The BBC’s Nick Robinson thinks it is in spite of the Labour Government’s official denials.

The Lib Dems’ shadow home secretary Chris Huhne wrote here on Lib Dem Voice back in the summer explaining why detaining without trial terrorist suspects for 42 days was wrong both in principle and in practice:

Detention without charge for terrorist suspects has already risen from 7 days, to 14 days, to 28 days just since 1997. The sad truth is that ministers are using this simple number as a proxy to persuade the public that they are tough on terror. In fact, such blunt instruments runs the substantial risk of alienating the communities that we need on board to fight terror.

After all, the police need intelligence and witnesses prepared to give evidence. Britain’s most senior Muslim police officer, Assistant Commissioner Tarique Ghaffour, has warned that these arbitary powers could have a counter-productive effect in the Muslim community, exactly as internment did in Northern Ireland in the seventies.

The fight against terrorism is far too important to be reduced to populist symbols which would substantially curb our hard-won freedoms. This cause is central to our party’s belief in the rule of law and in checks and balances to arbitrary power.

I pondered on my blog at the weekend whether Baroness Ashton’s appoint as European Commissioner would require her to leave the House of Lords, and whether this might cause the Government to act to allow life peerages to be given up. This is similar to an issue which affects one of our MEPs, Baroness Ludford, because from next year Members of the European Parliament will not be allowed to sit in national parliaments (this came into force for the last European elections, but existing MEPs who were members of the House of Lords were given a free pass).

A well-informed comment on my blog directed me to the excitingly-named statutory instrument SI 2008/1647 - also known as The European Parliament (House of Lords Disqualification) Regulations 2008. These bar MEPs elected from 2009 onwards who are also members of the House of Lords from sitting or voting in the upper house while an MEP.

The slight concern that ministerial regulations can determine who sits in our legislature aside, this is good news for Baroness Ludford. Assuming the European Parliament have agreed that these regulations do the job, Sarah (if re-elected, of course) will be able to continue to sit in the European Parliament and return to the House of Lords when her term of office in Europe ends.

I’ll be interested to see whether the Government makes, or has made, similar regulations for European Commissioners.

Liberal Democrat Voice has offered each of the three candidates for the post of Party President three platforms pieces on LDV during the contest to make their case to party members. How they choose to use these platforms is entirely up to them. Today it’s Ros Scott’s turn.

In my view, one of the key jobs of the Party President is to represent the views of members and activists to the Leader and to the paid executive.

Very few people join our Party out of any sort of tribal loyalty. People join because they believe in what we stand for and what we’re trying to do.

Our future success cannot be assured unless we maintain a healthy internal party democracy, where members feel involved and informed about decisions made by the Party. Simply electing rafts of committees doesn’t, in itself, achieve this. For genuine democracy to exist we need clear accountability – the “who decides what” and better communication with the membership of what the issues are and what their views are.

As President I would continue to do what I’ve always done - visit local parties regularly, campaigning, talking to members about key issues facing us, and most importantly, listening to what they have to say. I will do my utmost to get to one conference a year in Scotland and Wales and in each of the English regions, as well as keeping in touch with the Specified Associated Organisations (SAOs).

I would keep in touch regularly, through my blog, articles in Party publications and using e mail. We can make much more use of on-line surveys and email communication to take very rapid soundings on items up for decision. Steve Webb has used this sort of communication to develop a valuable dialogue with thousands of his constituents, and I’d like to adapt this model for communication within the Party.

The Leader has many demands on his time, and much of what he does will inevitably be outward focussed. Part of the President’s job is to make sure that the voice of the members and activists does not disappear into the Westminster bubble. The relationship between President and Leader is an important one for the Party and should be complementary and not competitive. Supportive in public, but in private, to be candid where necessary.

I’ve lost track of the number of meetings I’ve attended over the years where we talk about the need to increase membership, but like the other two big parties, our membership has inexorably declined.

We need to review what it is we offer our members, and what the incentives are to local parties to go out and recruit. I am also keen that we look at how we might involve those people who already support us but aren’t ready to take the step of becoming full members. Some kind of associate membership might well be a way to recruit people who support a particular campaign, a particular candidate, a particular local party. Informal flexible networks are growing in importance, and we should reflect that trend within our own structure.

To coincide with this article I am publishing the results of the grassroots survey conducted over the spring. For more on this, and more on my manifesto, go to http://im4ros.com.

Life has been a little quieter this week as the Conference season concludes, the world comes to the brink of financial meltdown and Dr Pack sets off on his tour of the world’s paperclip factories.

Our own Vince Cable gave his thoughts on the economy, kicking off a Lib Dem campaign to highlight our plans for financial recovery. It’s been a good week for Vince - as even Tinsel Tits agrees.

Vince was joined this week as a guest contributor to the voice by Simon Titley, arguing that politicians should talk more than listen; Paul Burall sought your views on our new environmental policy; and Charlotte Gore asked just who should tell us how to live?

Our regulars this week: Mark Pack on making sure you can cope if an online provider suddenly disappears; Helen Duffett on inspiring Lib Dem women with inspiring as an exhortation and a description; Stephen Tall on the collapse of “vote blue get green”; and me on taking money from councils.

We covered the reshuffle here; the resurrection of the Hartlepool Monkey here; Ruth Kelley’s plans here.

You, dear reader, provided the content by commenting on threads. Dozens of you did so in our weekly look at Question Time, which also continued into the small hours of the morning to look at the US Vice Presidential debate. And you also commented a lot about the reports of Lembit in the Big Brother house, which were strenuously denied later in the day.

In the Lib Dem Presidential Race, the first candidate to avail themselves of the platform was Chandila Fernando. LDV remains strictly neutral in party elections, and we have offered the same deal to all three candidates contesting the race.

Lib Dem Riso Monkey made an anonymous debut on the Voice this week with the inside scoop on what working at the campaign coal face is really like.

And finally, Ryan Cullen, one of our two technical geniuses here at LDV rounded the week off with another new innovation, LibDig, which he describes here.

Have you ever wanted to say that a blog post is great, or that a video on YouTube should be watched by all LibDems, or found an article on LVT in an online journal? Never got around to blogging it, or don’t even have a blog?
I know that I have, and that many others have pestered me to create a version of Digg.com for the LibDems. So for the last three weeks I’ve been working at it, and today it goes live.
It’s called LibDig and can be found at libdig.co.uk.
It uses the Liberal Democrats Account system to login, so no need for another username and password.
If you are really lucky the LibDem blogs you regularly visit will have one of the fancy widgets on it, allowing you to vote there and then and it’s already integrated with LibDemBlogs so you can see which posts are recommended.
I hope you enjoy the new site, and please submit content you recommend.

Welcome to the 85th of our weekly round-ups from the Lib Dem blogosphere, featuring the seven most popular stories according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (28th September - 4th October), together with a hand-picked quintet you might otherwise have missed.

How about starting with the most popular blog-posting, and we work our way down? Here goes: Read more »

Liberal Democrat Voice has offered each of the three candidates for the post of Party President three platforms pieces on LDV during the contest to make their case to party members. How they choose to use these platforms is entirely up to them. First up is Chandila Fernando, whose campaign website can be found here.

1. Why are you running for President?
The Party must move into the 21st Century and operate in a 24/7 media driven environment. Our structures are outdated, bureaucratic and sloth like. Sadly, the same is true of our image that has not changed since the 1980s. I believe incremental reform is not enough if we want to compete with Labour and the Conservatives. I’m running to put forward a radical, dramatic and challenging program for how I believe the party needs to change.

2. Why did you call yourself the troubleshooter?
My commercial experience is best described in this way

3. What is the single biggest challenge facing Liberal Democrats?
Communicating a simple message that can be heard and understood by the voting public

4. In your opinion what is the role of the President
An effective administrator, national activist and spokesperson who can galvanize the morale of party troops

5. So, what specifically do you want to change about the party’s structure?
We have the annual turnover of a single branch of a high street department store, but a decision-making structure as bureaucratic as the former Soviet Union. We need to empower individual staff and activists whilst holding them properly to account.I want us to decentralize our funding. I will consult on precise details and mechanisms, but favour 50% of small donations and subscriptions being remitted to local and regional parties.

6. And what precisely do you mean by modernizing the party?
The Liberal Democrats must become the first mainstream political party to move away from the tired concept of card-carrying membership. Lib Dem membership is in serious decline. We need to build a stronger relationship with the 99% of Lib Dem supporters who are not paid-up members. Modern technology makes it possible and desirable to move to a system of registered supporters. Again, I will consult on all the details, but my blueprint is available on my website. The party should also go through a full rebranding exercise. We still look and feel just like we did twenty years ago. In that time, we have seen the rise and fall of new Labour and the Tories have re-branded twice. I will be consulting with some of the country’s leading brand managers during my campaign. The party should be doing this!!

7. Some people say you are on the “loony right-wing” of the party, how do you respond to that?
NO. I believe the Lib Dems should support lower taxes, smaller government and more personal freedom. I like the way Nick Clegg is taking the party, and want him to go further. But this election is about how the party operates, not its policy platform. If I’m elected, I will focus my efforts on streamlining, decentralizing and modernizing the party.

8. Just a few years ago, you were a member of the Conservative Party. Why should people trust you as a recent recruit to the Liberal Democrats?
I left the Tories for a number of reasons, but mainly because of their position on race and immigration. As the son of an immigrant myself, I am appalled by the way the Right often takes an extreme, populist and dangerous stance on these sensitive and explosive issues. I am a true liberal and feel at home in the Lib Dems. David Cameron may have given the Conservatives a new-look, but he has not fundamentally changed his party. We need to worry more about ex-Lib Dems supporting the Tories, rather than ex-Tories joining the Lib Dems. If we are serious about government, we must accommodate and embrace millions of people who have been lifelong supporters of other parties.

9. You don’t have any chance of winning this election, so isn’t just a wasted vote to support you?
There’s no such thing as a wasted vote in a preferential election. Cast your first preference vote for me - even if you think I will come third - and then cast your second preference for either Lembit or Ros. This will send a clear signal that the party needs serious reform and thinking otherwise is denial.

10. How will you cast your second preference?
My second preference will go to the candidate who adopts the boldest manifesto for reforming and modernizing the party.

According to The Observer,

The Liberal Democrat Nick Clegg leader opens the door to his private study in Putney, London

How could you resist?

An email drops into inbox of The Voice from A Liberal Democrat Organiser Who Wishes To Remain Anonymous: “I have no wish for anything I write to reflect badly on the local party. But on the flipside, there’s little recognition within the wider party as to what our role actually involves”. Riso Monkey - The Voice salutes you and all your kind…

8:30am
Early photoshoot in front of some new Council Housing we’re constructing. The Councillor I’m snapping is harangued by a local resident about the noise and disturbance caused by the construction. Resident then starts complaining that her little Eileen hasn’t got a house on the social yet. Resident does not appear to make the connection between a lack of social housing and building new ones.

9:00am
Office. Coffee. Switch on computer, and watch the email counter tick upwards.

9:30am
Make final adjustments to local Council ward newsletter, the Focus. This involves switching a photo on one story for another not actually related to the story, but which apparently makes the Councillor look more majestic.

10:00am
Intern arrives. I wave a hand at the kettle, and start setting up the big printing engine, the Riso, to produce the Focus. It beeps recalcitrantly for a while, until I give it a swift kick.

10:30am
PPC calls. Apparently another Post Office has been targeted for closure. The PPC is bright and chirpy, unlike me, she never suffers from Post Office Compassion Fatigue. I start designing some flyers for the afternoon’s protest.

11:00am
Intern warns me that the Riso has stopped working. I walk over and glare at it. It sparks into life.

11:30am
Phone is cut off, owing to non-payment of bills. It’s no-one’s fault, it’s just the arcane rules of the local party’s account, which only allows cheques to be made out at a conclave of all the Exec on a moonless night on [DELETED], in the blood of a virgin goat. It does mean that no-one can misuse funds, or indeed use them for that matter. I contact BT on my mobile and coax them into giving us a week’s extension.

12 noon
Lunch. My unsatisfying Tesco sandwich is interrupted by a phone call on our reconnected line from the Councillor whose Focus we’re doing. Apparently they want to change ‘I insist’ to the less controversial ‘I think we should insist’. I tell them we’ve already gone to print. They ask how many we’ve done. In my mind’s eye, I consign another ream of paper to the Great Recycling Bin in the sky.

12:30pm
Printing flyers for the PO protest. The printer is emitting that strange metallic smoke again. It smells of bad fireworks, and makes my eyes sting slightly.

1:00pm
Catch bus to threatened PO. The PPC has been working the area and has already gathered a small crowd. I arrange them all neatly, and make another effort to achieve the impossible - a photo in which all the participant’s eyes are open. Read more »

A quick reminder - we provide a weekly round-up of the best Lib Dem blogging, statistically speaking, every Sunday evening [ahem, or thereabouts - Ed.] - and we add to that list of 7 statistically succesful blog posts a list of 5 bits of excellent writing that you, the public have suggested we add, if you see what I mean.  Some weeks, we have a wealth of suggestions, others, not so much.

So if you’ve seen some stellar blog posts this week that you feel deserve being brought to the attention of a wider audience, please feel free to send a link and any brief review you care to to .  And, yes, you are more than welcome to nominate your own post if you think it was more-than-usually deserving.

A fortnight is a long time in politics, y’know. With the Tories’ huge poll lead slipping back to being simply large, the economy facing a serious recession, and Gordon Brown’s conference speech judged relatively successful, the likelihood of the Prime Minister being forced from office has – at least for the moment – receded. But before all that happened, Lib Dem Voice asked our readers to say who you thought would be the most effective next Labour leader (from the Labour party’s point of view).

Here’s what you told us:

David Miliband - 19% (67)
Alan Johnson - 17% (61)
Jack Straw - 14% (51)
Jon Cruddas - 12% (43)
Harriet Harman - 8% (30)
James Purnell - 7% (26)
John Reid - 7% (26)
Ed Balls - 7% (25)
Jacqui Smith - 5% (17)
John Denham - 3% (9)
Total Votes: 355 Poll ran: 22nd Sept – 2 Oct 2008

So David Miliband, the foreign secretary, topped the poll, just, edging out health secretary Alan Johnson (though all the indications are that a pact between the two has been agreed should Mr Brown be forced to resign).

I’ll confess a slight surprise that John Reid did not poll higher. I’m scarcely a fan, but I think there’s little doubt he’s the Labour choice the Tories fear most, capable of securing Labour’s traditional base while appealing to those Tory voters who fear Cameron´s a soft southerner. That Ed Balls – who would be manna from heaven to the opposition parties - was ranked only just behind Dr Reid suggests to me that some of you were perhaps indulging in some mischief-making.

Here at Lib Dem Voice we don’t often cut’n'paste directly from party press releases, but sometimes it’s worth making the exception.

Commenting on Gordon Brown’s cabinet reshuffle, in which Peter Mandelson is to return to a senior post, Chief of Staff to Nick Clegg, Danny Alexander said:

“Gordon Brown is deluded if he thinks that Peter Mandelson can help him convince the British people that his party still has what it takes to govern this country.

“Resurrecting ex-ministers from the political graveyard is not going to breathe new life into Gordon Brown’s zombie government.”

Over at the Beeb, we have what is presumably a literary reference from Norman Baker - can anyone explain who else was wrapped in chains and thrown into the Volga?

It is astonishing to see Peter Mandelson back in government yet again. It seems no matter how many times he is wrapped in chains and thrown to the bottom of the Volga, up he pops again. True to form, he is attempting to gain power again and, this time, without any accountability to the electorate. As a member of the House of Lords, he will not be subject to the usual scrutiny in the House of Commons at Question Time.

And over at the Telegraph, we have a bizarre volte-face on the Volga. 

Norman Baker, Liberal Democrat MP for Lewes

“I am absolutely delighted. Peter Mandelson was a very effective Cabinet Minister, both in Northern Ireland and other portfolios. On top of that, he has unique experience in Europe and I think this is a superb appointment. I am 100 per cent delighted. I have this volcanic reaction partly because he knows a heck of a lot about it and partly because he will carry great weight with the Prime Minister. All the old baggage is past history.”

That doesn’t sound like the Norman Baker we know and love?

Ah.  All becomes much clearer when you realise that the Beeb has the name of the person giving the quote before the quote, and the Telegraph has the name after the quote.

“It is astonishing to see Peter Mandelson back in government yet again. It seems no matter how many times he is wrapped in chains and thrown to the bottom of the Volga, up he pops again. True to form, he is attempting to gain power again and, this time, without any accountability to the electorate. As a member of the House of Lords, he will not be subject to the usual scrutiny in the House of Commons at Question Time.”
Norman Baker, Liberal Democrat MP for Lewes
“I am absolutely delighted. Peter Mandelson was a very effective Cabinet Minister, both in Northern Ireland and other portfolios. On top of that, he has unique experience in Europe and I think this is a superb appointment. I am 100 per cent delighted. I have this volcanic reaction partly because he knows a heck of a lot about it and partly because he will carry great weight with the Prime Minister. All the old baggage is past history.”
Tam Dalyell, former Labour MP and former father of the Commons