Charles Kennedy has set out three tests for British Presidency of the EU. He was speaking in a debate organized by political think-tank the Centre for Reform at the London School of Economics, entitled 'Europe: where do we go from here?' Other participants included Joschka Fisher, Robin Cook, Douglas Hurd and Peter Sutherland.
Tony Blair has criticised the home secretary over a lack of action on the "respect agenda", according to a leaked report in the Sunday papers. It says the prime minister told Charles Clarke at a meeting that more must be done to address low-level disorder, to check the growing fatalism growing in Britain about the Government's promises to check local disorder.
New figures uncovered by Norman Baker, the Liberal Democrat Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment, show that, if laid end-to-end, the amount of cars left abandoned in Britain would be enough to stretch from London to Berlin. It follows from the government's decision in June 2003 that the last owner of the vehicle would continue to have responsibility for its disposal, rather than the manufacturer, as is standard practice throughout the EU.
Ahead of the Gleneagles summit, which begins on Wednesday, campaigners have told world leaders that they must act to end the 'unjust absurdity of extreme poverty' in Africa. Led by Sir Bob Geldof, a plethora of pop stars, church leaders and politicians have called for action on trade, aid and debt. Their hopes to influence the leaders of the G8 are grounded on the extraordinary groundswell of popular unity generated by the weekend's Live8 concerts. 200,000 people watched the concert in Hyde Park this weekend. They were joined by hundreds of thousands of people attending other Live8 concerts in cities across the globe. Approximately 200,000 strong marched through Edinburgh in a mass rally calling for debt relief and increased aid.
The Conservative campaign in the Hythe South by-election has been rocked by the news that their own former Councillor is to stand against their official candidate. Party bosses overruled local Conservatives over their choice of former Councillor Martin Ross in favour of another candidate who doesn't even live in the ward.
Wolverhampton South West branch were at the Wombourne Carnival on Sunday and raised funds with a tombola stall to help finance their campaigning on local issues.