Does anyone have reliable information about what was discussed (or decided) at the meeting of the Federal Executive yesterday? Did I miss an announcement?

It looks like the Michael Martin’s strategy of hiding behind the Prime Minister has failed.

Over the weekend, Brown stated that the issue of the Speaker was a matter for the commons, not the Government.

Yesterday Martin bounced the issue back to the Government, putting his fate firmly into Brown’s hands.

Today, after meeting with all the Party Leaders, Brown appears to have been put into a position where he knew he couldn’t protect the speaker (by simply refusing to allow the debate to happen). Clegg had made it clear that the Lib Dems would use an opposition day debate, if necessary. The stink surrounding the Speaker would have been smeared all over Brown too.

So the Speaker’s resigning, it seems. And the Spectator, the ones that wondered aloud if Clegg should publically demand the Speaker should go follows up now by telling its readers that Cameron missed a trick by not being publically involved with this, that Clegg’s stolen a march.

As much as it looked like a trap, turns out it wasn’t.

This last year has seen two very interesting bloggers bust onto the Lib Dem scene. First Costigan Quist who’s made a name for himself by actually reading the details that journalists don’t. If someone says that eating custard doughnuts makes you 103% more likely to develop exploding bowel syndrome, he’s right there pointing out that what they really mean is that instead of 1 person every year, it’s 4 people every three years. This is where he’s making a real name for himself, and I hope he can keep it up.

More recently, Mark Thompson (of the Mark Reckons blog) who’s created an absolutely humongous splash very quickly with his remarkable discovery of a correlation between the size of an MP’s majority and their propensity to make claims that fail the ‘would a reasonable person think this is reasonable?’ test.

Perhaps the mentality of ‘safe seat’ MPs is different to those with tiny majorities. Perhaps there’s more of an ingrained sense of entitlement to what’s owed, of having ‘earned’ a safe seat through service to the party or through importance. Either way, this discovery has made it’s way into Polly’s column in the Guardian and Alix Mortimer asks if he’s now the most influential Lib Dem Blogger.

Once again the power of original content (rather than merely echoing what’s said elsewhere – which this post is a classic guilty example) is demonstrated, and the ability for anyone to start a blog and make an impact almost immediately is demonstrated.

Nice one Mark, keep it up

Just watched, “As Good As It Gets” – bit of an old film but still good in its own way. It follows Romance Plot #1 (Two people hate each other, slowly fall in love, crisis drives them apart then, wham, they’re brought back together for the final scene.

Of course, it’s a tragically depressing film. Jack Nicholson’s character is an intolerable bastard, but he manages to improve his personality and become vaguely normal towards the end.

It’s depressing because I’m stuck being the Ice Queen Hell Bitch of Death. No super dose of Prozac for me.

Anyway, with that in mind, I’ve been staying up too late for too long and my brain is frazzled.When people on twitter start telling you to go to bed, that’s a sign you’re burning the candle at both ends, and the middle… actually just chucking the whole thing in a fire.

So lacking the bearsedness to write anything properly, I will cheat and ask: how are you?

Update! Wait! I thought of something! Today’s the start of taxpayers paying other taxpayers to buy new cars! Now, I hate protectionism at the best of times but this morning a guy from Nissan was on extoling the benefits of using this “Free Money” scheme to buy a Nissan Micra. Please, people, please don’t buy Micras. They are, it seems, terrifying to drive above 20 miles an hour, ridiculously frightening to go round corners in and feel like you’re driving at 100 mph when you’re only doing 10. I don’t know what it is about Micras that make their owners so damned relaxed..

… wait… maybe that’s what I need. Maybe I need to give up the stupid sports car. Give up the ridiculous obsession with libertarianism and buy a Micra and learn to enjoy a more chilled out, relaxing kind of life. Yes. Yes… I mean… all I need to do is decide I love Gordon Brown, that I love the Labour Party, that Socialism is Great and the State is Awesome and that, you know what, Micras are actually cool? Well I could be happy right now. I could close the blog and go do something else.

But I don’t. I choose the way of pain, the way of adrenaline, the way of stress, high stakes and excitement. I choose conflict and struggle. Why can’t I choose Micras? What’s wrong with me?

I’d still like to know how you are, of course. Especially if you’ve got a Micra.

Evil!! I got tagged with a meme by the lovably misunderstood Iain Dale, but it’s the sort of random rubbish I actually like so I thought I’d have a go (I’ve also been tagged with a LDV one, eek!)

1. I once insulted John Savident (I said, I said, ee’s Fred the Butcher from t’Corrie) by not actually knowing his name and being too embarrassed to call him Fred.

2. I also once met Rita from Corrie, and spent the next few years remarking that she was a ‘really tiny old lady with an really huge wig’

3. I’m apparently the kind of person who, if my work falls on the floor, will go onto the floor and carry on working rather than pick it up.

4. I’ve watched Buffy the Vampire Slayer all the way through (all 7 series) about 5 times now. Kill me!! Kill me!!

5. I’ve been accidentally involved with 3 cults in my life – two from unwittingly stumbling into the purview of two different people with Borderline Personality Disorder (they seem to like starting cults), and the third when I got addicted to World of Warcraft.

6. “In 1976, when I was a baby, Sid Vicious changed my nappy backstage at a Sex Pistols gig” is my favourite half-truth. The real truth is that my mum concieved backstage at a Sex Pistol’s gig. Probably.

7. I once appeared (for a few seconds) on Men and Motors after being dragged along to the shoot by my then boyfriend (who was obsessed with cars). I’m told I’m one of the few women who’ve ever appeared on that channel fully clothed.

8. I’ve met one person that claimed to have killed someone and hadn’t, and another person that claimed not to have killed someone and had.

Right that’ll do. I tag Jennie Rigg, Costigan Quist (haha!!) and anyone else that wants to do it really.