Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 306th weekly round-up from the Lib Dem blogosphere … Featuring the seven most popular stories beyond Lib Dem Voice according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (22 – 28 December, 2012), together with a hand-picked quintet, normally courtesy of LibDig, you might otherwise have missed.

Don’t forget: you can sign up to receive the Golden Dozen direct to your email inbox — just click here — ensuring you never miss out on the best of Lib Dem blogging.

As ever, let’s start with the most popular post, and work our way down:

1. Gay marriage and the season of good will by Lynne Featherstone MP on Lynne’s Parliament and Haringey Diary.
“…the Government is bending over backwards (some would say too far) to ensure any fears of religions being forced to conduct such marriages are unwarranted.” Lynne spells out a few facts to the church leaders and Daily Mail types who oppose equality.

2. Scottish Liberal Democrats mourn John Morrison by Caron Lindsay on Caron’s Musings.
Shocked colleagues pay tribute to a lost colleague, who died far too young.

3. Clegg skating on thin ice: serious threat to party leadership over secret courts by Stephen Tall on Stephen Tall.
…”for Lib Dem members: for most, natural justice and due process are the very cornerstones of the liberal credo. Secret courts strike at the heart of both. A Lib Dem leader who ignores that fact is skating on thin ice.”

4. Meeting the Challenge: 100 not out  by Peter Phillips on Libdempeter .
I want some of what he’s having. Inspiration for us all to get out on the doorsteps in 2013.

5. Tax cuts for the comfortable by Peter Wrigley on Keynsian Liberal.
Paddy Ashdown’s response to a reply to his letter on tax cuts.

6. UK Coalition is cutting wealth gap by Peter Black AM on Peter Black
The rich are paying more tax under the Coalition, argues Peter.

7. Roger Williams MP and Rodney Berman honoured in New Years Honours List by Mark Cole on A life inside and outside of politics .
Mark praises two Welsh colleagues’ deserved honours.

And now to the five blog-posts that come highly recommended, regardless of the number of Aggregator click-throughs they attracted. These are normally chosen using the LibDig bookmarking website for party members, the site where you can highlight blog-posts you want to share with your fellow Lib Dems. Remember, though, you’re still more than welcome to nominate for the Golden Dozen a Lib Dem blog article published in the past seven days – your own, or someone else’s – using the steam-powered method of e-mail … all you have to do is drop a line to [email protected].

8. Vigil for Delhi gang rape victim by Maelo Manning on Libdemchild.
A young British girl organises an event to remember the young Indian girl so brutally murdered. “…the violence she suffered is a severe and evil violation of every woman’s right to personal security.”

9.  IFS report shows income inequality falling by Dan Falchikov on Living on words alone.
“Given the lack of any government minister publicising the fact one can only assume this is a source of embarrassment for the more strident Conservatives in the coalition.  But you would have thought that Lib Dem ministers might wish to highlight the fact.”

10. 2012: the year I had been waiting for by Jae Kay on Neue Politik.
Jae is looking for something new to moan about now marriage equality is well on its way.

11. Doctor Who: The Snowmen by Richard Flowers on The Very Fluffy Diary of Millennium Dome, Elephant.
There are so many Who reviews out there in the Lib Dem blogosphere this week, it would have been wrong not to put one in.

12. In memory of the New Delhi gang rape victim by George W Potter  on The Potter Blogger.
George writes of his shock and disgust, not just of the young woman in India, but at other examples of violence and abuse of women closer to home.

And that’s it for another week. Happy blogging ‘n’ reading ‘n’ nominating.

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