his offices and will resign as an MP before his next court hearing.

Very noble some may say.

But why is he waiting, why not resign now? Why was yesterday's statement not in fact his resignation announcement?

If you read the BBC's Nick Robinson's article you see very well Eric Illsley's attitude to Parliamentary expenses, and it isn't pretty.

He is the only current sitting MP to have been charged in relation to his expenses.

Former Labour MP David Chaytor is serving an 18-month jail term after pleading guilty to dishonestly claiming expenses.

There is an online petition you can sign calling for Eric Illsley MP to resign immediately, I'm signature 1990, I'm surprised more people have not signed this.

It is an absolute disgrace that these Labour and former Labour MPs have shafted the public for years ripping people off, claiming money they had no right to whatsoever, on top of larger salaries than most of their own constituents earn.

Eric Illsley should resign today and not receive a penny more in salary or expenses.

Oldham East and Saddleworth - a foot soldiers viewpoint

2011-01-12T05:28:00.000Z

On Monday, three cars, each full of Scottish Liberal Democrats set off from various parts of Edinburgh heading South to Oldham East & Saddleworth to assist Elwyn Watkins to become the next MP for the good people down there.

This is the first Parliamentary by-election for a while where I haven't been part of the core team, ovbiously because of our key elections in May and it has felt odd.

I don't feel guilty though, I've done my fair share including Glasgow East, Glenrothes and Glasgow North East in the last two and a half years since being in Scotland.

However, once dawn had broken and Tebay had provided us with our nourishment we were eager to get on and the one thing that was noticeable as we drove into Oldham, sorry, not noticeable, very bloody obvious was that the Liberal Democrats were winning (hands down) the garden stakeboard battle.

In fact we had counted over twenty before seing any for Labour - which I was somewhat surprised at - UKIP have a few, mainly on pubs but it was definitely the Lib Dems winning overall.

We did spot a couple of random Tory ones during the day and one green, but hundreds of Lib Dem diamonds, all over the place.

So, that was a great motivation and we hadn't yet got to the HQ. When we arrived there I left colleagues signing in as I went to say hello to my colleagues from the Campaigns Department and activists I know from here, there and everywhere.

WOW, that place was rocking and buzzing, Monday morning and already over 100 keen activists through the doors and more importantly, back out the doors and delivering, no time for tea or coffee!

The rest of the group had a photo while I was quickly catching up with people, then a quick word with my boss and a handshake and hello with Elywn before heading back out onto the streets armed with thousands of leaflets and letters to deliver.

We had been sent out to Shaw, and once again it was the Lib Dems winning the garden stakeboard battle, but also the window poster battle - more evidence of Labour here, but not much more and no sign at all of any other parties.

Once again, like May the people were supporting the Lib Dems, it appears the journalists who have become obsessed with this constant barage of criticism against our party have not made their anger known here.

It's funny though, because the media have become obsessed now with saying if we lose on Thursday then that's a bad day for Nick Clegg - why?

We don't hold this seat, it is a Labour constituency, so if we don't win then what does it prove?

But, let me ask those journalists this, if we do win, and from what I saw we have an incredibly good chance of doing so, what does that say about the Labour Leader, the choice of the Unions, Ed Milliband?

Again, if we do win it, what does that say about Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrats and coalition government (the media down South don't get coalitions)?

Anyway, back to the actual campaigning, I spoke with a few people as we were out delivering, no one refused the leaflets although I did have a couple of people check I wasn't from Labour before accepting them and everyone seemed to know or know of Elwyn, a great omen for Thursday.

The leaflet we were delivering was fantastic, I especially enjoyed the bit reminding people what the Labour Party, which Ed Milliband has been part of before leading, he does seem to forget everything that happened pre-May 6th 2010 for some reason.

1997 - Gordon Brown sold off Britain's gold at a twenty year low price
1999 - Labour offer a miserly and insulting 75p increase in pensions
2001 - Labour incompetence leads to a £10 million tax credit bungle
2003 - Labour takes Britian into an illegal war with Iraq
2007 - Labour announce they will double the basic rate of tax from 10p to 20p
2007 - Labour let bankers run riot - we are all paying the price
2008 - £3 billion benefits overpaid

We rally have forgotten some of this stuff and before all the Labourites jump on my back, yes they did introduce some good things over the thirteen years but your own leader seems to have a selective memory at the current time so I'm entitled to select the things I want to select.

Also, let us remember why this by-election is happening, it was called after disgraced former MP Phil Woolas was found guilty by two High Court judges of knowingly lying to voters in a last-ditch bid to hold his seat at the General Election.
And as Liberal Democrat councillor Jackie Stanton said, "It is disappointing that neither Ed Miliband nor the new candidate have apologised for their disgraceful campaign in May."

Very disappointing - same old Labour.

Good luck to Elwyn Watkins on Thursday and to all of my friends and colleagues that are there as well, your hard work and dedication deserves nothing more than a victory, and the people of Oldham East & Saddleworth deserve nothing less than an honest, hard working MP, let us hope for their sake it is Elwyn Watkins.

As I sit and type this at 5am in the morning I am tweeting with a couple of friends who are working on the night shift in Oldham - that is the side of elections the public don't see or realise even. We are paid, like everyone else for a 37.5 hour week, but not only do we always end up doing way more than that, we work some exceptionally unsocial hours at election time - but we do love our jobs.

Edinburgh Capitals ice hockey team on the turn?

2011-01-08T15:27:00.001Z

Finally after a period of a few weeks of top players turning their backs on the Edinburgh Capitals and seeking new pastures, news of a new signing reaches the fans this morning.

"Edinburgh Capitals today announced that Ex Capital Scott McKenzie will be signed on a two way contract from English Premier League team Telford Tigers, Scott has been signed as the temporary cover to allow us time to look at other options."

Scott McKenzie will ice tonight when the Capitals face the Newcastle Vipers at Whitley Bay.

At the end of last year Alex Kim, Chris St. Jacques and David Lomas all moved on, and then just this week Adam Taylor and Jacques Perreault both asked to leave the Edinburgh club.

The Edinburgh ice hockey club is potentially looking at other players who can be utilised on two way contracts and according to the website, they may be able to announce further news on this later today.

I am also interested in signings for off ice positions because Scott Neil cannot do all of the jobs that need doing and until the Club and Scott realise that, we will remain in the current chicken and egg situation.

I will continue to attend the home games, and the away games I can afford but Scott Neil cannot continue to criticise fans and supporters for not attending the home games when there are no players on the ice and no professional organisation off the ice.

I really hope 2011 is the year it turns around for the Club and Scott.

Adam Levine gets naked

2011-01-08T14:43:00.000Z

Maroon 5 lead singer Adam Levine appears naked in the February 2011 issue of UK’s Cosmopolitan magazine.

You can see a photo below, but while enjoying the eye candy, please remember the important side of why he has done this.

The pictures are part of a major campaign to raise awareness of testicular cancer and encourage men to regularly check themselves.

You can read all about testicular cancer and the importance of regular checks on the Macmillan Cancer Support website.

I'm very jealous of the woman in the photo! Rugby player and strictly star Gavin Henson has previously stripped off for this same cause.

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love said to me...

2011-01-06T08:35:00.000Z

...make sure you recycle your Christmas cards and Christmas tree.

Recycle your Christmas cards this January in special bins in TK Maxx, Marks & Spencer and HomeSense stores (click on the store name to find your nearest store) and those stores will donate money to the Woodland Trust which we will use for planting trees through our More Trees, More Good campaign.

Once you have recycled them at one of your local stores, then visit the Woodland Trust website, enter your name, address, email address (you can opt in for updates) postcode and vote for more trees to be planted near to where you live.
ASDA also have Christmas card recycling bins in their stores, they are collecting on behalf of Trees for Cities. Unfortunately I cannot tell you more about the scheme as I can't find any information on either website.
Finally, do you remember a month ago struggling when you went to buy that real tree?

Well, please ensure you make the same amount of effort ensuring it gets recycled, most councils do a tree recycling scheme, check their website or just give them a call, don't just dump it and hope someone else will sort it out.

Fraser Nelson's Daily Telegraph column: Reeves responds

2011-01-03T00:15:00.000Z

I was on my way home from Murrayfield ice rink where my team, the Edinburgh Capitals had just been on the receiving end of an eight - nil thrashing when I read Fraser Nelson's tweet;

"Is the coalition becoming a merger? My take in tomorrow's Daily Telegraph"

So, given Chelsea FC could only manage a three - three draw against Aston Villa, then the Edinburgh Capitals got thrashed eight - nil, I was in a foul mood and responded as below to Fraser Nelson;

"No it bloody well isn't, they are two different registered political parties, why oh why are journalists obsessed with this?"

Now, I have eaten and sat down and read Fraser's piece in full again, I will now respond to the main points of his article to be seen in ~~tomorrow's~~ today's Daily Telegraph.

The first part I object to is this line about Nick Clegg's New Year Message;

It was directed not at the country but at his remaining party activists.

How patronising, "remaining party activists", to be perfectly honest the Liberal Democrats have seen a massive surge in our membership figures (16.4% in Scotland alone) and the numbers of people coming forward to help our MPs, MEPs, MSPs and candidates still continues to grow, each and every day.

Well Fraser, the reason it was not directed at the country but at the tens of thousands of Liberal Democrat Members, is because it was intended that way - you can read Nick Clegg's New Year Message yourself.

Nelson then goes on to list just a few of the achievements that the Liberal Democrats secured within the Coalition Government - obviously he is not pleased that 800,000 have been lifted out of paying any income tax at all or that the pupil premium guarantees children from disadvantaged backgrounds will receive more funding through their school years?

The article then goes on to say;

"At least a third of their supporters have defected and they expect to be routed in the May elections. Losing the referendum on changing the voting system to AV would compound the misery."

"No matter how hard he tries to portray his party as the good guys in a two-party coalition, voters are not buying it. This looks, talks and walks like a merger."

Sorry Fraser, a third of our supporters have not defected, on what evidence do you base this particular comment on?

He then goes on to say;

"When the Lib Dems were in coalition with Labour in the Scottish Parliament, they kept their own identity and party structures. In Westminster, though, Cameron seems to have led the two parties into a political blender and flicked the "on" switch. The spin teams are integrated, nearly every department is run jointly, and virtually all the Lib Dem MPs have a government job."

The Party structure has not changed for the Liberal Democrats and nor are there any plans for it to do so - sorry Fraser, another part of your article that is wrong.

When you say virtually all the Lib Dems have a government job, you mean virtually all apart from Mike Crockart MP, Jenny Willott MP, etc etc in fact only 18 of the 57 are on the government payroll - that really is not virtually all have a government job - let us have some honesty here.

I accept there are some PPS roles etc that I have missed, but those jobs are not government paid jobs.

Fraser also says the spin teams are integrated, yes the government aspects do work together such as the Special Advisers but the Liberal Democrats have an independent press team based in Cowley Street, who are not managed by the government - so once again not entirely correct.

The article then drifts towards the Oldham East and Saddleworth by-election which has been called after disgraced former Labour MP Phil Woolas was found guilty by two High Court judges of knowingly lying to voters in a last-ditch bid to hold his seat at the General Election.

The article states;

The by-election is dangerous for the Lib Dems because it asks two horribly awkward questions: if you support Cameron's Government, why vote Lib Dem? And if you oppose it, why vote Lib Dem?

I assume from this weirdly worded line that Fraser Nelson has yet to visit the constituency?

The reason I say this is when I was doing some telephone canvassing there, not one person mentioned either of those points, they mentioned the fact that Labour had lied to them last time round, they are worried about the debts Labour have left behind and also the fact that Labour have gone back on their promise of new health centres for Saddleworth and Shaw & Crompton.

Fraser, I'm sorry but the priorities you have for the voters of Oldham East & Saddleworth seem to be worlds away to those that actually live and work there and I think what they say on January 13th will be more important than what you write.

The article then goes on;

If today's opinion polls were tomorrow's election result, the 57-strong group of Lib Dem MPs would be reduced to a rump of just 13 members

As everyone knows, opinion polls are never perfect indicators of what actually happens in an election. Since my arrival in Scotland as the Deputy Director of Campaigns the opinion polls and journalists predicted that we would lose the Lib Dem MEP in 2008 and that we would go from 12 to 5 MPS in the general election.

George Lyon is an excellent hard working MEP, fighting Scotland's corner in Europe because we didn't lose our MEP and our eleven MPs continue to work hard on behalf of their constituents and three of them are now part of the coalition government - because we lost just one seat at the election, a seat we had held for a few years since the by-election.

My point is that opinion polls and journalists predictions must be taken with a pinch of salt.

Fraser Nelson summates with this point;

A merger with the Tories is emerging as the best chance most Lib Dem MPs have to keep their seats.

I have never read such nonsense in all my life, I used to respect what Fraser wrote but this silly tripe is as far from reality as flying cars.

The two parties are registered with the Electoral Commission as two separate parties for a reason, because that is exactly what they are. We have separate HQ's because we are separate organisations and Fraser for what it's worth we will continue to remain separate and different forever more.

It doesn't matter how many times journalists make up nonsense of splits and mergers and opposition politicians try and woo our members all they do is show Nick Clegg, me and the Lib Dem activists the length and breadth of the UK that they do not understand how the Liberal Democrats work and operate and that they are no nearer to understanding that now than they were when the party was formed.

The December and final for 2010 stat porn for my little blog

2011-01-01T22:20:00.001Z

Continuing my regular monthly stat porn figures for anyone who is remotely interested in who reads my little blog, what stories they read and from where they read it, the monthly summary of my visitor stats according to google analytics is as below for December 2010.

The busiest day on my blog last month was Saturday 18th December, the day I was suspended from Twitter and this was down to the story about the tweet from ITV slagging Nigella Lawson off.

Last month I had 2,351 absolute unique visitors, a great increase on last month. They made 2,980 visits and 3,814 page views.

22.08% of the visitors were through direct traffic, 46.31% from referring sites and 31.61% via search engines.

So, my top 10 referring sites for the last month were;
1. Twitter (2)
2. Facebook (1)
3. Lib Dem Blogs (3)
4. Lib Dem Voice (4)
5. Blogger (5)
6. Google.co.uk (6)
7. Google.com (8)
8. Munguins Republic (11)
9. Caron's Musings (7)
10. SNP Tactical Voting.com (10)

During December I wrote 26 blog posts, one more than the previous month but still a long way behind where I have been in the past.

The top 10 stories by direct page views that you've read most were;
1. ITV News tweets Nigella Lawson not as attactive as she thinks she is
2. Mike Crockart MP, no really he is
3. Andrew Reeves is still suspended on Twitter - but the support is awesome
4. Labour MSP John Park stands down as Dunfermline candidate?
5. X-Factor's Gamu Nhengu and Aberlour Choir for the Christmas No.1
6. Angela Constance MSP is new Scottish Minister for Skills & Lifelong Learning
7. Jack Frew - murdered in cold blood for being gay?
8. Daily Telegraph expose MP Michael Moore, for being, erm, well, honest
9. Keith Brown MSP is new Scottish Transport Minister
10. My response to Ed Miliband's request to join him and Labour - their lies, hypocrisy and arrogance

A mixed bag once again this month ranging from my suspension from twitter because of a rogue tweet from ITV News, the impersonation of Mike Crockart MP, the Daily Telegraph undercover journalist sting of many MPs including Michael Moore and once again the extremely sad case of Jack Frew's murder back in May, he is obviously missed by friends and family alike.
The visitors to my little blog came from 56 countries this month, up 1 on last month, the top ten were as follows;
1. United Kingdom (1)
2. United States (2)
3. Canada (3)
4. Ireland (4)
5. Australia (12)
6. Spain (6)
7. India (9)
8. France (7)
9. Netherlands (=11)
10. Brazil (=11)

That's all folks.

Edinburgh left paying the penalty as problems mount

2010-12-30T10:48:00.000Z

EDINBURGH CAPITALS 3 – 4 DUNDEE STARS

Match Report: Andrew Reeves

The Edinburgh Capitals ice hockey team are in a mini crisis at the current time with no dedicated coach, a short roster, lack of wins, small crowds – mainly down to the awful weather – and their top scorer Alex Kim left for Germany earlier this month.

On top of that there growing speculation around Murrayfield that Chris St. Jacques, Adam Taylor and Scott Reid are all looking around as well, something the fans hoped were only rumours.

Edinburgh Capitals hosted the Dundee Stars this Boxing Day evening and a healthy 670 plus fans made it to Murrayfield to support their respective teams.

The first period started slowly and the first nine minutes were certainly flat, although Capitals’ netminder Scott Reid (33) made a diving save across his goal that any premiership goalkeeper would have been proud of, preventing the Stars going one up in the fourth minute.

To read the rest of this blow by blow match report from Boxing Day, it's here in Deadline News Sports section.

I now write the match reports for the home games of Edinburgh's ice hockey team, the Edinburgh Capitals for Deadline News, an exciting online news organisation.

Top 100 Tweeting Bloggers

2010-12-29T08:55:00.000Z

Another achievement for my little blog in 2010, although this year I have slipped some 32 places to 93, sitting in between a journalist William Green and an Archbishop Archbishop Cranmer.

I am sure there is a joke there somewhere.

The top 100 tweeting blogger's list can be found here on A Very public Sociologist.

Labour MSP John Park stands down as Dunfermline candidate?

2010-12-27T14:26:00.001Z

The Scottish Labour Party are often the first to attack other parties for sneaking out news on quiet days so is anyone surprised to learn that John Park MSP is no longer the candidate for the Dunfermline constituency in next years elections?

Have Labour conceded that Jim Tolson, the sitting Lib Dem MSP is going to hold his seat and they are running scared so have pulled John Park and are allowing him to just run as a regional candidate and avoid the hassle of a hard fought campaign and the embarrassment of losing?

We know John Park MSP has been appointed as Scottish Labour's election co-ordinator yet he has mysteriously disappeared as the candidate for Dunfermline on their website and yet to be replaced.

There is nothing about this on the Fife Labour Party website, the Scottish Labour website nor on John Parks' website - maybe we will learn the result of this decision officially shortly, when they've decided what to ~~say~~ spin about it.

UPDATE 27th December 17:57

Direct from the man himself, John Park on twitter said to me the reason he is no longer contesting the Dunfermline seat is because he is now the election co-ordinator plus;

lots of extra responsibility combined with a young family and not enough hours in the day means that you have to make decisions sometimes that are honest!

Merry Christmas

2010-12-25T20:14:00.000Z

Thank you all for your continued readership and support of my little blog.

Due to the fact that we are having our Civil Partnership next month, we haven't sent out as many Christmas cards as normal.
For those that don't receive a Christmas card this year, please don't be offended, but here is the picture we chose for this years card.

So, Merry Christmas to one and all.

My response to Peter Lilley MP on joint Lib Dem/Con election ticket

2010-12-24T06:57:00.001Z

Dear Peter Lilley MP,

On hearing your comment's on BBC Radio 4s Today Programme, I thought I would explain from a campaigning perspective, in Scotland, why you are wrong.

Initially when you said;

'I can conceive that we might fight as a coalition,'

I did think initially you had perhaps overdone the Christmas sherry somewhat, either that or you were talking out your backside.

On closer inspection however, I feel it is because you have the Liberal Democrats in second place in your own Hitchin and Harpenden constituency and it would therefore provide you with a job for many years to come - dream on my friend, dream on (and no, you aren't my friend).

There is no way on this planet that the majority of Liberal Democrats (including this one), irrespective of the party leaderships view, would ever stand on a joint election ticket with the Conservatives, and so far Nick Clegg has never indicated we would.

This particular paid up member of the Liberal Democrats would never campaign to help the Conservatives and given your party only has the one MP in Scotland I'd rather campaign to get rid of that one, and make Scotland Tory free, as it should be.

Kind regards,

Andrew Reeves
Lib Dem Member

The views expressed in this blog post, as in the majority of my blog posts are of my own opinion and not necessarily those of my employer, because our Party does not dictate.

First Buses information ticket

2010-12-22T11:17:00.001Z

I don't usually have much to say about First Group in a positive light, however today is different.

I'm off to The Orocco Pier to go through our civil partnership plans with their wedding organiser.

The only way to get there is via a First Bus, the number 43 to be precise.

When I boarded, I received two tickets, one an ordinary bus ticket. The second, as you can see from the picture contains a very useful pointer about where to obtain information on their service disruption during the bad weather.

A nice little helpful hint - perhaps Lothian Buses could follow their lead?
------------------

Daily Telegraph expose MP Michael Moore, for being, erm, well, honest

2010-12-22T08:32:00.000Z

I will not sit back and see the Daily Telegraph attack our MPs for being honest and having integrity when the newspaper has stooped to yet another new low, taping them in constituency surgeries when pretending to be constituents, depriving real constituents having time with their local MP.

The media are desperate for the coalition to collapse, to find splits in the coalition and probably hoping that it will fail.

The British media are strange, they left Labour alone for many things during their tenure - the illegal war in Iraq, the measly 75p rise for pensioners, the introduction of tuition fees for students and their reckless spending plans leaving us paying £120 million per day in interest payments alone.

Yet, the coalition Government is something the majority of them (Scottish journalists are used to coalition politics) don't really understand so they just launch attack after attack after attack.

Michael Moore has not said anything damaging to himself, the Party or the coalition Government, although I am sure Nick Clegg and David Cameron may disagree. To be fair Michael Moore said nothing in his piece on tuition fees that we haven't already heard from Nick Clegg, so actually they are both on the same page on this issue.

On child benefit Michael Moore hasn't said anything controversial and was being honest with someone he thought was a constituent.

Surely the Daily Telegraph needs lambasting for depriving real constituents of time with their local MP by trying to catch MPs out in a childish and unprofessional sting?

Of course they do but no other media outlet will have the balls to do that.

I will stand and defend Michael Moore MP when attacked because I have worked with him and know him and he would do nothing other than fight for the people of the Scottish Borders and his constituency and now the people of Scotland in his new role.

My response to Ed Miliband's request to join him and Labour - their lies, hypocrisy and arrogance

2010-12-21T23:55:00.001Z

Labour really do not learn, do they?

Repeatedly, various Labour folk are inviting Lib Dems, sometimes angry Lib Dems to join the Labour Party.

Now Ed Miliband, their new leader (who has been around and part of the previous government for years) is trying to entice Lib Dems to join him in the new re branded Labour Party. We've heard all this nonsense before though.

Ed Miliband has already laid out the welcome mat for Lib Dems back in August, it didn't work back then.

His brother David, also tried to invite me and other Lib Dems in September to join the Labour Party - you can read my response to him HERE.

Before that we had Derek Simpson of the UNITE Union trying to get Lib Dems to rip up their membership cards and join Labour, I explained to him why I wouldn't be doing so.

This is the Labour Party that they wanted me to join, the same Labour Party who;

through their reckless borrowing have left us with huge debts and daily payments of £120 million (yes, that is correct per day), that's just to cover the interest payments on their loans!

think it's acceptable for their deputy leader, Harriet Harman MP to personally insult other MPs!

are close to bankruptcy themselves with debts of £20million!

were proud to introduce tuition fees for students!

were complete hypocrites over NHS Direct - Labour planned to scrap it and replace it with a 111 service yet criticised the coalition for doing the same!

took us to an illegal war in Iraq wasting billions and billions of our taxes!

raised pensions by just a mere 75p a week!

So, when I think back over the last thirteen years and the damage Labour did to this country, no, I will not rip up my membership card - in fact I have just renewed my membership, with an increase in my monthly direct debit - nor will I leave the party and join Labour.

Already the Lib Dems in Government have achieved;

restoring the earnings link to pensions

taking 900,000 people out of paying income tax from April 2011

the ending of child detention

the scrapping of the third runway at Heathrow airport

Four major achievments in just six months, you can read more about what the Liberal Democrats have achieved through being part of the Coalition Government HERE.

The more Labour target us to join them, the more they target our voters the more determined we will become to fight their lies, their hypocrisy and their arrogance.

Capitals left seeing Stars

2010-12-19T22:38:00.000Z

EDINBURGH CAPITALS 3 – 5 DUNDEE STARS

Match Report: Andrew Reeves

Edinburgh Capitals ice hockey team faced their third league game in as many days. On the Friday they travelled with a small band of fans to Dundee Ice Arena to play the Dundee Stars and came away on the losing end of a 4 – 2 score. On Saturday the Capitals travelled to Belfast to face the Belfast Giants and were hammered 8 – 3 and then were back at Murrayfield Ice Rink on the 19th to host the Dundee Stars once again.

The punishing schedule along with a short roster is impacting on the current players. Following Alex Kim’s departure the lines have once again changed so you could excuse this weekend’s performaces because players are not used to playing alongside each other. However, over the previous two weekends the Edinburgh Capitals beat the league’s top two teams, showing they can compete with the squad they have.

The game against the Dundee Stars had match referee Neil Wilson officiating. He has made some controversial decisions against the Capitals in recent weeks. Would tonight be different?

To read the rest of this blow by blow match report, visit Deadline News.

I now write the match reports for the home games of Edinburgh's ice hockey team, the Edinburgh Capitals for Deadline News, an exciting online news organisation.

Andrew Reeves is still suspended on Twitter - but the support is awesome

2010-12-19T11:14:00.000Z

Wow, what a difference a day makes?

Yesterday I was watching Twitter via Tweetdeck while writing the last batch of Christmas cards when up popped the tweet from ITV News slagging off Nigella Lawson as shown in the picture below.

I re-tweeted ITV News error tweet which in turn was being re-tweeted all over the place, in fact so much so that I ended up being a trending topic in London - some fame at long last.

I then wrote a brief blog post which you can read HERE and then sent a link to that post to all the people who had re-tweeted my original re-tweet and that is apparently where I went wrong.

However, for all of those of you who are into conspiracy theories, my account was suspended at exactly the same time ITV News finally put an apology out on their Twitter account;

"Apologies for a rogue tweet that was posted from the @itv_news account"

So, have ITV complained directly to Twitter and got my account suspended, or is the suspension down to an infringement of their rules because I have replied to a lot of people with the same link?

Given each of those people had in fact re-tweeted one of my tweets, my user name was therefore in their timeline and in fact many also decided to follow me yesterday so all in all this maybe nothing more than an error on Twitters or my behalf - nothing more, or nothing less.

I have emailed Twitters suspended accounts team directly to ascertain if my twitter account can be reinstated.

Dear Twitter - please hurry with the decision, I feel lost and empty without you and my friends.

Thank you to all of you who have blogged or tweeted in my support, it is very, very humbling but lovely to know I have so many friends.

You can read the views from Caron's Musings, Jennie Rigg, Welcome to Spiderplant Land and What you can get away with and Dreaming in Digital.

ITV News tweets Nigella Lawson not as attactive as she thinks she is

2010-12-18T12:11:00.001Z

Oh dear, whoops a daisy, crap etc etc

Earlier this morning the ITV News twitter account sent out the following tweet;

Nigella Lawson is nowhere near as attractive as she thinks she is

I do feel for the person responsible for tweeting this, but it shows when you have a personal account and you operate a business account, check which you are logged into before you tweet.

One of my followers pointed out that Nigella is the same age as Gillian McKeith which means whoever tweeted this from ITV News is wrong anyway!

The offending tweet has been removed but as you can see above it was real.

President of FIFA, Sebb Blatter says gay football fans should have no sex during world cup

2010-12-14T15:52:00.001Z

Sepp Blatter, the controversial president of FIFA, has once again dismissed concerns that Qatar is unsuitable to host the 2022 World Cup because of its attitude to homosexuality. He went on to say that gay football fans should refrain from having homosexual sex while in the country.

The small country punishes homosexuality with up to five years in prison or lashes.

Last week, gay football groups said gay fans would be unable to travel to the Qatar for the games because of its oppressive laws.

Sebb Blatter speaking in Johannesburg at a post-2010 World Cup legacy project launch also said;

“We are definitely living in a world of freedom and I’m sure when the World Cup will be in Qatar in 2022, there will be no problems.

“You see in the Middle East the opening of this culture, it’s another culture because it’s another religion, but in football we have no boundaries.

“We open everything to everybody and I think there shall not be any discrimination against any human beings be it on this side or that side, be it left, right or whatever.”

This shows how naive Blatter is, as LGBT website Queeried put it;

In other words Blatter seems to believe that the arrival of a football World Cup to the country will suddenly make Qatar forget it doesn’t like gay people and becoming a YMCA loving country.

The Gay Football Supporters’ Network said it would boycott all activities related to the 2022 World Cup and have issued a demand that Sebb Blatter should apologise for his comments.

I'm sorry but in this day and age, an apology is nowhere near enough, it is time for Sebb Blatter to resign and for the President of FIFA to go to someone who doesn't think homophobia is funny.

The British blogosphere loses it's blogfather Iain Dale

2010-12-14T11:47:00.001Z

Wow - I didn't see that one coming. I am not one of Iain Dale's greatest fans, we had a small argument online years ago and ever since he does not flatter me or my blog with comments or links despite him then linking to someone else who covers my story after I do - but hey, life goes on.

I will despite this however miss Iain on the blogosphere and am relieved he will still be in the political arena, he has a lot to offer.

His reasons for giving up seem very sincere and certainly I can relate to many of them. I was a little surprised that he didn't mention his partner in the long list, because the hours Iain is working must also have an impact on their relationship.

The fact Iain never made it into the House of Commons was also quite sad, and it appears that he has parked that ambition for now, but as he says on his blog today;

I'm running a very successful publishing company which is, I believe, on the brink of great success. I've achieved a lifetime's ambition of having my own daily radio talk show. I am not about to put either of those things at risk.

Iain explains in great detail why he has stopped blogging HERE.

So, goodbye for now Iain, we await your new website and the blog posts however intermittent they are.

Panthers bite back against Edinburgh

2010-12-14T08:32:00.000Z

Match Report from the ice hockey game at Murrayfield ice rink between the Edinburgh Capitals and the Nottingham Panthers.

The Nottingham Panthers were back again at Murrayfield in this weekend’s double header and were seeking vengeance after losing to the Edinburgh Capitals on Saturday night.

Very early on the Panthers were nearly gifted an easy goal when Capitals’ netminder Scott Reid (33) skated around the back of the net to clear the puck, but passed it straight to one of the Panthers’ players, who failed to capitalise on the gift.

The game started very lively with shots on both goals. The Capitals’ fans shouted for a trip, but referee Neil Wilson ignored them and the game continued.

Within the first few minutes the Panthers’ tactics in this game became strikingly obvious when Guillaume Lepine and Capitals’ Evan Schafer (25) both received five minute penalties for fighting – was this a deliberate ploy, to take out one of the Capitals’ key defenders early in the game? Panthers’ Billy Ryan also received a two minute penalty for slashing.

The Panthers’ first goal came just after five minutes had been played, scored by David-Alexandre Beauregard while the team were short-handed.

To read the rest of this blow by blow match report, visit Deadline News.

I now write the match reports for the home games of Edinburgh's ice hockey team, the Edinburgh Capitals for Deadline News, an exciting online news organisation.

Edinburgh claw to victory against Panthers

2010-12-13T08:23:00.001Z

For the second weekend in a row, the Edinburgh Capitals had a double header with the same opposition. This week it was the Nottingham Panthers in two back to back matches over the weekend.

Last weekend they were hosts to the Belfast Giants, winning on Saturday in extra time and losing in extra time on Sunday under a controversial refereeing decision.

The Capitals are playing well and given the size of the squad and lack of a full time coach they are now playing their best hockey this season.

As Murrayfield ice rink played host to the Nottingham Panthers. Would their winning streak continue?

The Panthers were straight on the attack after the face off and Capitals’ netminder, Scott Reid (33) had to make two great saves in the first ninety seconds.

Panthers’ number eight, Matt Myers was already spoiling for a fight, and marked himself out early as one to watch during the game. The Panthers were definitely more physical than the Capitals but the home players were not intimidated.

Against the run of play the Capitals’ stole the first goal of the game after just two and a half minutes. Iain Bowie (8) had passed the puck to Jacques Perreault (23) ahead of him on the ice who weaved around an opposition player, skated into the Panthers’ third, passed it left to David Lomas (3) who was skating in towards the goal and just tapped it in to make it one – nil to the home team.

To read the rest of this blow by blow match report, visit Deadline News.

I now write the match reports for the home games of Edinburgh's ice hockey team, the Edinburgh Capitals for Deadline News, an exciting online news organisation.

Capitals’ star man Kim says Auf Wiedersehen to Edinburgh

2010-12-13T08:14:00.001Z

Edinburgh Capitals Alex Kim today (mon) announced that he is leaving the Edinburgh club to join a team in Germany.

The 31-year-old forward – who joined from Korean outfit High 1 – has been one of the Edinburgh Capitals standout players this season being in the league’s top twenty points scorers.

Capitals General Manager Scott Neil said: “It is disappointing, especially after two good weekends where we have taken points from league title contenders and the timing of his departure could not have come at a worse time as we have important games against Dundee and Braehead in the coming weeks.”

To read the full story, as written for Deadline News go to Deadline News sports, I now write match reports from the Edinburgh Capitals ice hockey games for Deadline News.

Angela Constance MSP is new Scottish Minister for Skills & Lifelong Learning

2010-12-12T12:53:00.000Z

So, a promotion for Angela Constance MSP and another woman into the Scottish Government cabinet.

Angela Constance is MSP for Livingston, which at the election in May is to become Almond Valley, with an SNP notional majority of just 242.

I am sorry, but this appointment as Keith Brown's to Transport Minister prove that Alex Salmond is just playing politics with these appointments rather than thinking of governing Scotland and it's people.

Both appointments are nothing more than a sham.

Keith Brown MSP is new Scottish Transport Minister

2010-12-12T12:42:00.000Z

Following the shock resignation last night of Stewart Stevenson MSP as Scotland's Transport Minister, it appears that his replacement is to be Keith Brown MSP.

I am a little concerned that this is political rather than playing to his skills. He is currently Minister for Skills and Lifelong Learning and according to his biography has no transport experience.

Keith Brown is MSP for Ochil, which is to change to Clackmannanshire and Dunblane at the election and which the SNP will be entering the election with a notional majority of just 354.

So, is this the SNP once again playing politics within government? It certainly looks like it.

All eyes will be on Keith Brown during the next cold snap, but as a former soldier I wouldn't expect his resignation because of snow and ice.

Labour's Alan Johnson MP: We should be proud of our brave and correct decision to introduce tuition fees

2010-12-08T22:37:00.000Z

Back in September, Labour's Alan Johnson MP gave some advice to the newly elected Labour leader Ed Miliband via The Independent.

"We should be proud of our brave and correct decision to introduce tuition fees. Students don't pay them, graduates do, when they're earning more than £15,000 a year, at very low rates, stopped from their pay just like a graduate tax, but with the money going where it belongs: to universities rather than the Treasury."

So, what does Aaron Porter and the NUS say to that?

Or are they still silent on what Labour say/do just preferring to attack the Liberal Democrats and Nick Clegg specifically?

Capitals narrowly miss out to mighty Giants

2010-12-08T14:03:00.000Z

EDINBURGH CAPITALS 1 – 2 BELFAST GIANTS

This is my match report as written for Dealine News. I write each week from all home games and some away games (to come) for Deadline News.
Match Report: Andrew Reeves (That's me)

As the Capitals are returning to full strength from illness and injury, there is an obvious difference to their attitude on the ice, but given the savings on not paying for a coach, surely the time has come for them to invest that money in more players? Even one more defence man and one forward would make a significant impact.

Sunday’s game was the second game of the weekend for both teams at Murrayfield ice rink. On Saturday the Edinburgh Capitals came out on top beating the Belfast Giants 5 – 4.

The tone of the game was set within the first four minutes when the Giants were caught offside and there was a bit of pushing and shoving afterwards and Giants’ Ross Dalgleish (22) received a two minute penalty for charging.

The Capitals went on the power play but only managed two shots on goal as the Giants’ defence leapt into action.

The game goes from end to end and the Giants were caught offside and just twenty one seconds later the Capitals were also offside. This shows the sheer speed of this sport.

As the Giants continued to pile on the pressure, it was very obvious they were bruised after losing to the Capitals on Saturday night.

Capitals’ Captain Martin Cingel (29) missed a great opportunity as the puck was passed to him but he had already spun round to start tracking back, a missed opportunity for the Capitals.

Referees and officials always get a lot of stick, whatever the sport and tonight was no exception with Capitals’ players and bench staff shouting and arguing with the two linesmen and referee.

Capitals’ Kyle Horne (5) received a two minute penalty for delaying the game and moments later his team mate Evan Schafer (25) joined him, receiving a two minute penalty, for the same transgression.

Jacques Perrault (23) received a knock behind his own goal and limped off towards the bench where he spent the next few minutes walking it off.
Then the Giants started to turn up the heat and the aggression. Unfortunately for them it resulted in two penalties only a minute apart. First to the penalty bench was Colin Shields (19) who received two minutes for hooking and then Josh Pruden (17) joined him receiving two minutes, also for hooking.

Just thirty seconds later as Capitals were on the power play, they were penalised for being offside and as Chris St. Jacques (14) remonstrated with the match officials, the fans of both teams are in agreement booing the poor decision.

The action continued to be end to end and despite the Capitals being six places below top of the league Giants, you would not guess so from the quality of this game.

Capitals’ netminder Scott Reid (33) continued to prove he is on good form making many excellent saves.

With just four minutes of the first period remaining, Michael Jacobsen (14) for the Giants receives a two minute penalty for interference.

Capitals pressure the Giants’ goal on their power play but the Giants’ defence is solid this evening. The action moves down the ice where Scott Reid (33) is knocked over, losing his stick.

The first period finished Edinburgh Capitals nil – Belfast Giants nil, but there were twelve penalty minutes served.
The second period starts and the Giants came racing out with the first shot on goal within seconds of the start. They sustain the pressure on the Capitals for four solid minutes, resulting in a goal – which the referee disallows – much to the Giants’ players and fans’ annoyance, but to the relief of the Capitals.

Despite the continuous pressure from the Giants, the Capitals were not allowing themselves to be pegged in. They were getting away and firing some shots off at the opposition goal.

Finally, the pressure from the Giants counted as just before thirty minutes were played, Simon Lambert (6) scored.

Moments later the Capitals were penalised for too many men on the ice and Neil Dolan (15) took the bench penalty.

The difference in the size of the squads became apparent as Giants were making many more line changes than the Capitals. Scott Neil needs to get some players into their squad.

Adam Taylor (7) missed the Capitals’ best chance of the game as he was on a one on one with the Giants’ netminder, but the shot was saved.

The Giants then went back on the attack only for the shot to be deflected off the cross bar. Giants continued the attack again, piling into the goal area where Scott Reid (33) was once again pushed over and he also lost his stick for the second time in the game. Being ever resourceful though, he grabbed Jacques Perrault’s (23)and continued to successfully defend his goal line.

As the Capitals started to take the puck down the other end, Giants’ Craig Peacock (71) took an accidental stick in the face. Unfortunately, the referee only blew the whistle as the Capitals’ were about to shoot – right decision, but too slow in making the call.

Giants’ Mike Hoffman (33) started on Capitals’ Jacques Perrault after a great check by Perrault on Simon Lambert (6).

The second period finished Belfast Giants one – Edinburgh Capitals nil. Just one penalty in that period.

The third and final period started with the same speed and attitude from both sets of players as the first two periods, with the Giants getting their first shot off after twenty six seconds followed by two near misses for the Capitals.

Then came the equaliser from the Capitals’ Jeff Hutchins (71) assisted by Chris St. Jacques (14).

Giants received a two minute penalty for too many men on the ice, which was served by Ross Dalgleish (22). Then with only forty seconds of that penalty gone, Dalgleish was joined by team mate Josh Pruden (17) who received two minutes for delaying the game.

Then a second disallowed goal for the Giants.

Capitals were unable to capitalise on that power play despite being five on three.

Three more penalties and one again for the Giants as Ross Dalgleish (22) received two minutes for delaying the game. Just ninety seconds later Capitals’ Adam Taylor (7) received a two minute penalty for slashing while Giants’ number 33, Mike Hoffman received two minutes for roughing.

More controversy came as the referee overruled the linesman on an icing call, closely followed by the game being stopped as the Capitals’ net comes loose from its moorings.

Capitals’ Adam Taylor (7) takes a shot to the head as a team mate tries to clear their line. He was momentarily stunned but was back on his feet to applause from both sets of fans. The fans like the fights but not injured players!

Then Adam Taylor (7) got his second two minute penalty for slashing, both within five minutes. The Capitals survive the power play onslaught from the Giants.

With around one minute left to play, the Capitals call a time out. What is on Scott Neil’s plan for tonight?

The third period finished all square at one apiece and, like the night before, the match went to extra time.

With only four seconds played, the Capitals were caught offside and a mere thirty seconds later received a two minute tripping penalty for Kyle Horne (5), as the Giants’ Simon Lambert did one of the most spectacular dives I have ever seen.

One minute later the Giants scored, ending the Capitals dream of three wins in a row. Dan Welch (23) scored, assisted by Mike Bayrack (9) and Jeff Mason (3).

After overtime the game finished Edinburgh Capitals one – Belfast Giants two.

An amazing weekend of hockey and the Capitals showing they can play when at full strength but the weekend was marred by bad sportsmanship at the very end of the Sunday game.

The Edinburgh Capitals play their home games at Murrayfield ice rink and you can follow them on twitter.

Victory for Capitals in close match against Giants

2010-12-07T12:57:00.002Z

EDINBURGH CAPITALS 5 – 4 BELFAST GIANTS

Match Report: Andrew Reeves (that's me)

The mood in the Edinburgh Capitals’ dressing room was buzzing following last week’s victory but how would they perform tonight playing the Belfast Giants who are sitting at the top of the EIHL league?

The game is both a league and cup game.

With just twenty four seconds gone since face-off, the first whistle was blown as Belfast Giants were caught offside.

After ninety six seconds Iain Bowie (8) rattles off Edinburgh Capitals’ first shot, which is just pushed aside by Giants’ netminder Stephen Murphy (31).

The first two and a half minutes of the game were fast and were literally going from end to end.

Belfast Giants were caught offside again with just over three minutes played but it is the Capitals who maintain the momentum and pile on the pressure. The home side’s Jeff Hutchins (71) took the puck down the ice into the Giants’ goal area, with a nice back pass to Chris St. Jacques (14) who slammed it into the net. First goal of the game went to the Edinburgh Capitals at four minutes and sixteen seconds.

Belfast Giants were once again caught offside and used the face off to mount another attack on the Capitals’ goal but Scott Reid (33) was in good form and performed a great save.

At six minutes and eight seconds we had the first penalty of the game, with Capitals’ David Lomas (3) receiving a two minute penalty for hooking.

The Belfast Giants went on the power play and despite them missing what was in effect an open goal they couldn’t make it count this time.

The first period action continued from end to end with both teams piling the pressure on during each attack but both Scott Reid (33) and Stephen Murphy (31) were having good games and blocking a lot of shots thrown at them.

However, the Giants’ attack at thirteen minutes and two seconds broke the deadlock. Colin Shields (19) passed the puck to Jeff Mason (3) on the left and Mason skated behind and around the goal, made a neat little pass to Craig Peacock (71) who sat at the goal mouth and then just tapped it in. The game is equalised at one – one.

However, with a further two and a half minutes played the hero then turns villain as the Giants’ Craig Peacock (71) receives a two minute penalty for holding.

Unfortunately the Capitals couldn’t benefit from this power play and the game remained level. For the final two minutes of the first period it was all the Belfast Giants’ game, but with Scott Reid (33) on form they weren’t able to score and the period finished at one all.

The second period started as the first had ended, with end to end action, a great shot on the Giants’ goal at twenty two minutes, twenty seven seconds and then just eight seconds later the Giants rattled a shot off at the Capitals’ goal.

This pressure from both teams continued. At twenty seven minutes and fifty seconds the Giants’ number 27 served a bench penalty of two minutes for too many men on the ice.

The Capitals’ power play was fast and furious but the game was stopped for a while at twenty nine minutes and forty seven seconds as Capitals’ Kyle Horne (5) was flattened and appeared to hit his head against the posts. Thankfully, minutes later he was up on his feet to thunderous applause from both sets of fans at Murrayfield ice rink. No penalty was awarded.

Then the referee, Moray Hanson (former Murrayfield Racers player) skated over to the Capitals’ bench and started shouting. His anger was not aimed at the players, however, but at a fan in the crowd who, despite repeated warnings was using a flash while taking photos. This is not allowed at ice hockey matches as it distracts the players, and obviously the officials.

With thirty one minutes and five seconds on the clock, the game is stopped for high sticks. Following the face off the game moves back to the Giants’ goal but the Capitals cannot capitalise. There was a big round of applause as Kyle Horne (5) returned to the ice.

Capitals’ defence man Willie Nicolson (22) received a two minute penalty for delaying the game at thirty two minutes and thirty seven seconds. The Giants went on the power play and, with less than a minute of it played, took the lead with a nice attack leaving Scott Reid (33) sprawling in his net with no stick.
The Giants’ second goal was scored by Josh Pruden (17) assisted by Brad Smith (10) and Mike Bayrack (9).

The Capitals are not daunted and launch an attack straight from the face off. Then Capitals’ Jeff Hutchins (71) received a two minute penalty for hooking.

The game then continued from end to end and following a shot by the Giants, Capitals’ Jeff Hutchins (71) picked the puck up and skated effortlessly up the ice and over the blue line, passed the puck to Adam Taylor (7) who tapped it, catching the cross bar and in it went. Once again the game is level, two – two.

The second period finished two – two but the Capitals played it well.

The third period started and with forty three minutes and forty seconds on the clock, the Capitals went ahead with their third goal. Nick Fanto (18) passed the puck to Adam Taylor (7) who moved up the ice, with a nice return pass to Nick Fanto (18) who went up to the goal and made the shot and then Jacques Perrault (23) poked the puck into the back of the net.

The Giants’ Dan Welch (23) received a two minute penalty at forty five minutes, nineteen seconds and just seventy four seconds later his colleague Jon Gleed (5) joined him on the bench after delaying the game by holding the puck on the ice with his glove, although he did plead innocence to the referee.
So, the Capitals went on the power play with their five players versus the Giants’ three.

The Giants were back to four players as the Capitals’ shot had just hit the post.

Then the game turned. It was the Giants who went on the offensive and they piled the pressure on Capitals’ netminder, Scott Reid (33) who ended up lying flat on the ice in front of his goal. However, the Giants’ just could not break through at the moment.
Despite the tiredness the players must now be feeling, the game continued at this frenetic pace, from one end to the other.

Then Giants’ Dan Welch (23) skated down the right hand side and over the blue line, passed to his left into the middle of the ice to Jon Gleed (5) who drew his stick right back and wham, shot at goal and it went in. The Giants’ have equalised with Gleed’s fifth goal of the season.

Three – three.

The game is awesome, the Belfast Giants are currently at the top of the EIHL league but were being held here at Murrayfield by the Edinburgh Capitals.

Following the face off the Giants took the game straight to the Capitals’ goal and took the lead in a controversial goal as it was obvious the net was off its moorings. However, the referee states the puck was in the net first. Michael Jacobsen (6) scored with an assist by Mike Hoffman (33) with just two minutes and seven seconds of the game remaining.

With just over one minute to play remaining on the clock, the Capitals pull their netminder off and replace him with another forward to go six players on five.

The Capitals go straight on the attack despite that goal and keep the pressure on the Giants’ goal, and then with just twenty six point eight seconds remaining on the clock, Capitals’ Adam Taylor (7) passed the puck to Chris St. Jacques (14) who, unmarked, just slammed the shot at goal and it was past the Giants’ netminder in the back of the net.

Four – four and it was game on.

The third period finished four – four, so went into overtime where the teams went down to four players and whoever scored first would win the match.

The whistle went and they were off. The Giants were first to get a shot on goal but Scott Reid (33) made an important but great save. The puck went behind the net where Nick Fanto (18) poked it away from a Giants’ player to Jacques Perrault (23) who from behind his own net skated the length of the ice, beating one Giants’ player then while being shadowed by Giants’ Jeff Mason (3), Perrault then skated around him up to the netminder and shot the puck and it then appeared in the back of the net.

The Edinburgh Capitals had won, five – four, after an amazing show of ice skating and skill and their first back to back victories this season.

The Capitals’ slogan was so very applicable at this game – “Winners never quit ’cause quitters never win!”

You can follow the Edinburgh Capitals on Twitter.

Mike Crockart MP, no really he is

2010-12-06T14:31:00.001Z

The press and others have been very busy on twitter today announcing the resignation of Edinburgh West MP, Mike Crockart from the Government as PPS to Michael Moore, Secretary of State for Scotland.

Unfortunately for them they had all been speaking or listening to the wrong Mike Crockart.

Instead of them listening to the MP they were instead listening to a Yorkshire man possibly with the same name.

As well as the World at One falling for the Yorkshire Mike Crockart, even Guido Fawkes fell for this one reporting it on his site and then Iain Dale reported that Guido was reporting....

Anyway, rest assured, the MP for Edinburgh West is the real Mike Crockart.

Whether he decided to resign as PPS, we will all have to wait and see.

UPDATE at 15:22
World at One seemed to have removed the interview from their i-player.

Edinburgh Capitals offer to SPL and SFL season ticket holders

2010-12-04T09:06:00.002Z

The Edinburgh Capitals, Edinburgh's ice hockey team are offering a 50% discount to season tickets holders of all SPL and SFL teams this weekend. The season ticket holders need to provide proof of their identification and show their season ticket to qualify for the discount.

The Capitals have two home games this weekend against the Belfast Giants with both face offs scheduled for 6pm on Saturday and Sunday at the Murrayfield ice hockey rink.

Edinburgh Capitals ice hockey team play in the UK's top league the Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL). Ice hockey is a fast and exciting game with goals, hits and end to end action for the full 60 minutes. Split into 3X 20 minute periods where the whistle stops the clock you can expect to spend approximately 90 to 120 minutes watching the hottest game on ice.

Tickets can be purchased on the night of the game at the box office.

Read the full story HERE.

This is a great offer by the Edinburgh Capitals and I do hope that the footie fans of Edinburgh and the surrounding area give it a go.

You can read match reports from the last two home games - Cardiff Devils vs Edinburgh Capitals and the Edinburgh Capitals vs Braehead Clan to get a taste of the excitement of the game.

Edinburgh Capitals Ice Hockey team - I write for Deadline News

2010-12-03T06:46:00.001Z

EDINBURGH CAPITALS 8 v 3 BRAEHEAD CLAN

Despite the snow and icy conditions on Sunday evening, the Braehead Clan team and their fans had brought two coach loads along the M8 to Murrayfield Ice Rink for their second Scottish derby this season in the Elite Ice Hockey League.

Who would win between the Weegies and the Burghers?

Although there was a noticeable lack of supporters compared to normal, those who had braved the elements to be there sure made their voices heard for their respective teams.

It was the first of a run of five home games for the Edinburgh Capitals.

During the first minute and a half, the action was fast and from one end to the other and back again.

Unfortunately though, the Capitals fell behind within the first two minutes with a goal by the Clan’s Captain Brendan Cook (18) with assists by Mathieu Wathier (4) and John Landry (27).

The game continued at a frenetic pace going from end to end and the Capitals maintained pressure on the Clan’s goal, ending with a great shot by Capitals’ Alex Kim (91), saved by the Clan’s netminder, Perras (29).

Just after four minutes the Clan were caught offside. Following the face off, Capitals’ Chris St. Jacques (14) unleashed a shot and there then followed an intense onslaught by the Capitals, but the Clan’s defence was strong and repelled the attack.

Then came another attack by the Capitals but once again they were shut out by the Clan.

Third time lucky for the Capitals though. The attack came in hard and strong and just before eight and a half minutes Alex Kim (91) scored the Capitals’ equaliser with assists by Jeff Hutchins (71) and Martin Cingel (29).

The speed of the game was amazing.

Capitals’ Jeff Hutchins (71) got a good shot on goal, but a great save by Perras (29) followed an offside decision against the Clan.

The action was soon back up the other end of the rink and the Capitals’ netminder Scott Reid (33) made a great save with support from Willie Nicolson (22).

Then the Capitals turned up the heat once again and Kyle Horne (5) managed two shots on the Clan’s goal, although both were saved. Then the Clan went on the attack but the Capitals’ defence was strong.

The game continued with high energy, end to end action and then came to a sudden stop as the puck disappears up the shorts of the Capitals’ Captain, Martin Cingel (29).

Shortly after the game continued, the referee missed a big trip on Capitals’ Chris St. Jacques (14), before the home team launched a major offensive on the Clan’s goal before the hooter sounded for the end of the first period.

The score at the end of the first period was Edinburgh Capitals 1 Braehead Clan 1.

The second period got underway and after just nine seconds the Capitals were caught offside. The face off was good for the Capitals and Jacques Perrault (23) got a shot on goal and then Capitals’ Chris St. Jacques (14) and the Clan’s player coach Bruce Richardson (9) were squaring up to each other behind the net.

The game continued from end to end at a fast and furious pace but as the clock hit twenty two minutes and twenty two seconds the Edinburgh Capitals went on the power play as the Clan’s Kevin Phillips (7) received a two minute penalty for slashing.

Despite the number of supporters being lower than usual, given the weather, both sets of fans were vocal and making themselves heard, leaving their teams in no doubt about their presence.

Then not long after both teams were full strength, Alex Kim (91) of the Capitals received a two minute penalty for holding.

The Clan went on the power play and maintained the pressure on the Capitals’ goal but only managed one shot, literally seconds before the Capitals were back to full strength.

Just before the game reached thirty minutes gone, Martin Cingel (29) scored and took the Capitals into the lead with assists by Alex Kim (91) and Jeff Hutchins (71).

Then the Capitals maintained a good two minute offensive on the Clan’s goal, to no avail. The action then went to the other end as the Capitals’ Jacques Perrault (23) blocked a shot by the Clan, skated the length of the rink and fired off a shot which was deflected by the Clan’s Perras (29).

The action returned to the other end of the rink and Clan’s Ryan Campbell (37) knocked the Capitals’ goal from its position.

Then from nowhere just after thirty five minutes Jeff Hutchins (71) scored, assisted by Alex Kim (91), making it three goals to the Capitals and the Clan on just one.

The Clan’s Kevin Phillips (7) took out his own netminder, Perras (29) during an attack by the Capitals.
With just thirteen seconds remaining on the clock, the Capitals’ Scott Reid (33) made an important save.

The second period finished Edinburgh Capitals 3 – Braehead Clan 1.

The third and final period kicked off and with just one minute twenty nine seconds on the clock, Chris St. Jacques (14) skated around the goal and landed one in the back of the net, making it 4-1 to the Capitals with the assist by Adam Taylor (7).

Then the Capitals’ Evan Schafer (25) received a two minute penalty for tripping. Despite the Clan not using the power play to score, they did maintain the pressure during the power play.

Ten minutes into the third period, one of the Clan’s team took out the Capitals’ Neil Hay (16) as he was skating down the ice and gloves came off as players were squaring up to each other from both teams. The Clan’s John Connolly (17) received a two plus ten minute penalty.

Braehead Clan’s player coach, Bruce Richardson (9) managed to claw a goal back, making it 4-2 to the Capitals.

The Capitals were caught out and two of the Clan’s team were up against the Capitals’ netminder but failed to capitalise and the shot was way off target.

After the face off, the Capitals were skating hard up towards the Clan’s goal and shouts for a trip were loud but the referee was so far back down the rink he, never saw a thing.

Jeff Hutchins (71) scored the Capitals’ fifth goal and his second of the night with assists by Alex Kim (91) and Kyle Horne (5).

Then the Capitals went on the rampage with goal number six coming only moments later, scored by Chris St. Jacques (14) and assists by Kyle Horne (5) and Adam Taylor (7).

After the Clan’s netminder Perras let in the sixth goal he was then replaced by Michael Will (33).

The Capitals were caught offside and before the face off could happen, their netminder Scott Reid (33) was brought off to a standing ovation by the home fans and replaced with Craig Holland (31), so both netminders had been replaced within a minute of each other, one for letting in too many goals and one for saving goals!

The Clan were then deemed to be offside, but straight from the face off they went down the ice and scored, clawing one back making it 6-3 to the Capitals. The Clan’s goal was scored by John Landry (27), assisted by Bobby Chaumont (21) and Jordan Krestanovich (10).

Just one minute later the Capitals’ Jeff Hutchins (71) scored his hat-trick with assists by Martin Cingel (29) and Jacques Perrault (23).

Then with just ten seconds remaining on the clock, Alex Kim (91) wraps the game up with the Capitals’ goal number eight assisted by David Lomas (3) and Evan Schafer (25).

An absolutely action packed evening ended with a rare win for the Edinburgh Capitals. The final score was 8 – 3 to the Capitals.

You can follow the Edinburgh Capitals on Twitter and catch these reports as they come out at Deadline News. You can read the match report from the game between the Edinburgh Capitals and the Cardiff Devils HERE.

X-Factor's Gamu Nhengu and Aberlour Choir for the Christmas No.1

2010-12-03T05:46:00.001Z

No, I have not gone soppy, okay no more than usual, but I want to bring this video, charity and plight to your attention especially as we count down the days to Christmas, a time for children.

There was a young girl called Gamu Nhengu, who entered X-Factor, sang, everyone loved her, then she was threatened with deportation and the love for her grew stronger, then she was no longer in X-Factor. The end.

No, not on this occasion. Then Gamu Nhengu found the amazing Scottish children's charity, Aberlour.

Aberlour is the largest, solely Scottish, children’s charity and we provide help to over 6000 of Scotland’s most vulnerable children, young people and their families each year.

Their dedicated team of over 700 staff work across Scotland in more than 40 services, from Stranraer to Elgin & Aberdeenshire, helping children and young people who need additional care and support to achieve their potential and to live safe, fulfilling lives. Aberlour have adapted and customised their services in response to the changing needs of vulnerable children, young people and their families over the 130 years since the Aberlour orphanage was established in 1875.

They help:
• children whose lives are affected by parental drug and alcohol dependency
• young people who have social, educational and behavioural difficulties
• children and young people who run away from home and are exposed to risk of harm
• children and young people who have a disability
• young children to experience positive parenting, play and early learning

Well, this year this amazing charity have teamed up with Gamu, and the Aberlour choir is pitching to get the Christmas number one with their son "Where will you sleep this Christmas?".

You can download it HERE via i-tunes, let's join together and make the Aberlour Choir, featuring Gamu Nhengu the Christmas number one.

This week Lib Dem MP, Jo Swinson even tabled a Parliamentary Motion, urging fellow MPs to get behind this project and buy the song.

World AIDS Day - Guest post from Edinburgh Waverley Care

2010-12-01T12:38:00.002Z

Today is World AIDS Day. The internationally recognised day when we remember those we have lost to AIDS over the years, raise awareness of HIV and work to fight HIV prejudice.

This year’s World AIDS Day theme is ‘Act Aware’ and encourages people to take action to tackle HIV prejudice and to protect themselves and others from HIV transmission.

33.4 million people are living with HIV worldwide, 83, 000 of whom are in the UK. 5,500 people are living with the condition in Scotland and approximately a quarter of these people are undiagnosed and therefore unaware of their HIV status. Those that do know they are HIV positive face the daily challenge of HIV stigma.

HIV stigma is often the result of ignorance about how HIV is transmitted, judgements being made about infection routes, a lack of understanding of what it’s like to live with HIV, or an unfounded fear of becoming infected.

Stigma or prejudice about HIV in society means that people living with HIV keep the burden of their secret and, feel judged and ashamed. This damages their self-confidence and self esteem. In essence, it causes misery and hinders people from living a normal life.

Here at Waverley Care we offer a safe and confidential space to people living with, and affected by, HIV. We are here to help people fight and recover from the implications of that Stigma and our services operate nationally in Scotland from offices in Edinburgh, Coatbridge in Lanarkshire, Glasgow and Inverness.

We offer a wide range of groups and services that support anyone living with HIV and these projects include specific groups for Africans, Children and Young People, Gay Men and Women. Our services support people with issues which include physical and emotional health, meeting other people living with HIV, coping with a new diagnosis, supporting family members and training and employment.

HIV may not be making the headlines in Scotland as it used to but it is still here and until we beat the stigma surrounding HIV, until we make it okay to talk about HIV, and make people aware that HIV does not discriminate, we will not be able to beat HIV.

This World AIDS Day help us raise awareness and fight stigma. Add a Twibbon to your Twitter or Facebook profile and show your support for Waverley Care and World AIDS Day.

The November stat porn for my little blog

2010-12-01T04:11:00.002Z

Continuing my now regular monthly stat porn figures for anyone who is remotely interested in who reads my little blog, what they read and from where they read it, the monthly summary of my visitor stats according to google analytics is as below for November 2010.

The busiest day on my blog last month was Thursday 11th November and this was down to two stories, one was about the stupidity of a Conservative Councillor who called for the stoning of Yasmin Alibhai-Brown on twitter and the second was the Guardian's Julian Glover giving Liberal Democrats members and voters10 top tips.

Last month I had 2,044 absolute unique visitors, a good increase on last month. They made 2,596 visits and 3,259 page views.

16.45% of the visitors were through direct traffic, 44.14% from referring sites and 39.41% via search engines.

So, my top 10 referring sites for the last month were;

1. Facebook (2)
2. Twitter (1)
3. Lib Dem Blogs (3)
4. Lib Dem Voice (5)
5. Blogger (4)
6. Google.co.uk (7)
7. Caron's Musings (12)
8. Google.com (16)
9. Better Nation.org (6)
10. SNP Tactical Voting.com (9)

During November I wrote 25 blog posts, up on the previous month but still behind where I have been in the past.

The top 10 stories by direct page views that you've read most were;

1. Conservative Councillor Gareth Compton calls for stoning of Yasmin Alibhai-Brown on twitter
2. English Defence League Protest in Preston - One mans perspective (Guest Post)
3. Should Luciana Berger MP stayed on air with Kelvin MacKenzie?
4. Chris Bryant naked with a journalist in a sauna!
5. Jason Manford quits BBC One Show after flirting on skype and twitter
6. Ten tips for the Liberal Democrats - members, voters and activists alike
7. Conservative MSP John Lamont uses poppy to score cheap political points
8. No action against election overspend by Conservative MP David Mundell
9. Phil Woolas MP loses court case over his election
10. Jack Frew - murdered in cold blood for being gay?

A mixed bag once again this month from Phil Woolas MP losing his court case causing a by-election, but when? to John Lamont MSP using the poppy to attempt political point scoring, Jason Manford quitting the One Show and a Conservative Councillor calling for the stoning of Yasmin Alibhai-Brown on twitter, just for a joke mind. An interesting guest post from a good friend on the recent EDL march in Preston and once again the extremely sad case of Jack Frew's murder back in May.

The visitors to my little blog came from just 55 countries this month, up 5 from last time, the top ten were as follows;

1. United Kingdom (1)
2. United States (2)
3. Canada (3)
4. Ireland (=7)
5. Germany (10)
=6. Spain (14)
=6. France (5)
8. Philippines (13)
9. India (=7)
10. Sweden (37)

That's all folks.

Michael Moore MP - Strengthening Scotland's future

2010-11-30T22:09:00.000Z

Today has been a historic day, Michael Moore MP communicates with Lib Dem members in Scotland.

Dear Andrew,

Today the Government published its Scotland Bill. When this becomes law, a second and exciting phase in Scottish devolution will begin. We are strengthening Scotland’s future based on three principles: empowerment, accountability and stability.

This Bill starts its parliamentary process with the support of the Conservatives, Labour and the Liberal Democrats. Each of our parties - plus business and civil society - contributed to the Calman Commission, which drew up the blueprint for it. It is right that change of this sort should be built on a broad consensus. But now it is this government that is turning those principles into practice.

And let's be clear: this plan is steeped in Liberal Democrat values.

We believe in devolution. By nature, we are mistrustful of centralised government and welcoming of the flow of power from Westminster to our nation states, our communities and to individuals too. When the Scottish Constitutional Convention drafted the plan for a Scottish Parliament, we were at the table. When the referendum campaign was raging, we were on the streets campaigning. And in 1999, when the first democratically elected Scottish Parliament was elected, we joined the coalition government that heralded a new era of Scottish politics.

The Bill is diverse in content, and gives the Scottish Parliament a range of new powers: regulating air weapons; setting drink-drive limits; establishing a Scottish national speed limit.

But its centrepiece is the devolution of tax and borrowing powers. This is the greatest transfer of fiscal power from London since the creation of the UK. Today, the Scottish Parliament only has revenue powers over council tax and business rates and raises only 15% of its own revenue. The Scotland Bill transforms that. The most significant change we will make is to create a Scottish Income Tax. We'll do this by cutting 10 pence off every band of income tax. We will proportionately adjust the block grant that Scotland receives, and then allow the Scottish Parliament to reset the tax rates. We will also give the Parliament nearly £3 billion in borrowing powers.

This will empower the Scottish Parliament and Scottish Government to make tax and spend choices that will determine future revenues and help shape Scotland's future economy.

It will also make both more accountable to the Scottish people. It is an incomplete construct to have a Parliament that spends money but is responsible for raising little of it. By giving these tax powers to Holyrood, MSPs will have to answer to voters for the money that they spend. And by moving those spending decisions closer to Scottish society and to Scottish business, both will be better placed to influence the decisions that impact on their lives and livelihoods.

By empowering Holyrood, we are also ensuring its stability. Our plans will be phased to ensure no sudden shock or windfall to the Scottish budget. By giving the Parliament – which has been a success over the past decade – room to innovate safely, we will strengthen Scotland within the UK.

And for all their bluster, the SNP has no alternative. Their plans for full fiscal autonomy are a non-starter: light on detail, high on cost and fraught with risk. No industrialised country has ever gone down that road. This is independence masquerading as reform. It won’t wash.

But for our party, the victory here is not a tactical one. It is principled one. We are working with others to devolve power from the centre to the communities that need it and know how to use it.

This is good for Scotland, and we should be proud of it.

Best wishes,
Michael Moore
Secretary of State for Scotland

Ice hockey - I write for Deadline News

2010-11-27T21:18:00.001Z

Many of my little blogs regular readers will know that ice hockey is my faourite sport, so the fact that I have been asked and given an opportunity by Deadline News to write regular match reports is an amazing honour.

This is the first, that was published last week, any constructive feedback by sports writers is very welcome.

Edinburgh Capitals suffer from Devil of a time

EDINBURGH CAPITALS 3 v 5 CARDIFF DEVILS

Match Report: Andrew Reeves

The Cardiff Devils were welcomed to Edinburgh on Sunday evening following a 5 – 2 victory over the Edinburgh Capitals in Cardiff on the previous evening.

Would the Scots be able to make a comeback?

The Devils fell behind after just two minutes with a goal by Edinburgh Capitals Chris St. Jacques, with the assist by Capitals’ captain, Martin Cingel.

Despite the Capitals’ continued pressure on the Devils’ goal, no goals were forthcoming.

And it was the Devils who went on to equalise at eight minutes 28 seconds with a goal by Craig Weller, with assists by Max Birbrear and Scott Matzka.

Just under two minutes later the Devils’ goal scorer Craig Weller received a two minute penalty for tripping.

The Capitals went on the power play.

But just before the penalty came to an end the Devils pulled a short-handed goal by Jon Pelle, with assist by Scott Matzka and Mark Smith.

2-1 to the Cardiff Devils as the first period came to an end.

The Cardiff Devils flew straight out of the trap in period two and the play was fast, furious and end to end.

Capitals’ number 5, Kyle Horne put in a stonking block to a shot from Devils Ryan Finnerty.

He kept up the pressure but with great blocks from Capitals’ net minder, Scott Reid, he came away frustrated.

Capitals’ Chris St Jacques was becoming increasingly annoyed with the match officials over what he saw as repeated bad line calls.

Devils’ Ryan Finnerty was increasingly looking for a fight.

However it was Capitals’ Evan Schafer and Devils’ Brad Voth who eventually squared up, although nothing cames of it.

Then out of nowhere the Devils’ Tylor Michel scores on the power play, with assists by Ryan Finnerty and Kenton Smith.

Cardiff Devils received a bench penalty served by Sam Smith for having too many men on the ice and then moments later the Devils’ Phil Hill receive a two minute penalty for tripping leading to a major pile up in the Edinburgh goal mouth.

The second period finishesd3 – 1 to the Cardiff Devils.

The third period started badly with four of the Devils players wrapped up in the Cardiff goal with their own net minder.

Moments later the Capitals’ Jeff Hutchins slipped and also piled into the Cardiff net minder.

The Cardiff players all grouped around Hutchins but the match officials stood up to them and calm was restored.

Then just 16 seconds separate two goals, one for each team.

Capitals’ Alex Kim, scored first with assists by Martin Cingel and Jeff Hutchins and then Scott Matzka fired one back for the Devils with assists by Jon Pelle and Max Birbrear.

Then followed 90 seconds of furious action.

First Capitals’ Jacques Perrault receivesda two minute penalty for delaying the game.

A mere 30 seconds later Devils Jon Pelle received a two minute penalty for goalie interference.

These two penalties were then followed by the Cardiff Devils’ fifth goal, scored by Ryan Finnerty with assists by Phil Hill and Craig Weller.

The Capitals got the final score with their third goal of the night, scored by Evan Schafer, with assists by Chris St. Jacques and Adam Taylor.

An action packed match ended 5-3 to the Cardiff Devils.

A great effort though by the Edinburgh Capitals, Edinburgh’s ice hockey team based at Murrayfield ice rink.

English Defence League Protest in Preston - One mans perspective

2010-11-27T18:55:00.001Z

A guest post from one of my friends, Andrew Neale.

Andrew (the one on the left) and I met on a fundraising walk in New York organised by Stonewall. I don't agree with Andrew's politics, but we met on a fundraising event trying to make other people's lives better.

Andrew is one of those amazing people with a huge heart and works so hard to help others, whether it is in Preston or other parts of the world - a true amazing friend.

I never bother readin other people's notes ... and I don't particularly expect many to read/care about this ...
But I have more to say than my status word limit will allow.
I am so impressed with today's protest in Preston - The English Defence League (EDL) were in the city protesting about how Muslims apparently come first in the UK and how the white English/British population are apparently second class citizens etc etc...) Previous protests, organised by the EDL, have turned into riots so there was much anticipation that today could turn violent. Pubs like the Black Horse and take-aways like Chicken Ranch boarded up their windows to minimise potential damage and the police/council designated the flag market as an assembly point for the EDL and the covered market as an assembly point for the United Against Fascism (UAF) group - with a noticeable and strong cordon between the two. The UAF wanted to counter protest against the EDL as they believe in everyone living happily and loving each other ("No to racism" etc are some of their slogans).

Prior to the protest I spoke with an acquaintance about the EDL and he informed me that they just believe in fairness - and that it's extremists within the group that give them a bad name - which is fair enough. However, after getting caught up in their side of the protest I have to say they were majorly aggressive (throwing cans of beer up in the air towards the audience, setting off red smoke bombs and bangers - Not exactly sticking to their fliers tag line of "Peacefully protesting in Preston". I felt uncomfortable and unsafe - and asked my friend if we could move away.

The EDL definitely had more people present than the UAF - and there were more bystanders watching the EDL. The impression I got from people I spoke with was that they were just more intrigued because there was potential for something to kick off. An interesting observation was when the EDL were chanting. Imagine there were 500 people crammed onto the flag market and branching off down the adjoining streets. There were only about 100 actually chanting and jumping up and down. The rest of us simply stood, observing. I therefore think it's fair to conclude that most people present were only curious, rather than supporting the cause which the EDL were raising. (Thankfully)

I didn't want to associate with either party because I don't have in-depth knowledge about them and they both seemed a little extreme in my view. Me and my friend therefore sat in the middle, with small banners which simply read 'Where is the Love?' and 'Understanding + Respect = Harmony'. They were pretty geeky and nothing special in the slightest, but the passing public noticed, commented and pretty much agreed. The press took some pictures too and some of the Millwall fans/EDL protesters took photos with us as well (Clearly taking the piss but I'm not one to care - shows we have a sense of humour!)

When the police split up the EDL protest and forced them all down Fishergate (on to us and the rest of the public) I felt vulnerable and as if something could have kicked off. My banner went down and we slowly made our way through the crowds to the bottom end of the street. I have to say the majority of the EDL supporters/protesters appeared to be chavs - many in trackies or hoodies, scarves covering their faces etc.The UAF protesters were more family-focussed, student types or hippy-ish: A random but good mix. We eventually went round to their side to hear their views and read their banners etc, and decided to stay and show our support for them.
At the end of the day the majority of people seemed to be sat in the middle - agreeing with parts of both parties or not really caring either way but just wanting a nosy. In my view, there is no middle. It's a line. And you're either on one side or the other. I'm proud to say that I was on the side fighting for peace and an end to discrimination. I'm also proud that there were no riots and that Lancashire Constabulary prepared and carried out everything perfectly. Preston is my hometown, as it is for people from all kinds of backgrounds, and today's protest will hopefully show that the majority of people here are decent and have morals. And that my friends has absolutely made my day.

Chris Bryant naked with a journalist in a sauna!

2010-11-24T10:54:00.000Z

We have got used to sordid sex stories involving politicians.

What about a nice story of a near naked MP in a sauna with an also near naked journalist?

Well, I am so jealous right now of LobbyDog who was in a nice hot sauna with Chris Bryant MP.

You can read exactly what they get up to on LobbyDog's blog.

Scottish dog sled racers can now take dogs with them

2010-11-21T13:48:00.001Z

A bizarre headline you may think?

If the EC Directive had gone through, the dog sled racing teams would have been limited on the total number of dogs that can be moved from one country to another at any one time to five per person.

The Directive would have stopped Scottish sled dog teams participating in races in mainland Europe.
This barking mad EU Directive has now been reversed after interventions from Scotland's Liberal Democrat MEP, George Lyon and Tory MEP, Struan Stevenson.

The European Commission has now also ruled commercial passports for individual dogs, which cost £150 each, will be replaced with a special licence to keep costs down. It will be valid for four months to cover the racing season.
George Lyon lobbied the European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy, John Dalli on behalf of the Sled Dog Association of Scotland and professional racer Alan Stewart of Aviemore.

I was actually with George Lyon and his press officer Graeme on one of the occasions some of the lobbying actually took place.

The Commissioner, John Dalli, set up a working group which has now persuaded the Council of Commissioners to exempt this specialist sport from the directive.

The Press and Journal report;

Mr Stewart, who owns the Cairngorm Sleddog Centre at Aviemore, said: “It is great we can get back into the Alps and race with people who understand the meaning of sled-dog racing. This was an issue I pushed and spent a lot of time on it because it truly affected people across Europe. It is a way of life, not a hobby or a pastime.”

Mr Lyon said: I am pleased that commissioner Dalli has stayed true to his word and pushed for greater flexibility in the regulation. The new four-month licence will allow sled-dog teams to travel to events across Europe. We must now learn if the licence works in practice and I will keep in touch with racers to ensure that is the case.”

It does go to show that having an effective, responsive MEP in Scotland means things can actually be achieved within the European angle of politics.

Chelsea FC - crisis or no crisis?

2010-11-21T12:10:00.000Z

A strange period for Chelsea FC at the moment.

Carlo Ancelotti, the team manger who in his first season took Chelsea to win the double - the FA cup and the Premier league, appears to have fallen out with Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich.

As usual the fans are told very little, or just get the official club spin.

Firstly, Ray Wilkins gets sacked - another in a long line of staff to be losing their jobs recently at Chelsea - but is this Abramovich flexing his muscle over Ancelotti, or is this more penny pinching?

The statement from Chelsea FC on Ray Wilkins departure (short and to the point);

In response to media enquiries regarding a League Managers' Association (LMA) statement issued on behalf of Ray Wilkins today (Saturday), the club has issued the following statement. It reads:

'We are having amicable discussions with Ray's legal advisors. Although the matter is confidential, we can say that we have told Ray and his advisors that we will honour the termination provisions in Ray's contract.'

Once you read the brief statement you can no longer argue both aspects as above, this is a clear sacking, otherwise surely the cost cutting point would have been highlighted, but then to add insult to injury a replacement was installed two days before the statement on Wilkins and only a week after Wilkins departure.

Michael Emenalo has now been appointed to the position of assistant first team coach. He moves up from his previous position of head opposition scout, a role he will continue to oversee, while updating his coaching qualifications.

I feel for Emenalo, he no doubt already has the respect of many players in his current role, but there may well be some time bedding in as the assistant coach to Ancelotti, although he is one of three.

Is the crisis restricted to the off pitch aspects of Chelsea FC?

Obviously not, given Chelsea have now lost three of their lost four matches there is clearly something not right within the squad and you cannot just blame the injuries of John Terry, Frank Lampard and Zhirkov - Alex and Cole are now fit again.

The players need a kick up the backside, they earn some massive amounts of money and although Abramovich has now put a ceiling on no player earning more than £80,000 per week. I still think the salaries are part of the problem, not just at Chelsea, but across the premiership full stop.

So, do I think there is a crisis at Chelsea, no, because if we can lose three games in four and still be at the top of the premiership, we must also be doing something right.

I hope Abramovich sees sense and keeps hold of Ancelotti and gets that contract sorted out now.

Jason Manford quits BBC One Show after flirting on skype and twitter

2010-11-19T10:36:00.000Z

Do these so called stars ever read the newspapers and note the dramatic downfalls of other stars, footballers and celebrities who have made major mistakes on social networking sites?

From Sky News;

Jason Manford has resigned from The One Show after revelations he exchanged "saucy" messages online with fans.

I will be perfectly honest, I am astounded at the sheer stupidity of these ~~so called stars~~ tv personalities.

Manford works on one of the shows that is quick to jump on other people's mistakes so he must have had his eyes open more than most.

The 29-year-old comedian's departure comes just four months after he was handed the coveted presenters role on the flagship BBC show.

He said in a statement: "I have decided after careful consideration to step down from The One Show to concentrate on my family and tour commitments."

The BBC said: "We have got nothing to say except that we accept Jason's decision."

Manford admitted to The Sun that he had "flirted" with 10 or 12 people on the internet and that it had gone "over the line with a few".

Jason Manford's downfall is yet another on a list that just keeps on growing.

His wife is expecting their third child, so she must be feeling fab today!

Have the SNP lied about the tax raising powers Scotland no longer has?

2010-11-18T23:05:00.000Z

Michael Moore MP, the Liberal Democrat Secretary of State for Scotland has announced today that the SNP Government has let the tax varying powers for Holyrood lapse, but yet, just yesterday the SNP finance minister John Swinney MSP failed to mention it to the MSPs in Holyrood.

The SNP has constantly demanded more powers and a referendum but yet has now killed off the only tax power expressly voted for by Scottish people in the 1997 Devolution Referendum.

The Scottish Government has tried to sweep this under the carpet. It was fundamentally dishonest for Scottish Ministers not to make it clear during the Budget statement that they have killed off the tax varying power for this and the next Parliament.

According to the Scottish Office press release;

The Scottish Secretary Michael Moore has today written to the First Minister and other Holyrood leaders to inform them that a decision by the Scottish Government not to commit resources to maintain the Scottish Variable Rate (SVR) tax power means that HMRC could no longer collect such a tax.

The SVR is the power to lower or raise the basic rate of income tax by 3p.

The Scottish Government’s decision doesn’t just affect the SNP, but binds the hands of the next Government following the elections on May 5th 2011.

John Swinney told MSPs yesterday that he would not raise the Scottish Variable Rate of income tax but Michael Moore MP makes clear in his letter today that decisions taken by the Scottish Government mean the SVR power could not now be used before the 2013/14 tax year, so did John Swinney mislead Parliament?

The Scottish Secretary has written to the other main parties to advise them that they will not be able to use this power until the penultimate year of the next Parliament.

Michael Moore MP goes onto say;

"It is worth saying that the forthcoming Scotland Bill that I will publish in the next few weeks will contain the biggest transfer of financial powers from London since the creation of the UK. Our expectation is that these greater powers would be available to MSPs from 2015."

I really am concerned that John Swinney and the SNP government are not being entirely honest with voters on this, and if they can cover things like this up what else have they covered up since 2007?

The SNPs John Swinney MSP said yesterday in Holyrood;

"Within the Parliament's existing revenue powers, we have explored options for maximising our income. We have been mindful of the need to considers the effect of the significant tax rises that the UK Government has announced before we act. I therefore confirm that we will not raise the Scottish variable rate of income tax."

So, either he didn't realise the SVR power had been cancelled (which means he is out of touch and lost the trust of his staff) or he has mislead parliament or at the very worst knowingly lied to parliament.

It is time for the SNP to be honest and tell us where they stand and what they knew and when.

No action against election overspend by Conservative MP David Mundell

2010-11-18T18:40:00.001Z

As the voters of Oldham East & Saddleworth prepare for a Parliamentary by-election after the courts found Labour MP Phil Woolas guilty lying about the Lib Dem candidate, the voters of Dumfriesshire, Clydesdale and Tweeddale can heave a huge sigh of relief.

The Conservatives only MP in Scotland, David Mundell has been told that no further action will be taken after the investigation into his election expenses.

David Mundell overspent during the election and had split the costs of a newspaper advert between the long and short campaigns.

From day one he admitted human error.

The action open to the courts is limited from a slap on the wrist, to a £5,000 fine or a full re-run of the election and being barred from standing for public office.

In addition there is the public humiliation that goes with it.

I always thought the maximum David Mundell faced was the fine.

This was never going to turn into the Scottish version of Oldham East & Saddleworth.

Today's judgement is embarrassing enough for David Mundell MP and the Scottish Conservatives.

Maybe next time his Agent will use a calculator and David will check everything before he signs the forms.

Chris 'give a hug' Wiggin Movember man number five

2010-11-17T22:29:00.001Z

I said I would push the movember attributes of five Liberal Democrats, the first was Councillor Jeremy Rowe.

The second was Callum Leslie, Vice President of Liberal Youth Scotland and candidate for the Mid Scotland & Fife regional list.

The third is Councillor Nigel Clarke, who is Lib Dem councillor for Brentwood West.

The fourth is Ross Chmiel, a Lib Dem member in Edinburgh.

The fifth and final is Chris 'give a hug' Wiggin, an active member of Liberal Youth from York.

I am doing this because it is so important that we unite to fight cancer, whatever strain it is.

Movember is the fundraising project for the Prostate Cancer Charity.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men. One man dies every hour from the disease in the UK.

This is a cause that I feel passionately about and I’m asking you to support my efforts by making a donation to The Prostate Cancer Charity.

To help Chris Wiggin, you can either:

Click this link and donate online using your credit card or PayPal account. Or,

Send cheques and CAF vouchers (made payable to ‘The Prostate Cancer Charity Re Movember’) directly to The Prostate Cancer Charity – First Floor, Cambridge House, Cambridge Grove, London W6 0LE. Be sure to include the person’s name on the back of the cheque.

The Prostate Cancer Charity will use the money raised by Movember for the development of programs related to awareness, public education, advocacy, support of those affected, and research into the prevention, detection, treatment and cure of prostate cancer.

For more details on how the funds raised from previous campaigns have been used and the impact Movember is having please visit HERE.

Ross Chmiel Movember man number four

2010-11-17T22:12:00.001Z

I am doing this because it is so important that we unite to fight cancer, whatever strain it is.

Movember is the fundraising project for the Prostate Cancer Charity.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men. One man dies every hour from the disease in the UK.

This is a cause that I feel passionately about and I’m asking you to support my efforts by making a donation to The Prostate Cancer Charity.

To help Ross Chmiel, you can either:

Click this link and donate online using your credit card or PayPal account. Or,

Send cheques and CAF vouchers (made payable to ‘The Prostate Cancer Charity Re Movember’) directly to The Prostate Cancer Charity – First Floor, Cambridge House, Cambridge Grove, London W6 0LE. Be sure to include the person’s name on the back of the cheque.

The Prostate Cancer Charity will use the money raised by Movember for the development of programs related to awareness, public education, advocacy, support of those affected, and research into the prevention, detection, treatment and cure of prostate cancer.

For more details on how the funds raised from previous campaigns have been used and the impact Movember is having please visit HERE.

Councillor Nigel Clarke Movember man number three

2010-11-17T21:40:00.001Z

The third is Councillor Nigel Clarke, who is Lib Dem councillor for Brentwood West.

I am doing this because it is so important that we unite to fight cancer, whatever strain it is.

Movember is the fundraising project for the Prostate Cancer Charity.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men. One man dies every hour from the disease in the UK.

This is a cause that I feel passionately about and I’m asking you to support my efforts by making a donation to The Prostate Cancer Charity.

To help Councillor Nigel Clarke, you can either:

Click this link and donate online using your credit card or PayPal account. Or,

Send cheques and CAF vouchers (made payable to ‘The Prostate Cancer Charity Re Movember’) directly to The Prostate Cancer Charity – First Floor, Cambridge House, Cambridge Grove, London W6 0LE. Be sure to include the person’s name on the back of the cheque.

The Prostate Cancer Charity will use the money raised by Movember for the development of programs related to awareness, public education, advocacy, support of those affected, and research into the prevention, detection, treatment and cure of prostate cancer.

For more details on how the funds raised from previous campaigns have been used and the impact Movember is having please visit HERE.

PSPC Callum Leslie Movember man two

2010-11-17T21:21:00.001Z

I said I would push the movember attributes of five Liberal Democrats, the first was Councillor Jeremy Rowe.

The second is Callum Leslie, Vice President of Liberal Youth Scotland and candidate for the Mid Scotland & Fife regional list.

I am doing this because it is so important that we unite to fight cancer, whatever strain it is.

Movember is the fundraising project for the Prostate Cancer Charity.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men. One man dies every hour from the disease in the UK. This is a cause that I feel passionately about and I’m asking you to support my efforts by making a donation to The Prostate Cancer Charity.

To help Callum Leslie, you can either:

Click this link and donate online using your credit card or PayPal account. Or,

Send cheques and CAF vouchers (made payable to ‘The Prostate Cancer Charity Re Movember’) directly to The Prostate Cancer Charity – First Floor, Cambridge House, Cambridge Grove, London W6 0LE. Be sure to include the person’s name on the back of the cheque.

The Prostate Cancer Charity will use the money raised by Movember for the development of programs related to awareness, public education, advocacy, support of those affected, and research into the prevention, detection, treatment and cure of prostate cancer.

For more details on how the funds raised from previous campaigns have been used and the impact Movember is having please visit HERE.

Councillor Jeremy Rowe Movember man one

2010-11-17T21:01:00.001Z

I said I would push the movember attributes of five Liberal Democrats, the first is Councillor Jeremy Rowe.

I am doing this because it is so important that we unite to fight cancer, whatever strain it is.

Movember is the fundraising project for the Prostate Cancer Charity.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men. One man dies every hour from the disease in the UK. This is a cause that I feel passionately about and I’m asking you to support my efforts by making a donation to The Prostate Cancer Charity.

To help Jeremy Rowe, you can either:

Click this link and donate online using your credit card or PayPal account. Or,
Send cheques and CAF vouchers (made payable to ‘The Prostate Cancer Charity Re Movember’) directly to The Prostate Cancer Charity – First Floor, Cambridge House, Cambridge Grove, London W6 0LE. Be sure to include the person’s name on the back of the cheque.

The Prostate Cancer Charity will use the money raised by Movember for the development of programs related to awareness, public education, advocacy, support of those affected, and research into the prevention, detection, treatment and cure of prostate cancer.

For more details on how the funds raised from previous campaigns have been used and the impact Movember is having please visit HERE.

Labour have failed the people of Glasgow according to Bill Butler MSP

2010-11-14T21:58:00.000Z

Last week the Scottish Government published a report on the City of Glasgow which found evidence of
poor diet, increased anxiety and ill health.

Now, two years ago during the Glasgow East by-election there were hundreds of stories describing the deprivation, the shorter life spans and many other health concerns of the residents of Glasgow.

So I was a little surprised to see this press release in response to the above mentioned report, from the Scottish Labour MSP for Glasgow Anniesland, Bill Butler, which quoted him as saying;

"This report shows that much more needs to be done to fight poverty and should serve as a wake-up call to politicians. We need a relentless campaign to raise expectations, drive up living standards and encourage people to live healthier lifestyles.

"In this context, the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition's decisions to cut programmes that will hit the poorest hardest is absolutely disgraceful.

“Many of Glasgow’s communities are still struggling to recover from the last Tory government and further cutbacks will condemn too many vulnerable people to a hard life, ill health and an early death."

I have never heard such a hypocritical rant from a Labour politician for a while now.

The Labour Party ran the Scottish Government for eight years from 1999 to 2007, they ran the Westminster Government from 1997 to May this year and have run the City of Glasgow Council for around 40 years.

So why did Bill Butler's Labour Party not solve the problem during that 40 year period?

I will explain why, because Labour didn't know how to solve the problems so just threw money (and continue to do so) at the problem areas and hope someone somewhere will sort it out with no one person responsible for reviewing the work of the schemes that just hand the money out.

The Labour Party like to operate by blaming everyone else for their mistakes, whether it be the previous Tory Westminster government (thrown out of power back in 1997) or the new current Lib Dem-Tory coalition government which has been in power a mere 6 months.

Just look how many ministers over those 13 years were Scottish MPs and yet they failed the people of Glasgow who despite being let down by Labour over the years continue to ignore the problems thrown at them and continue to thrive within their communities.

Bill Butler needs to accept he has played a part in the issues contained in the report he has casually thrown out comments to.

Edinburgh Capitals - the EIHL ice hockey team of Edinburgh

2010-11-14T19:36:00.000Z

Caps TV talks to the Edinburgh Capitals General Manager Scot Neil.

Ten tips for the Liberal Democrats - members, voters and activists alike

2010-11-11T14:21:00.000Z

Contrary to what many believe, the Lib Dems were right to choose coalition, and can remain a distinctive force.

Julian Glover writes for The Guardian.

Liberal Democrats are not short of advice. Mostly from outsiders. Mostly from people who find it odd that anyone should choose to be a Lib Dem activist and who never expected to see the party in power. Naturally, they see the coalition as an aberration and many expect it to fail.

Here, in no particular order, are 10 thoughts as to how Lib Dems might prove the doubters wrong, as they consider their identity and try to establish a distinctive message.

1) Don't panic. There is no crisis. Don't believe people who tell you that there is. The polls are poor, not catastrophic – 16% in the last Guardian/ICM survey is the same as the party scored in early 2009. The Lib Dem conference was the calmest and most successful of the three. Most Lib Dems believe that joining the coalition was the right thing to do – which isn't the same as approving of all its consequences. There's an impressive determination to make it work. What's striking is not the scale of dissent – but how little there is.

2) However, there is a Nick problem. It's partly unavoidable, but all those pictures of Nick Clegg sitting alongside David Cameron at PMQs and slapping George Osborne on the back have stopped reassuring us that the coalition is real and started reminding us he looks like a Tory. Or, if not that, then just another politician. He's got to take care not to be a backdrop to Cameron. He needs to find causes of his own. Get out of the bubble. Do real things. Don't get downhearted or isolated by hostile coverage.

3) Oh, and win the AV referendum. It's not impossible. And if not that, then at least win the public over to coalition government. It's happening: voters like co-operation and they see the Lib Dems as a moderating force. In 2015 the message should be: like the coalition and want it to continue? Then you'll have to vote Lib Dem.

For points 4 to 10, please read Julian Glover's full piece at The Guardian website HERE.

My advice in Scotland is do not write our party off, we are fighting and will not just roll over as people like Jim Murphy believe. Write us off at your peril.

Conservative Councillor Gareth Compton calls for stoning of Yasmin Alibhai-Brown on twitter

2010-11-11T12:35:00.000Z

Another example of alleged wry humour gone wrong on twitter.

This is an awful tweet to have sent out. Gareth claims it was a humorous response to something on Radio 5, the problem is if you don't explain the connection the tweet comes over as nothing more than a disgusting personal attack on someone.

When will elected representatives realise that whether in jest or not their words are a matter of public record.

I have had the great privilege of meeting Yasmin Alibhai-Brown and was truly impressed. Although Yasmin will often offend with her words, she fights racism hard and comes down on those who incite it harder.

So, Conservative Councillor Gareth Compton should not be surprised that Yasmin is reporting him to the police and will pursue this message on twitter.

Yasmin Alibhai-Brown said;

"You just don't do this. I have a lot of threats on my life. It's incitement. I'm going to the police – I want them to know that a law's been broken."

She added that she regarded Compton's remarks as racially motivated because he mentioned stoning.

"If I as a Muslim woman had tweeted that it would be a blessing if Gareth Compton was stoned to death I'd be arrested immediately. I don't think the nasty Tories went away."

The Guardian has also picked the story up;

The columnist Yasmin Alibhai-Brown has said she will report a Conservative councillor to the police after he posted a message on Twitter saying it would be a "blessing" if she was stoned to death.

Councillor Compton has now profusely apologised, many times.

Compton, the Conservative councillor for Erdington, said he was writing in response to comments made by Alibhai-Brown on Radio 5 Live.

The councillor claimed she had said, with reference to David Cameron's trip to China, that no politician was morally qualified to speak out about human rights abuses, including the stoning of women, bar the likes of Nelson Mandela.

Compton, who later apologised on Twitter, added: "Twitter is a forum for glib comment of the moment. It was a glib comment. Who could possibly think it was serious?

"Obviously I apologise. No offence was intended."

Councillor Compton may well have not intended any offence but Yasmin has taken it. Gareth may come to regret ever listening to that debate on Radio 5 and he will certainly regret going on to tweet about it.

Other politicians who have made major mistakes on twitter have found a quiet life after, especially those who have then been forced to resign after, will Councillor Compton be one of them?