Thursday, September 21, 2006

Fairer, greener and ... stronger

Media reports of the final day of party conference, and comment on Ming's speech in particular, suggest an element of surprise that:

a The mood at conference is bouyant
b There has been no popular 'bring back Charles' uprising
c The leadership are doing quite well actually

I guess this reflects the underestimation of the Lib Dems that meant they were taken aback at our ability to win in Dunfermline and come so close in Bromley.

Apart from reconfirming to me why I joined the Liberals nearly 20 years ago - a belief that our society needed to be fairer and greener - it has also confirmed my belief that the Lib Dems are a pretty robust bunch. It takes a bit more than a few months without a leader and the odd personal scandal or two to stop Focus leaflets going out, doors being knocked on and councils being improved.

It also confirms that Lib Dem conference goers, like much of the public, are a lot more interested in substance than spin. That's why there was such a positive reaction to the Green Tax Switch Rally and to the speeches by Nick Clegg and my former boss Chris Huhne.

But it doesn't stop at the end of conference. Lib Dem activists will now be going back to their constituencies to deliver Green Tax Switch Focuses, set up campaign stalls and events, and spread the message that in an era of Tory and Labour spin there is one party with real policies that deal with real issues.

2 comments:

Etzel Pangloss said...

Sorry but...

Have we not been told before that high petrol tax was imposed as a green tax.

People will not vote for green taxes (unless the're hippies or feel guilty!)

If people truely cared about a scary future, they would not smoke and/or get fat etc...

The thing that makes me sad is that Britain is a liberal culture and deserves a liberal government.

Liberal Neil said...

I think many people will support green taxes if there as an explicit and equivalent reduction in income tax.