But a certain fractiousness was already apparent. Lord Ashdown tried to pour oil on troubled waters by describing Sir Menzies' departure as "a selfless act by an honourable man who put his party first". Before the day was out, however, he was contrad...

There had been rumblings of discontent within the Liberal Democrats ever since Sir Menzies took over from Mr Kennedy last March. The expected boost in the party's electoral fortunes never materialised. There was a feeling from the very start that Sir...

It is worth reminding ourselves why these restrictions were imposed in the first place. They were an outraged response to the massacre in the city of Andijan on 13 May 2005. The Government says 187 "terrorists" died on that day. Human rights groups c...

For a teenager fresh off the boat from Wales (£3 each way), the Guinness brewery was little short of miraculous – as was the welcome in what was still a strange land. In Killorglin, Co Kerry, I stumbled into the middle of the Puck Fair, a manifestati...

However, these really poor people are being increasingly affected by climate change – a condition again caused by the greed and wasteful way in which the minority of people in the developed world live. The only real connection between obesity and cli...

Had he challenged for the leadership in 1999 and taken on Charles Kennedy things might have been very different. Then, however, his politics, rather than his age, was against him and his devotion to the now-forgotten "project", a closer relationship ...