Morning all, and welcome to LDV’s Bank Holiday edition of the Daily View, on the day in 1832 John C. Calhoun became the first Vice President of the United States to resign, and the Peak District became the UK’s first National Park in 1950. And a very happy birthday to 28th US President Woodrow Wilson, pianist Richard Clayderman and actress Sienna Miller.

Without further tarrying …

2 Must-Read Blog Posts

What are other Liberal Democrat bloggers saying? Here are two posts that caught my eye from the Liberal Democrat Blogs aggregator:

• Labour’s ‘class war’ is a shambles! (Jane Watkinson)
  

  Labour have no values anymore, they are just as bad as the Tories. … It is up to the Liberal Democrats to now break the facade of a two-party system as Labour and the Tories are two sides of the same coin.

• Protecting Tony Blair – who should pay the £115,000 each week? (Andrew Reeves)
  

  I believe that he should pay for the private engagements himself and the taxpayer should fund those where he is representing the UK, if on official business sanctioned by the government.

Spotted any other great posts in the last day from blogs that aren’t on the aggregator? Do post up a comment sharing them with us all.

2 Big Stories

Sad death of Labour MP David Taylor sparks by-election speculation

A statement on David Taylor’s website broke the news that the Labour MP for North West Leicestershire – Backbencher of the Year in 2007 – died suddenly of a heart attack while out walking with his family on Boxing Day. A tragedy for his family and friends.

Today’s Times reports:

The Labour Party refused to be drawn on the likelihood of a by-election in the short term, out of respect for Mr Taylor’s family. However, given the proximity of the general election — which is expected to be held in May — it is believed that Labour will be able to avoid facing the distraction of a by-election in a marginal seat.

Iranian protests spark fresh clashes in Tehran

The BBC reports:

Clashes have taken place overnight in the Iranian capital, Tehran, following anti-government protests on Sunday in which at least eight people died. … About 300 people were detained after Sunday’s protests, police said. Those arrested include members of the banned opposition group Mujahideen Khalq Organisation (MKO) – or the People’s Mujahideen – Press TV reported. … Anger at last June’s elections, won by incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, sparked mass protests in Tehran and other cities that led to thousands of arrests and some deaths.

Expect this to be the foreign news story that comes to dominate the year.

Bank Holiday Bonus

Rory Bremner’s Review of the Year from BBC1’s Andrew Marr programme: