Conference roundup

The conference blogging took a bit of a back seat this year, partly as there is simply less to talk about in Spring rather than Autumn, and the fact I've only been here for 2 nights (which seems like 5 minutes).

Two highlights are worth talking about. The first was the Trident debate. Its a pleasure to be in a party which can have a mature and honest debate with itself, and where the leader has the same single vote as the rest of us. Those people who wanted to amend the policy so it committed to us never replacing Trident made a fundamental error, their wording removed the immediate 50% cut in our nuclear arsenal. This allowed Ming Campbell, is true FOCUS leaflet style, to simply put it to the delegates that they could vote for a policy which reduced the number of warheads we had, or not.

Should be noted as well that Ming's speech was actually quite good. He spoke with passion and clarity, and I'm sure that the the vote would have been lost with the intervention.

The second highlight was the launch of the Beveridge Group, which is a new "social liberal" policy forum. Evan Harris and Paul Holmes spoke very, very well about their fundamental values, and Paul in partcular very eloquently took apart some common misconceptions about eco-liberal issues (in particular the effect of tuition fees). The presence of Steve Webb was interesting, as he will be shaping our next manifesto.

I have, of course,  picked the highlights before Ming's main speech. A mistake? I fear not. Despite his  good work on Trident, long impassioned speeches are simply not the man's strong suit, so I'm keeping my expectations in check. I just ask one thing. Please can he read from the autocue if he has one, rather than from notes in his hand. It's one thing for a high profile politician to actually need notes (I can hear Cicero turning in his grave), but having them stare at their own navel whilst reading them is really below par.

Here's hoping I'm surprised.

Update: The glee club was alright as well :-)

Update 2: I was actually impressed by Ming, his best speech so far as leader.