Around the Lib Dem blogs

Duncan Borrowman suggests a way of making life easier for a couple of Tory MPs, in the light of Nigel Waterson's widely publicised difficulties today:

I am surprised to see that he lives in Beckenham - a long way from the Sussex coast. Meanwhile Jacqui Lait, the Tory MP for Beckenham is married to the leader of East Sussex Council, Peter Jones. Their home is in Rye, near to the Sussex coast.

Maybe they could arrange a house swap?

Meanwhile, Norfolk Blogger points out that at least one Conservative MP still believes in student grants:

Student grants, which started their decline before being abolished by Labour, were constantly criticised by the Tories when in power because they saw students being subsidised to earn a higher income at tax payers expense.

So it is perhaps a real throwback that Derek Conway also appears to me to see his parliamentary allowance as a means of subsiding students, even if they are his sons.

And away from what I suppose we have to call Tory sleaze, The Real Blog (prop. David Boyle) asks some hard questions on the NHS:

What is it about the medical profession that it swallows the government's mores and attitudes so completely?

I've been wondering whether it is something to do with the way that New Labour has managed our public services that they have been encouraging this kind of inhumanity among the professionals who work there. Are they so desperate to balance the books that they are prepared to accept this slow withdrawal of care from anyone the state deems unproductive?