Mark Foster

The Liberal Democrat leadership “race” is now on. I am really upset that there’s only two runners, I really, really think we’re making a mistake again!   I am glad to see that Cleggy and Mr. Huhne are both going to take a stand against ID cards. I find it sad that most people are against ID cards because of the cost – when all our freedoms have been stolen by the state there will be no one left to reverse it! 
Britain now needs passionate, principled campaigners now after the Bliar legacy of sterile, robotic, career politicians. Principled politics will help restore trust in the system, encourage local campaigning and will highlight the real issues instead of the media’s obsession with superficial personality contests.

Foreign minister Kim Howells told a conference ahead of a state visit by the Saudi King that the two states could unite around our “shared values”. I have never heard such complete rubbish! What shared values?If you’re going to browntongue an autocrat. At least complement them on something like their low tax rate or their low crime rate rather than pretending we have anything in common with them…….yet!

The Littlehampton Bonfire procession managed to keep the rain away for once last night. It didn’t start raining until we walked home. I remember going to one in 1979 when I was four! I have never seen so many Police in the town, I mean real Police not PCSO’s. 

The party has organised a leadership hustings in
Worthing on the 19^th November. I think I’ll try and go, although I have pretty much made up my mind for Cleggy. 

So Flash is talking about civil liberties. What a joke! Its like King Henry VIII talking about family values! It is becoming increasingly more difficult to take this government seriously. They said they’d save the NHS, it seems to be in more trouble now than it was ten years ago. 

One of the main threats to civil liberties over the last decade has been the behaviour of an increasingly overbearing Labour Government that has transformed Britain into a surveillance state. If Flash Gordon is genuinely signalling a change of heart then that is brilliant, but authoritarianism seems to run deep in the lifeblood of this Government.

I fear that Labour polling has revealed that the British public find the Government’s intrusions into their private lives revolting and Flash is just paying lip service.

Well, my mobile was in my pocket today. Somehow the keylock came off and I sent more than 60 blank texts to a LibDem colleague and about 20 to another. It only stopped because I ran out of credit!

The government has been critisised for spending £50,000 on red briefcases for ministers. This government cares only about it’s own continuation.

I actually read the European Reform Treaty yesterday. All I can say after two-and-a-half hours is “If you want Britain in the EU you will agree with it. If you want Britain out - you won’t.”

So the leadership contenders are lining themselves up  - yes all two of them. Which I think it’s really bad! We have some really talented women MP’s on our front bench and they are completely ignored by the media. I think we need a woman leader, which we have never had in Liberal/Liberal Democrat history. So unless Julia Goldsworthy, Lorely Burt or Lynne Featherstone put themselves forward in the next week or so, I’ll be backing Clegg.

The house of commons is to close for 18 weeks in 2008. Now don’t get me wrong, I’d prefer MP’s to be active in their constituencies working hard and campaigning hard on real issues and a good MP will spend most of the eighteen weeks doing that but this is just stupid . Most people have four weeks off per year, and most people have to almost make-up the work when they return.

I can’t get over the cheek of the Conservatives. They seem to be calling for referenda on almost everything, but between 1979 and 1997 the Tories signed eurotreaty after eurotreaty without ANY referenda. I believe there should be ONE referenda on europe;- IN or OUT and get it sorted!

Its looking like a two-horse race for the party leadership, which is a shame and something we may live to regret! Maybe all the LibDem MP’s should be on the ballot by default and the ones that want to win could make an effort!! Westminster politicians are always talking about “choice”, can we have some for our leadership please?

There was a piece in the Gazette about the lack of UFO sightings in West Sussex, I wonder why! Well I’ve never seen one, but maybe thats because I’m too busy at work and then delivering leaflets to be staring-up at the sky.

The weather is brilliant here in sunny Littlehampton, better than it was in August!

I’m still in a bit of shock over Ming’s departure. I knew it was a matter of WHEN not IF, but I expected a bit more of a media flurry, I had just written a leaflet featuring Ming, luckily we had problems with the printer so we could call it off!!! 

I just want us to get a leader in place now and get on with the job. I just hope there are more candidates than we had last time and more choice! Leadership contests can get quite nasty as the media stir it up. The media don’t understand the LibDem electoral system which makes it worse.

So Ming’s gone and done it then? Well it comes to something when the only thing people can critisise your leader is for looking too old, I mean what a sad indictment of the media-led British polictical system! Ming was the best out of the three main party leaders, better than Blairclone and Flash Gordon.

Remember Ming is only four years older than Debbie Harry, the most attractive and talented singer in Blondie!

Ming sorted the Liberal Democrats out, got us on a winning track, now it’s time to get ourselves a new dynamic leader (like Paddy or Jo Grimond) One that gets the public enthused, maybe Charlie-boy could make a comeback after his excellent speech at conference??