You have to hand it to the Liberal Democrats.  They are never more self-righteous or sanctimonious than when they themselves have something they would prefer to be swept under the carpet.  The next few weeks and months are going to prove very embarrassing for them as the tsunami proportioned ripples caused by their erstwhile donor Michael Brown inexorably spread ever wider, and in their direction. After being exposed recently for having concealed their leader's alcoholism from the electorate for years, you might have thought they would keep their heads down for a respectable period.  Alas (for them) it is not their way.

Robert Watts and Melissa Kite report today in The Sunday Telegraph about a story which is an attempt by the Liberal Democrats to divert attention away from themselves, onto the Conservatives.  The Liberal Democrat treasury spokesman, Lord Oakeshott, claims that a Westminster office block was sold to the Tories for millions less than it was worth.  The Conservatives bought Tufton Street in March for £15.6 million. Lord Oakeshott, who manages a property investment company, says the true market value would be at least £25m (but then of course, he would say that, wouldn't he?)  According to Lord Oakeshott the acquisition of the office block “looks like a purchase on very favourable terms, so that it could be in effect be a concealed donation.”  However a spokesman for the Conservatives has clarified that the party had not bought the property for substantially less than its market value and explained that the two properties acquired are situated next door to each other and are worth jointly more than if they belonged to separate owners.

It is only a few weeks since the Conservatives were "reported"  for a deal involving the sale of their former headquarters at Smith Square.  In that case, being sitting tenants, quite legitimately they had been able to purchase the freehold of the property for a lower significantly sum than the price at which they could sell it.  Foul! shouted cash strapped Labour and Liberal Democrats.

Of course, this is all pure politics and the moral of the story is not to let the Liberal Democrats (or anyone else for that matter) get away with diverting attention from the mote in their own eye.

Just make a note of this somewhere…

“But I really dislike both their smugness and the way they tailor their electoral appeal to smugness. The Liberal Democrats are far too self-satisfied. They don't just think they may be right. They know they're right. They look down on other parties as ignorant, corrupt or both. They believe without question that they alone occupy the moral high ground. There is nothing they like more than to sneer at Labour or the Tories.  At times it can be insufferable. They are the dinner party party.”

Martin Kettle

Jonathan Leake reports that the American mink, a lethal predator blamed for driving water voles to the brink of extinction, is being forced back by the resurgence of the native otter. 

“For thirty years mink, the descendants of escapees from fur farms, have been devastating Britain’s fish, aquatic birds and mammals, with conservationists losing hope they could ever be eradicated.”

A report from the Wildlife Conservation Research Unit at Oxford University, suggests that when otters return to an area they seem to be attacking the American mink and driving them out.

I loved the bit about “mink, the descendants of escapees from fur farms.”  This conjured a mental picture of mink cleverly building tunnels and gliders Colditz style, to escape their captors.  It is true that some mink escaped from fur farms, but not in such numbers as to have enabled them to inflict such carnage upon our native wildlife.  In truth, these vicious predators gained a hold in this country only by reason of Animal Rights activists “liberating” tens of thousands of them during raids upon fur farms over a number of years. Eight thousand were released from one farm alone in September 1998.  It curious that none of the news reports I heard or read today made that point. I am sure that angry finger pointing at the moment we learn that our native vole population is not (as had been thought) heading for extinction, was thought inappropriate. It is a point that has to be made, however. Animal rights activists don't know a lot about animals.  They don't know much about the environment either, for that matter.  They do know a lot about hating, threatening and hurting humans, on the other hand.