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Last night on This Week, Ed Milliband tried to rubbish Lib Dem prospects in the next set of Council elections (May 2011 for England, 2012 for Scotland). Fortunately Olly Grender was there to refute him.

Yesterday, Lib Dems held two wards and won another from the Tories:
1. Nethermayne Ward, Basildon: Lib Dem 605; Lab 461; Con 372; UKIP 280; BNP 70; Ind 18. LD HOLD.
2. Kidlington North, Cherwell DC: Lib Dem 526; Con 419; Lab 216; UKIP 86. LD HOLD.
3. Torbay: Lib Dem 801; Con 365; Lab 195; UKIP 159. LD gain from Con on "massive swing" to LD.

The evidence is there to show that in general, the public like the idea of parties working together for the common good. To continue that, we now need a voting system that ensures balanced government, so that a small minority of people in marginal seats cannot in future overwhelm the will of the majority.

The Alternative Vote (AV) system, soon to be the subject of a referendum, is a small step in the right direction.

In Campbeltown Town Hall, Tuesday 27 July , 6pm-9pm, this is an important next stage in the Community Buyout process. MACC's web site explains. Please pass the message on by any means available to you. There is a poster available for distribution.

Southern African in origin, its name meaning "humanity towards others", Ubuntu the computer operating system was created by the open-source community with South African firm Canonical, and as their web site says "is free to use and share at home and in business".

It runs on all modern desktops, laptops tablets and netbooks, and has server versions as well. Cloud computing is also one of its strengths.

A worthwhile upgrade from Windows, it rivals Mac OSX for ease of use and reliability. Viruses are almost non-existant in Ubuntu, the most recent one having been rendered harmless years ago. In any case, open-source software is less susceptible by nature although it is still not bullet proof.

So why do I use it?

I do not have to consider licencing issues when I install it. Installation is simple and straightforward, with Ubuntu selecting and auto-detecting its hardware environment and automatically installing the necessary drivers. I do not need expensive additional anti-virus software before I can safely use it. My favourite office and web applications run well on it. Upgrades are simple, with software updates never more than a few clicks away. Extra applications are installed with a few typed words. It's reassuring to know that the code behind it is open-source and checked by thousands and is not veiled in proprietary secrecy.

Only if a must-have application demands another operating system is it worth the hassle and cost of using anything else.

When my insurance renewal quotation came in from LV=, it was for £346. Having researched my choice of insurer quite thoroughly in the first place, normally I let renewals ride and go through automatically, but this time I checked online for a quote. Using the first link on Google search results (http://www.moneysupermarket.com/car-insurance/), I was surprised to find that the cheapest quote for the same cover was for £186 - from LV=. Suspicious as ever, I phoned for an explanation. It seems that my policy was "not a current product", but after going through existing circumstances and requirements, the LV= agent came up with £186 again for their "current product".

Moral? Never trust automatic renewals and always check out the competition. I've been too lazy or busy in other years to take the 45 minutes it took this time to save £160.

So the Daily Telegraph is seeking yet another scalp, attacking another MP who has fallen victim to the House of Commons expenses fiasco. Those responsible for writing such sloppy "Green Book" rules are the real culprits. But isn't there now a consensus on fixing that? I wish that national newspapers would embrace the phrase "constructive journalism", or do they have a death wish and consider that an oxymoron? David Laws must stay. He is part of the solution.

STV best helps all Parties get the number of MPs that their vote share indicates. AV helps all voters to make their vote count by minimising need for tactical voting. Both have preferential "1 2 3" voting. Both are better than FPTP. Choosing a better system does not mean an even better one cannot be considered later.I'll be pressing for STV but voting for AV if that's all there is on offer.

If one (or several) elected MPs fail to deliver promises, it doesn't follow that all 650+ need to be re-elected or removed. Fixed-term parliaments prevent disruptive and costly extra elections at a time when economic recovery and stability are in the interests of both Scotland and the UK as a whole.

The 55% threshold for dissolving Parliament is actually quite low. Scotland's threshold is two-thirds. Other countries have similar barriers to hasty and petulant dissolution.

Electorally, the five-year span is more surprising to me. Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales all have a four-year term. Local authorities are elected on a four-year cycle. It would make sense to have four years for Westminster also, then an election for one body need never clash with that for another.

In the election, the LibDems were rightly anti-Tory, anti-Labour and anti-Nationalist, for the simple reason that they are pro their own policies. The popular vote dictated that two or more parties get together to run the country. With the current distorted electoral system, which is the true dinosaur in the political landscape, it is actually quite impressive that a 5-year Government has been agreed within 5 days of the polls closing. Common elsewhere, fixed-term parliaments can provide the stable government planned. In this case, the arithmetic of the vote has allowed pragmatism over policies to win over personalities. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in Birmingham today.

During the Second World War, a popular cartoon image was that of a spiv surreptitiously attracting attention ("Psst!") and uttering the question "Wanna buy a battleship?". Seven decades later in Kintyre, the Machrihanish Airbase Community Company (MACC) are legitimately asking residents of the PA28 6 area around Campbeltown "Do you want the opportunity to buy Machrihanish Airbase?"

Right-to-buy legislation means that community organisations can register an interest in acquiring redundant land in public ownership for the benefit of the local community, rather than see it sold to big corporations who may be absent landlords. There are plenty of examples where the right to buy has been exercised, leading to multi-faceted economic activities led by, and for the benefit of, local residents and businesses. The purchase of Machrihanish Airbase will be the biggest ever, and is truly a one-off opportunity for Kintyre residents to provide for future generations.

In order to get the opportunity, residents must say "YES" in a ballot currently taking place. 50% or more of the electors in the PA28 6 postcode area must take part, and 50% or more of those that take part must say "Yes". If either 50% target is not attained, the opportunity will be lost as the right to buy is extinguished.

Ballot papers have already started arriving with the post, but not all electors will receive one automatically. This is because MACC may only use the edited version of the Electoral register which does not contain details of people who have opted out of inclusion. Amongst the reasons for opting out are privacy, anonymity and dislike of "junk" mail. The full register has around 6,000 electors, and the edited version around 4,800. However, the 50% target is based on the full register.

To get a ballot paper either as a replacement or because one was not received in the first place, residents should email macc@machrihanish.org or telephone 07793-040531. The question on the ballot paper is "Do you want the people of Kintyre to have the opportunity to purchase Machrihanish Airbase?". Receiving the 50% quota is absolutely crucial for the project's success.

Olly Grender explains a lot in her recent Tweet: "Adonis and Mandelson wanted LibLab talks to work. Balls and Milliband did not. Without Milliband's interest it was never going to work."

Tony Walker: "I think the commentator who said they were more interested in the leadership were right."

The golden yellow boat veers to the right, but in doing so causes the blue boat to steady its course.

The red boat gets cast adrift and loses its captain, leaving the First Mate to try and recover the situation.

The multi-coloured flotilla of smaller boats stand off cautiously, with their crews keeping an eye on the weather.

The ship of state sails majestically on, into a five-year voyage of discovery.

It's not true that LibDems "hold all the cards" following this General Election, but it IS true that they must play those they hold VERY carefully.

For most, if not all, Liberal Democrats, electoral reform is a "must", and has to include fixed-term parliaments and proportional representation. An elected upper house, a directly elected Prime Minister and recall of MPs must also be on the cards for discussion.

Surely the most likely outcome of present negotiations is either a Tory minority government or a "rainbow alliance" agreeing on a programme for economic recovery plus electoral reform? Coalition without PR would be suicide for the LibDems.