They Blog For You

Obviously - with Nick Clegg's helpful contribution in the Leader Debates - the campaign trail has been very exciting with lots of people coming up and talking politics, smiling waving and saying they are going to vote Liberal Democrat. Through my inbox too come a whole host of kind messages of [...]

There’s a report in today’s Sunday Telegraph that’s inaccurate. I wasn’t asked to verify the story, particularly the statement that I was excluded from the campaign: “By contrast a number of Mr Brown’s most trusted advisers – including Tom Watson, the former Cabinet Office minister, and Charlie Whelan, the Prime Minister’s [...]

What Nick Clegg managed to highlight in the leader's debate is that both Labour and Conservative are promising to do things that they either opposed or did not support in the last parliament.He highlighted the recall of MPs - where Labour opposed recall and the tories abstained. However, there are [...]

Mr. John Redwood (Wokingham) (Con): Before he sits down, will the Minister please supply the House with the figures showing what difference those measures will make to the revenue forecast for the immediate year? Mr. Timms: I can give the right hon. Gentleman some of those figures, and we can perhaps [...]

After the long-awaited announcement last Tuesday of the election date, Parliament spent two days in tidying up outstanding business, the so-called 'wash-up'. The idea is that any business on which there is general agreement is passed through into law quickly, without the normal full scrutiny that legislation gets. The 'wash-up' [...]

What a difference an election makes. When Kraft were bidding for Cadbury the government said they were powerless to stop it. They did not propose any legislation to give themselves the power to stop such deals. We know, of course, as [...]

Loughborough MP Andy Reed last night voted against the Digital Economy Bill in the House of Commons at 3rd Reading. Andy Reed said "Whilst the objectives of the overall Bill are very welcome the speed at which this was rushed through parliament meant I could not support it in its current [...]

Yesterday the government presented a Business motion to the House which allowed just one hour to “complete” consideration of the Digital Economy Bill, and a mere 3 hours to consider and pass an entirely new 71 Clause Finance Bill. It summed [...]

The rushing through of the Digital Economy Bill through its last stages and 3rd Reading last night in the Commons was a classic example of the arrogance this Labour government has shown to many key issues. I have been shocked and appalled by the way they carry out their business [...]

Controversial elements of the Digital Economy Bill will face further scrutiny even if the bill is passed later, Commons Leader Harriet Harman has said. Part of the bill, which refers to how copyright holders can block access to websites hosting pirated content, will be subject to further consultation. Despite objections, the bill [...]

On the ropes over taxes and the deficits, Mr Brown is trying to change the subject today. He wants to talk about a new democracy. He does so without a hint of irony and without a [...]

Yesterday I argued that the government's Digital Economy Bill was a massive wasted opportunity to put Britain on the digital map. My real disappointment was a) the lack of parliamentary time to scrutinise and improve it, which the government could easily have solved by bringing the legislation forward a few [...]

I have just intervened on the Digital Economy Bill to point out that Freedom of Information Requests are copyrighted by local authorities amongst other public authorities.This means that the enforcement methods in the Bill could be used against websites that report the information from FOI.It is important that those people [...]

If only he had listened. My first question to new Prime Minister Tony Blair was asked on the first  day when questions were allowed. We had been elected as the anti-sleaze party after the Tories fell for cash for questions. Here was the chance to stake our camp firmly on the [...]

Yesterday I took a call from Stephen Timms. To my surprise - and delight - he said that the government has decided to accept the substance of the amendment put forward by ourselves and the Lib Dems to tackle digital piracy. We are trying to find a policy that allows [...]

Very pleased that the following motion was passed at our conference this morning regrading the Digital Economy Bill. There was an excellent debate and at the end I was with just about everyone else in the hall in voting for it: Conference notes with concern amendment 120a to the Digital Economy [...]

Dear Sirs, We regret that the House of Lords last week adopted amendment 120A to the Digital Economy Bill. This amendment not only significantly changes the injunctions procedure in the UK but will lead to an increase in Internet service providers blocking websites accused of illegally hosting copyrighted material without cases [...]

Nearly two weeks since I last blogged! Thought I'd get time to catch up over half-term recess, but as busy as ever. Apologies also to people who are waiting for me to reply to correspondence, especially on two big issues at the moment, Digital Economy Bill and Libel Reform. It's [...]

The entertainment industry continues an unprecedented and relentless lobby around the Digital Economy Bill.  The campaigns around this Bill really are a story of David and Goliath.  If you counted the number of people who are working full time to bounce this Bill through the Commons on behalf of big publishing [...]