http://www.martinturner.org.uk News and comment from Martin Turner, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for Stratford upon Avon Mon, 25 Aug 2008 14:38:22 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Earlier this week Gordon Brown returned from vacation and announced that Labour would win the next general election. A much braver, more accurate and more strategic announcement would have been to say that Labour would not win the next election, and would be taking advantage of the next two years ... http://www.martinturner.org.uk/2008/08/25/why-gordon-browns-strategy-is-all-wrong/ I'm just back from eight days in Armenia with international development agency World Vision. Our flight back was overbooked by 40 places, on account of the large number of Britons who fled the conflict in Georgia. I intend to post a full report shortly. The trip was remarkable: a fact-finding tour ... http://www.martinturner.org.uk/2008/08/15/back-from-armenia-with-the-georgian-evacuees/ It's the end of the fencing season, and it's been a good couple of days. Saturday was the British Championships, where I achieved 35th place — for once beating my UK ranking (42), and hopefully giving me enough points to push me up a little. Sunday — today — ... http://www.martinturner.org.uk/2008/07/13/victory-in-much-wenlock/ Did you see this week's Doctor Who? You didn't? You're wondering what the fictional Time Lord has to offer the Prime Minister? (If you're reading this and are saying, Gordon Who?, then you have some other catching up to do). Actually, this week's episode didn't really feature Doctor Who at ... http://www.martinturner.org.uk/2008/06/22/why-gordon-brown-should-watch-doctor-who/ BBC | How damaging is the Spelman saga?. The story in brief for those who haven't been following it: with the Conservative party rocked by a series of scandals over expenses, beginning with Derek Conway and culminating (at least so far) in the resignation of the party leader in Europe, ... http://www.martinturner.org.uk/2008/06/08/why-caroline-spelman-deserves-a-fairer-hearing/ Blair's faith in difficult task. Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has set himself what is arguably the challenge of the millennium: to unite the world's religions for the general betterment of mankind. His argument is simple: religions can create peaceful co-existence, but, right now, extremists seem to have control ... http://www.martinturner.org.uk/2008/05/31/blairs-faith-move-misguided/ Not political victory this time, but in fencing. For the first time in years, I won a trophy: with Max Weedon and John Routledge winning the men's foil Team event. I was placed 8th in the individual event, defeating John Pryor and Richard Biggs after a bye into the second ... http://www.martinturner.org.uk/2008/05/10/victory-at-the-isle-of-wight/ Local election results: Stratford-on-Avon District Council No need for spin in Stratford upon Avon after last night's local election result, where there was a swing of five seats from Conservative to Liberal Democrat. Beverley Mann defeated Peter Barton in Harbury Richard Cheney defeated Trevor Russel in Shipston Kate Rolfe romped home to a ... http://www.martinturner.org.uk/2008/05/02/superb-night-for-lib-dems-in-stratford-upon-avon/ BBC NEWS | UK | How holiday scam snared thousands A gang which cheated thousands of holiday makers out of a total of more than £6 million have been given sentences of between three and seven years, but £5.6 million of the money is unrecovered, and will be paid back by ... http://www.martinturner.org.uk/2008/04/17/just-seven-years-for-6m-scam/ Here's an unpopular thought: how far should Free Tibet protesters be allowed to go? Should they, for example, have the right to clamp down on free speech in order to prevent their case being challenged? Don't get me wrong here. I believe Tibet ought to be free, and I believe that ... http://www.martinturner.org.uk/2008/04/11/have-tibet-protesters-gone-too-far/