We are very strict at LDV Towers. There must be no mention of Christmas before 1st December, but now that we’re here, the holly, baubles and tinsel are being dusted off. Rumours that we were going to have a lights display spelling out Stronger Economy, Fairer Society have proved wide of the mark, though.

We thought we might help you with some of your Christmas shopping with a few suggestions. The first suggestion comes from Stephen Tall:

Book: An officer and a spy, by Robert Harris available here.

This is a gripping historical political thriller with a difference: though set in 19th Century France it has a message that matters today. The Dreyfus Affair – he trigger for Zola’s famous J’Accuse letter – is perhaps the most notorious attempt by any state to pervert natural justice in the name of national security, using secret courts to secure the conviction of a man who embodied a hated religious minority they genuinely believed to be guilty and using every state resource to maintain a cover-up when their mistake unravelled. Brilliantly written, painfully acute for those of us who saw the government support the extension of secret courts this year. I recommend you buy two copies. One for yourself, the other to give to a Lib Dem parliamentarian to remind them why liberals should champion open justice. (You can read my full review here.

* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings