Welcome to my round-up of some of the best news sources and blogs, all brought together in one place. If you have any suggestions for other sites to include, please do get in touch and if you would like to get a convenient summary of Liberal Democrat news, just sign up for my monthly email newsletter.
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Awema: Government want money back
The Welsh government says it is trying to retrieve public funding from race-relations charity All Wales Ethnic Minority Association (Awema) as opponents accuse ministers of ...
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Cherie Blair starts hacking case
Cherie Blair has started legal proceedings over phone hacking, her solicitor confirms.
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Commons staging Mullin diary play
A hit play based on the diaries of former Labour MP Chris Mullin is to be performed in Parliament.
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Moore calls for early referendum
The Scottish secretary sets out a timetable he said would allow an independence referendum to be held in September 2013.
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Miliband: NHS Reforms Will Be PM's Poll Tax
David Cameron's NHS reforms will become "his poll tax", the Labour leader suggested during Prime Minister's Questions.
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InterContinental Hotels Creates 3,000 UK Jobs
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has welcomed the creation of 3,000 new jobs in the UK by the world's biggest hotelier, InterContinental Hotels.
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'Complacent' MoD Warned Of Space Risk
A space attack by a hostile country or terrorists could bring down the UK's power supply and the threat should be taken more seriously, the ...
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Fraud Arrests At Welfare-To-Work Company
Police investigating claims of fraud have arrested four former employees from the company which holds the Government's welfare-to-work contracts.
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British PM Cameron issues football racism warning
British Prime Minister David Cameron pledged to prevent the specter of racism returning to football when he hosted a summit on Wednesday following some recent ... -
Tesco pays up for workers
Tesco has offered to pay people it takes on in government-organised "work experience" placements after outcry over the programme, under which job seekers work for ... -
Michael Gove: Get set for new age of exam failures
More teenagers will fail their GCSEs and A-levels after a radical toughening of the examinations system, the Education Secretary declared ... -
Ministers fear Greece's €130bn bailout will not be enough
British ministers doubt that the €130bn (£109bn) bailout for Greece will prove enough to rescue the country's stricken economy and ...
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Cameron's quips fail to lift the blues
It was hardly surprising that the PM's puzzling attempts at humour did little to dispel the gloom on the Tory ...
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Out of Eden: when the private prison bubble bursts | Sadhbh Walshe
All over the US, small towns like Eden, desperate for jobs, have welcomed private prisons. But ask Littlefield how that's ...
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Boris Johnson urges transparency over Olympic Games ticket allocation
London mayor acknowledged public concern and vowed to pressure committee to release a detailed breakdownLondon mayor Boris Johnson has vowed ...
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'Very positive response' to London Olympics terror attack drill
Mock July 7-style terror attack designed to test responses to attack during Games deemed 'very successful'The government, police and other ...
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Sketch: D-Cam defies da haterz at PMQs
Michael Deacon watches a noisy session of Prime Minister's Questions. -
The Blairs and the Murdochs: a special relationship
Cherie Blair's decision to sue Rupert Murdoch's News International over alleged phone hacking follows a close relationship between the former Prime Minister and the newspaper ... -
Europe must provide own security as US shifts focus to Pacific, says Labour
European nations must do more to provide their own security as the US shifts its attention towards China and the Pacific, Labour has warned. -
Did David Cameron really 'fist bump' Andrew Lansley after PMQs?
Andrew Lansley may have already been buoyed by David Cameron's defence of his controversial health reforms in the Commons, but he has reportedly received a ...
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Downing Street denies claims Ministry of Justice will be axed
GOVT forced to deny claims Ministry of Justice will be axed in a shake-up amid worries over soft-touch policies
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Massive protest march to cut pump duty
A MASSIVE demonstration will descend on Parliament ahead of next month’s Budget — to demand a cut in petrol prices
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Minister: The Leveson Inquiry is ‘chilling’ free speech
EDUCATION Secretary Gove warns that inquiry could damage free speech in the UK
- David Cameron: Beat footie racists
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Liberal Democrat MEP McMillan-Scott gets European Parliament Human Rights portfolio
Liberal Democrat MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber, Edward McMillan-Scott, re-elected as one of the European Parliament’s 14 Vice Presidents last month, has again been ...
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How to win seats in 2015
Opinion polls this year have shown us between seven and sixteen per cent. That’s a significant fall compared to the twenty-three per cent we received in ...
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Emlyn Hooson (1925-2012)
It is with much regret that Liberal Democrat Voice has received word that Lord Hooson, former Liberal MP for Montgomeryshire, passed away peacefully yesterday. Emlyn ...
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The Independent View: The major environmental tests facing the Liberal Democrats in 2012 (Part 1)
The Liberal Democrats have long been seen as the greenest of the biggest three political parties. Now in government, the party is facing tough decisions ...
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Hear what leading Liberal Democrats really thought
I’ve recently become the custodian, on behalf of the Liberal Democrat History Group, of a great treasure trove of interviews with party figures. Adrian Slade ...
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A Twitter gem for seeing what Liberal Democrats are saying
Liberal Tweets is an aggregator (run by the king of Lib Dem aggregrators, LDV’s very own Ryan Cullen) which displays in one convenient place all ...
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Usain Bolt will be the Jonathan Ross of 2012
Usain Bolt: short, cropped hair, champion sprinter, middle name St. Leo, winner of three Olympic gold medals. Jonathan Ross: long, wavy hair, TV present, middle ... -
Well done Tim Farron and team
As if by magic… having highlighted some weaknessees in the recent Simon Hughes email and today’s Nick Clegg film, the latest Tim Farron email in ...
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I Agree with Jack, End EU Elections
I agree with Jack Straw. EU parliamentary elections should be abolished. It’s not that we object to democracy, it’s that we object to failed democracy. ...
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Why are we losing police officers? asks MP
Mp Clive Betts put Cameron on the spot over policing at PMQs, but do his arguments on “visible policing” really stack up? Watch their exchange ...
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Gordon Brown slams Greek bailout – and warns Europe over austerity
In an article for the Washington Post entitled “Europe’s shortsighted response to a worsening fiscal reality“, Gordon Brown has hit out at German-led austerity in ...
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PMQs verdict: How could anyone have “won” something as dreadful as that?
So much of the coverage of PMQs is focussed on the snap verdict. Who won? Who lost? I’m aware that this blog is as guilty ...
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Why Britain needs a new defence strategy
by Jim Murphy The driving focus of the shadow defence team is to develop a defence policy fit for modern times, responsive to a dramatically ...
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Welcome to the 2010s: the era of reactive, populist, say-anything politics
by Rob Marchant What has David Cameron done so far, which has marked him out as a prime minister? The answer is, surprisingly little, as ...
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Whip’s Notebook
by Jon Ashworth So we’re all back after our constituency week and I’m spending my time as a dutiful whip touring the tearoom, smoking room ...
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In Alex we trust
by Tom Harris When I launched LabourHame in June last year, I thought it would be fun to initiate a semi-regular column entitled “Questions To Which ...
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“One of the finest foreign correspondents of her generation” – Marie Colvin, 1957-2012
Sunday Times journalist Marie Colvin was killed today in the Syrian city of Homs, alongside French photographer Rémi Ochlik. She was just 55 years old. -
Greece’s Armageddon: Could the military seize power to ‘restore order’?
With the €130bn Greek bailout package finally approved by the troika, markets appear to be rallying - but it’s far from certain the country is ... -
Teenagers need EMA, not JSA, to get back into the workplace
James Mills looks at the cost of keeping EMA, against that of its replacement, and finds that the latter isn't much cheaper, and is a ... -
Workfare is not voluntary
Alex Hern repeats what needs repeating: Workfare is not voluntary.
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PMQs: Ed Miliband scores victory against Cameron as he highlights the Government's NHS isolation
By Matthew Barrett Follow Matthew on Twitter. In the lead up to today's PMQs, Mr Miliband had a number of possible attack lines, especially with ...
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We need to think less about raising tax and more about cutting spending. And never mind a High Pay Commission - let's have a Lower Spending Commission.
By Paul Goodman Follow Paul on Twitter Tim issued a reminder at the start of the week that there is currently a big debate about ...
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Cut spending faster, urges Liam Fox, and make room for economy-boosting tax relief
By Tim Montgomerie Follow Tim on Twitter In his most important intervention since resigning as Defence Secretary Liam Fox has issued a coded warning that ...
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Cameron hopeful that deepening relationship with Italy, Poland and Spain can accelerate EU economic reform
By Tim Montgomerie Follow Tim on Twitter Britain is not so isolated in the EU as some would like to suggest. The Prime Minister has ...
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Whatever the problem, the EU's solution is always to spend spend spend
It is difficult to convey the determination of MEPs and Eurocrats to respond to the debt crisis with yet more expenditure; but the clip above ...
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The Union is more than an amplified alliance – there is also such a thing as British patriotism
How, readers ask, can I be against the European Union but in favour of the United Kingdom? The short answer is that I support referendums ...
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Leaving the euro isn't a punishment: it's Greece's last chance for recovery
How much worse do things have to get, for Heaven’s sake? Greek politicians keep repeating that leaving the euro would be an economic disaster. ...
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Americans! Please stop calling us Europeans!
The Cousins have finally clocked the EU for what it is: a corporatist, protectionist, anti-American racket. Heaven knows it took them long enough. For decades, ...
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Merkel: "If Greece leaves the euro, it will be the end of our European project"
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The hounding of David Burrowes
David Burrowes is a Conservative MP, a Christian, and parliamentary chairman ... -
Pure Manhood: how to become the politician God wants you to be
The Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove, has just met ... -
The death of the Anglican Covenant
It is theologically and politically interesting, if not historically and ecclesially ...
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Fistbumper
The political fist bump appears to have arrived to the Commons, but in a singula...
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The Laws of Cleggonomics
Nick Clegg has been out and about today talking about his Youth Contract, but th...
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It's the NHS, stupid
Everyone remembers James Carville's famous aphorism from the 1992 Presidential e...
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Blurting it out?
The row over Michael Gove's use of private email accounts looks like it has beco...
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An Australian bloodbath
Australian politics is all aflutter at the resignation of Kevin Rudd as Foreign Minister. What happens now? Will he challenge Julia Gillard for the job ...
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The forgotten victims of the Troubles
This post, marking the 40th anniversary of the Aldershot bombing, was published earlier on the Biteback website. But ... -
Your guide to all those tax cut proposals
Nick Clegg, Ed Balls, Liam Fox, David Davis, the Centre for Policy Studies, the Centre for Social Justice and ... -
Miliband snipes, Cameron deflects, Bercow bobs
Let’s be honest. I shouldn’t say this but I can’t help it. I’m fed up. The NHS reform process ...
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How Scotland Yard monitors prying bloggers and journalists
When a Freedom of Information (FOI) request is made it is meant to be dealt with “applicant and motive blind”. But, Scotland Yard ...
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When disabled people want to work – employers can hold the back
Since becoming ill with a rare, chronic medical condition several years ago, I have been unemployed. Lately, I’ve been wondering if I could manage some ...
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Revealed: the reality behind Workfare and why it doesn’t work
The government has spent all this week defending its exploitative Workfare programme, which forces unemployed people to get 'work experience' at companies for short periods ...
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How useful is Tesco’s u-turn on Workfare?
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How to Lose Friends and Alienate Politicians
Congratulations are in order to Toby Young who has landed the much coveted role of political columnist at the Sun on Sunday, which will likely mean that ... -
Milburn Gives Up the Act
Alan Milburn is not even trying to hide his membership of the reality based community any more. He tells tomorrow’s Staggers: “The truth is this: the ... -
Huhne Speeds Past Trouble
Awkward moment passing Chris Huhne in long,empty Commons corridor.i would have looked him in the eye but apparently I was invisible…— Isabel Oakeshott (@IsabelOakeshott) February ...
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Labour Councillor “Dearly Wishes” Thatcher Would “Go Blind”
To Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council, where at last night’s meeting Councillor Ann Holland, a Labour member for Droylsden West, was turning on the rhetoric: “Where ...
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Yet again another NHS PMQ victory for Miliband
Does Dave need better rhetoric on the Lansley plan? A sure sign that you are losing an argument is when, like Cameron did at PMQs ... -
Will scrapping the 50 pence rate boost overall tax revenues?
Could this be a difficult CON-LD issue? There’s a report in the Telegraph this morning that could open up the divide on tax between the ... -
It’s Tuesday in the PB NightHawks cafe
Welcome once again to the cafe – our informal overnight thread where you set the agenda. This is the latest from the Gallup daily tracking ... -
Marf on the Greek bail-out
Recent Threads
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What causes poll movements
The Guardian’s report on their poll this month has made the assumption that a drop in Conservative support is due to NHS policy, various other ... -
New ICM, Populus and YouGov polls
We could have several polls tonight, given most of last month’s polls ended up being conducted over the same weekend. The first one out is ...
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Some pickings from the YouGov/Sunday Times poll
I didn’t get chance yesterday to do a full rundown of the Sunday Times poll, so with full tabs long since up, here are a ...
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YouGov/Sunday Times – CON 37, LAB 41, LDEM 7
Tonight’s YouGov poll for the Sunday Times has topline figures of CON 37%, LAB 41%, LDEM 7%, Others 15%. It’s a four point lead for ...
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Orange UK blocking La Quadrature du Net
Through reports to the blocked.org.uk site, we have established that Orange UK are filtering access to La Quadrature du Net’s website on pre-paid mobile ...
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SOCA seizure
This morning we confirmed with the Serious and Organised Crime Agency that the apparent takeover of rnbxclusive.com, reported yesterday on TechDirt here, is
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The IPO, DCMS and bad copyright policy
Last Tuesday, Peter Wishart MP held a Westminster Hall debate about intellectual property. Much of his speech focused on what he sees as problems with the
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Stop ACTA London demo
On Saturday Open Rights Group joined the London Stop ACTA protest, which drew several hundred people to ...
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The golden arse beam method.
Ben Goldacre, The Guardian, Saturday 9 July 2011 Since I was a teenager, whenever I have a pivotal life event coming – an exam, or ...
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These Guardian / Independent stories are dodgy. Traps in data journalism.
Here’s an interesting problem with data analysis in general, and so, by extension, data journalism: you have to be careful about assuming that the numbers ...
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“Bad Science” is £2.49 on Kindle for the next week
Briefly: I thought this was a pricing error, but it turns out it’s deliberate, so… My book is £2.49 on Kindle for the next week ...
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Why won’t Professor Susan Greenfield publish this theory in a scientific journal?
Ben Goldacre, The Guardian, Saturday 22 October 2011 This week Baroness Susan Greenfield, Professor of pharmacology at Oxford, apparently announced that computer games are causing ...