Howard Dean came to town yesterday (or more specifically on Thursday I think, but the Oxford Union had him for a day or two first). He talked largely about his work as chairman of the DNC. You can listen to what he said here. I was struck by two things
1, His message not to just target who you have always targeted it. The Democrats reached out to voters of faith this time, discovering young evangelicals main concerns were climate change, poverty and Darfur. Issues where Democratic policy resonated far more than the Republican’s yet for years the GOP has been left to court these votes alone. There’s something in that for the Lib Dems.
2, The internet is a tool. If you haven’t got something to say don’t use it pointlessly. I’m not beyond reflecting that freedom central could learn a bit from that. I’ll see what I can do.
After climbing the seemingly endless staircase into the auditorium to hear Howard speak I got to listen to and vote on the end of the education debate. Those of you who have ever visited LSE’s library will have some sympathy with those of us left feeling like one legged pirates.
As a Welsh rep I can’t help but wonder if I should be allowed a vote on English only motions at conference. The education debate (where we reaffirmed our opposition to fees, and it is now policy which I can’t see us wavering on, take note Plaid) is an example of how tangled the UK’s constitutional oddities are. I voted to support the motion as a whole, where the policies applied only in England. The Barnett formula meant it would lead to an extra £200m coming to Wales. Should I have got a vote or not? I’m not convinced that the English party has quite got to grips with this. I think it would help them and the party if we started reconciling these positions.
The big debate in the hall yesterday was on faith schools. I pulled my card to prepare for the Social Liberal Forum fringe where I was asked to speak. It sounds like it was a cracker.
The SLF fringe last night was packed. Expecting to only need to talk for a couple of minutes about how people can get involved I suddenly found myself answering questions such as ‘what one extra policy would you deliver to alleviate child poverty’ – answer, improve housing and ‘is there a limit to economic growth’ – answer, yes. Steve Webb was on sparkling form. If you want to get involved, or send your idea through to our ideas factory you can do it here.
Having organised a meet up last night for Welsh people here at conference I promptly missed it as hunger had struck and I was waiting for the world’s slowest service and negotiating our table a load of freebies as a result. I arrived back in Glee club to find them in full flow singing. I have never understood the appeal of Glee club, it appears to be the bastard child of the first round of x factor and David Brent.
Kirsty’s on in about thirty minutes. If Orange stop pretending their network isn’t screwed I’ll attempt to live tweet it – follow the #ldconf.
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