Lorna Spenceley's Harlow Diary

Auf Wiedersehen

2005-05-19T07:30:00.000+01:00

Today I publish my decision not to put my name forward as leader of my group at next Monday's group AGM, after fourteen years in post. I'll still be an active local councillor, and am looking forward to making a different contribution - whatever that may be - to the local Liberal Democrats and the council group. No doubt, in the closed world of local politics, speculation will abound as to the reasons for my decision, and those with no goodwill towards the Liberal Democrats will invent their own, which will sound far more exciting than the real thing - which is simply that fourteen years is far too long for any one person to be leader. Change and variety are essential for a political group.

I shall, of course, miss it enormously - it'll be like losing a limb. I'll give my full support to the new group leader, and will try as hard as I can not to sit on his or her shoulder - though it will be difficult after all this time. I'm aware of my more polite nicknames ('she who must be obeyed', for example) in council circles; and remember the acute embarrassment of one (then) very senior officer who once accidentally called me 'Ma'am' to my face!

Although I've hugely enjoyed the opportunity to lead the council, the circumstances have often been frustrating - I have sometimes envied council leaders elsewhere in the country who have just been able to get on and implement their manifesto. Harlow Council's dire financial and organisational situation has made life much more complex. But the council is now much further along the road to recovering, and I'm proud of the part my colleagues in the Liberal Democrat group have played in that. Now it's over to others to take on the reins, and the responsibility.

Of course, now that I'm no longer a council leader - or a parliamentary candidate now that the general election is over - my internet diary will fall into abeyance. It's been an interesting process, and I'm pleased to have had the discipline to keep a daily entry for six months, but I see no purpose in vanity publishing for its own sake. It's been an interesting exercise in political accountability, and in the responsibility of elected representatives to explain what they're doing and why. It's generated enquiries from as far afield as France and Australia.

I'm grateful to all those who've read my diary and commented constructively on it. Perhaps it may resurface at a future date. But for now, as the late Alistair Cooke used to say at the end of Letter from America: if you have been, thanks for listening.

On the surface

2005-05-18T22:20:00.000+01:00

A resident of Peterswood calls yesterday about the road resurfacing taking place in the estate. The new surface material is very powdery, and is slipping down the drains - along with diesel apparently poured by the contractors. I log a call to Contact Harlow for the urgent attention of the county council highways team and Environmental Health.

Queen's Speech

2005-05-17T23:11:00.000+01:00

44 bills and six draft bills in the Queen's Speech today, setting out Labour's legislative programme. It appears that they're determined to foist identity cards on us, come what may, in what will easily be the most controversial and hard-fought bill of the year. But there are other proposals that will also have an impact on Harlow residents - on subjects as diverse as child care provision, aircraft noise, housing benefits, smoking in public places, compensation for hospital mistakes, maternity pay - and proposals for a 'more flexible system of fixed penalties', which seems a contradiction in terms.

Seeing the sites

2005-05-16T22:36:00.000+01:00

The Liberal Democrat Group meets tonight. There's a special council meeting next Monday to consider the Local Plan, and in particular the thorny issue of employment land - so, among all its other business, the Group needs to discuss the options.

The county council's Structure Plan requires Harlow Council to find an extra 13.7 hectares of land for future employment use. If we don't do that in our Local Plan, it won't conform to the Structure Plan, and won't be approved - and that could give rise to all sorts of problems.

Originally, the proposal in the Local Plan, supported by our Group, was to fill the gap by re-designating the land currently used by the Maypole sports and social club near Nortel for employment use - and providing the club with new replacement facilities nearby. The club didn't want this, and the Labour group on the council therefore opposed it, without proposing an alternative. The Conservative group, as usual, kept changing its mind on whether it supported it or not. The Liberal Democrat group consistently supported the proposals to use the Maypole land, as the best that could be done to meet a difficult challenge.

With no clear way forward, an all-party group of councillors who had been working on the Local Plan were sent away to look at all the other possible sites where this extra employment land could be put instead of at the Maypole club, and report back. Their report is certainly thorough.

A number of possible alternatives have been ruled out: East End, the greyhound stadium, the green belt west of the Pinnacles, the green wedge south west of the Pinnacles, the rugby club, Ash Tree Fields, the road safety centre, Templefields and Riverway, Bush Fair trading area, Staple Tye trading area, the Stow, green wedge land north of New Hall, and green belt land east of New Hall.

In addition to the Maypole club, there are a number of parcels of land at Nortel that could be considered - the former Cossors club, the United Glass club, Nortel sports ground, and a fenced-off green wedge south west of Nortel.

Alternatively, there is land north of Gilden Way that is already identified for possible future development; a playing field south of Gilden Way; and taking some of the land already allocated for future housing beyond 2011 at New Hall.

Six different options have been suggested for councillors to consider next Monday, using different combinations of the various sites being proposed as possible replacements for the Maypole site. They all add up to the 13.7 hectares required; and they all have disadvantages.

Once the council has agreed its response to the inspector's report on the Local Plan, including the employment land, we then face the prospect of another inquiry by another inspector before the Plan can be adopted and we all know where we stand.

Little arrows

2005-05-15T14:01:00.000+01:00

The Sunday political programmes on television are agog with speculation about what's going to be in the forthcoming Queen's Speech. Will Labour try to bring back its ID card proposal, relying on Tory support if it can't whip its own backbenchers into line behind it? What's going to happen to tuition fees and top-up fees now that the university towns have given Tony Blair and his party a bloody nose in the election?

It's pretty certain that crime and anti-social behaviour will be on the Labour Government's legislative shopping list again this year. We've had umpteen new laws over the last few years, but consisting mostly of gimmicks rather than action. It's a precedent Home Office minister Hazel Blears seems set to continue, as she proposes a new uniform for people doing community service. It's clearly a bonkers idea, and there's no shortage of people willing to stand up and say so. There are even worries that a new uniform could become an aspirational teenage fashion statement - another item of clothing Bluewater shopping centre will want to ban, maybe, like hooded tops. Will we see young people across the country choosing to wear the new 'suit of shame' as a gesture of solidarity, in some kind of sartorial 'I am Spartacus' movement?

Why not just scrap the ID cards, Hazel, and spend the £3 billion on more police officers and support officers to patrol our local estates? Or would that be too much substance and not enough spin?

Thank You Party

2005-05-14T22:05:00.000+01:00

The Saturday after the Saturday after polling day is the traditional day for Harlow Liberal Democrats' thank-you party, to thank our candidates and helpers. This year it's a barbecue in Mike's garden - plenty to eat and drink, and a chance to sit down and talk with friends and colleagues.

Not that the aftermath of the election is so enjoyable for everyone. One defeated Labour MP in Peterborough has applied to join the Tories; another defeated Labour MP in Manchester is clearly not a gracious loser, publishing the Lib Dem winner's private mobile phone number on the internet and encouraging residents to ring it 'at any time'; and the husband of a re-elected Labour MP in Merseyside has been fined for vandalism after defacing Tory posters.

Unlucky for some

2005-05-13T21:20:00.000+01:00

The Harlow 2020 Partnership meets at 11:00, to discuss the restructure we've been working on since March. We review the membership of the partnership board, and the various action groups that will be taking responsibility for meeting the partnership's objectives for health and fitness, education, transport, and other issues; and plan the broad outline of the way in which we're going to update the 2020 Vision. It's an interesting meeting, lasting two and a quarter hours, so the visit I'd planned to the gym at lunchtime is curtailed to just a swim.

Meetings at three and at half past four, then home just long enough to chuck my bags in the hall before Nick and I head out to the Bengal Cottage for dinner. Over a meat biryani (I never order anything else off their menu, and Nick teases me as usual) we discuss his first week in his new job (he's enjoying it enormously) and my week back in full harness on the council after the elections.

After the meal, I text Tom from the restaurant to ask when he's coming home from university - and he replies to say he's already there and waiting for us! We pay and leave as quickly as we can; it's great to have him home for a few months, with his first year at university under his belt.

Update

2005-05-12T19:05:00.000+01:00

My first meeting with the council's Chief Executive since the election; there's a lot to catch up on.

Watch out

2005-05-11T21:49:00.000+01:00

I'm supposed to be interviewed for a TV news programme on housing growth in the south east of England; but it's more like 5:30 when they reach the civic centre, and gone 6:00 by the time I'm free. I gather it's being broadcast on Monday and Friday next week.

At 6:30 it's the Recreation Trust, where we consider a funding application from the local Stort Cricket Club for a Bola bowling machine to help the younger players. The meeting is over by ten past seven (howzat!) just in time for me to grab a cab across town for my next appointment.

Harlow's Neighbourhood Watch holds its annual conference tonight at the Latton Bush Centre. In a display of partnership working to mark the occasion, the local Police Community Consultative Group decides to hold its meeting on the same night in the same building.

All six speakers - three police representatives, and three politicians including myself - have been asked to speak on 'how can you help the neighbourhood watch?'. The contributions are interesting, and there are half a dozen questions from the floor. The biggest issue facing Neighbourhood Watch last year, premises, now seems to have been resolved, as Albie and his team have settled into some space on the ground floor of the council office at Staple Tye. The police are also talking about possible sources of funding to help Neighbourhood Watch carry out its activities, which will be very welcome indeed.

The agenda for the evening includes a mysterious 'extra item' - and it's not until the end of the evening that we find out what it is. Albert and Neighbourhood Watch have been developing a baseball initiative, to provide something interesting for local children to do. It's really taken off, with not only players but a growing group of cheerleaders, whose final contribution to the evening is a demonstration of what they can do. No pom-poms (the full outfit isn't quite ready yet) but who needs them when you've got all that enthusiasm?

Someone to watch over me

2005-05-10T21:01:00.000+01:00

Mid-afternoon, I meet Sal, our group's mentor, for another chat in advance of our group meetings before the council AGM on 26 May.

There's enough time afterwards to dash home and cook a meal before heading back to the Civic Centre for a meeting of the Recovery Working Group. The government minister responsible for overseeing Harlow's 'recovery', Phil Hope, has been moved out of the relevant department, so it looks as if we're going to have to start to build a new relationship with someone else.

The three main projects in the Recovery Plan are all on track, and we'll be reporting on progress to the Monitoring Board at the end of the month.

New jobs

2005-05-09T22:38:00.000+01:00

A red-letter day in the family calendar today, as Nick starts his new job at Harlow College. It was a job at the College that brought us to Harlow twenty five years ago, though of course at that time the College was still opposite the Playhouse (where Dads Wood now is), and its current site was still Netteswell School.

Meanwhile, Tony Blair has been busy re-shuffling his cabinet, so there are new jobs for a lot more people than just Nick. I hear on the grapevine that there's been a move for Bill Rammell. Could be interesting.

Normal life resumes

2005-05-08T22:33:00.000+01:00

The election campaign is over, and everything that's been put on hold for so long at home is now clamouring for attention. The heaps of paper all over the study floor are pleading to be filed away or recycled; I need to sort out my finances and my diary; the kitchen needs a good sorting out.

But of course there is also the letter of thanks to the local press to write; and it's tempting to spend time flicking through the election news on the BBC web site, checking colleagues' results in different parts of the country and chatting by email about the outcome in different seats. And as soon as one election is over, another one begins. I'm already thinking about what happens next in the local party, and starting to jot down thoughts and future plans.

Meanwhile at Westminster, I see Labour MPs are already circling around Tony Blair, blaming him for the massive collapse in Labour's parliamentary majority (now only 60 or so seats instead of the 160-ish they enjoyed previously) and accusing him of being a liability rather than an asset. Is he really going to hang on as Prime Minister for another five years?

Recount

2005-05-07T22:47:00.000+01:00

The counting of the votes for the parliamentary and county council elections resumes at 10:00am. The national media has turned up, to film the last constituency to declare. The bundles of votes, retrieved from the police station where they've been held since the early hours of yesterday morning, are counted and checked meticulously. At last the result is declared - a win for Labour by 97 votes over the Tory. I secure 5,002 votes, 12.6 per cent of the total.

Labour has its final seat, and can now boast 55 per cent of the seats in Parliament with only 35 per cent of the vote - the lowest vote share for a governing party since 1945. The need to replace our clapped-out and unrepresentative voting system with something that reflects what the voters want is becoming increasingly clear. But nationally the Liberal Democrats have done well to increase our representation in parliament, with 62 seats and some excellent new MPs like David Howarth, John Hemming, Jenny Willott, Lorely Burt, and (at 25) the youngest member of parliament Jo Swinson.

After the speeches (congratulate your opponents, thank the staff and your team), there's a thirty minute break and it's into the count for the county council election. Harlow has four seats on the county council this time instead of the previous five, and the boundaries have been redrawn. Labour holds three of the four seats, and the Tories gain one. The county council is now thoroughly Tory, with only a smattering of Labour councillors and an even smaller smattering of Liberal Democrat ones to provide any sort of opposition.

Out for the count

2005-05-06T17:36:00.000+01:00

The Harlow election count achieves national notoriety today, as the last seat in England to declare its result - which won't now happen until after the recount tomorrow morning. A small, urban constituency, there's no good reason not be able to declare a result by 2:30 or 3:00am at the latest; party agents and candidates alike are frustrated beyond measure as the ballot papers are verified, counted, bundle checked and recounted. It's still not right, and by 6:00am the counters are just too tired to be able to start another full recount. The county council elections - the Cinderella of polling day - don't even begin to be counted, so tomorrow looks to be a long day too.

Polling Day

2005-05-05T23:53:00.000+01:00

Up at 4:15 am, to start a gruelling day. I manage to catch an hour's sleep and a bath before setting off for the count just before midnight.

Counting down

2005-05-04T12:31:00.000+01:00

Loins girded, and all in place for the final stretch of the campaign, and for polling day tomorrow. Last leaflets being delivered, last-minute arrangements being made.

Today's Populus/Times/ITV news tracker opinion poll puts the Tories on 27 per cent, down two points since yesterday and worse than their worst results in 1997 and 2001. Meanwhile, Tory polling organisation YouGov puts the Liberal Democrats on 25 per cent - our best ever.

Tomorrow will be an interesting day.

A discursion upon letterboxes

2005-05-03T20:33:00.000+01:00

After an early start, talking to an incredibly well-behaved group of over 200 Year 8 students at Burnt Mill School, it's time to get out delivering more leaflets.

Politicians are second only to postmen in their familiarity with the endless variety offered by the common or garden letterbox. Much of our lives is spend pushing different sorts of pieces of paper through people's doors, and over time it's possible to accumulate the sort of knowledge that would have prompted Sherlock Holmes to pen a short monograph upon the subject.

The worst letterboxes of all are the ones placed at the bottom of the door. After a long delivery round, when you're exhausted and every bone is aching, it's hard not to see these as an act of monumental cruelty, and to take it personally.

Then there are the ones placed vertically in the door. The ones you have to push from the side aren't too bad; it's the ones where you have to push them open at the bottom, and they stick and you can't push the leaflet through, that are the real pain.

Then there are the ones with brushes behind them to act as draught excluders. If you don't level the leaflet or envelope with the gap in the brushes, you end up pushing and pushing and the leaflet gets more and more crumpled and less and less impressive. Another variant is the metal flap behind the letterbox, that fulfils much the same function and is sometimes equally hard to push out of the way.

Some letterboxes are of course not intrinsically faulty in design - it's just that they're sprung very tight, or need a bit of oiling. Some are falling apart, so you have to lift them very precariously, hoping that yours isn't the final touch that causes them to collapse completely.

Then of course there are the dogs. Like letterboxes, these come in all varieties - little yappy dogs that just want to make a lot of noise; dogs that clearly haven't been fed for a month and are desperate to eat your leaflet, plus whatever fingers are in the way at the time; and most frightening of all, sixteen stone silent monster dogs that lurk in corridors waiting silently as you approach, to charge suddenly and violently at the door the moment you lift the letterbox flap.

Of course, most sensible householders never post anything through their own letterbox, so they don't know what it's like. Perhaps, in honour of the toils and travails of all politicians and postmen, we should institute a National Letterbox Day, when all residents check out their own letterboxes and make them as user-friendly as possible for the coming year.

Out and about

2005-05-02T20:30:00.000+01:00

Out with the team again, knocking on doors in Mark Hall. We're stopped in the street by two young mums who want to talk about our policy on local income tax. There really is a first time for everything!

Greg Dyke

2005-05-01T21:13:00.000+01:00

A note from HQ tells me that former BBC director-general and long-term Labour supporter Greg Dyke - ironically one of the few people who did actually lose his job over Iraq, while the politicians who took the decision to go to war are still in power - will be appearing at the Liberal Democrat press conference in London tomorrow morning, urging people to vote Lib Dem on Thursday.

Word of the day

2005-04-30T21:15:00.000+01:00

I only manage a quick glance at one of the daily newspapers, in between dashing about on the campaign trail, and I learn a new word - commentariat.

The commentariat is the army of opinion pollsters, political journalists and pundits that comes into its own in the period leading up to an election. Bar graphs, charts and swings, chasing around after candidates in target seats, blogging from battle buses - the product of all this effort covers acres of newsprint and bloats hours of television news time. And of course, in a delightful circularity, the outpourings of the commentariat then become news in their own right, and are subjected to further analysis and commentary, increasing the coverage exponentially as the weeks wear on.

Some of the analysis is more accurate than others, of course - not all of it is objective, and some is remarkably ill-informed. However, three major changes have significantly altered the landscape in which the commentariat dinosaurs roam.

The first factor is the fast-moving nature of modern news, and the insatiable demands of the 24-hour news channels for 'stuff' to fill their timeslots. Daily opinion poll findings are pored over much as the ancient Romans examined animal entrails. It's like weighing yourself every single day when you're on a diet, and about as productive.

The second factor is the obsession of the political parties with the power of the media. It's something that can be traced back to the period between 1992 and 1997, when Labour felt they'd been cheated out of the 1992 General Election, and the culture of media spin and government by focus group really began. The commentariat now don't just report party politics, they change it.

One of the most astonishing, and in my view under-reported, events of this campaign was the way both of the old parties changed their election slogans mid-way in the light of adverse political commentary. Labour dumped Britain Forward Not Back, their manifesto title, last week in favour of If You Value It, Vote For It. (Would this have been anything to do with the photo of their launch where Blair was holding up the manifesto and accidentally had his thumb over the last letter of the second word, so it read Britain for war ...?). The Tories ditched the much-derided Are You Thinking What We're Thinking? (presumably because voters aren't) and replaced it with Taking A Stand On The Issues That Matter - and then spent the next few days throwing mud at other parties' policies rather than saying anything positive about theirs at all.

Meanwhile, in an even more glaring example, the Tory decision to 'go negative' in its campaign early last week, with the posters name-calling Blair as a liar, was binned after only three days - not, sadly, because the Tories suddenly discovered a sense of decency, but because polling showed that it was actually damaging their own election prospects rather than Labour's.

The third factor, however, is the internet. Now we no longer need to rely on Peter Snow's stupid rusty swingometer - everyone can become a commentator. You can find out who you should vote for using an interactive quiz, or even have a bit of a flutter with advice from the self-styled "web's premier resource for political gamblers".

In the last few days of this campaign, it's clear that - in a supreme case of political bankruptcy - the only reason Labour can give to vote for Tony Blair is that "if you vote Lib Dem you'll let the Tories in". The commentariat, in all its forms, has seen through that argument for the hogwash it really is. The Independent demonstrates conclusively on its front page today that this Labour scare tactic is complete rubbish, as does this internet article from one of the new breed of individual commentators analysing what's going on in this election.

On Friday, of course, we'll all know who was right.

Almost May

2005-04-29T22:58:00.000+01:00

With less than a week to go before polling day, the weather really is getting summery - a beautiful day to be out delivering leaflets in Bush Fair, which is how I spend part of the morning.

After lunch, it's off to Jerounds for the junior school May Day celebration. All of the three main parliamentary candidates are there, and made very welcome by head teacher Mr Roberts, his staff and the parents. The playground is laid out ready for the performance, and we have VIP seats in the front. Every class makes a contribution, from reading to singing to country dancing to the procession and crowning of the Queen of the May (complete with paper petals scattered like confetti by her princesses), and culminating in a dance round a proper maypole. The children are impeccably well behaved, their performances are excellent, and it's a really delightful occasion.

At quarter to three, Lesley drives me over to Potter Street and the re-launch of the Rainbow Services re-use and re-cycling project at Prentice Place. There's some terrific work going on. Furniture, paint, textiles and clothing are available for families in need. The recycling workshops are used to fashion some amazing articles from old pallets - garden planters, bird tables and even miniature wishing wells! The arts and crafts are superb, and I take the opportunity before I leave to buy half a dozen of their hand-made greetings cards.

Channel 4 have contacted the parliamentary candidates to say they want to film us in conversation with the town's youth councillors for a piece on next Tuesday evening's news. The Water Gardens is awash with people - candidates, youth councillors, camera crew and interviewers, even local press taking photographs of the cameramen filming the candidates. The young people ask some interesting and challenging questions. What will we do for young people? What's our view on votes at 16? Will we consider increasing the age for full fares on the buses from 14 to 16? What about affordable homes for young people?

After the camera crew has finished, I dash home to check my email and (to be honest) have half an hour's sleep, before getting myself together for the final campaign team meeting before the election. I take a quick glance in the mirror and realise that with all the rushing about outdoors today I've caught the sun.

Head to head

2005-04-28T21:31:00.000+01:00

Back from canvassing tonight, it's the big event on TV - the three party leaders appearing in turn on Question Time. However I'm only able to watch the first interview, with Charles Kennedy, as there's only one TV in the house, and the rest of the family has decided to watch Supersize Me on Channel Four at nine o'clock. Seated in front of the television, I use the time productively by signing thank you cards to all our campaign helpers.

A word of advice

2005-04-27T21:35:00.000+01:00

The biggest - and perhaps decisive - piece of news yesterday was the leaking to Channel 4 of the Attorney General's previously secret advice on the war in Iraq. The devastating analysis by leading human rights lawyer Anthony Lester QC raises even more sharply the question of the basis on which Tony Blair led us into war, and on which the Conservatives supported and voted for that war. The Liberal Democrats' principled stance against the war, not only now but then, seems increasingly justified.

Meanwhile, the Australians imported by Michael Howard to run the Tories' election campaign have moved into the final, even more negative and personalised phase of their strategy. It's turning voters off in droves, and it's certainly not helping the Tories in the opinion polls - indeed, their ratings have continued to slide as the weeks have gone by. Nearly three years ago, Conservative MP Theresa May - then chairman of the Conservative Party - warned that her own party was perceived as 'the nasty party'. It appears that Michael Howard's Australians think this is something to be proud of.

Rallying to the cause

2005-04-26T23:57:00.000+01:00

Linda picks me up at half past five, and she and David and I head off towards the M11 on our way to Cambridge. Chris is travelling by train, so we'll meet him there.

It's the Liberal Democrat election rally in the Cambridge Guildhall this evening, and we're under instructions to be seated by 7:15. That's not going to be easy, as when we arrive at 7:00 there's already a huge stationary queue of people snaking round the market square, and the police appear to be under orders not to let people in yet. Worse than that, the heavens suddenly open, and we're all drenched. Mary from Saffron Walden, who's behind us in the queue, offers Linda and me a share of her Daily Telegraph to shelter under, but it's quickly reduced to a sodden pulp, and doesn't stop the rain trickling down the backs of our necks anyway.

Eventually we're admitted inside, and after a search of our bags and pockets we make our way to our places. We've got good seats, only a few rows from the front. The event is late kicking off, and the music by Sibelius that's used in our party political broadcasts on TV is looping endlessly like some form of torture technique.

But for the hundreds of people in the hall the wait is worth it. The first speaker is foreign affairs spokesman Ming Campbell - he's authoritative, interesting, and gets the meeting off to a strong start with his condemnation of Labour's actions over Iraq. David Howarth, Cambridge law lecturer and the town's next MP, is next; he contrasts Blair's illegal war and its effects with the success of peaceful regime change in middle and eastern Europe, but closer to home in a university city he also talks about Labour's broken promises on tuition fees.

Baroness 'our Shirl' Williams is the third speaker; as our regional president she's always beloved of Liberal Democrat audiences in the east of England, and she encourages the audience to protect our fundamental civil liberties from a Labour party that no longer seems to understand what the term means.

Our final speaker is party leader Charles Kennedy, and he's delayed for quite a while. We eventually find out why - hundreds of people have had to be turned away from the rally for lack of space, and have stayed outside the Guildhall. But they've had their own private open-air rally to make up for it - Ming, Shirley, and now Charles have given speeches in the rain to ensure they're not entirely left out, and Charles is still talking to them outside the building.

Charles eventually gets to the front of the hall, and gives a strong speech setting out our key campaign messages and our hopes for a good result. He's even undeterred when half-way through there's a bang and the microphone goes out, together with the picture on the large plasma screen ("now's the time to see if my lungs are as strong as my son's", he comments). He keeps talking while the technical hitch is sorted, and Linda - who hasn't seen him speak live before - says later that he comes across far more strongly in a hall like this than on TV.

The speech ends, the music resumes, and Charles and the other speakers make their way through the hall - I shake hands with Charles and Shirley as the TV cameras follow their exit.

The Harlow team retires for dinner at the Eraina in Free School Lane, followed by the journey in Linda's car back down the M11. I wake up as we pull up at the lights at the junction 7 roundabout.

Iraq

2005-04-25T22:16:00.000+01:00

A number of people - including Nick - have asked me why the Liberal Democrats haven't made more of the issue of Iraq during the General Election campaign.

So it's good to see the party raising this to the very top of the agenda today, and to see Blair continuing to be put under pressure to answer for his decision to take us into war alongside George W Bush - without a second UN resolution, with no weapons of mass destruction found, and with weapons inspectors denied the brief additional time they needed to complete their task.

If Blair's record on the war is shaky, then Michael Howard's is little better. The Tories acted as cheerleaders for Tony Blair's war in Iraq; they supported it in Parliament, and voted for it in the division lobbies. Their attempts to wash their hands now look opportunistic and frankly dishonest.

The Liberal Democrats were the only major party to oppose the war consistently - a point which won't be lost on the electorate in the final ten days of the campaign.