Welcome to the Golden Dozen, and our 507th weekly round-up from the Lib Dem blogosphere … Featuring the five most popular stories beyond Lib Dem Voice according to click-throughs from the Aggregator (11-17 February, 2018), together with a hand-picked seven you might otherwise have missed. It’s a bit late this week due to illness. You might also be interested (probably not) that this is the week that I finally changed the actual template to read 2018 rather than just amend the post from 2017 every week.

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. Lib Dems gain 3 seats from the Conservatives across southern England by Mark Pack on Mark Pack.
Recounting that very successful night last Thursday.

2. Liberal Democrats gain and lose a councillor by Mark Pack on Mark Pack.
Defections in and out.

3. No, Andrew Adonis, leading a new centre party isn’t the answer by Mark Pack on Mark Pack.
He should listen to Vince Cable.

4. UKIP crisis threatens to take them to even further right wing extremes by Peter Black on Peter Black.
You may be wondering how that is even possible.

5. Could the vote to leave the EU ultimately lead to a more pro-European Britain?  by Nick Tyrone on NickTyrone.com.
If Brexit goes badly, it might well.

And now to the seven blog-posts that come highly recommended, regardless of the number of Aggregator click-throughs they attracted. To nominate a Lib Dem blog article published in the past seven days – your own, or someone else’s, all you have to do is drop a line to [email protected]. You can also contact us via Twitter, where we’re @libdemvoice

6. Is Britain still racist? Stupid question by Maelo Manning on Liberal Girl, aged 18.
It’s hard to read some of the awful things that go on unnoticed.

7. Kudos to the Lib Dems for tackling the issue of race head on by Jane Chelliah on Feminist Mama.
Jane welcome the Alderdice review, saying at the very least that it “validates the sense of isolation felt by many BAME people in the party.” We have to sort this out.

8. The strange rebirth of liberal economics by David Boyle on The Real Blog.
Liberal ideas might be re-emerging after a long hiatus

9. Schrodinger’s Brexit and the thin sliver of optimism by Helen Belcher on Challenging Journeys (Phase 2)
Will exposing the contradictions of Brexit lead to a change of opinion?

10. Diary Day 505: If you are selling snake oil, you don’t like the experts testing your products by Jo Hayes  on Josephine Hayes.
Jo explains the attacks on civil servants.

11. If Brexiteers want to reassure remainers, they will have to start talking specifics by Mathew Green on Thinking Liberal.
The only one close to doing that is Michael Gove…

12. Does the “Igot the same room in the same hotel in Brighton as last time” dance by Jennie Rigg on Ten KitKats and a Motoring Atlas.
A timely reminder that Brighton is a nightmare for Conference accommodation and best to get booking now. .

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. You can find her on Bluesky at caronmlindsay.bsky.social