Six of the Best 89

Nick Thornsby has caught Labour MP Phil Woolas, already facing a court challenge to his victory at the last general election, faking a photograph of his Liberal Democrat opponent.

The death of Sir Cyril Smith is marked by Sandy Walkington: "Cyril’s tragedy was that his weight made him a figure of fun when he was in fact a shrewd and insightful politician who never got the recognition he deserved."

Disgruntled Radical says the Coalition "must ... be a launch pad for Liberalism, not a slippery slide into decline". Better than that, he suggests how we can ensure that it is.

Tom Watson MP reproduces the letter he has written to the Commissioner for the Metropolitan Police about the News of the World phone-hacking scandal.

A feature in the Leicester Mercury introduces us to Gary Silke, who edits a Leicester City fanzine but is pleased that his children have not inherited his passion: "Everything good about the game I fell in love with in the mid-70s has either gone or been devalued." Maybe he has just grown older, but his children do sound promising. His son "builds dens, climbs trees and is a keen cricketer" and his daughter, wonderfully, is called Liberty.

Found Objects recalls the lost Teesside village of Warrenby. I have done my best to perpetuate its memory by borrowing one of that blog's photographs.