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Pushed for time, but want to keep up-to-date with how the campaign’s going? Here are today’s must-reads …. Nick Clegg launching Scottish Lib Dem election campaign (BBC) It will be almost like old times for the Lib Dems, with former leader Charles Kennedy joining Nick Clegg to launch the Lib Dems’ Scottish campaign – as CK himself [...]

The BBC reports: The author, broadcaster and campaigner Sir Ludovic Kennedy has died aged 89. A former BBC Panorama journalist, Sir Ludovic spent decades investigating miscarriages of justice, including the case of the Birmingham Six. He contributed to the abolition of the death penalty and was also president of the Voluntary Euthanasia Society. Nick Clegg has [...]

While Nick Clegg has publicly disagreed with the SNP Scottish executive’s decision to release convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Al Megrahi, former Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy has joined David Steel in declaring his belief that the decision was the right one. Charles’s local paper the Ross-shire Journal reports his views: The Justice Secretary faced an unenviable decision, in which  [ Read More ]

It’s one of the curiosities of YouTube that, because it’s only four years old, even fairly recent events and people of prominence are sometimes almost absent. Search for ‘nick clegg’, elected leader of the Lib Dems 18 months ago, and you’ll find 520 videos; search for ‘charles kennedy’, who led the party from 1999 to 2006, and there are fewer  [ Read More ]

Via Jennie Rigg and Jonathan Calder comes the news that four Lib Dem MPs were drawn in the top 20 for the Private Members’ Bills ballot for the 2008-9 session. The lucky four were: David Heath (2nd), Evan Harris (5th), Jeremy Browne (13th) and Charles Kennedy (17th). So, then, here’s a question for LDV readers to ponder: what are your  [ Read More ]

A fairly extraordinary press release has been issued by Lembit Opik – one of the three Lib Dems standing for the post of party presidency which will be decided by an all-member ballot within the next few weeks – demanding an end to an alleged “conspiracy” in the party against his candidacy. I’ll reproduce the whole release below, but here’s  [ Read More ]

There’s a paradox about party leaders’ conference speeches (akin to Prime Minister’s Questions): they are dissected by supporters, opponents and journalists, while in reality the ‘real people’ in the country might perhaps catch a 10-second clip on the news. But speeches remain fundamentally important – not only for the morale of members, but also as probably the only time in  [ Read More ]

As trailed by Lib Dem Voice last week (but missed by us yesterday: sorry) the I’m4Ros site has gone live today – you can find it here. We will, of course, cover the party president campaign launches of any other candidates as they occur. Or should that be if they occur. As yet, there’s no sign of a campaign from  [ Read More ]

Former Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy is one of the panellists on tonight’s Question Time (broadcast on BBC1 and online from 10.35 pm GMT). The panel will also include the First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond, Conservative shadow chancellor George Osborne, Innovation, Universities and Skills secretary John Denham, and businesswoman Nicola Horlick. If you’re watching, and want to sound-off, please  [ Read More ]

Its a month since Lib Dem Voice found that the BBC’s Question Time is “officially pro-Tory”, with considerably more Conservative-aligned panellists than Labour, let alone the Lib Dems. (We even produced the obligatory bar-chart as conclusive proof.) As promised, we emailed the BBC with the link to our story, and have today received their reply: Dear Mr Tall Thank you  [ Read More ]