An alert to anyone who was planning to attend the Scottish LibDem leadership hustings next Monday: they’re postponed until Sunday 19th. This is because of an ID cards vote in the Commons on Monday and, quite reasonably, the candidates need to be there.

Interview with Sir Monkfish Campbell, from thespoof.com:

[He] disclosed that he has also been responsible for gun-running, prostitution, running up massive gambling debts and spray-painting lepers

There’s an excellent leader in today’s theguardian about them thar cartoons. While I value freedom of speech and right to cause offence, I agree with the article that this doesn’t include an obligation to cause offence – so there’s no chance of me putting the images online here in solidarity.

People who are offended by these cartoons are well within their rights to protest: that’s as much of a freedom as to print them in the first place. Boycotting Danish products – while a bit extreme – is a perfectly valid way of getting a point across. Storming embassies and kidnapping civilians isn’t.

My understanding (although I’m not a theologian so I stand to be corrected) is that the original reason for banning images of the Prophet was to prevent idolatry. I can’t help wondering if certain people’s responses are just that.

I don’t usually watch Question Time, but I’ve been tuning in recently as each of the LibDem leadership contenders have taken turns on the panel. (Next week will see a debate between all three.) Last night, it was Chris Huhne’s turn so I was particularly interested, and expectant.

I wasn’t disappointed. He was calm, collected and confident, in marked contrast to Simon Hughes who seemed – understandably – on edge last week. He was fortunate to be first to answer and immediately seemed in command of both the issues and the panel. None of the questions tripped him up and he put forward the LibDem case on issues from freedom of speech to Iraq with ease.

Once again the panel had two Tories, but only one openly so (Adam Rickitt, who seemed uncomfortable and a little out of place, was credited as an actor, just as Zac Goldsmith was identified previously as a magazine editor – both are on the Tory approved candidates list). Rhodri Morgan, Welsh First Minister, was the panel’s most obvious big hitter, and there was also a Plaid Cymru AM. Morgan got himself into hot water with the audience by refusing the state his position on Iraq on the basis that he isn’t an MP, and wasn’t at the time of the vote to go to war. Huhne pointed out that he hadn’t been an MP either at the time but that hadn’t stopped him from holding the view that the war was wrong or from going on the big anti-war march in London.

I’m not just saying this because I’m backing him: Huhne ran rings round the other panellists. Of all of them, he seemed the most statesmanlike, the most knowledgeable and – of course- the most liberal.

For the next week, you can watch the episode on the Question Time website.