Leadership Roadshow comes to Edinburgh

The Scottish Leadership hustings were held yesterday in the home of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, the same room which housed the first 4 years' business of the Scottish Parliament. In such illustrious surroundings Nick and Chris treated us to an extremely high quality hour and a half.

I am unavowedly and unashamedly backing Nick and, if anything, his performance yesterday made me wonder why on earth I'd put myself through nearly 3 weeks of tortured angst. I should have gone with what I have always known about him from those early days in the East Midlands and backed him from the start. In the last week or so, all of my concerns about his stance on public services and social justice have been proved to be completely unfounded.

I think with him as leader we would soar as a Party. I think he understands the problems we are currently facing in this country, not just in an abstract way, but exactly how they affect real people. One of the key principles in my life is that you have to meet people where they are, and Nick used exactly that phrase. He clearly has the ability to do that, to reach out and bring people to us who have never voted Liberal Democrat before. We made modest progress between 97 and the beginning of last year and have taken a bit of a nosedive ever since.

Not only can he connect, but he can suggest innovative solutions - I like the idea that my child tax credit which, let's face it, is nice to find in my bank account every month but I don't really need, goes to pay for better education for the most deprived kids. I like the fact that he is prepared to risk prison to protect our civil liberties with his pledge on ID cards and I like his commitment to give more power to the people.

He talked, passionately and without notes, about how people feel powerless and are treated badly by both public and private sector organisations. He wants to make them feel that they can have an influence on issues like the priorities for their health services, their treatment by local and national authorities, on the sort of place they want their town to be. He spoke about how, when coming back from a long period working abroad, that every High Street looked the same. He wants to put the balance of power in favour of local communities rather than large multi-national corporations.

He talked about how the lives of many people are paralysed by fear of going out, for example. He was passionate about how the Labour and Tory approach, of pandering to these fears while not doing anything to make thing better, was anathema to him. He talked about the effectiveness of restorative justice and of his intense opposition to the demonisation of young people.

He had some good ideas about balancing growth and environmental sustainability. He was able to use his experience and extensive knowledge of trade negotiations (a subject on which he said he could bore for Britain, but mercifully spared us) to suggest a liberalisation of trade for environmentally sustainable products, and using international pressure to ensure that the whole world played its part in halting the effects of climate change.

Nick is not a politician who wants to isolate himself in the Westminster Bubble. He wants to get out there and meet people, to inspire, motivate and improve the standing of the Party so that we can actually have influence on people's lives in Government or even out of it. If his anti ID cards protest takes off, and we are able to get rid of these wasteful, ineffective and intrusive things, so much the better.

Chris was, I thought, much improved on last year. I felt that his speech had many more real life examples than last year when it had a few too many statistics and not enough soul. We clearly have two able competitors here. I'm not sure why he keeps feeling the need to say "we don't need another Tory Party" though. It's so blindingly obvious and there is no chance of our Party being corrupted in that way. We are and will remain distinctive and progressive.

I wasn't convinced by his view on Trident. There is actually no difference between Chris and Nick as far as I am concerned. A slight nuance here, a small variation there, ultimately it doesn't add up to what I want, which is for Britain to rid itself of these deeply immoral weapons.

When you think that Gordon Brown (and Scottish Labour leader Leader Wendy Alexander
for that matter) were elected unopposed, and the best that the Tories could come up with against Cameron was David Davis, we should actually be grateful that we have two people of such calibre contesting our leadership. Not only that but the Parliamentary Party has a wealth of talent within it - Julia Goldsworthy, Paul Holmes, Danny Alexander, Willie Rennie (who would be included even if he wasn't paying my wages). We will come out of this contest in better shape than we entered, it, that one thing is for sure.

Feet firmly on the Ground

I have decided not to be a floating voter any more. The various events and policy pronouncements of the past week have made me feel that the Party has the best future with Nick Clegg as leader.

I don't expect to agree with everything he says on policy, and will contribute to the debates through the Party's proper channels at the appropriate time.

I've gone for Nick because:

He has the personal skills to really connect with people. I saw the way he got the East Midlands on his side in 1998 during his selection contest. It was going to be a bit of a longshot for a Brussels based outsider to end up on top of the list, but he blew the Selection Committee away at his interview and worked so hard to meet people, listen to them and persuade them to support him. I am confident htat he will do the same on a larger scale with the country.

He has the authority and exprience to lead Nick can speak with authority and credibility on many issues. If anyone can bring people round to our position on Europe, he can. His record as Home Affairs spokesman has been excellent - a pragmatic approach on immigration and vehement and constructive opposition to ID cards.

Now why is a peace loving hippie like me not supporting the anti-Trident candidate? If you look at the small print, Chris's bomb might not be as big and flashy as Nick's, but it's a bomb nonetheless. Neither of these candidates are up for unilateral nuclear disarmament so the issue is neutral between them.

I've also been impressed by how Nick has handled Scotland. He's come, he's listened to the Scottish Party and activists. He has been prepared to understand how politics is different up here and hear ideas on where the Party needs to go.

Much as I respect Chris, the People's Veto idea, which I fear could paralyse Parliament rather than enliven it, and the English votes for English issues statement made me realise I could not support him.

With Nick, what you see is what you get. I know I'm going to disagree with him on some points in the future, but I believe he has all the qualities to take the Party forward.

People's Veto and ID Cards

When I first heard of Chris Huhne's plan for a People's Veto my initial instinct was that he had gone absolutely mad. In this hysteria-filled media misinforming technological age, how on earth could you ensure the veracity of a petition against a piece of legislation to start with? We should surely place greater store on our Parliamentary democracy and seek to strengthen that rather than give credence to what looks on the face of it like populist pandering. You only have to look at what goes on the ballot in American elections to see how discriminatory, prejudiced laws are passed. In fact, the Bush campaign in 2004 was instrumental in using referenda against gay marriage to ensuring people came out and voted for their candidate.

The issue Chris mentioned was the Iraq war. It's clear that although Pariament voted against it, a huge number of people in the country opposed it. However, with the best will in the world, even if you count the most optimistic assessments of the numbers who came on to the streets do not account for more than 3-4% of the population with the rest not really bothering to engage in the process.

What would happen, if Chris were PM and a vocal minority wanted to ban homosexuality? We have no need to kid ourselves that there are probably enough people who feel that way to at least equal the number who opposed the Iraq war on the streets. Would he let "the people" veto a freedom and a core principle that we hold so dear? I can't imagine that he would, but he needs to answer the question. I can see how the idea might engage people in the political process but the laws that Parliament pass might well become bland and inoffensive when they need to be more radical.

When I heard Nick's refusal to have an ID card, I jumped up and down with delight. This is more like it. Our leader would defy the law like an old fashioned radical Liberal. At the moment he has 8.5 years left on his passport. What happens when it comes to May 2016? Is he seriously going to restrict himself to these shores when he has close family in other parts of the World? If so, I applaud him. But has he really thought this through? The framework for ID cards is in place. Much as I would like to see the whole infrasctructure overturned, realistically we have to face the fact that it might not be and I suspect Nick will be enjoying holidays in the UK for a long time to come if he honours his pledge.

Happy Hallowe'en

A particularly happy Hallowe'en to the evil swine who nicked my husband's carefully carved pumpkin from our doorstep before I had even had the chance to take a photograph of his handiwork. He has been consoling himself this evening by looking at its doppelganger

Otherwise it's been great fun. I do love Hallowe'en even though I know it's all over commercialised and American. I can't abide Trick or Treat - it's a dreadful, rude, disrespectful custom, but I do allow my daughter to do a bit of supervised guising. She and 9 of her friends went out en masse and they all took singing their song very seriously.

I do have to thank our friends from across the Atlantic for giving us a much more user friendly vegetable to carve. I remember the olden days when it used to be a turnip. You had to have one hell of a work ethic to scoop them out. One SNP minded friend of mine wanted his children to have turnips rather than pumpkins but demurred when his wife suggested that he be the one to actually transform this rock hard vegetable into a work of art.

Many thanks to Anne and Stevie for hosting such an imaginative party tonight. They both looked great in their costumes and had transformed their house into a perfect habitat for all types of ghoulish creature. Anne is a zillion times more fastidious than I am in the house cleaning department so it was great to point out the cobwebs and spiders in her house, even if they were fake. I particularly loved the "find the sweet in the green worms game."

The Madness of Gabbygate

If insulting the electorate worked, political parties would have tried it long ago. Clearly, telling people that they would have to be really stupid to fall for Labour/Tory spin would be counter-productive.

That is a lesson the judges and some of the dancers on Strictly Come Dancing would do well to learn. Calling the viewing public all sorts of names for backing underdog Kate Garraway over the likes of Gabby Logan and Penny Lancaster-Stewart is only going to persuade more people to vote for her.

There are some who take Strictly far too seriously. If it were just a dance competition, it would be televised at midnight and would be watched only by the 27 die hard enthusiasts who could be bothered to stay up that late. To be sure, the dancing is a part of it, but so is the entertainment of watching the celebrities learn a new and useful skill. Kate clearly can't dance for toffee, but her attitude is great. She has a very supportive partner who, as always, laughs his way through every situation. Their samba was truly terrible, but it was choreographed and played almost exclusively for laughs. It's the relationship between partners that is so fun to watch and the way their stories develop that excites the audience, not just what they do for 90 seconds every Saturday night.

I was shocked that Penny and Gabby were in the bottom 2 - both are great dancers and also seem to be like reasonable human beings. I think that there are a few bland boys in the middle (sorry Gethin and John) who should have gone before anybody else.

Anyway, the public will take who it wants to its heart and Craig Revel Horwood and co will just have to get over themselves and get properly into the spirit of the programme.

Nick or Chris?

I still haven't finally decided who to vote for in the leadership contest, although it does seem that Nick wants my vote much more than Chris does. Maybe it's because so many of my friends have endorsed him and are trying to suck me in that I feel that way.

My big dilemma is that I like Nick and I know he could do the job. However, I'm not sure I would want to go down all the policy routes he might want me to. There are just some things that market forces can't fix and I want to be sure that his way of doing things properly protects those who need it. I also want to see a strong commitment to social justice.

I also take slight issue with his attack on the SNP yesterday. Yes, they are a one trick pony, yes we were probably right not to go into coalition with them this time(though we could have tried a little harder). However, we should not rule out partnership working with them in the future as we are doing in a number of local authorities across Scotland. All political parties contain competent people with good ideas and we should be seeking to make the most of common ground and work with them where we can. Of course, the Nats have completely let the people of Dunfermline down - their candidate promised to reverse the changes to the local hospital, but now they have power, they've dropped that idea. Also, Nick needs to realise that it's up to the Scottish Parliamentary Party and not the Federal Leader, who we do or not go into Goverment with.

To smack or not to smack

I am appalled, but not surprised, at the decision by minister Kevin Brennan not to outlaw physical punishment of children in England and Wales. The Scottish Executive took the same view a few years ago. I think it's an absolute scandal that politicans view it as acceptable for a grown adult to hit a child.

If I were to hit Kevin Brennan, even with just a small tap on his backside, I'd be dragged off to prison, or worse. I'm probably fairly equal in size to him and he would have a fair chance of fighting me off or running away. A small child doesn't have that ability to protect themselves from a violent approach from an adult. It's all very well to say that a smack isn't really very hard. I'm sure a grizzly bear's light tap on my backside would hurt like hell. I was smacked regularly as a child and as I grew older was on occasion slapped across the face for no good reason. The physical pain dies down reasonably quickly, but the humiliation and feeling of worthlessness that comes with it is completely disproportionate to the original transgression.

Of course it doesn't always have to be that way - you have to look at the experience of childhood as a whole. A loved child who is occasionally smacked is probably not going to come to too much harm if they grow up in a happy home. Some of my friends, who are fabulous parents, have smacked their kids sometimes. That doesn't make it right, though. A law banning corporal punishment might just make people think twice about how they relate to their children.

To be fair, smacking is just the tip of the iceberg of cruelty towards children that we not only accept, but almost celebrate. The recent Channel 4 series "Bringing up Baby" showed scenes of newborns being left to cry in a room and parents being advised not to look them in the eye or show them any affection. It would be interesting to go back to these babies as adults and see how they compare with those whose parents placed importance on secure attachment from birth. It's shocking to think that this is all fairly mainstream parenting guidance.

We have way too much violence in our society and children are bombarded with images of hitting, shooting and all sorts from a very early age. All that smacking does is to teach a child that it's ok for a big person to hit a little one. When they take that lesson forward by bullying a smaller child in the playground, should we be surprised?

I despair at the lack of imagination and knowledge of those who consider corporal punishment an integral part of discipline. To me, discipline is about guidance, of modelling good behaviour and of teaching respect and consideration for others. I am far from being the perfect parent, but we decided right from the start that our daughter would never, ever be hit - and we have stuck to it. Anna knows that we never would hit her and, although she has her moments, the vast majority of the time she's a lovely, kind, considerate girl. I am clearly biased, but her teachers would agree with that assessment.

This debate has been portrayed as being about the rights of parents. What about the rights of children to grow up without fear of violence?

Would you like vanilla or vanilla?

So far we've had two competent campaign launches for leader. No embarrassments, no technical failures, no farcical elements at either. No sparkles, but you would get the impression that both of those guys could organise a civilised tasting session a vineyard.

Both of them seem to be saying similar things in slightly different ways. From Huhne it's "a fairer society, people in charge", from Clegg it's about empowering communities and ordinary people.

There are subtle differences, though. Huhne talks about being our champion and taking the fight to our opponents. That's nice, and subtle. We're right already and he's going to make the rest of the world believe it. A good thing to do if you want people to vote for you. I want to see from him that he's looked beyond the leadership election to the general election.

On the other hand, Clegg talks about taking us out of our comfort zone and inviting in all those people with liberal values into our tent. We have to change to fit in with them. Bit more worrying, there. We might have to adopt things that we are slightly uneasy about, but it's probably a bit more realistic. He used the liberal word a lot and the democrat word not once. I want to see from him that he will take the Party and its activists seriously and will lead by inspiration not by diktat and indifference.

Both of them get a minus point from me for failing to mention Scotland or Wales at all in their pronouncements so far. Remember we ran this place for the last 8 years and did some good stuff. They both need to prove that they understand Scottish and Welsh politics and realise that there is less appetite for the economic liberal model up here.

The devil will, of course, be in the details of their ideas. This is only the start of the campaign and a lot could change.

I still fervently wish that there was a wider contest - I'd quite like a bit of choclate and strawberry, or even some pistachio. For no other reason than it gives us the opportunity to showcase our talents and ideas. I suspect the media won't bother much with a contest between 2 such similar contenders so we need someone else in there to mix it up a bit.

I need an undecided column.........

If you had told me a week ago that I would even contemplate voting for Nick Clegg, I'd have cheekily retorted that I would rather take up rugby than do any such thing. Don't get me wrong, I like the guy and worked hard to get him selected at the top of the European list in the East Midlands for the 1998 elections. His excellent credentials are, however, blighted by his stance on economic affairs. I have a lot of affection for public services and social justice and I don't think the economic liberal model works for things like healthcare - look at the US where most of the poor and vulnerable have no access to decent health insurance.

I haven't got the first clue how I would vote in a Clegg/Huhne fight. For the first time in my life I have sympathy for those who have told me on doorsteps up and down the country that they don't know who they are going to vote for. I have never participated in an election in that position - I've known right from the start of the campaign where my loyalties lie.

I'm quite looking forward to the campaign that nobody really wanted to have right now.

Battle of the Babies

Facebook now has 3 groups supporting babies to be Liberal Democrat leader - Magnus Dundas, Noah Maxfield and Donald Kennedy. It's all a bit of harmless fun and a good way to celebrate how lucky we are to have these lovely children in our midst.

Maybe in 30 years time these three boys will be in the Lib Dem cabinet, with my Anna as Prime Minister:-)

Don't let it be a Duel

Rumours reach my ears that the leadership contest may only be between Chris Huhne and Nick Clegg. Neither of these would be my first choice and I don't relish the prospect of choosing between them. This isn't to say that I don't like them - both could do the job, but it's a bit like having to choose between cheddar and double gloucester - we need some gorgonzola, or some brie in there.

I think it cheats the members to prevent them having a full debate about the future direction of the Party. I don't know where people get the idea that Huhne is a leftie from - a Huhne/Clegg contest is simply a duel between the centre right and a little bit more centre right.

I hope that MPs reflect on this and don't just rush to back either of these without exploring other options. Who is going to be this contest's Huhne? Remember he came from nowhere last time so there is still an opportunity to steal the limelight from the two frontrunners.

It is particularly disappointing that no candidate of the left of the Party has yet emerged. I would have hoped to see either Steve Webb or Paul Holmes on the ballot.

The Party needs and deserves a wider choice and I hope that the MPs will realise that and reconsider their positions.

An ale filled evening

I couldn't have wished to learn of the sad events of yesterday evening in a more appropriate venue. I was in Glasgow on a course yesterday and had planned to meet up with Norman Fraser and Amy Rodger at The Best Pub in the World, the Station Bar near G-Cal Uni.

It's a fab place with a lovely atmosphere and a mixed clientele - people who work or live locally, or who are rehearsing or playing at the Royal Concert Hall. The beer last night was not as spectacular as it has been in the past - Hydes Brewery's Thriller and Timothy Taylor's Landlord.

However, when we couldn't hear the sound on the tv, they let us go into a wee corner with another tv with the sound turned up. It was good to share such a sad evening with like minded friends in one of my favourite venues.

Thanks to Amy for walking me back to the station and getting soaked on the way back.

Campaign Period not long enough

I am angry at the FE's decision to impose such a short campaign period on us. In 2006, after Charles' resignation, it was vital to get a leader in place for the start of the local election campaign. I am not sure that announcing our new leader at the start of the Christmas holidays is going to give them the right sort of momentum. They will hit the ground running and everything will stop for Christmas.

I think they would not have lost anything by announcing the result in mid January. That way, ballot papers would not get bogged down in the Christmas post and we would have longer to decide the direction in which we want to go.

The Perfect Leader

On logging onto Facebook this morning, I was inundated with requests to join groups in favour of various potential leaders - Reid to Lead, Nick Clegg, Alastair Carmichael, Lorely Burt. I was surprised that there was not a Pink Dog for Leader group. I can only assume that he was so snubbed at his failure to get on the ballot last time that he has simply gone off in the huff.

Anyway, I haven't made up my mind who to support yet, but there are a few qualities which I think are essential in the next leader:

• an ability to connect with people, both individually and through set piece speeches and interviews. This is probably the most important thing - if you can get people liking you and on your side, if you can make them think that you care and understand about them and what's going on in their lives, then they will be more willing to listen to what you have to say.
• although connecting is the most important thing, on its own it's not enough. We need some big ideas on housing, climate change, young people, poverty and social justice. We need to keep up our opposition to ID cards, nuclear power and to any military action against Iran. We need to ensure that local communities continue to be served by their Post Offices where they want them.
• my heart lies on the left of the party and I want to see social justice and tackling poverty right up there at the top of the agenda. I do not believe that the economic liberal approach alone is one which will serve people well - it needs to be tempered with that social democratic thread running through our policies.
• the new leader must not cut him or herself off from the rest of the party. They must respect conference as the sovereign policy making body and must be prepared to listen to those of us at the sharp end who are talking to people on the doorsteps.

In short, we need a great communicator with a distinctive radical agenda who recognises that leading the Party means keeping the members and activists onside.

The Curse of Liberator?

Liberator has never held back about criticising leaders and calling for their resignation in the past. Although the esteemed radical organ had had some stern words to say about Ming's dithering after Gordon Brown's job offers to Lib Dems, only a few days ago I received my copy in which it gave its opinion that he should stay until the next General Election.

So what happens? As soon as Liberator takes his part, the leader goes and resigns:-(

I have to say I agreed with Liberator's position - much to my surprise. I would rather have held a worm in my hand and then gone skiing (anyone who knows me will know just how much I hate those things) than have had him as leader in the first place. I thought he would not be inclusive and would forget the party and the activists. I have had to eat a few words. While there were some aspects of his public performance which were sometimes not as dynamic as I would have liked, he had done much to make the Party's structures more professional and his office was more friendly to the party at large. This was a vast improvement on previous leaders who allowed their offices to treat party members and activists as if they were something he stepped in.

I don't believe he was pushed - although I don't doubt that some people wanted to see him go. I think he looked at the polls and the media stuff about his age and realised that there would be another two years of this and then he may have to face a general election on the brink of his 68th birthday. If the papers were portraying him as a skeleton now, then maybe he foresaw that the cartoons would get ever more macabre as time went on.

No doubt he looks older than he is. However, I'm 40 and I reckon he is more physically fit than I am. I feel quite enraged that the media has effectively perpetuated this ageist nonsense. The heart of our belief as Liberals is that we think everyone should be treated fairly regardless of gender, age, race, religion, or sexual orientation.

Ming is 100% a Liberal and could be relied upon to defend these core values. He has dignity and integrity. We have to be aware that it was his influence that led to our opposing the war in Iraq, securing us our best result for years in 2005. His political courage is probably unrivalled. He took a huge gamble at Harrogate this year by speaking in the Trident debate - his support for the motion swayed he waverers and ensured victory for his side. Even though I am passionately opposed to the replacement of Trident, I had to admire the gamble that he took. If the vote had gone the other way, his leadership would have been over, messily, at the start of the Holyrood campaign.

What Ming does not have, and I doubt anyone could really say otherwise, was the ability to connect with the electorate, either individually or in media interviews. There's no getting away from the fact that he did seem awkward and shy on walkabouts. People want their political leaders to be approachable and Ming's aloofness was the biggest problem of his leadership. Unf

I wish him and Elspeth all the best for the future and I hope that we as a party are able to ensure that he is given a prominent role in his area of expertise - foreign affairs.

The Grand Old Duke of York

The Lib Dem Geeks have done it again - created a very funny video to remind us all of The Election that Never Was.

Do watch and laugh.

Will Nigel never learn?

One of the most amusing moments of the day was listening to Nigel Griffiths, MP for Edinburgh South (majority over popular Lib Dem campaigner Fred Mackintosh 405), bang on about how he would have beaten Fred by 2500 now and would by 4000 in 2 years time.

For someone who has been very careless with the 11,000 majority he had, which was reduced down to 405 by Marilyne MacLaren, this is reckless talk indeed. And how arrogant to assume that he would increase his popularity by such a margin. You'd think he'd have learnt by now not to take people for granted.

I have done a lot of campaigning in Edinburgh South over the past 7 years and there is a lot for genuine affection for Fred - I never found that sort of spontaneous admiration for Nigel.

I know that Fred will work tirelessly over the next however long to serve the people of Edinburgh South as best he can. He would make a worthy MP, but would never assume, even after election, that he has an automatic right to the title. When you are in that sort of job, you are constantly seeking to gain and retain the trust of the people you serve. Fred clearly gets what it's all about. Nigel doesn't.

Gordon Bottles It

Who would have thought it? Last weekend I cried real tears at the thought of another month away from home, and at the thought of missing Hallowe'en - after all, Anna is only 8 once.

Today a bit of me feels cheated cos I'd really psyched myself up for this campaign and the adrenalin rush had started. I was still burnt out and knackered, but I knew that some unknown strength would propel me towards polling day and I'd just collapse afterwards. Now I have the chance to do normal things, like go to the cinema, and the gym (which would be better).

Thanks to the efforts of Team Rennie, we were ready for an election in Dunfermline, and other key campaigns across Scotland had performed miracles to be ready for the off. We got there at the crack of dawn this morning and had been putting the finishing touches to our preparations.

It shows us what we can put together in a short space of time. We've had a good idea about the timing of every election in my living memory and the plans have been drawn up and implemented a year ahead of time. I have to pay tribute to all the staff and activists who put in superhuman effort to do a year's work in a few weeks.

Elspeth and I were sitting having lunch in Dunfermline today, just like most Saturdays this year, it seems, sure that we'd not have a day off till polling day. It came us a huge shock when Stephen texted her to tell her to put on the BBC website now. We thought it had been called. Neither of us did much work after that:-) It was good to be able to go to her's, put our feet up and watch Strictly Come Dancing:-)

The Brown Honeymoon is now well and truly over. He's made a fair few mistakes this year. This week has shown up the Honest Gordon stuff for the baloney it always was - now the Labour administration has gone back to business as usual - every day is Spin Day.

Ming was great on BBC News 24 - he's right about fixed term parliaments - not just for my blood pressure but because the speculation is destabilising and detracts attention from the important issues.

Strictly Come Election

Put away the anti-depressants, dust off the dancing shoes, get out the fake tan - Strictly Come Dancing is back. This year's line up is very strong. My great worry is that there isn't a girl I want to see leave. I love Kate Garraway. She's actually the niece of one of the stalwarts of West Lothian Lib Dems. They even got their photo in Ok magazine when Kate got married. However, even without the excruciating pain of Tendonitis, she probably isn't a great dancer. I don't think it matters because she's paired with the very funny Anton Du Beke. I suspect they will be good for entertainment value and I hope they stay around for a long time.

I'm looking forward to seeing Matthew Cutler and Alesha Dixon and Penny Lancaster-Stewart and Ian Waite hit the floor.

In terms of the men, Erin Boag unfortunately is most likely to take an early bath. Willie Thorne looks uncomfortable standing upright, let alone dancing. I hope Brian Capron stays in for a while though. I had a huge crush on him when he played Mr Hopwood in Grange Hill about a million years ago. He doesn't have the same effect on me now but I suspect Karen Hardy and he will have a very entertaining relationship.

I've been involved in politics for so long that I do tend to see conspiracy theories in everything and I'm not so sure I like the idea that the Judges have the ultimate choice in who leaves each week. They usually have a favourite, and this enables them to keep them in even if the public doesn't warm to them.

I suspect that the one thing which will get me through this election campaign is the prospect of sitting down for half an hour every night and watching It Takes Two. Claudia Winkleman is definitely a bit bonkers, but absolutely hilarious and very good at getting the best out of her guests.

I succumbed earlier this year to the infernal wickedness of Sky Plus. It is a true delight to know that hours of fun and frolics are going to fill up the hard disk at the touch of one button.

I've just had a thought - who would we pair off for a Strictly Election Special. I think Ming Campbell would cut a fairly dashing figure with Erin Boag, dancing a Foxtrot in tails. I suspect Karen Hardy would be the one dancer who could get anything remotely resembling dance and human interaction out of Gordon Brown. The woman who made Bill Turnbull do his cucarachas would work her magic on the Dour One. Alex Salmond - well, I reckon Lilia Kopylova and he would be a wicked and quite amusing partnership. Their salsa would be embarrassing and cringeworthy but I suspect the training would be fun to watch. And for David Cameron? I find him so false and slick and deeply unpleasant, but I suspect Camilla Dallerup could get him under control. I'm not sure I wouldn't burst out laughing at his Tango face, though.

One pair I would seriously love to see would be Darren Bennett and Jo Swinson. Jo can move very well and I suspect they would do incredibly well.

Who would I put with my favourite dancer, Anton? I reckon Amy Rodger, Lib Dem PPC for East Lothian. She has such a wonderful sense of humour and I reckon she would completely have him under control. I would actually love to see her get elected - she is a remarkable young woman and would certainly stir things up in the House of Commons.

I'll Be There For You

Thirteen and a half years after everyone else (well, I never was an early adopter), I have finally developed an addiction to Friends. I'd watched odd bits before but it never really did it for me. During the Holyrood campaign, my big thing was to come home and watch two episodes before I went to bed and I found that they could have me in absolute hysterics, laughing until tears rolled down my face.

Everyone else had 10 years to watch every episode, but we seem to have managed it over the Summer. Amazon had a reasonable deal on DVD boxed sets so we now have all but one. Anna loves it too, although some of the humour goes a bit over her head.

Favourite episodes? In no particular order, The One with the Giant Poking Device, The One where Everyone Finds Out, The One where Ross got high, The One in Vegas, The One with Chandler in a Box, The One with all the Thanksgivings, The One where No-one is Ready, The One where Ross and Rachel take a Break and The One with the Morning After. Good, not quite clean fun.

Time to decide, Gordon

Gordon Brown may well be crying into his Horlicks tonight, wondering how he had managed to make such a spectacular muck up of the snap election. He's now taking a risk if he does and looks like a great big scaredy cat if he doesn't.

I suspect it all started out as a bit of a ruse to try to get the Labour Party to behave itself and to think about an election either next Spring or the one after. The speculation was then allowed to get out of control and now it's going to be difficult to re-bottle the genie and emerge with dignity intact.

The only way out really is to use the postal strike as an excuse. After all, if they can't guarantee the distribution of the postal votes, the legitimacy of any poll is immediately in question.

However, I have a sneaking suspicion that a solution to the dispute will, entirely coincidentally (yeah, right) be found at the beginning of next week, or the week after and an election called.

I also have it on good authority that one Council has closed down a suite of rooms, and sent round an e-mail saying that the election team will be using them from 9th October to 22 November. Make of that what you will.

I now have two bottles of wine at stake with different people - I still say it's going to happen. I just want the waiting to be over and the campaign to begin...............

Hong Kong or Leith?

Kevin and Jennifer Lang should be living it up in Hong Kong on the holiday of a lifetime at the moment. Instead, they are at home in Granton, putting the final preparations to an election campaign.

Kevin is the prospective Liberal Democrat candidate for Edinburgh North and Leith. When he and Jenni booked their holiday to see Jenni's sister in China in March, nobody could have predicted that there would be an election in November. They made the decision to cancel on Wednesday, the day before they should have left, when an election announcement next Tuesday looked virtually certain.

Not only has this cost them money, but you know what it's like to be all geared up for a break and then for some reason you can't go. I am full of admiration for both Kevin and Jenni for putting the people of North and Leith first. Kevin only requires a 2.5% swing to unseat the sitting Labour MP and would make a first class MP.

He is very sharp and astute and has a sometimes scary amount of energy. I see quite a lot of similarities between Kevin and Willie Rennie - he would be the sort of MP you would see about in the street and would always be approachable and dedicated to helping his constituents with their problems.

Today's polls make an election look less likely, but I don't think that his decision will have been in vain in the long run.

Free Burma

Just a few days ago, I was really pissed off at the prospect of a free election in this country and of how it would inconvenience me.

In complete contrast, 200 people have lost their lives in Burma fighting for the right to have a free election, away from the tyranny of a brutal military regime.

I salute the bravery of all those who have taken to the streets and share in the mourning for those who have brutally lost their lives.

I call on the international community to take whatever measures it can to ensure that democracy is restored to Burma and that those who lead the call for freedom and human rights, including Aung San Suu Kyi are freed to enable them to build a free nation.

I add my voice to the many bloggers who are calling for a Free Burma today, 4 October, 2007.

Turning 40

I would be lying if I said that turning 40 had been completely stress and depression free, but the actual day itself was so special.

It started at 6:50 am with a phone call from my sister and cousins on holiday in Canada. I was as sober as a judge, they were completely off the planet. I hadn't laughed so much in years.

The effort my husand and daughter put into the day was wonderful. From choosing a lovely organic, maple cured kind of bacon for breakfast (and subsequently, unexpectedly, lunch) to ensuring I had enough dark chocolate to sink a battleship, to providing me with beautiful drawings and cards, they made sure I had a perfect day.

Bob gave me a beautiful rose quartz pendant - apparently the symbol of both fertillity and unconditional love.

My friend Anne gave me the most beautiful willow tree figure called Mother and Daughter in an embrace.

And just when I thought I'd opened all my pressies, the doorbell rang and the Interflora man was there with the most beautiful bouquet of flowers, with my favourite lilies and roses.

I had kind of wanted to head off to the Gallery of Modern Art for lunch, but my Inner Capitalist Ruthless Bitch got the better of me. Bob and Anna had given me the Edinburgh version of Monopoly and we ended up embroiled in a long game before going for a walk.

In the evening, Anna chose to go and play with her best friends while 15 of the people I care about most in the World gathered at my favourite restaurant. I am lucky that this place is just across from where I work - it's Oohla's in Dunfermline.

I had the most succulent spiced king prawns, followed by the most luscious, flavoursome and perfectly cooked fillet steak. The desserts they do in that place are to die for - you can have tarte tatin, chocolate brownies, strawberry cream meringues the size of small Balearic islands, fruit tartlets of so many colours and varieties, a cheese board assembled with love and proper thought. My friend Pippa had baked me a cake and covered it in a deep chocolate icing made with Green and Black Maya Gold. Could that be any more perfect?

One very non political and very special friend had been scared that she would be overrun by intellectual Lib Dems and had to be persuaded that political types could be normal sorts who liked reading OK magazine and the like. I was so glad that she made the effort to come even though she was a bit worried about it. I think she had a good time too, and I would not have wanted to be without her.

All in all, it could only have been more perfect if it had gone on for another 24 hours.

Battle Preparations

I have long been convinced that we would see a General Election this Autumn, particularly as Labour's lead over the Conservatives grew and grew. I can't say I relished the prospect with much enthusiasm. Once every couple of years I can handle, but twice in six months is a big ask. I spent much of last weekend in doleful and tearful frustration at the thought of having to give up my much anticipated school holiday at home with Anna to pound the streets on freezing cold, dark nights. However, the adrenalin rush has now kicked in and I'm ready for it - in fact I now just want to get on with it.

I might be whinging about my holiday, but spare a thought for the dedicated person I won't name who should be on holiday now on the other side of the World. They cancelled yesterday so that they would be available for the campaign. I know how much they had been looking forward to being away and I thoroughly admire their dedication to duty. I will be so annoyed with Gordon Brown on their behalf if this has all been a great big wind up.

I am quite amazed at how ready we actually are to fight this election, should it be called. It's my responsibility as Campaigns and Candidates Convener to make sure we have candidates in every seat. I have had some help with this, (thanks to all involved) and have been really impressed with how everybody has worked together to assemble a full slate of candidates ready for the off.

Back to the Blog

I can hardly believe it's been over 4 months since I last posted on here. I had meant to but a frenzied work schedule, holidays and illness have kept me away. I hope to be able to post a lot more regularly now - although, come next Tuesday, an election announcement might put paid to that for a while.

Janipher Maseko - Good News at Last

Thankfully common sense has prevailed and Janipher and the babies are to be released.

I know that many of you have written to the authorities to complain about the appalling way in which she has been treated and I have been asked to pass on her heartfelt gratitude.

She is obviously very relieved. The road ahead is not going to be easy for her but at least she is now out of danger.

The thing that really made me cry was hearing that she'd said that she'd been delighted to be able to tell the doctor that the babies didn't need Malaria jabs after all.

How could we have put such a vulnerable family under such a threat?

There clearly needs to be an independent enquiry into Janipher's specific case, but the chilling thing is that she is not alone. Although the Government promised last year not to separate breastfeeding mothers and their babies, that disgusting practice still goes on. We have enough evidence about the complex interactions between mother and baby on every level, physiological and emotional, to know that to do so is extremely traumatic for both. The only time it should ever be allowed is if there is a clear risk to the baby's safety.

John Hemming has been raising the issue of the high number of inappropriate adoptions from care, particularly in England for some time. I have to confess that I hadn't taken him that seriously until now. Have a look at some of the information on his blog.

Update on Janipher Maseko

As you will see from the comments to my earlier post - thanks, Morgan and Helen - separate removal orders have now been issued for the children. This obviously doesn't make everything all right. Imagine if you had given birth just over a month ago and you were suddenly to be taken away from your whole life and put back to a country that had brought you nothing but fear and tragedy, where you had no family, nowhere to call home, no means of providing for yourself and your two small children. That would be bad enough if you were in good health, but if you were ill, traumatised and depressed, how much worse would it be?

Is this an appropriate way for a civilised country to act?

Helen is right that there needs to be a proper enquiry into the way in which she has been treated by Hillingdon Social Services, the Borders and Immigration Agency and SERCO. I have been assured that questions relating to her case will be raised in Parliament and I know that Lord Avebury has done some already. Obviously Janipher's evidence to that enquiry is critical.

Thank you to everyone who has let me know they have written to Liam Byrne about this. Janipher's plight has affected many people who don't normally get involved in politics and has opened many eyes to the disgraceful injustices of which Janipher is, sadly, just one example.

This battle is not over yet, so please continue to spread her story so that more can be aware of her situation.

Stop Removal of Janipher Maseko, 18 year old breastfeeding mother

Breastfeeding supporter colleagues of mine have been involved in helping Janipher Maseko, an 18 year old Ugandan woman who is currently being held in Yarls Wood Immigration Detention Centre. She has two babies, aged 15 months and 4 weeks. The tiny baby is being breastfed. She has been told that she will be removed from the UK without her children on Friday 1st June.

Janipher sought asylum as an unaccompanied minor after coming to this country as an orphan and after being raped in Uganda. Her asylum claim had been closed in March 2007 when she was heavily pregnant. Hillingdon Social Services, responsible for her at the time, immediately stopped all support and evicted her and her baby daughter. Staff at Hillingdon Hospital had to press Social Services to rehouse her. But at the end of April, a week after her son was born, she was evicted her again and threw away all her belongings. Ms Maseko tried to reach a friend in Brighton and was sleeping rough in Crawley when passers-by found her and called the police. Sussex Social Services put her babies into foster care even though she was breastfeeding her infant son and there was no cause to doubt her fitness and eagerness to care for her children - Ms Maseko needed shelter, money and healthcare. No arrangements were made to help her keep in touch with her children. Still bleeding after childbirth and with engorged breasts, Ms Maseko was held in a cell for four days without a shower or change of clothes.

When my colleagues went to see her, they were refused permission to give her an electric breast pump, the most efficient way of maintaining lactation and also of relieving the intense discomfort from the engorgment she was suffering and they were only able to get a manual pump to her after some discussion.

The children were reunited with her after the intervention of advocates on her behalf including the Black Women's Rape Action Project.

I am horrified at such brutal and inhuman treatment of this young mother and her children. How can it be justified to deport a mother to a country where she has fled rape and violence and has no family to help her and leave her babies here? How can a supposedly civilised government treat human beings in this way?

She is getting legal and practical help, but the more people who can raise awareness of her plight over the next few days the better.

Below are some ways in which you can to support Janipher and ensure she and her children can build their lives in the UK:

1. Urge that Ms Maseko and her children be immediately released, housed, supported and granted asylum, and that there be a prompt independent investigation into her treatment by all those in authority who were responsible for her care. Fax or email your letter to:· Liam Byrne MP, Minister of State for Immigration, Nationality and Citizenship, Fax: 020 7035 4745 liam.byrne.submissions@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk ·

Meg Munn MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Women and Equality)Fax: 020 7944 5891 munnm@parliament.uk·

Beverley Hughes MP, Minister for Children, Young People & FamiliesFax:020 7219 2961 hughesb@parliament.uk ·

Patricia Hewitt MP, Secretary of State for Health, Fax: 020 7210 5410.MB-SofS@dh.gsi.gov.uk·

Brian Pollett, Head of Detention Services, Brian.Pollett2@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk ·

Victoria Jones, Director of Yarl's Wood, Fax: 01234 821152

2. Alert your networks, the press and other media.

3. Write to your MP as a concerned constituent asking her/him to raise it in Parliament.

Harry and Iraq

I was so annoyed that they even considered sending Harry to Iraq in the first place. It was a bit of a no brainer that he would attract the attention of insurgents and put not just to himself, but those whom he served with, in even greater danger.

If I were the mother of a soldier, which I suspect I will never be, given Anna's propensity against violence and the killing of even animals to eat, I would have been furious if my beloved child had been put in an even more dangerous situation by the unhappy accident of being out there at the same time as a member of the British Royal Family.

It worries me that the addened danger was not recognised by the Armed Forces until this week.

Parliamentary Disgrace

I am extremely proud that my party has stood firm against David MacLean's Bill on Freedom of Information. Unfortunately, even their expert applications of Parliamentary procedure (David Heath mentioning buckets left in corridors as a health and safety hazard made me laugh out loud) were not enough to win the day today.

It looks like this reactionary measure might become law as Labour and the Tories have made a bit of an unholy alliance in its support. I can only hope for a big enough public outcry to make them think better of their support for this ill considered measure.

Everybody needs good Neighbours

I don't often watch Neighbours these days, but I used to be a bit of an addict. Who can forget the days of Scott, Charlene, Daphne, Des, Henry, Bronwyn, Madge and Harold?

I'm quite sad to see that it's leaving the BBC. I'm not about to argue for £300 million to be spent from the public purse to retain it, but I'm sure it compares favourably to the extortionate daylight robbery football tv rights have become. I can't find what the BBC paid for its football rights, but I do know that Sky paid more than a cool billion for their's.

How come the boys get their sports on the taxpayer, but a national institution like Neighbours doesn't matter?:-)

Good Luck, Angela

I am absolutely thrilled to bits for Angela Constance. I fell pregnant unexpectedly as I was focussed on an approaching election campaign (in my case the 1999 Euro election), and there's no greater feeling in the world. I have to admire her for getting through the recent election so serenely - I felt so sick during my pregnancy and the tiredness was something else. I wish Angela and her husband all the very best. I hope they enjoy this special time - the last for just them - and enjoy the adjustment to parenthood. It's the best thing you will ever do, and, nearly 8 years on, I can promise that it still gets better every day, even when you think it can't get any more fantastic.

I can only hope that the Labour opposition will act with sensitivity when it comes to Angela's maternity leave. The sensible thing for them to do, if they have the slightest commitment to equality, would be for them to immediately offer a pairing arrangment so that Angela would not have to rush back to Parliament prematurely and is able to take as much time as she needs and wants in those precious early days. Frankly, I don't care that it was the SNP who stopped the last pairing arrangement, in case anyone wants to comment to that effect. Now is what matters.

Mayor banned from breastfeeding her baby

I was quite speechless after reading this article outlining the appalling treatment of the Mayor of Trafford.

Imagine writing to an elected official telling them they shouldn't wear the mayoral chain when looking after their child - like who would? And that their child shouldn't travel in the official car.

No wonder there are so few women in politics.

A New Dawn?

Ok, I'm a big softie. I admit it. My heart wasn't hard enough to remain unmoved as a non Labour First Minister was sworn in. I haven't forgiven him for what he needlessly did to my very good friend Nora Radcliffe but the recent election has shown that Scotland can turn away from Labour.

The success of this Government or otherwise will depend on its ability to listen, negotiate and work with the Parliament. In some ways, a minority Government could lead us to the sort of non tribal politics I've been wanting for, well, all of my life. I want to see people working together for the good of the country. It looks already as if Labour are going to be very bitter and twisted in opposition. If that's the case, I hope they get what they deserve at the polls in the future.

To succeed as a minority will require skills, maturity and a sense of responsiblity that I have yet to see in the SNP. Most of them haven't run so much as a bath in their entire lives, but there are some good people in their midst. In addition, the Lib Dems have pledged to be constructive in opposition, so it is possible that some very good policies for Scotland could be implemented in the next 4 years.

If they succeed, in a few years' time, Labour could be the 3rd or 4th party in Scottish politics. How good would that be?

The Hardest Working Man in Scotland

I don't think there are many nicer people in politics than John Swinney. He is a very clever man, too. I wasn't aware that amongst his many talents was an absence of the need to sleep.

Thatcher was bad enough, needing only 4 or 5 hours, but Swinney will simply not have time for such luxuries as napping as he gets to grip with his massive workload.

His new ministry covers everything from enterprise to Scottish Water to e-governance to planning. Given the amount of casework one relatively small constituency generates on the latter two issues, I hardly think that one Cabinet Minister can effectively manage all of this.

Time will tell, of course. I actually suspect, though, that Swinney is the sort who would work himself into the ground through dedication and diligence. I tend to think that work-life balance is important (all around me will guffaw, I'm sure, but there are limit). You work more effectively if you have time to relax away from the office.

The other Cabinet Ministers also have full portfolios. I do hope the new Government has not saved a few quid only to compromise the health and lives of its members. The work ethic is good to a point....................

How you know it's Breastfeeding Awareness Week

You can always tell when it's Breastfeeding Awareness Week - instead of positive reports of difficulties overcome and harmonious mothers and babies, the media is full of reports about how painful it can be and, well, formula's ok, isn't it?

This, unfortunately, completely misses the point. In cultures where breastfeeding is the norm, problems are virtually unheard of, partly because new mothers are going to be surrounded by people who have breastfed or are breastfeeding their babies who can recognise and put right the first signs of trouble.

I think it is criminal that mothers and babies are being denied the benefits of a breastfeeding relationship simply because they don't have access to accurate information and support. Of those who give up in the first 6 weeks, 90% would have preferred to continue according to English Dept of Health figures.

It was disappointing that breastfeeding rates in Scotland are holding their own but not increaasing substantially, except in Edinburgh, where they increased by 6%. I suspect that this is partly down to the work of Karla Napier, the Infant Feeding Adviser at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. She is one of the UK's breastfeeding experts and has done much to ensure that mothers have the sort of professional information and support they need. She has a lovely, gentle, patient manner which inspires both the mothers she works with and the professionals and lay counsellors she has trained.

I have been disappointed on occasions to find out that I, as a lay breastfeeding counsellor, know much more than trained health professionals in the basics of breastfeeding management. I have seen mums and babies in a terrible mess simply because a health professional has not recognised a glaringly obvious problem or suggested an appropriate solution. A lot of the time, the difference between successful feeding and not is down to a tiny bit of fine tuning - a tiny fraction of an inch in adjustment of a position, or feeding more frequently - or simply just slowing down, relaxing and enjoying the baby. Having said that, there are many health professionals who do a magnificent job and give mothers wise counsel - it's important that every woman who wants to breastfeed can access the support she needs.

After all, if someone had invented a living substance which adapted to circumstance, preventing diseases, protecting from many serious health conditions and providing babies with the optimum physical and emotional start in life, they would charge a fortune for it.

Media Superstardom dawns

Well, not quite, but I did join the likes of Kylie, Britney and Kate Moss on the pages of the Sun (Scottish edition) today.

I was asked as a Lib Dem supporter to give my take on Blair going so took the opportunity to lambast him on the war in Iraq and to remind everyone that Gordon Brown paid for it as well as all the other Labour disasters.

It was quite surreal - one minute talking to the journalist on my mobile phone and the next a photographer turned up at my house to take a photo. The house was a tip as well - its usual post election guddle. They won't be interviewing me for housewife of the year, that's for sure. Maybe I should watch out in case Kim and Aggie turn up:-)

Bye, Blair

I remember lying in bed watching Tony Blair walk into Downing Street, all smiles and hopes for the future. The crowds looked really happy and optimistic that things were really going to change. I felt absolutely nothing. I wasn't as elated as I should have been given that the Tories had finally been beaten.

I never really thought he would deliver. You can't really trust someone who can abandon their core philosophy the way he did just for electoral gain. It's ok to change your views, but the New Labour phenomenon simply seemed to operate in a philosophical vacuum. They floated this way and that, dependent on the views of focus groups, rather than their core beliefs.

The only time I have ever had a positive emotional reaction to anything he said was the day Diana died. He seemed to sum up the shock felt by everybody.

Whatever good things he has done, and there have been some - improved maternity leave, civil partnership legislation, Northern Ireland to name a few, I can't forgive him for leading us into the illegal war in Iraq. He has damaged Britain's credibility so badly that it will take us decades to recover.

We needn't think that things will change with his departure, either. Everything Labour has done, including Iraq, ineffective and expensive ID cards, and the tax credit fiasco, has been bankrolled by Gordon Brown.

I felt nothing at Blair's arrival and I don't feel that we are on the dawn of a new, brighter, future with his departure.

Dunfermline Delight

It was a great moment, in an otherwise very sad evening, to witness the election of Jim Tolson as the MSP for Dunfermline West. It made the long hours, the exhaustion, the sheer slog, all worthwhile. We had a fantastic team ably managed by Willie Rennie, Tony Martin and Elspeth Finlay. The amount of work everybody put in was phenomenal.

The icing on the cake came the following afternoon when 8 councillors were elected across Willie Rennie's constituency.

We now have representatives at all levels, including Elspeth Attwooll as MEP, to deliver for the people of Dunfermline and West Fife.

It's a fabulous team to be part of, even just as a minion.

E-Counting Misery

I can't stand e-counting. Thursday night was as close to torture as I'd ever come. We were all gathered at the Fife Institute with no real idea what was going on as the screens did not update regularly, and stayed the same for several hours. First we were ahead, then we weren't, then we were again - and we had no idea which boxes still had to be counted so we knew if our best areas had been done. This is a system which sure knows how to mess with your head.

Usually at a count, there is plenty to do as you are doing your box counts and then watching out that the votes are being counted correctly. We ended up unable to take the uncertainty and went and huddled round a tv screen to take in what was going on nationally - where we found the Tories who had brought the wine with them, but they didn't offer us any!

Anyway, all was well in the end and we were thrilled to see Jim Tolson elected as MSP at around 4 am.

Deal or No Deal?

I am pretty well disposed to the idea of talking to the SNP. Apart from the obvious disagreement on independence, we do have some similar ideas on policy and could probably form a stable government which would be good for Scotland.

However, having said repeatedly since way before the start of the election that we would not support a referendum on independence, we can't really go back on that now. To do so would be a betrayal of our commitment to the people who voted for us and would make us look like we had no integrity whatsoever. There might be an argument for changing our position if there had been a majority within the Parliament for such a referendum, but there isn't.

Ultimately it is for Alex Salmond to decide whether the most important issue is pursuing a policy that most people don't care about or providing Scotland with stable and responsible government.

On the campaign trail, not one single person raised the issue of a referendum as being of any importance to them. They were more concerned about health, education and crime. The Party had very kindly provided me with lots of facts about why a referendum would not be a good idea and not once did I have to use them. At the major hustings meetings, the subject was not even raised.

The Scotsman poll today shows that a referendum with the SNP's chosen wording would be lost anyway. If Mr Salmond and his colleagues want to show themselves as responsible leaders, they should recognise this, forget the idea for now and get on with the business of governing the country.

Help Stop Rene being deported tomorrow

Can I urge everyone reading this to please go
to http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/rene/index.html to sign a petition against the deportation tomorrow of Rene Murabukirwa. Full story is in the Evening News

It seems extremely unfair to deport someone who has friends and fiancee and who has made their life here for 11 years and been an active part of the community.

Labour's negative campaign turns people off

I might disagree with Alex Salmond on independence, but I'm sure he's not a bad man. A bit indecisive about what Parliament he wants to be in and which constituency he wants to represent, and his party's policies do stray into fiscal illiteracy a fair bit of the time, but that hardly puts him in the same league as Beelzebub or King Herod or the Daleks. However, if you listened to anything coming from Labour, or watched their PEB tonight, you would be forgiven for thinking that the Nationalists would be at your door claiming your firstborn for breakfast if they win on Thursday.

Labour actively seems to be trying to lose this election. They have barely uttered a positive word and generally seem tired and uncaring. The only thing that gets them going is having a go at their opponents. That, alone, makes them unfit to govern and they deserve to lose heavily on Thursday. And they will, in places like Edinburgh and Dunfermline. They will also lose control of councils in many if not all of their heartlands.

To be fair, the Nats are not always renowned for being positive and people are pretty sick of this style of politics. They want to hear about positive attempts to make things better and that's why Nicol Stephen and his clear, bright vision of the way he wants to transform Scotland, to make us a cleaner, fitter, happier nation, will do better than expected on Thursday.

McConnell slams Scottish Towns

Residents of Dunfermline, Cumbernauld, Alloa, Motherwell and Wishaw will no doubt be bemused by Jack McConnell's comments reported in today's Sunday Herald saying that ......"the town centre almost symbolises a lack of civic pride" among other things. He also calls the place he represents, Motherwell, a pigsty.

Which party, I wonder, has been in power in all of those towns for as long as anyone can remember? I only really know Dunfermline out of the ones mentioned, where Labour has completely neglected the town centre for decades. Liberal Democrat Councillors, and now Willie Rennie MP, have put forward constructive suggestions for centre revitalisation for a long time and until recently those calls fell on deaf ears. There remains much to be done to give that proud city the centre it deserves and Labour has proved that it's not up to the task.

No doubt Jack will have plenty spare time in the next few years to take up the cause of revitalising Motherwell to make it more to his taste.

Lib Dems on course to win Edinburgh Central

The Evening News has done a profile on Edinburgh Central. In it under-threat Labour incumbent admits that people are thinking about the SNP. How interesting. I seem to remember the struggling Labour campaign in Dunfermline talking up the SNP as their main rivals when they knew perfectly well that their support was haemorraging to Willie Rennie. In 2005 the struggling Labour campaign in Edinburgh South talked up the Tories as their main rivals when they knew Marilyne MacLaren was breathing down Nigel Griffith's neck. In fact, Marilyne was just 405 votes behind.

The moral of the story is that a vote for the SNP in places like Edinburgh Central and Dunfermline West might as well be votes for Labour.

Labour knows that Siobhan Mathers is on course to win and the only thing that will save their skin is an increase in the SNP vote.

Children and Alcohol

I'm quite saddened by the calls today to ban alcohol being given to children under 15. I was always allowed, in fact encouraged, to have a glass of wine with Sunday dinner. This has undoubtedly given me a rather expensive fondness for decent red, but it did mean that I knew what it was all about and I learned to drink sensibly. I have overindulged over the years, but not to huge excess.

I'm never very keen on these knee jerk solutions which involve banning things. We need to learn to drink better, and to do that we need to look at why young people are developing dependencies to drink and drugs at such young ages. What is missing from their lives and how do we put it back?

As usual I think part of it comes down to strong family life, loving parents, and close attachment. There's nothing as good as spending quality time with those you love and it's very sad that many people don't get to experience as much of that as they need.

The solution is not to ban, but to tackle the causes of the serious problem.

Prescription Relief

The Liberal Democrat pledge on prescription charges is set to bring relief to anybody who currently has to pay large amounts of money for prescribed drugs for chronic conditions not covered by current exemptions. The plans mean that the maximum anyone will pay will be one prescription charge per month. Everything above that will be free to all, and those people currently exempt will pay nothing at all.

I have been in contact with a fair number of people through my work whose lives have been blighted by illness and who currently have to find the money to find essential prescribed drugs. This move would make life easier for them.

Coupled with that is a pledge to give pharmacists greater powers to prescribe so that GP's time is freed up to concentrate on those who really need it.

The Hidden Cost of the SNP

Having been ordered to take the day off by the boss (he also forbade me from going anywhere near the computer, so please don't tell him) I was looking around for a new laptop. I went on one well known site and saw what I thought I wanted at a reasonable price. By the time I'd got through all the extras, the cost had pretty much doubled.

It's a bit like that with the SNP. They can talk but they sure can't count. If all their spending pledges were implemented, you'd have to put income tax up by around 9p to pay for it. Frankly, it's just not worth the pain.

Just as an aside, does anyone else find that countdown thing on their website and on their broadcasts irritating. You'd think they'd have made it more exciting but it's all a bit scary and looks like it's counting down to some huge explosion or something.

People turning to the Liberal Democrats

The Times poll this week showing the Liberal Democrats gaining support is no surprise to me. On the ground, all over the country, there is evidence that people want change. They are totally fed up with Labour because of cash for honours, Iraq and Trident, among other things. They absolutely do not want independence - not even a quarter of people actually support the idea.

So, they are turning to the people who have made the difference over the last eight years - free personal care, free eye and dental checks, ending tuition fees and now pledging to end the graduate endowment, delivering a new Forth crossing, STV for local government elections and all sorts. If the last one sounds boring, just wait until May 4th to see how liberating it is - local authorities will at last be free from one party dominance. People will have a real and fair choice in their local representation.

The Labour manifesto has so few ideas in it. It's almost like they sat round a table and thought - "Gosh, we haven't got a clue what to put in it and we can't be bothered thinking anything up - why don't we just throw some money at education cos people are interested in it." In contrast, the Liberal Democrat vision is clearly outlined and costed - free playgroup places for 2 year olds, one hour's physical education per day, zero tolerance of bullying - even the News of the World has given us positive comment on that one today. A positive vision rather than Labour's cynical and tired effort at manipulating the electorate.

Borrowman Fan Club - Scottish Branch

There's a lot of high quality literature going out in Scotland at the moment - and much of it is due, either directly or indirectly to Campaigns guru Duncan Borrowman. He has trained many of our best literature writers as well as coming up here to help in Edinburgh Central.

I remember during the Livingston by-election when we were working to a very tight timescale, Duncan went in to Cowley Street on a bank holiday weekend to finalise the production of our first tabloid. He then held my hand through a couple of major crises during the campaign.

He has a very good tactical mind, and he is always willing to share his knowledge and help out.

If I had a vote in the GLA selection, he would definitely be top of my list.

Siobhan Mathers for Edinburgh Central!

There's no point in pretending that I don't get emotionally involved in election campaigns - in every election, I have close friends standing and I desperately want them to win. So I'm going to use this blog to do a bit of shameless plugging for some of them - starting with my friend Siobhan Mathers in Edinburgh Central. We have a friendship which was forged on the streets of East Dunbartonshire helping Jo Swinson in 2005. Since then we've been through the Livingston by-election, where Siobhan's husband Charles Dundas was the candidate, the Moray by-election, the Dunfermline by-election where she worked on casework with me and the build up to her campaign to win Edinburgh Central.

Don't just take my opinion as to her prospects. The Observer both acknowledges her great personality and her chances of winning. In Edinburgh Central, it's clearly a two horse race between Labour and Liberal Democrat and a vote for anyone else just helps Labour.

I was amazed to find Siobhan all over the front page of the Scotsman on Easter Monday. It's not often you go to get petrol and Tesco and find your friend in the same sort of position usually reserved for supermodels and celebs:-)

Siobhan has tremendous energy and enthusiasm and is very focussed - she's good enough to be a minister in time - and will totally devote herself to getting the best deal for her constituents if elected. She has such a breadth of knowledge on so many issues and, having cut her professional teeth on the BSE Enquiry and in Europe, she certainly knows how to master a complex brief. Her analytical mind will have absorbed and understood a complicated document while I'm still struggling with the introduction.

She and I share a love of food and wine, but she is much more disciplined about it than I am.

She also wins the prize for the best campaign headquarters - I have never, in my life, seen a lace tablecloth on the envelope stuffing table. And flowers in the window too.

I hope she makes it into Holyrood - she will liven it up a bit, bringing flair, energy, humour and knowledge to benefit both the parliamentary party and, most importantly, her constituents. So, if you live in Edinburgh Central, vote for Siobhan.

News from the Dunfermline Front

Sorry I haven't been around for some time - I have barely had time to eat and sleep , in common with many political activists over the last 3 weeks, let alone find witty and interesting things to write here.

My day goes something like this. The alarm goes off somewhere between 6 and 7. I think "Noooooooooo. Not already. Please." I fight my way to semi consciousness, throw on some clothes, have some caffeine and get in the car and head over to Sunny Dunfermline. There I drown in a sea of casework until late evening when I come back in time to put Anna to bed and deal with e-mails or write envelopes or some other such campaign job. This is every day. I am lucky, though. I had the last weekend in March off, one of two I've had this year - actually it might have been 3 but I was ill on the third one. One of my colleagues hasn't had a day off since February.

It's all worth it in the cause of getting Jim Tolson elected to Holyrood. The Team is working really well together and it is a fun campaign. We have managed to do a huge amount of stuff and have had so much positive feedback. We believe in Jim and think he would make a fabulous MSP, but what really drives us on is that so many people get in touch and say that they are supporting us because Willie or one of the councillors have helped or they can see what a difference we are making. Some of the communications we have had have shown so much trust in Willie - one letter made me cry the other day, it was so lovely.

What really amazes me is that we are now almost three weeks in and I haven't had any junk food yet. In fact, my appalling diet has been transformed. No alcohol since 31 March, drinking loads of water and eating industrial quantities of fruit. There might be something in all this healthy eating stuff, because within days I felt better than I had in months and I although I feel exhausted, I don't feel unwell.

The family is resigned to never seeing me. This is the most involved I've been in a campaign since Anna was born. I did say to her the other day that I would have lots of time to spend with her after the election. She said "That sentence was going well until you mentioned the election." She doesn't seem too traumatised, though. My poor husband is suffering from my grumpiness but is being the glue that holds us all together. It's funny how different people react - my non political friends think I'm mad and being unreasonable to him, and the political ones think "It's an election. He should be used to it by now."

It is actually hell being away from them - I do miss them terribly and hate tearing myself away day after day. However, I was talking to a friend of mine recently. I first knew her when she was not much older than Anna and she has grown up with the rough and tumble of the electoral cycle dominating her family life. She is now standing as a Council Candidate with an excellent chance of winning. Maybe this will be Anna in 15 years' time. Eleanor has the best attributes of both her parents and will be a caring and hard working representative so good luck to her.

The Next First Minister

In less than 5 weeks we will have a good idea about who the next occupant of Bute House will be - who will lead Scotland through the next 4 years. The testosterone poisoned rants and name calling of Salmond and McConnell are hardly inspiring. Who can respect someone who slates another politician's teeth, as Salmond did Douglas Alexander? Who can be bothered with the tired old tirades which come from McConnell, Brown and Blair. I don't think he's said one single positive thing recently.

In contrast, Nicol Stephen has set out a bold and ambitious programme to tackle climate change, to deliver health care as locally as possible, to invest in young people rather than demonise them, to get rid of the unfair Council Tax. The target to produce 100% of electricity from renewable sources by 2050 will provide a cleaner and more sustainable future and attract investment to boost Scotland's economy.

I can barely bring myself to admit this, but it's nearly 20 years since I first came across Nicol during the 1987 when he stood in Kincardine and Deeside. That campaign laid the foundations for his stunning by-electon victory four years later. Over the years he has gained experience from local government, the Westminster Parliament, running his own business and, latterly, as a Minister. As a father of 4 young children, he understands exactly the pressures on Scottish families.

I've seen him at quite close quarters since he became leader two years ago so I have a reasonable idea of what makes him tick. He is at his best when he's out and about meeting people and listening to what they have to say. During the Livingston and Dunfermline by-elections, I lost count of the times when he would approach a group of young people who initially looked at him with, at best, suspicion. Within a few minutes, they were having a good, positive dialogue. He does make you feel that he is bothered about what you think.

Anyone with a family and a demanding job will know how difficult it can be to balance both and, for Nicol, his ministerial and party responsibilities do mean spending a lot of time away from home. I have always been impressed to see him taking the time out to ring his kids round about bedtime, no matter what else he is doing. You can't really imagine McConnell and Salmond paying much attention to the minutiae of domestic life, but Nicol understands what life is like for real people. I met him on a train on his way to Livingston during the by-election. He was on his mobile phone having a discussion with the customer services department of some company who had mucked up delivering some new appliance to his home. He was clearly getting the runaround but he deliberately and calmly got the matter sorted to his satisfaction.

He is not the sort of person to let anyone pull the wool over his eyes, be they civil servants, Party staff or Party workers. If he thinks he's not getting told the full story, he doesn't scream and strop, but he does question you quite forensically until he knows the exact situation - and if there's a problem he will give clear guidance and advice to sort it - he resolves instead of blaming.

While Nicol might not have the hot air and theatrics of the others, he's a decent human being and he does have the vision, the experience and the passion to lead Scotland forward.

Vince Cable on Strictly?

Thanks to Louise for pointing me in the direction of an Independent interview in which Vince Cable of all people says he'd love to do Strictly Come Dancing and put Craig Revel Horwood in his place. Now, much as I love Vince, mainly for coming to the Livingston by-election, working like a Trojan and being generally fabulous, I have to say that my money would be on Craig. I really don't think Vince could compete with the master of the put down and Craig is just that tiny bit better looking.

Unfortunately Vince can dance already which probably means he wouldn't be eligible for it, but I was trying to work out what dancer he should be partnered with. Karen Hardy's partnership with another quiet unassuming 50 something with a wicked sense of humour (Bill Turnbull) was legendary and I could just see her with Vince. Or of course Miss Whiplash herself, Erin Boag.......... So far she's had 3 sportsmen and Julian Clary. I wonder what she'd make of a politician. I'm exempting Camilla Dallerup because I want her to win this year if Anton doesn't:-)

Seriously, though, after Julia Goldsworthy's excellent run in The Games, I'd love to see one of our lot do Strictly, especially one of the Scots so I could badger them for tickets:0)

Sister Alert

I discovered earlier tonight that my sister reads this blog. I have no idea how on earth she found it, but, Honor, welcome to my world. And remember that if you were a nurse in England, you would have had to wait until October to get your pay rise in full............ Now what's the difference between the Government in England and the Scottish Executive?

She tells me that she would have commented on here before now if she had known she could have done so anonymously. So from now on, she will get the blame for every anonymous comment.

So, will I change what I write now I know she's reading it?

Nah.......:-)

Singalonga..........

Last night we had our last pre-election night out, to Singalonga Sound of Music in Edinburgh. It was absolutely fabulous, although I had been somewhat worried by my daughter's insistence that, rather than put on her readily available cat costume, she would go as a wild goose flying high with the moon on her wings. With the help of Debbie at work, and with Elspeth's inspiration, we managed to create a sweet costume.

I had never been before and had rather stupidly assumed that we would simply watch the film and sing along. In fact, there was an hour's entertainment before the film even came on - lots of singing, learning the actions to Doe a Deer, discovering what parts of our goodie bags to wave at what point in the film.

I have never seen so many nuns under one roof in my life but I was slightly bemused to see what looked like a chapter of the Klu Klux Klan out and about. It turned out that they were a mountain range with snowy peaks. Anna and Elspeth (a very fetching girl in a white dress with a blue satin sash) went up on stage but, incredibly, didn't win anything. Some of the costumes were inspired - someone in full Orthodox Jewish garb saying they were "adieu, adieu, adieu" from the song the "Clock in the Hall"

The showing of the film was pure panto - cheers for Maria, hisses for the Baronness, boos for the Nazis, but by 11.30 when it finished we were all exhausted. Not good on a school, let alone a work's night, but well worth the consequences today.

I must have watched the film millions of times, but never on the big screen. It was truly spectacular and great fun - and probably more effective than any anti-depressant:-)

It definitely raised the spirits - now I'm looking for Singalonga Abba...........

Tabloid Trouble

The local SNP has been putting out a tabloid newspaper where I live. My first thought is that whoever designed it needs to go to Desk Top Publishing School. Two extremely unflattering mugshots in the front page doesn't necessarily pass the "Bin Test" - being able to grab the reader's attention in the time it takes from doorstep to bin. I only read it because I have to and I can't imagine it inspiring anyone else. I guess they may have been relying on the fact that it takes longer to get to the recycling bin these days, but even so.............

I was also particularly bemused by an unfunny caricature of one of the local Labour councillors, who just happens to be significantly higher up the food chain than most Labour politicians I've come across in my time.

I would also have been spitting furious if my daughter had appeared in another political party's newspaper simply by taking part in an event in her school. I hope they had the permission of every single parent of every single child to publish that photo.....

Happy Mother's Day

I have suffered a grade 1 assault on my emotions in the run-up to Mother's Day. First came the Brownies Posh Pink Party on Wednesday. Mums were invited along and served with juice, cake, songs and poems from our talented daughters.

On Friday, Anna's school held a Mother's Day assembly where the staff were handing out tissues at the door. Before the children had even come into the hall, we were treated to Westlife songs coupled with heart with loving messages on each chair and a display with sweet quotes about motherhood.

The tears really did start to flow when the children started reading. Anna's reading was "I can't put into words how much you mean to me, how much I admire you and how much I appreciate the things you do for me." Some of my so-called friends say that it should be Bob who was there given my frequent absence on election preparation at the moment, and they are probably right - but he'll get his turn come Father's Day:-)

This morning was very sweet - Anna had made me some wonderful cards which brought a tear to my eye and gave me 3 presents - The Queen on dvd, which I am just about to go and watch, a CD called "Me Time" - 2 weeks from an election campaign, not very likely, but I can listen to it in May, maybe, and a box of chocolates from Plaisir du Chocolat. The Prune and Armagnac ones are particularly heavenly.

This was all very lovely, but it's Anna who deserves the praise today. I could never do anything in my life which even comes close to the joy she gives me every single day. I always think that every phase she goes through is the cutest ever and she couldn't get any better, but she always does.

A special thought today to Dani and Siobhan - this is really your first Mother's Day, so enjoy it as you prepare for the arrival of your babies later this year.

What does half a million buy?

So, Brian Souter has decided to give half a million to the SNP. His last major financial contribution in the political arena came with his homophobic Keep the Clause campaign seven years ago.

Certainly it's up to him who he gives his money to. What worries me is that the SNP does not have any clear philosophy which respects the rights of the individual and they are accepting money from someone who does not support the rights of same sex partners to enjoy the same rights as heterosexual couples. What might this mean for future legislation? Already we have seen the SNP support exemptions for Catholic adoption agencies to allow them to turn away gay couples, regardless of what is best for the child.

Can we trust them to protect hard-won recognition for same sex partnerships?

Celebrity Fame Academy

So I've been indulging in some Sunday night reality tv. Not good, but just what I need at this moment. It's quite scary how attractive I find both Richard Park and Craig Revel Horwood (but not Patrick Kielty under any circumstances) no matter how much rubbish they talk. Mel Giedroyc was fantastic, so was Tara P-T. Tricia Penrose was slated by the judges for no good reason other than the fact that her stylist should be shot. Ray Stubbs, like football, hugely over-rated. Fred Macauley will probably get my patriotic vote and Shaun Williamson did the business but I don't want him to win. Colin Murray has the lovely Irish accent but he can't sing for toffee.

I don't actually care that much, but this brings a pleasant interlude, for a good cause, to a stressed pre election Sunday.

Congratulations to Ed and Dani

I was delighted to get a message from Ed Maxfield this morning directing me to the news on his and Dani's website.

It's great that they are going to be welcoming a little Maxfield in September. Let's hope he or she will be a good playmate for Baby Dundas at conferences in the future.

Scottish Tory Party Conference Broadcast

Tonight's Scottish Tory broadcast should go down in history as one of the worst ever. I wish I had a copy so I could post it to show how dire it was. It almost makes Rosie Barnes and her rabbits look good. Cheap and irrelevant.

All it basically showed is that the Tories have no ideas and are worth ignoring. It makes you think David Mundell had a point.

Compare and contrast with the professional and positive Lib Dem effort posted here. And, no, I'm not just saying that cos I'm in it.

Rail Strike Mayhem

Typically, the only day in ages I needed to use the rail network was yesterday when the signallers were on strike. There was still a reduced service between home and Edinburgh which meant we were not put to too much inconvenience.

Others weren't so lucky as there were no trains beyond Stirling.

I always like to look into the circumstances of these disputes and look at the behaviour of the participants. What I like to see is genuine negotiation and continued attempts to resolve the situation.

I was disappointed to see that the RMT had refused to go to conciliation. What can they possibly lose by sitting round a table?

However, I was truly horrified by a quote from the Union which included the phrase "Network Rail have been drafting in scab managers". I have always felt sorry for the way strikebreakers across the history of disputes have been villified. I guess it's the Liberal in me, valuing the rights of the individual. If a Union has a good case it will win the hearts and minds of its members. That doesn't apply in this case, but the use of the word scab is offensive and inflammatory and it should be sent to Room 101 immediately.

You don't see industrial unrest in organisations where employees are valued and where there is a healthy, positive culture. Large public sector monoliths are havens for bullying, archaic, ineffective management styles and general discontent. Both management and workforce should put their minds to improving the culture of their organisation and start behaving like adults in the way they resolve disputes.

Public name calling is a turn off - stop doing it and sort your issues out. I certainly couldn't afford to lose 6 days' income in a month - it must be a nightmare for the union members out on strike. I don't think that unions always serve their members' interests well and it's time they committed themselves to finding a speedy, satisfactory resolution.

Raining on our Parade

Norfolk Blogger thinks he can rain on our parade by pointing out that lunar eclipses happen really, really often. However, this is the first one we've enjoyed as a family and got excited about. It's also supposed to be the best in years. It may never happen again like this for us. So we're enjoying it. So there:-)

Totality

Well it should be by now but there's still a white edge to the moon. What's strange is that we're the only family out viewing this. Or maybe we're strange............

Have just remembered I haven't had any dinner. Lovely Oohla's Dunfermline burger at lunchtime has left me satisfied until now.

The First Bit of Orange

In amongst the pearly white of the little bit of moon still visible, there's the shadow and a definite bit of orange round the edges.

Daughter is out there with clothes, dressing gown, fleece and blanket.

Husband still in t-shirt.

But he's making hot chocolate for all.

The moon is starting to disappear

It looks so much better through the binoculars. The camera doesn't pick up the half of it.

Darned technology

It looks fab. But when we try to take a photo on full zoom - no luck, and we can't find the shiny new camera we bought when we went to Mallorca at Christmas.

Climate Change action needed

He says it's 'cos of global warming. I disagree. The front door is open and it's bloomin' (this is a family blog) freezin'

Mad Husband

Can you believe it? It's early March, after dark, and my husband is outside in his t-shirt looking at the eclipse. Not good.

Lunar Eclipse - Live

Have gone to look for myself. It's not cloud. It's the start of the eclipse. Wow.

Lunar Eclipse Disaster

I can't believe how excited I am about the forthcoming lunar eclipse. Only half an hour to go.

Typically, a cloud has just started to pass before the moon where we are.......................

That Trident Vote

I was absolutely heartsick when I heard the result of the Trident vote. Only 40 votes in it and I wasn't there. If I had known the strength of feeling in the party at large was so close, I would have gone. It wasn't just the result - the quality of the debate was utterly magnificent and the atmosphere must have been incredible.

It does take guts for a leader, staring defeat in the face, to take to the rostrum and speak for his cause. He took a risk - if the vote had gone the other way we would have had a procession of sombre faced journalists in best obituary writing mode. I suspect he made the difference, but he made it well so I can't feel annoyed with him, however hard I try.

There is every possibility that, when the time comes, the party could still decide that the international situation warrants unilateral nuclear disarmament. These weapons are aimed entirely at civilians so my position is that having them at all is wrong. However, this doesn't set me at odds with my party.

The vote that matters in weeks to come is the one in the House of Commons later this month. Whatever side of the debate we were on today, we would all vote against the Labour Government's ludicrous position - to nip down to Bombs R Us and get whatever's on offer.

Ming - One Year On

This weekend's conference in Harrogate marks the first anniversary of Ming Campbell's election as leader of the Liberal Democrats. It's no great secret that I did not support his campaign, but I have been pleasantly surprised by his first year in office.

I think he compares well to Blair, Brown and Cameron. Cameron is just Blair Mark 2 and there's no evidence that the public has any great regard for him. Brown signed the cheques for the war in Iraq and is just as culpable for Labour's failings as Blair. Ming, on the other hand, brings authority, consistency and an unwavering Liberal approach. I would sleep a lot easier in my bed if Ming were making the decisions on global and internal security and justice. I like also the change in emphasis on taxation - the Green Tax Switch.

Within the party, he has made some incredibly sensible appointments. There also appears to be a less combative approach towards the grassroots of the Party - some previous leaders' offices have tended to treat the activists as a minor inconvenience, and this is definitely not the case with Ming's team. He is also giving significant time and effort into encouraging greater diversity amongst our candidates.

In Scotland, Ming and Nicol complement each other very well. Ming has the expertise to restore our global standing and to work towards a more peaceful world, while Nicol's passion for the environment and giving young people all they need to fulfil their potential is exactly what Scotland needs at the moment. They also seem to like each other, and talk to each other sometimes in contrast to Blair and McConnell and there's not much evidence that David Cameron knows who Annabel Goldie is.