Politics

listen to ‘Podcast: Nick Clegg’s speech’ on audioBoom There were no rabbits in Nick Clegg’s speech today. Instead, there was just an unerring emphasis on the Liberal Democrats’ message that they are the only party that will provide ‘a stronger economy and a fairer society’ and that’s why you need them in government. Clegg began by thanking Ed Miliband and George Osborne for setting up the Lib Dem conference so well. He told activists that Miliband (by forgetting to mention the deficit) and Obsorne (by saying he would close the deficit through spending cuts alone) had opened up the political space that the Liberal Democrats need. Indeed, at times Clegg

listen to ‘Podcast: Nick Clegg’s speech’ on audioBoom Before I say anything else, I’m sure I speak on behalf of all Liberal Democrats when I say that our hearts and condolences go out to the family and friends of Alan Henning and David Haines for their tragic loss. These were good men. In the work they did they stood for hope and compassion – the things that everyone in this room believes are more important than anything else. We have to take on the cowards who took their lives. We have to defeat their barbarity to help protect the millions of people who now live under the threat and fear

listen to ‘Podcast: Nick Clegg’s speech’ on audioBoom Nick Clegg put in an appearance at Glee Club last night – albeit only in 2-dimensional form as a cardboard cutout – while Lib Dem activists sang a timely (or perhaps inappropriate) song about bombing Iraq called the ‘Iraqi-cokey’: Mr Steerpike was in attendance, too, although he struggled to keep up with some of the more exuberant celebrations: As well as their rousing land value tax song, the Libs also produced a charming eulogy to the failure of the last possible Lib-Lab pact, which mostly consisted of the party’s youth members shouting that ‘Tony Blair can f*** off and die!’

Far from it being Mr Steerpike’s prerogative to call a former editor of the Spectator a wally, he was rather amused by Boris’s latest escapade. Now we can all relive those classic moments when the Mayor of London was hunting for a seat in Parliament, with ‘Where’s Boris?’ – a Wally-style search-and-find picture book, out next month from Orion. Another step toward immortality for BoJo. How many other wannabe PMs have made it into children’s book hero format?

The Liberal Democrats now have an official party policy that football clubs wanting to win is a cause for concern. The party’s conference has just approved a motion, which Coffee House reported on yesterday, complaining that ‘winning has become the primary motive in the sport’ and about an ‘influx of overseas investment’. The motion was amended slightly, though the gist is the same: Party policy now says that winning in football is a dangerous thing. Jeremy Browne must be thrilled. Some speakers in the debate were a little worried about how this must look to anyone else watching – or indeed to many people in the party who had a good think about

The Lib Dems haven’t really announced many enormous policies so far at their party conference. Yesterday’s speech from Vince Cable was more notable for its loyalty than it was for its focus on ‘bolstering’ apprenticeship pay and ‘clarifying’ and ‘enhancing’ workers’ rights. But unless they’re planning to go for the 2013 Tory strategy of not announcing something in their leader’s speech and then cobbling together an announcement from one throwaway line when they realise the newspapers might not write anything up at all, the Lib Dems do still plan to use Clegg’s speech to announce something important. Based on what Norman Lamb had to say yesterday at fringe meetings, it

What exactly is going on with Nick Clegg’s conference get-up in Glasgow? As of this writing, the Deputy Prime Minister is wearing his third outfit of the day — casual jeans and a dark shirt. Mr S is sure he’s seen something similar to this hideous apparel somewhere before. Given the Liberal Democrats are spending this week laying into the Tories as part of the differentiation strategy from their coalition parties, was it really wise for their leader to dress up in his own version of David Cameron’s much lampooned holiday gear? It’s clear the Liberal Democrats are asking for a lot to remain in the Coalition, but isn’t the shirt off of the

Vince Cable’s speech today was loyal and funny. Cable was, unlike in some previous years, very much on message. He lavished praise on Clegg for having turned the Liberal Democrats into a party of government. He ended his speech by telling the activists that ‘there is a lot to be proud of and we must be proud of it’ to the delight of Nick Clegg, who was rather distractingly wearing jeans in the conference hall. Cable also attacked both the Tories and Labour. He joked that the Tories were turning into Ukip without the beer and Labour into Hollande-style socialists but without the sex. The most aggressive part of his

Though they didn’t call them ‘red lines’, the Liberal Democrats did spend yesterday making clear the things they won’t accept if they have to work with the Tories in another coalition after the 2015 general election. Today’s Financial Times sets out a line that the party is apparently happy to cross: the EU referendum that the Tories have promised as their own ‘red line’. Listening to Nick Clegg huff and puff his way through the Today programme, you’d have been forgiven for thinking he was a bit annoyed that he was being asked once again about his party’s own position on a referendum: inconveniently, it was suggested that this wasn’t