Can Lib Dem Bloggers Change Lib Dem Policy?

How refreshing it was to see Iain Dale's top 75 Lib Dem blogs list.

Of special interest for this particular freedom-lover were the placings of Charlotte Gore (1st), Costigan Quist (3rd) and Liberal Vision (6th). Apart, of course, from being extremely well-written, all three exhibit a seemingly long-forgotten tendency amongst the Lib Dems, that being some kind of 'liberal' thinking.

The parliamentary party, at least, regulary exhibit signs of an odd tangential form of Tourettes, whereby almost no issue can be tackled without the word BAN spewing forth from their professionally-political orifices.

The latest example was Jo Swinson's ludicrous call for a ban on airbrushing. You could hardly have missed it. Needless to say, Jo invoked the chiiildren to push her bizarre and naïve uni sociology thesis justification for such poppycock.

Adverts which feature airbrushed models should not be shown to children as they can harm girls' body image, the Liberal Democrats have said.

Jo Swinson MP is calling for retouched pictures to be banned in adverts targeting children and teenagers under 16.

That barely scratches the surface of the ban mentality which afflicts the Lib Dems though. Just from memory, the Lib Dems were not only wildly enthusiastic about a comprehensive smoking ban, they were in a proper hurry about it too. Both in Scotland, and in England where only one of their MPs considered personal choice an issue (clue: he's got a darn site better looking bird than you).

Not content with throwing 22% of the population out into the cold, they then called for a ban on any comfort being afforded to the pariahs they had created.

Fiona Hall, a Liberal Democrat MEP, has led the calls for the ban, which is expected to be endorsed by the parliament in Brussels.

"Patio heaters are scandalous because they are burning fossil fuels in the open sky, so producing vast quantities of CO2 with very little heat benefit," she said.

But the proposal has been attacked by publicans, who say bars and pubs need the heaters for customers driven outside by smoking bans.

Cause and effect. Lib Dems cause. Then try to ban the effect. Has anyone at Cowley Street ever placed 'consequences' in the same sentence as 'unintended' and formed a more rounded view of life?

The thing is, they just like banning or restricting things. Just a quick Google search brings up too many to list comprehensively. But for a taster ...

The hunting ban isn't harsh enough.

Stroud Labour MP David Drew has supported it, along with Bristol West Lib Dem Stephen Williams, who was not an MP when the Hunting Act was passed, but says he would have voted for it.

Eager, ain't he?

Smaller wine glasses.

The MP for Leeds North West argues that larger glasses are making customers "less aware of how many units of alcohol they are drinking".

A ban on petrol.

The Lib Dems have backed a radical series of proposals to tackle climate change - including a ban on petrol powered cars by 2040.

An interesting one here. Shops legally selling hydroponics and other paraphernalia. The Lib Dem MP even spent weeks outside the store with placards, despite the owner of the shop bending over backwards to co-operate.

But store owner Anthony Bennett said he didn't believe there was a problem.

"I want everyone to realise I'm not looking to cause any trouble, I just need to run my business, which I might add sells legal products," he said.

"Still, I'd be happy to cover the full window - but I don't think it's necessary because you'd have to go on your hands and knees and crawl on floor to see what's inside," he said.

Mr Bennet added he was losing £100 in trading each day, to protect the children.

"I was opening at 9am, but now I don't open until 11am and I also close my doors between 3-3.30pm, so the children can't see inside the shop when they walk by," he said.

It really is endless. Minimum alcohol pricing? Lib Dems love it. Phone masts? Yep, they want rid of them. And Nick Clegg wants a complete ban on TV adverts. Guess who to? Bingo! The chiiildren.

Britain should consider a ban on adverts during television programmes for young children, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said.

They're supposed to run without advertising income, you see. Not saying he hasn't thought that one through, by the way.

In short, show the Lib Dems a bandwagon and they will not only jump on it, they will wrestle the reins and try to drive the bloody thing themselves.

Yet all this illiberal tripe is showing no positive effect on the Lib Dem poll ratings, nor does it transfer into successful electoral results. They have starkly failed to impress even with Labour in an almighty tailspin.

The truly 'liberal' amongst their ranks, though, seem to be enjoying dramatic approval, as the Total Politics poll shows.

There is a market for a real liberal leaning party, yet the only one with liberal in their name are blind to the potential support such policies could engender. As a party in opposition to an authoritarian Labour, they absurdly seem intent on attacking the incumbents on an intensely more proscriptive ticket.

All power to the aforementioned trio for their eminently sensible posts. Their success is fully merited. How much longer their success can be ignored by the blinkered party hierarchy will be interesting to watch.