Author Archives: Mark Valladares

There appears to be no escape from day editor duty for this walrus, but it’s the last Friday before Christmas, Parliament has adjourned until 7 January, and most of you are beginning to think about presents, turkey and things that rhyme with holly. However, my colleagues in LDV Towers are still beavering away, and there’s still quite a lot happening, so let’s see what we’ve got today.

We’ve got some good news from Lincolnshire, with a marvellous by-election gain, and the pan-European Liberal manifesto for next year’s elections has been …

Apart from the manifesto which, by its very nature is not going to be so detailed, Congress does find time to debate more specific ideas, and there are some interesting proposals on offer. The various Nordic member parties have been particularly active, and here is a quick summary of what will be debated this afternoon.

1. Tackling the shadow economy (Keskusta, Finland) – calls for better EU-wide cooperation against tax evasion, common criteria to define tax havens and greater transparency of company registers
2. Enhancing long term investment for SMEs (Open VLD, Belgium) – seeks dedicated EU markets for small and medium-sized enterprises, the

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In the unexpected absence of Andy Boddington (and I do wish that it could have been otherwise), your friendly neighbourhood Readers’ Editor is standing in until someone comes forward as a volunteer (you, yes you at the back!).

So, what can you look forward to? Well, we’ve got news from last night’s four local council by-elections, some suggestions on candidate selection and how you might be involved yourself, as well as an opportunity for you to express what you expect from your MP and how much that’s worth in terms of a salary.

And who knows, a politician might do something interesting. …

Yes, our Noble Lords are back after their summer break, and with the excitement of an election contest to come. Add to that the introduction of three new Liberal Democrat peers, and there’s quite a lot to cover this week.

Tuesday sees the introduction of Olly Grender to the Lords, or as I ought to refer to her, Baroness Grender. As there has never been a Grender in the Lords previously, she isn’t obliged to be ‘of’ anywhere in her official title. We will be covering her maiden speech as, …

And they say that you shouldn’t go back… But relax, gentle reader, it’s only as a locum day editor due to a clash of commitments and some deranged word processing software which keeps Caron busy elsewhere. Don’t worry, she’ll be back before you know it, and I can spend more time with my lemur friend.

So, what do we have for you today? Well, at the time of writing, not as much as I’d like, I’m afraid. However, that will doubtless change as the day goes on, so …