Oxford East city councillor Stephen Tall is living proof that at least someone listens to what a Liberal Democrat has to say, being as he was, the recipient of his party's 'best blog award' at their conference in Brighton last week. On accepting the honour for his online rant on national and local politics, Mr Tall said: "Lib Dem blogs show what a lively bunch of folk we liberals can be. For those of the media who tediously insist on trying to pigeonhole the Lib Dems as either right-wing or left-wing, the Lib Dem blogs are an insistent, daily reminder that we're neither. We're liberals."

Manchester has four family-owned brewers the last time we counted, each producing a range of great beers. But we wonder whether that Labour lot found time to sample any during their conference this week? If they did, we wonder whether Tony Blair downed a bottle of Old Eternal, Gordon Brown necked a swift Newcastle Brown Ale - since he's not a bitter man - and John Prescott plumped for a pint of Old Thumper.

The radical shake-up of the UK's licensing laws has hardly had earth-shattering ramifications in Oxford, has it? But good news for all those who like a libation in the small hours - there is at least one place you can get a cold one 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week - the filling station in Oxford Road, Cowley.

The generously-sized Tory MP for Wantage, Ed Vaizey, who once admitted he would like to star in cult TV show Strictly Come Dancing in order to lose weight, is looking more and more like Jamie Oliver, it would appear. Mr Vaizey looks the spitting image of the cheeky celebrity chef, but worryingly also looks like he is eating all the bacon, rather than bringing it home.

New Desert Island Discs presenter Kirsty Young has at last said what we all thought and rubbished Tory leader David Cameron's claims to have hip taste in music. I mean, do you really believe he has an iPod? And let's be honest, if he does own one, it's more likely to have M People on it than Eminem. Appearing on the classic BBC Radio 4 show earlier this year, Witney MP Mr Cameron named All These Things That I've Done by The Killers as one of his castaway records. But Ms Young said: "When David Cameron chose The Killers, I thought, 'I don't think so'," she told the Radio Times - although another of his choices, Ernie (The Fastest Milkman In The West) by Benny Hill "seemed about right".