And Tina makes two...

...Victor having shown me how to blog, I'll be throwing the odd post onto here in the future.
Watch this space!

Regional List results

The results of the Regional List voting for Mid Scotland & Fife are now publicly available, after an excellent contest with nine high-calibre candidates, and we have probably a stronger team going in to the Holyrood elections next year as we ever have had before.

The Lib Dem Regional list was topped by Willie Rennie, the ex-MP for Dunfermline and West Fife who won a famous by-election victory over Labour in 2006. Willie knows the party in Scotland inside out, will be a formidable organizer and campaigner and will be a very real asset to the Scottish Parliament if he is elected.

Tim Brett came second. Tim is a well respected and well liked councillor in Fife with a lifetime of experience working in the NHS. With the difficult times that undoubtedly lie ahead in Scotland and with the NHS such a key public service to defend and manage effectively, Tim is likely to be a key contributor with a very useful skill-set.

James Taylor from Alyth came third. James is a successful businessman with tremendous energy and drive and has vowed to put job creation at the top of his political agenda.

Peter Barrett came fourth. Peter is an experienced and innovative campaigner, very popular and well respected in and around Perth, and with a career in the building trade and now Convenor of the Housing & Health committee on PKC, he has a wide range of useful skills to contribute to the overall team effort.

We have a very strong Top Four in this list without doubt.

Jane Ann Liston from Fife and Russell Auld from Milnathort fill the fifth and sixth positions. Both are hard working local party members who put in a huge amount of effort week in & week out on behalf of their local communities.

Finally, 18 year old Callum Leslie won a lot of admiration for putting himself up for election at such a young age, and he will work selflessly to get the youth vote out for us.

Well done to all concerned, and good luck in 2011.

Nice autumn evening......

Vince Cable speaking his mind in Liverpool

Vince Cable has certainly been making people sit up and listen in Liverpool this week, articulating very clearly what many people think but cannot always find the words to say.

Is'nt it strange how a certain type of business person likes to use strong & emotive language themselves, but dont like it when others do it?

Well done to Vince cable for speaking his mind. He was'nt just playing to the gallery at a Lib Dem conference, he was clearing speaking to the wider country.

Liberal Democrats punch above our weight - Vince Cable
"We have punched above our weight in government because we have a democratic party which has clear principles and policies" said Vince Cable in his keynote conference speech today.

"In a few short months we have showed how we can advance our party’s policies and principles while serving the wider national interest. But we need to sell this message. The Tories will not do that for us. We have to do it ourselves. That means focus leaflets and doorsteps. That means you. We need you. All of you." Vince also attacked Labour's record on the economy, saying: "We know that if elected Labour planned to raise VAT. They attack this government’s cuts but say not a peep about the £23bn of fiscal tightening Alistair Darling had already introduced. They planned to chop my department’s budget by 20 to 25%, but now they oppose every cut, ranting with synthetic rage, and refuse, point blank, to set out their alternatives. They demand a plan B but don’t have a plan A. The only tough choice they will face is which Miliband."

Nick Clegg's speech today in Liverpool

Deputy Prime Minister and UK Liberal Democrats party leader Nick Clegg MP has today set out the following as his vision and focus for Britain in 2010 in his speech to delegates at the Party Federal Conference in Liverpool.

"Imagine you're asking a friend or neighbour to vote Liberal Democrat in the 2015 General Election.
Imagine how it will feel to say that in Government, the Liberal Democrats scrapped ID cards. To say we cut crime while stopping Labour's mass incarceration of children. That finally we have a fair tax system where the rich pay their share - and the lowest earners pay no income tax at all. You'll say we brought troops home from Afghanistan after they'd finished the difficult job we sent them to do.
You’ll be able to tell people they have a new right to sack MPs who do wrong, and that the party funding scandals of the past are history. And if we campaign hard enough in the referendum on Fairer Votes you'll be able to say the clapped out First Past the Post system is gone for good.
That is the goal, the prize, that I have set out in my speech to our Party Conference today.
In 2015 Britain will be a different country. For five years you and I will give it a different kind of government and a new politics. Five years of transforming the state and reversing generations of centralisation.
Five years of delivering fairer taxes, a fair start for every child, a rebalanced green economy, a cleaner politics - as we promised to do in our Liberal Democrat election manifesto.
The Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives are and always will be separate parties, with distinct histories and different futures. But for this Parliament we work together to fix the problems we face and put the country on a better path.
This is the right Government for right now.
Our first job is a difficult one - balancing the budget.
Let me be clear with you about this - we are not dismantling the state. Even when all the cuts have happened, the Government will still be spending the same proportion of national income as it did in 2006. We will not repeat the mistakes of previous recessions.
But to delay solving the deficit would mean the Government would soon be paying £70 billion a year on interest payments alone. We cannot ask our children to pay our credit card bills.
We have to do it so that Britain in 2015 can be a different country.
Strong, fair, free. A country we can be proud to hand on to our children.
Thank you for all your support and all your hard work. Together we will change Britain for good."

Jo Swinson on Electoral reform

As you know , Nick Clegg is leading the fight in Parliament to secure the United Kingdom its first ever referendum on electoral reform.

Fighting for fairer votes will be one of the top priorities for the Liberal Democrats this coming year – it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to overhaul our failed electoral system.

That's why we're devoting the first evening of our Party Conference in Liverpool to a Rally for Fairer Votes, in association with the Electoral Reform Society.
We'll be putting the case for Fairer Votes for Britain – with a bit of fun, glitz and glamour along the way!

If you 're at Conference, come along to ACC Auditorium at 6.30pm on Saturday. A Conference photo-pass will be required for entry.

If you can’t join us in Liverpool there will be highlights posted to www.libdems.org.uk/fairervotes over the next few days.

You can also now download campaign materials and find out more about the Fairer Votes Referendum. Just visit www.libdems.org.uk/fairervotes.

Half the story.........

I switched on the TV to see Reporting Scotland this evening to catch the very end of a report by Glen Campbell who was standing in front of the crowds at Belahouston park in Glasgow, where the Pope was holding his open-air mass. Glen was relating how some-one had asked Conservative Leader Annabel Goldie if she was wearing tartan knickers.

I could'nt belive my ears. For a moment I thought it must have been the Pope who said it, and we were all set for a national furore, the like of which we had never heard before.

The story was over before I knew who said it. A quick Google ascertained it was'nt the Pope who had asked Annabel Goldie if she was wearing tartan knickers....it was just Prince Philip!!

Funny how some people can get away with things where others could'nt eh?

Surely the highlight of Annabel Goldie's career to date. Bet First Minister's questions next week should be good.

Well done Annabel for being a good sport.

Liberal Democrats running scotland, not the SNP

There was an interesting bit in the papers yesterday about how David Cameron had not spoken to Scottish Conservatives leader Annabel Goldie since the election. Apparently, this is because he has officially ceded responsibility for Scotland to us, the Lib Dems.

So there you are, next time the SNP are getting a bit too carried away with their own importance, we can remind them who really runs the country.

Beautiful autumn evening looking across Kinross

Harvest is well under way now.

Closer........

Nick Clegg in Afghanistan & Pakistan

Earlier this week this week I went to Afghanistan and Pakistan to see for myself the problems and challenges that those countries face. The coalition government is committed to playing our part to helping ensure that the region has a peaceful and prosperous future.
It was my second visit to our armed forces in Afghanistan, where I saw again the bravery and professionalism of our troops. Whilst the situation in the country is still difficult, I believe that we are beginning to turn the corner. As the Prime Minister has made clear, British combat troops will leave Afghanistan by 2015 and it is important that by then we have a full political settlement to take the country forward.
Yesterday I was in Pakistan where I saw the almost unimaginable impact of the terrible floods. It is almost impossible to appreciate their scale — the affected area is approximately the same size as the UK.
I was deeply moved as I witnessed the flooding from the air. It is sadly clear that it will take years for life in Pakistan to come back to normal. I met with President Zardari and aid agency workers to discuss aid being delivered to Pakistan and what role Britain and the international community can play.
I’m proud that the British people and government have together contributed over £100m to assist the aid efforts. If you would like to donate to the DEC appeal for Pakistan, as I know many people will have done already, you can do so here: www.dec.org.uk