FibDems

Not only has Mr Crockart got problems with his calendar, but his green credentials appear to have been dealt a rather savage blow.

Mr Crockart and his fellow Libs have put out a newspaper calling for a "greener Leith".

Only problem is the paper was printed in Exeter, some 450 miles away from Leith.

Think of the carbon emissions it must have cost to transport it to Leith?

We here at Fib Dems would be delighted to hear from anyone else out there who has discovered that their "Local" Lib Dem paper doesn't quite do exactly what it says on the tin.

Mike Crockart, fiberal democrat candidate for Edinburgh North and Leith has encouraged people to vote for the Liberal Democrats on May the fifth according to a report in today's Daily Record. In a campaign newsletter it says, “They (Liberals) continue to be the best way of beating Labour come polling day on May 5”.

Well Mike, we here at Fibdems couldn’t agree more. All Liberal Democrat voters – be sure to get out to the polls on the May the 5th! Everyone else, please vote on polling day, May the 3rd.

Squealer will be sure to get his hands on this little gem of idiocy in due course.

"Hey, where is everybody?"

Squealer prophesized not so long ago that he would not have to wait very long for Jo Swinson to stick her foot in it again.

Swinson pitched up this softball congratulating the Government on their policy of letting 18 year old's to stand for elections.

Jo Swinson ( East Dunbartonshire) (LD): There is concern in all parties about low turnout among young people in elections. Next May, for the first time in Scotland, 18-year-old candidates, including the Liberal Democrat challenger in the First Minister's constituency, will stand for election. I hope that the Minister and the First Minister welcome the implementation of that new law. When will the Government take the next step and encourage more young people to play an active part in the political process by introducing voting at 16?

David Cairns: First, the hon. Lady could have said that it is a reform introduced by the Government that allows 18-year-olds to stand as candidates. That provision did not fall out of a clear blue sky. It underlines our commitment to engaging with young people and ensuring that they play a full part.

Maybe Fib Dems should be keeping count of the number of times Jo fumbles the ball at Scottish Questions but we'd lose count because of the outbreaks of laughter.

I name this ship the HMS Hopeless. May God bless her and all who sail on her.

After trawling through the wonderfully exciting debates that occur in Westminster Hall, Squealer was struck by a very notable absence. A one Wil-lie Rennie didn’t make it to a debate on Arms Exports from the UK.

Hmm…is this the man who is campaigning so vigorously against cluster bombs? You think he would have dropped in, guided or not.

But then again he has been pictured at a Raytheon weapons factory, a company that he also happened to do PR for. We reported it here, here and here. What a mess Wil-lie. What a mess indeed.

While Willie scolded the man for selling cluster bombs, he was assured that other weapons systems were hot sellers abroad.

Update: Hat tip to Chris Paul for pointing out that the factory isn't even in Wil-lies constituency. The truth only makes the saga better. Rennie had to make that extra-special effort to be a hypocrite.

Tavish was assured that this machine would destroy all records of his party's view on a referendum

Jo was very excited about her carbon netural method of getting to school

The latest edition of the Inverness Courier carries a "people's" interview with Danny Alexander. Where the good folk of the 'sneck get to ask Danny some probing questions.

It is, for the most part, a fairly dull interview where Danny tries hard to please everyone.

Everyone, that is, except the homosexual community.

Danny was asked this question:

Q. I read in the Courier that you have asked the Governement to consider supporting the right of churches to ban gay groups from their premises. How can you justify this outright discrimination? Jan Duncan, Inverness.

Which relates to views which he expressed here.

In response to the question, Danny states:

Goods and services are needed by everyone, and where a commercial service is being offered to the public it is right that individuals should not suffer the humiliation, distress or lack of amenity of refusal on grounds of their sexual orientation. Preventing such discrimination is the purpose of the regulations that will soon be proposed.

However, it seems to me that some limited exemptions to these regulations are appropriate to make sure that correctly extending the rights of one group does not unacceptably curtail the freedoms of another.

I would like to see some religious exemptions in relation to churches. These should cover buildings whose function is as a place of worship and to the specific doctrinal activities of that religion.

This would prevent a church or other building of worship from being forced to hire itself out to a group that it believed would contradict the doctrines of its faith. This seems to me to be a fair way to tackle the unacceptable discrimination that is seen far too often, whilst ensuring the freedom of religious groups to practice their faith is also protected.

This will come as news to the Lib Dem peers who yesterday voted with the government to prevent a challenge by Lord Morrow which would have allowed religious groups to prevent homosexuals from using church facilities.

Do the Lib Dems support Danny’s position?

More to the point, what do gay rights groups think?

"And would the Secretary of State agree with me that I'm a bit of a twit?"

It would appear that the Fibs are not getting away with their theatrics in the local press these days. As regulars may remember this the same party which was exposed for printing "bogus endorsement quotes in their "Moray Times" news sheet in the Moray by-election.

Now it would seem that the Dunoon Observer is aware of their little "charade" (their words not ours) as this response to a letter by Argyll couple Alan Reid MP and George Lyon MSP shows:

Enough is enough!

Editor -- We had noted at the public meeting that SNP MEP Alyn Smith had said that EU rules now allow the Scottish Executive to pay a passenger subsidy to a ferry operator who is also carrying vehicles on an unrestricted basis.

In last week s Observer SNP MSP Jim Mather wrote that this was a distortion of what Alyn Smith had actually said.

It is vitally important that our representative in the European Parliament clarifies what EU rules allow.

Can Alyn Smith please clarify what he actually said and let us know whether or not he believes that EU rules allow the Scottish Executive to pay a passenger subsidy to a ferry operator who is also carrying vehicles on an unrestricted basis between Dunoon and Gourock?

Yours sincerely

Alan Reid MP and George Lyon MSP

Editor note:

Why don't you ask him?

This is getting silly.

The public view of this matter was made abundantly clear at the meeting; this matter is too important for party politics.

All parties on the platform, including the signatories of the above letter made a clear commitment to work together to achieve the best possible result.

The way to do that is via e-mails or telephone, or letters between the parties concerned.

It's simple, direct and eliminates any misunderstanding or ambiguity - it also eliminates unnecessary delay.

If you want to know what Mr Smith means, ask him directly, not through the pages of this paper.

This charade is over - start talking to one another and stop the kindergarten politics.

Hear! Hear!

No-one was impressed at George's contribution to the debate

After a holiday hiatus, in which Squealer found new resolve to expose the deceit of the Liberal Democrats, it is once more into the breach.

In order to round out the year past, in which readers will agree the Fibs reached new dizzying heights of fibbery we see Wil-lie Rennie getting newfound praise for his attempts to ban cluster munitions. Shame on the Scotsman (mostly for not reading our blog where the story broke).

Not to be outshone, Nicol ‘who?’ Stephen continued his delusions of grandeur in his New Years message, claiming that the Lib’s could become the largest party next year North of the border. I imagine they are citing their ever-reliable and trustworthy polling data.

Nora Radcliffe went even further into madness, claiming that the Liberal Democrats were the inheritors of Dr Martin Luther Kings mantle. The Gordon MSP released their new housing scheme under the headline ‘Lib Dems have a dream of more affordable housing’ . The Scotsman somewhat redeemed itself today - quoting Peter MacMahon, ‘The idea that Ms Radcliffe, estimable though she may be, leading a march of million to the steps of Holyrood and proclaiming that she had a dream for land reform is laughable were it not so crass’. All true, but more to the point, haven't they had 7 years as part of the Government to change this?

And no New Year round up would be complete without a bit about Ms Swinson. Again she is campaigning against the closure Post Offices...this time in England. Not only is she confused about where her constituency is, she is confused of her party’s policy.

"I have a dream, a dream that one day my party will not be judged by the content of its policies but rather by its colourful lies"