The Bank of England made a quarter of a point interest rate cut on Thursday, but I think it’s a bit like the little Dutch boy with his finger in the dyke. The economy needs a correction after 13 years of boom. The question is; what has the government done to try and soften the landing for those likely to be worst hit? I remember delivering leaflets in the north beaumont in 1994/5 and seeing so many houses with the repossession notice on the window. I fear this could happen again.

My LibDem colleagues and I went walkabout in Littlehampton town centre on Saturday. People are really, really angry about this government. I have never seen the public this angry before, I mean people were fed-up with the Tories in 1994/5 but this is real fury. I can’t see Gordy coming back from this now, especially with the credit crunch that will turn into a recession. We met a couple of people on Saturday who wanted to join the party, so that’s good!

Well, I’ve seen the new designs for the British coinage and apart from the fact that Wales loses representation on our coins and the value isn’t written in figures for foreigners, I’m quite impressed BUT I thought it was government policy to join the Euro when the economic conditions were right. Well either that policy has been abandoned, we’ve just wasted a fortune on designing coins to be used for just a few years or Gordy doesn’t think we’re going to have the right economic conditions for the foreseeable future. 

I fear for Zimbabwe, I think even if a new president takes office the country is now so poor that the familiar culture of corruption and low-level civil war that we’ve seen all over Africa will befall Zimbabwe.

I was completely amazed to read that Liberal Democrat MP Matthew Taylor (who was adopted) has traced his birth parents, and it turns out that his grandfather was the Liberal MP and chief whip in the 1930’s, Sir Percy Harris (who lost his seat in the 1945 general election). What are the chances of that eh?

Well where do I start? Firstly, the Littlehampton Gazette has three letters from Liberal Democrat councillors in it!

Today we have the first Arun District Council by-election since the local elections last year. The Labour party haven’t even put up a candidate. I think the current “first past the post” electoral system had its day in about 1920. Of course it must be remembered that multi-member wards are nothing new in local government so it’s time for STV to start in local government as it has in Scotland and Northern Ireland. I always remember a Tory politician in the mid-90’s say that asking the public to vote by ranking preferences was “far too confusing and complicated” Well if it’s good enough for the Irish and Scots it’s good enough for us, or are we too thick?  I urge all readers to visit the following sites;-  http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/deskbound/ 

www.mvcwestsussex.org.ukhttp://

www.electoral-reform.org.uk/

People quite often ask me whether I’m left or right wing, as a Liberal I find the question quite perplexing.I don’t think that modern politics is as easy as that! If I lived in the USA I would be regarded as a loony-lefty and if I lived in

France I would be considered an economic right-winger. We live in a globalised world now; the old certainties such as national sovereignty are no longer true.

 In the future it may be more important who you work for rather than the colour of your passport, however I still believe that local geographical communities will continue to be important especially for those left behind by globalisation.  Of course national politicians in this country from the two main parties don’t seem to be facing the realities of globalisation, or certainly the real effects of it, but I think we need to wake-up from our post-empire slumber and get real!

I have just returned from a night at a friend’s house in Chandlers Ford in Hampshire, it was good to get away for a night! 

I watched the programme on TV about Enoch Powell, it was very interesting. I strongly believe that there is a tiny, tiny minority of people in this country who are really racist, but I do think there is a significant minority who are ‘cultural chauvinist’. The problem with Enoch’s speech is rather than being prophetic, it could have become self-fulfilling.   Darling is preparing for his first budget as chancellor at the moment, as I understand it, the people who will really suffer will be lower-paid workers with no children. 

I went to a belated mothers-day meal with my family today, it was in Lancing and it only took about 25 minutes to drive there. The main course was good!!

Gordy has called on Labour to build a “Britain of or dreams” – well after nearly eleven years in power, New Labour have created the stuff of Orwellian nightmares, a surveillance society where the government wants to control everything that individuals, communities and companies do where the government seems to want to know everything about everyone but at the same time keep it’s own incompetence and mismanagement as secret as possible.  

Gordy is really clutching at straws now, like John Major in 1993/4. Of course I hope I’m wrong, that the government can create a land of dreams, but to many people in this country, their dreams lie elsewhere in the world.

The House of Commons Speaker today refused to allow a vote on a Liberal Democrat amendment calling for an in-or-out referendum on the EU. The Liberal Democrat MP’s walked out of Parliament in protest. I can’t help thinking this is a cosy establishment conspiracy. Both Labour and the Conservatives have got too much to lose by giving Britons a say on this issue. I strongly believe that we’re better off in the European Union but I want to argue the case with my fellow citizens, and hopefully succeed!

Despite a £3 million enquiry lasting four years the Government has quietly dropped plans to replace council tax with a fairer local tax system. The report concluded that council tax was not fit for purpose and had some fairly modest proposals to tackle some of the unfairness. But it now seems even this was too much for ministers.  

I remember the poll tax fury, the Labour party at that time were proposing ‘fair rates’ to replace the poll tax, well there’s nothing fair about the way that council tax has increased since 1997!!! 

People are angry, they are angry at being conned by New Labour and they are angry at paying ever-increasing sums into government black-holes. The public in this country have paid £3M to find a better way of paying for local services and the government have ignored the findings.This is a government that has complete contempt for the ordinary hard-working souls of this country, I’ve lost count of how many people I meet who want leave for Cyprus, Australia, Canada, Malta or Spain!!  

Even my mum (who’s fairly non-political) has said “Labour have wrecked this country haven’t they?”