Welcome to a new week, and the anniversary of the end of the invasion of Iraq … first time round, that is – Operation Desert Storm officially finished in 1995. And happy birthday to David Mamet, Billy Idol, Lorraine Kelly and Gary Lineker and Gael García Bernal. On with the day …

2 Must-Read Blog Posts

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

Richmond Park: Lib Dem Hold (Jonathan Calder)

… some will ask how [Zac Goldsmith’s] extraordinary personal wealth can be squared with [his’ talk in an Evening Standard article from September of “insatiable consumption”. I presume what he meant was other people are consuming too much.

Confirmed: Iraq Inquiry toothless (Alix Mortimer)

Nick Clegg rarely gets much coverage on his questions in the immediate aftermath of PMQs. Last week’s edition was no exception, but his question about the protocol which limits release of information by the Iraq Inquiry is starting to look like an ominous slow-burner.

2 Big Stories

Iran ‘planning 10 new uranium enrichment sites’

The BBC reports:

Iran’s government has approved plans to build 10 new uranium enrichment plants, according to state media. The government told the Iranian nuclear agency to begin work on five sites, with five more to be located over the next two months. It comes days after the UN nuclear watchdog rebuked Iran for covering up a uranium enrichment plant.

What will President Obama do now Iran has clenched its fist?

SNP urged to drop Scotland referendum plan

The BBC again:

Opposition parties have urged Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond to shelve his planned independence referendum. The call came on the eve of the publication the SNP’s white paper on Scotland’s constitutional future, to be followed by a Referendum Bill. The minority Scottish government currently does not have enough support to pass the referendum in parliament.

Scottish Lib Dem leader Tavish Scott had this to say:

Just in the last few days we’ve seen teacher numbers plummet and major delays to the construction of a new hospital. In these tough economic times, Scottish ministers should be focusing on the real issues that matter to the people of Scotland, like jobs, schools and hospitals.”