So, after the abysmal local election results last Thursday, Nick Clegg today used the first anniversary of the forming of the coalition government in Westminster to announce that there would be a more "muscular liberalism" on show to demonstrate "the real Lib Dem input" at the heart of the of the Coalition Government in London.
Most supporters and members will no doubt welcome this more forthright announcement and expression of intent, but it does beg the question...where has Nick been for the past 365 days?
I don't mean for the heading of this blog post to signify my pleasure at the core result of the AV referendum last Friday. Indeed, as with any other progressive, forward-thinking individual, I hoped for a Yes vote so that we could at last move incrementally forwards towards a fairer voting system and finally get rid of the First Past the Post system that is unfit for the 21st century.
But it was clear as D-Day approached that the portents all pointed towards a poor result. But whilst the last opinion polls showed a 2:1 feeling against, no-one surely must've realised that far from over-estimating the sentiment to keep the staus quo, they actually under-estimated it with 7 out of 10 voters saying a resounding NO to electoral reform last Thursday.
Discredited Campaigns The No campaign was nothing short of a disgrace. The lies that they peddled were shocking. Yet, the Yes campaign retaliated poorly and could not get the positive message of why a Yes vote was needed across to a sceptical public. This undermined the hard work being put in by volunteers across the country who faithfully put their all into getting a Yes vote.
What irked me most was that locally, all I got through my door was the No Freepost - no sign of an equivalent from the Yes campaign. If this was all many people read of the campaign, who should be surprised that they overwhelmingly voted No?
I for one spoke to residents on the door-step during the Assembly campaign and put across the positive reasons for why we needed a Yes vote and I made sure that all of the literature that we put out had this positive message on it too. But with what seemed like the bare bones of a Welsh campaigning infrastructure for the Yes vote, it was never going to be enough.
Who's to blame? Clearly, and hindsight is a wonderful thing, the referendum should've been seperate from the other polls on that day. Only a handful of Council areas voted yes and many of these were in London where it happened to be the only poll of the day. Did linking it onto English Council and Welsh Assembly/Scottish Parliamentary elections work? Clearly not. It meant that those who voted were doing so through the prism of the local and national political scene and with the No camp linking it to Nick Clegg, this was always going to make it more difficult to win.
Holding the referendum on a seperate day would've made it easier to concentrate on the central questions themslves. But what is done is done.
At the end of the day, I'm glad that it was lost so convincingly. That's not to take anything away from those who worked tirelessly for a positive result, but points to the fact that AV really was the 'squalid little compromise' that Nick Clegg had called it before the General Election last year. Do I blame Nick Clegg? On putting it on the same day as the other elections, maybe - but as I said before, hindsight is a wonderful thing. On the question of it being a referendum only on AV and not on the PR alternatives, certainly not. Anyone who now blames the Liberal Democrats for only being able to achieve a referendum on AV and nothing more substantial are living in cloud cuckoo-land. The fact that Nick Clegg was able to get a referendum on changing the electoral system through the Conservative Party as a part of the coalition negotiations is a remarkable achievement in itself. There was no chance of getting the Conservative Party or indeed the House of Commons to agree on a referendum for a proportional alternative - the numbers just weren't there. Indeed, it is the half of the Labour Party that opposed the change that should hang their heads in shame. Call yourself progressives? Hypocritic dinosaurs more like.
Thanks to the Liberal Democrats, we got a chance at last to move away from FPTP but in the end, and for all of the reasons mentioned above and more, it was answered with a resounding no.
Next? Fine. If that's what the people of Britain said then that's what they'll get. No more complaints now about wasted votes and jobs for life - it's what the country wanted.
What then for the concept of AV? Well, at a national level, it will now be confined to the dust-bin of British electoral history. Such a resounding defeat for this particular system means it can never again be put forward to the British public in another referendum - one of the reasons why if it was going to be lost, the referendum may as well have been lost big-time.
What then of the future for electoral reform? Well, there's no doubt in this mind that the battle has been lost for a generation. Here was an opportunity and it was not taken. Why would the people of Britain want another referendum vote on such an issue when the bigger issues in these economically difficult times are more basic - like putting the bread on the table?
For those of us who wish to see a change in the way in which we elect our politicians, we should now embrance the whole shoot. Proportional representation - fair votes in its proper meaning - is the only alternative left. We will not have an opportunity to enact it for decades but it's all there is left.
But here's a warning for those across the political spectrum but particularly in the Liberal Democrat party who see electoral reform as the holy grail - move on. We will not let this candle fade but neither can we cherish it as the be-all-and-end-all of our quest in politics. Sorting out or nation's finances and delivering a fairer and more equal society is what we must now be for. Electoral reform is one piece in this jigsaw of fairness but there are many others. For now, that one piece in the jigsaw has been lost. Whilst we go about finding it over the years ahead, let's not take our eyes off the other pieces on which can play a constructive and positive role in Government over the remainder of this parliament.
A few days ago, I wrote this piece on the election ground campaign in Ceredigion for the Liberal Democrat Voice website. It was posted here on Thursday.
Campaigning in Ceredigion is rather unique. The big beasts of 20th century British politics, the Conservative and Labour parties, hold no sway here. It’s a battle instead between liberals and nationalists and the Welsh Liberal Democrat candidate Elizabeth Evans is proving to be a formidable opponent to Plaid’s Elin Jones.
The ‘poster’ war, which is always a central feature to this unique constituency’s electoral battleground, was in full swing early on. Over the years, it’s always been opportune to show that momentum is on your side by getting those road-side stakeboards up before your opponent. Well, this year it was a clear win for the Welsh Liberal Democrats as our boards went up along the A487 and the A44 a full week before the Plaid boards made a slow appearance.
As a candidate, it’s a pleasure to work alongside and canvass for Elizabeth. She is well known to people across Ceredigion through her work with Mark Williams MP as his senior caseworker, as a councillor, and with numerous community organizations. Born and raised in the county, Elizabeth has represented her home town of Aberaeron on Ceredigion County Council since 2008.
Elizabeth’s parents were the owners of the New Celtic Restaurant on Aberaeron harbour, and in 2009 she followed in the footsteps of her grandfather by becoming Mayor of Aberaeron. After leaving school Elizabeth worked in the retail industry in Cardiff and London before returning to Ceredigion to set up her own business in Aberystwyth. She now puts this business experience to good use as Chair of Ceredigion County Council’s Economic Development and Tourism Scrutiny Committee.
So she knows her stuff does our Elizabeth and she’s taking her passion for her home county out onto the doorsteps. Her concerns for our local health service are chiming with the fears and worries of local residents – it being the biggest concern the length and breath of the county. The packed public meeting held in Aberystwyth only last week regarding the future of healthcare provision in Bronglais Hospital proved testament to that. Elizabeth has a particular empathy with these concerns because as a past-chair of Mencap Ceredigion, she has an interest that is reflected in her current campaign to secure local facilities for elderly patients suffering from dementia, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.
Elizabeth Evans with Nick Clegg at their Aberaeron Business Forum Yesterday
Residents of the county are aware that health is a devolved issue and that it is the Labour/Plaid government in Cardiff Bay that has let them down - it isn’t right that waiting lists are longer here than they are in England. Farmers in the county are also more than aware that the botched Glastir proposals are Elin Jones’ fault as the out-going Agriculture Minister. The low up-take of the scheme by farmers has proven that it is a bureaucratic nightmare and Elizabeth and the Welsh Liberal Democrats are committed to listening and working with our rural communities and not dictate policy to them as has been the Plaid/Labour way.
But what is most striking on going around with Elizabeth, our hard-working local MP Mark Williams and our enthusiastic team of volunteers, is the warm welcome that we’ve received on the door-step. For all of the nay-sayers and doom-mongerers in the media, the reality of the situation isn’t borne out here on the ground. That’s because residents know that the Welsh Liberal Democrats are on their side in Ceredigion. As the old saying goes, we do work hard for local people all year round and not just at election time.
We will continue then, to spread our positive message of change across Ceredigion over the weeks ahead to give our county the best opportunity of ensuring that that hard work continues with a new Welsh Liberal Democrat Assembly Member for Ceredigion, in Elizabeth Evans, come May 6th.
Post Script This post as mentioned appeared on Liberal Democrat Voice on Thursday. There followed the following day, yesterday, a trip to the county by the Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg as pictured above. More can be read about this visit here.
Yes, the Deputy Prime Minister came to Ceredigion today.
That is quite possibly the first time that that has been said of a top ranking Government Minister in 90 years since Lloyd George came to Ceredigion in 1921. Certainly, there has been no visit from a Prime Minister or Deputy Prime Minister in the last 30 years. There was an occasion I'm told when a senior Labour Party leader was heckled whilst driving down Cardigan's High St - was it Harold Wilson or Michael Foot I'm not sure.
But anyway, the point is that the heart of the UK's decision-making process came to Ceredigion today and that's a bloody good thing.
Ceredigion Business Forum To be precise, Nick Clegg came late this afternoon to Aberaeron on the final leg of his whirlwind tour of Wales. As Elizabeth Evans our Welsh Assembly candidate is an Aberaeron girl, she made it clear that she wanted to bring the Deputy Prime Minister to her home town when the idea of a visited was mentioned a few weeks ago!
He arrived slightly earlier than planned at 4pm by helicopter and we were relieved when we heard that he'd landed as there was a sea mist hanging over the town making the landing that bit more challenging! On touch down, he was welcomed by our local Welsh Liberal Democrat MP Mark Williams and our Welsh Assembly candidate Elizabeth Evans. He had come to speak to local business people about the local economy - to listen to their concerns and to to take back to the heart of Government, the hopes and fears of rural Wales.
We had only had 48 hours to organise the event having finally been given clearance by special branch on Wednesday so I was delighted that even in such a short time-frame we managed to get business people from across Ceredigion to the event. Traders from Cardigan, Lampeter, New Quay, Aberaeron and Aberystwyth all came along to meet the Deputy Prime Minister and to put their case to him and to Elizabeth, our prospective Assembly Member for Ceredigion.
Issues raised ranged from the banking crisis, to business rates, to unecessary red tape, to the housing market. Nick answered the questions alongside Elizabeth in what was an informal set-up and there was enough time for traders from New Quay, Lampeter, Cardigan, Aberaeron and Aberystwyth to get their questions in.
The Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg with Elizabeth Evans and Mark Williams MP
After the forum finished, Nick and Elizabeth answered questions from the press in The Hive's great outside eating area overlooking Aberaeron Harbour. I'd been tasked with ensuring that the local media were all informed and the local papers were well represented with the editor of the Tivy Side, Sue Lewis present as well as the local Aberaeron reporter Hannah Smith from the Cambrian News and David from the Carmarthen Journal. They were given much more time with Nick than I think they expected and they got some Welsh Cakes too!
ITV Wales and BBC Wales were also present with their cameras so the visit was screened tonight on the Welsh news as seen briefly here - the ITV Wales coverage of it can be see here http://www.itv.com/wales/cleggs-wales-visit87171/.
After some final photos and an ice cream (and a call in French with an African President!), Nick was gone and the stress of helping to organise a high-level Government visit with the security that went with it, had quite literally, flown away!
Putting Ceredigion on the Map We've had high profile visits before over recent years. Ashdown and Kennedy all came here as Liberal Democrat leaders and I was personally proud as punch to lead Menzies Campbell around Cardigan when he visited as party leader back in 2007
But there's nothing like welcoming a Liberal Democrat Government Minister to our county. Because under previous Conservative and Labour governments, Ceredigion has been ignored. The Liberal Democrats however put that right and I'm proud that Nick, as the Deputy Prime Minister, came to speak to local business people on their turf and on their terms.
It's been a great weekend in Cardiff at the Welsh Liberal Democrat conference.
I don't say this lightly or flippantly for the sake of it but because I know it to be true - after all, this was my 19th Welsh Liberal Democrat conference out of a possible 20 since my first one back in Llandudno in the spring of 2002. This, on top of my 14 Federal conferences out of a possible 19 since my first one back in Manchester 2002 means I've been to a total of 33 Liberal Democrat conference in all!
So I could be considered to be a bit of an 'old hack' when it comes to it. But it does give me an insight for one so (reasonably) young at the age of 28 to be able to take a side-ways on perspective of the weekend as I have a decent idea about what I'm talking about!
Biggest Welsh Lib Dem Conference Ever? As far as the figures go, it was the biggest conference we've ever held. For the second time in 3 years, the Barcelo Angel Hotel in Cardiff hosted us which meant that, as is becoming the norm of late, we were able once more to host the entirety of the conference weekend festivities under one roof which makes it easier for us delegates to get about and see everything that is on offer.
The number of pre-registered delegates were the largest recorded (from what I gather) and for the first time in my memory, the conference dinner was sold out before the weekend had arrived. That meant no tickets available on the day for anyone who was going to chance it.
In my 9 years of conferencing, it really did show itself to be the biggest and best yet.
Security for the Deputy Prime Minister! We even had on the Friday evening, the almost incredulous sight of security machines in the conference hotel for us to all check through! Why? Because Nick Clegg the federal party leader and now Deputy Prime Minister was to appear at our pre-conference rally.
It certainly feels like a long way forward since those cold and lesser attended conferences in Llandrindod Wells' Coleg Powys!
We've grown as a party and the level of debate has improved as we continue to decide on our party policy as delegates on a 'one member, one vote' basis. We saw that during the course of the weekend as the party agreed policies on education, health, rural affair and transport to name but a few.
We had more training events (something that we never held even up to only a few years ago) to help campaigners for the weeks ahead and there were some fantastic fringe events held by external organisations who were there in good number - again, a much heartier number than I recall in all my years of conferencing.
Media Interest
Chairing conference with my aide, Rhys Jones
We've always been well served by the Welsh media at our spring conferences and this year was no exception. With Nick Clegg addressing us on the Friday and our Welsh leader Kirsty Williams doing the same on the Saturday morning before Vince Cable did so in the later afternoon, there was plenty to talk about.
My weekend was a busy one - particularly on the Saturday - and took in, as it often does, this media element to conference. I chaired conference in the mid-morning, covering the Local Government and Economy debates. It was in part during the morning, broadcast live on S4C.
I then followed that by immediately leading conference in the financial appeal for the first time. It was very much the 'warm-up act' for Kirsty Williams' speech in which I got the crowd laughing and smiling with my inimitable brand of humour whilst doing my best to get as much money out of them as possible for our campaign war chest. It went well and Kirsty then gave a great speech in which she outlined a positive Welsh Liberal Democrat alternative to the failing Labour-Plaid Welsh Assembly Government.
I was straight back onto the nation's TV screens after Kirsty's speech when I did a live sofa-based interview with Dewi Llwyd for S4Cs conference coverage. I did so alongside Gwynoro Jones, a former Labour and SDP MP and former Liberal Democrat member who rejoined the party last May because Nick Clegg 'had the courage to go into Government with the Conservatives to clear up the mess Labour had left behind'.
I've heard of the name before of course and indeed I recall him standing as an Independent candidate on the Mid & West Wales regional list in the Welsh Assembly election in 2007, but I've never met him before and I hadn't realised that he'd re-joined the party (even sporting a Lib Dem bird of freedim tie!). It soon became apparent that his re-joining the party had also evaded the knowledgable Dewi Llwyd's attention and he reacted with some incredulity in the interview by asking Gwynoro how a former Labour MP could re-join the Liberal Democrats for having the guts to go into coalition with the Conservatives! This all meant that my part in the interview was more of a 'bit-part' character than normal but that didn't worry me - it was one of the most amusing interviews I can ever recall participating in!
It can be watched here on S4Cs iPlayer coverage from 1hr 40min.
In the late afternoon, after I'd heard Mark Williams MP propose a 'call to arms' to members to now lead the way in securing a second referendum 'Yes' vote on AV on May 5th after our fantastic success of getting a 'Yes to Wales' referendum victory last Thursday, I took some time out by catching up with colleagues at the conference bar. At this time, some of our younger members from Ceredigion gave an interview to BBC Wales and it can be found here at 1 hr and 50 minutes.
Well done to Ollie Duckley, Greg Foster and Hannah Thompson on giving a great performance!
A Conference Dinner Success - with help from the BBC National Orchestra of Wales! After Vince Cable gave another excellent and honest address to conference (the man really is one of the few people I know who makes economics sound interesting), I settled down in my fantastically close-by B&B for a breather before getting back to the Angel by 6.30pm.
One of the best bits about conference for me is the catching-up with old friends from around the country - the more informal kind of 'networking'. Well I had the chance to do that with the likes of Anders Hanson who was down from Sheffield for the weekend (having previously lived in Aberystwyth). It was during the pre-dinner drinks reception with Anders and our local MP Mark Williams, that a BBC National Orchestra of Wales string quartet started playing right alongside us for our pleasure. I can safely say that it was one of the most surreal conference moments of my life! Never can I recall a Liberal Democrat conference entertaining such a treat! But then, what's wrong with adding a bit of class to the proceedings?! I wonder what Peter Black AM would've made of it had he not have taken a rare weekend off from conferencing himself!
The dinner as already reported, was full and former MP Evan Harris gave another great speech to us as he did last Spring (he was that popular we invited him back!). I was even lucky enough to draw the first raffle prize after the dinner which meant I got first pickings at the prizes and I made the most of my good fortune!
Non-suit Sunday Sunday was as ever a quieter affair after the manic-ness that is the Saturday at conference. With the media having pretty much all packed their cases and left, it meant that the final few hours could be enjoyed at a more leisurely pace as is usually the case. This can usually be seen through the more dressed-down vibe seen around conference and this year was no expception.
I had been put down to lead on a training module alongside good friend Cllr Nick Tregonning from Swansea but whether it was because they all knew it all already or because they had been out too late at the bar the night before, no-one turned up! But not to worry, Nick and I proceeded to chat the hour away by putting the world to rights!
Conference guided itself to a close in the afternoon. Our Ceredigion Assembly candidate Liz Evans proposed and summated on the transport motion before Welsh Party President Christine Humphreys closed the conference with her traditional address.
Onward to the door-steps... So, it's been another excellent conference and it is fair to say that, whatever the media may say about our electoral hopes and apirations, our conferences are continuing to go from strength to strength.
So it's back to our homesteads and back to campaigning on the door-steps. It's always great to spend a few days in the company of politically like-minded friends and colleagues but it's good to come home too and to put the policies and ideals that we espouse, into action.
As our conference weekend slogan said, Wales Can Do Better. We now need to spread that gospel on as many doorsteps as possible.
It's been a rocky few weeks for the Liberal Democrats as the tuition fees debate has given us our first real test since going into Government.
But today as members, we can be justly proud to be Liberal Democrats in goverment because Nick Clegg has announced, as promised, that the barbaric system of detaining children will end by the by next May.
As reported on Freedom Central, no child is currently in an immigration detention centre and no child will spend this Christmas in an immigration detention centre. The Coalition Government has also announced the reform of our immigration system to make it more family friendly – creating a system that is humane, fair and effective.
Labour Shame
In Labour’s last 5 years in office alone the Government locked up 7,075 children for an average of just under 2 weeks each (12.74 days). That works out at 7 children a day. Last year alone, 1,065 children were locked up by Labour, 173 of whom were locked up for longer than a month.
For all their progressive talk, Labour's record in government when it came to civil rights was shoddy at best - such are their controlling, authoritarian tendencies.
Liberal Democrat Infuence in Government The Coalition’s Programme for Government stated that ‘we will end the detention of children for immigration purposes’.
There is no doubt in my mind that if it wasn't for the Liberal Democrat influence in government, this would not be happening. Had the Tories been in government alone would they have prioritised the ending of this inhumane policy? I very much doubt it.
Because this is a policy long-championed by the Liberal Democrats. They were the only party to include this commitment in their manifesto. In an open letter to Gordon Brown in 2009, Nick Clegg wrote: “One of the best ways to judge the moral compass of a nation is how we treat children … How on earth can your government justify what is in effect state-sponsored cruelty?”
Not in my name, and not any more.
You want to see how Liberal Democrats in government are playing a positive role in changing lives for the better? Then here's a case in point.
We heard this morning from No.10 Downing St of the list of 54 new Peerages to the House of Lords. Of these, 43 are Coalition Peers (27 for the Conservatives, 15 for the Liberal Democrats and 1 Cross-bencher), 10 are Labour Peers and 1 from Plaid Cymru.
I'm particularly pleased to see that out-going Welsh Assembly Member Jenny Randerson AM (a former Culture Minister in the 2000-2003 Labour/Liberal Democrat Welsh Assembly Coalition) is to be made a Baroness. Her expertise and experience will be invaulable in the Upper House. It's also good to see that Sal Brinton, Susan Kramer and Nicol Stephen are also being elevated.
Patronage Gone Wrong Jenny, Sal, Susan and Nicol I believe, deserve their new 'calling'. They have been active in their communities for years and have a role to play in the House of Lords.
But not all peerages are given on such meritocrious (is that a proper word?!) grounds. From this current list, there are a number who have been significant donors to their parties. Robert Edmiston and Stanley Fink for example, have been prominent Conservative donors whilst Sir Gulam Noon was likewise for the Labour Party and had been previously nominated by Tony Blair for a Peerage.
This is where the system is fundamentally flawed. For as long as party political leaders have the ability to choose who should be elevated to the House of Lords and have this power of patronage, there will always be scope for abuse. Why should party donors be given a Peerage? It's crass and quite simply, wrong. Donors should want to give support to political parties not on the basis of what they individually can get out of it. Donate to help the party grow becuase you believe in their cause? Yes. Donate because you want leverage on the leadership to give you something that is within their power to give? No.
An Elected House of Lords This is why we need to crack on and finally complete that long-running saga - House of Lords reform.
Whilst I'm pleased that a number of worthy people as well as those that I have named above, have received Peerages today, including Dame Joan Bakewell for Labour, Dafydd Wigley from Plaid Cymru and Sir Richard Dannatt from the Conservatives (but will sit as a Cross-bencher), I believe that it is giving too much power of patronage to too few people to allow the current situation to continue.
The likes of Nick Clegg, Ed Miliband and David Cameron should not have this ability. Members of the House of Lords should, on the whole, be elected. They should get there with a democratic mandate.
A Wholly Elected Second Chamber? Having said that, I stand, possibly in opposition to many of my friends in the Liberal Democrats, against the concept of having a 100% wholly elected second chamber. I think an overwhelming majority does need to be elected (somewhere within the region of 75%-90%) but that the remainder be selected and appointed by an independent panel to sit in the Lords on a term-by-term basis to fill any 'needs-based' gaps that may not be covered by the elected members.
For a wholly elected chamber will mirror too closely the House of Commons but will not guarantee that the relevant and required experience and expertise is there to scrutinise the executive's legislation.
So for example, if a Jenny Randerson didn't want to stand again for election but the independent panel believed that her expertise was required in the Upper Chamber, then they could propose a Peerage for her to fill that 'needs-based' gap.
Whether such a solution or a wholly elected alternative was taken forward by the Coalition Government, it would be a darn sight better than this unsatisfactory situation that we currently have to live with.
Take the patronage out and put some common sense democracy in.
I was reading the Independent on Sunday (a regular vice I can't quite shake off) last Sunday (obviously) and found myself getting rather annoyed when I read this article by Andrew Martin about Nick Clegg's impending 'turn' on Desert Island Discs.
At the time of going to press, Andrew Martin was only allowed to mention 3 of Nick's 8 choices but he instantly took against the choices that he offered from the 8 - that were the rock songs "Life on Mars" by David Bowie, "The Cross" by Prince, and "Street Spirit" by Radiohead.
In particular, he made this mind-numbingly annoying statement:
"I believe Clegg made a mistake in not choosing eight classical pieces. In a dumbed-down world, we admire people who like complicated things".
Now, I love my classical music, but he clearly feels here that politicians in particular, shouldn't try and 'get down with the kids'. Clearly, it's an error for anyone to try and pretend that they like something that they don't simply to look popular - they'll always get found out for such a sloppy error. But at the same time, I don't want choices made because it's the 'safe choice'.
I'm sorry Mr Martin, but actually, I rather like and indeed 'admire' people who in this 'dumbed-down' world, have an eclectic taste in music and are willing to make the case for their different choices. Why the hell should Nick Clegg be expected to only like classical music, simply because he's a politician? What a load of pompous old tosh!
Nick Clegg's Desert Island Discs Choice of 8 were:
1. Chopin's Waltz in A Minor played by Idil Biret 2. Johnny Cash - Sunday Morning Coming Down 3. Prince - The Cross 4. Cesaria Evora - Petit Pays 5. Radiohead - Street Spirit 6. David Bowie - Life on Mars 7. Shakira and Waka Waka the theme to the 2010 World Cup 8. Schubert's Impromptu No.3 in G Flat Major played by Alfred Brendel
So that there is a pretty eclectic taste in music. I have no reason to doubt that Nick Clegg is telling the truth about this range of interest of his. I'm pleased to see such a diverse taste in music. Very little of it is to my particular taste but that isn't the point. The point is that we get much more from this world by enhancing our listening experiences with a wide range of music.
Mark Cole's Desert Island Discs Choice of 8: I'm never going to end up on Radio 4 myself to give my own personal choice to the world, so I may as well do so here to show my solidarity with Nick's eclectic taste in music.
Now, I love my music - and I mean love it. Music can well portray a feeling, a sense of time, an emotion. I have, as anyone who knows me will testify, a wide taste in music. No matter what my mood, I'll always have a CD or a particular song in my collection at home that will chime with that feeling.
As it happens, I put together a 'Desert Island Discs compilation' of songs long ago. I've altered it on one occasion but here below is my long since settled choice of 8...
You'll find two instrumentals. I love the piano in particular and I love rag-time and I personally find Scott Joplin's Maple Leaf Rag a much better tune than it's more famous big brother, 'The Entertainer'.
Also, there is no better instrumental in the world in my book than Apache by the Shadows. A close second would be Fleetwood Mac's 'Albatross', but it just misses out here.
I love Queen. They're the best band of all time. Freddie Mercury is one of the most mercurial of singers ever to have graced this Earth. A showman and an absolute musical genius. For me, his Barcelona duet with Montserrat Cabelle blows me away every time. The first time I heard it was after he had died when I was aged 10, when the BBC used it as the opening theme to their 1992 coverage of the Olympics. It's not even a power ballad - it's much, much bigger than that. It's just awesome.
This includes the wonderful opening instrumental.
Elvis Presley is simply, The King. I only became a fan at the ripe old age of 20 when the 'celebrations' for the 25th anniversary of his death sent 'A Little Less Conversation' to No.1 in the charts. Before I knew it I was buying videos about him, CDs, the lot. But if I were to pick one of my 8 here to be played at my funeral, this would be it - 'If I Can Dream'. It is the most hopeful, heartful, soulful, wordly optimistic song that there is and I absolutely adore it!
From his ''68 Comeback Special', ladies and gentlemen. It's Elvis.
A few choices from modern pop. My 'interest' and 'enthusiasm' in modern pop music hit a big buffer in about 1996 after the age of Brit-pop. Anything since has struggled to make my radar. I'm a big fan of Oasis, Blur and Pulp and the latter has really grown on me in recent years. Pulp's 'A Different Class' album is one of the best of modern times and I could easily choose 'Disco 2000', 'Common People' or 'Something Changed' for this list but I've got to go with 'Mis-Shapes'. It just rocks.
Then, there's a good old ballad from that awesome song-writer Billy Joel. Again, I could choose one of the many of his hits and right up there would have to be 'Goodnight Saigon' but for me, the great 'Scenes from an Italian Restaurant' steals in at the end.
I love classical music. It calms me and more often than not, my bed-side radio is tuned in to Classic FM. I could easily pick 8 classical compositions here but if I had to pick one (and it is so difficult to narrow it down to one), then it would have to Beethoven's Seventh Symphony. In its entirety, it is just absolutely superb. The four movements are all wonderful on their own but if I have to choose one of those four, I would go with the 2nd - the Allegretto. Its deep, dark, haunting sense reminds me of the Fall of the Berlin Wall and moves me every time.
Finally, but most movingly for me, there's nothing that combines so haunting, so moving, and so majestic a feeling than the sound of a Welsh Male Voice Choir. I'm Welsh and I'm proud of it and when I hear such a choir sing a traditional Welsh song, it sends shivers down my spine. None more than when the strains of Myfanwy can be heard. The word 'Hiraeth' for me, means the kind of feeling for my homeland that I feel when I hear this song.
Here it is being sang by Pendyrus Male Voice Choir in memory of those killed in Welsh mining disasters but particularly to the 116 children killed at Aberfan on October 21st 1966.
So, a re-cap, my Desert Island Discs 8 are...
Scott Joplin - Maple Leaf Rag
The Shadows - Apache
Freddie Mercury & Montserrat Cabelle - Barcelona
Elvis Presely - If I Can Dream
Pulp - Mis-Shapes
Billy Joel - Scenes from an Italian Restaurant
Beethoven - 7th Symphony (2nd Movement)
Myfanwy
If ever I was stranded on a Desert Island, I'd want to make sure that I'd have with me, a range of music that covers the whole range of this love of my life - my love of music.
For the record, which book would I take with me? Well, it would be one of two. Either Nelson Mandela's autobiography 'A Long Walk to Freedom' or Harper Lee's wondrous 'To Kill a Mockingbird'.
Luxury item? Pah, I don't know. Possibly my largest and cosiest duvet.
So to hell with Andrew Martin. I'm a much better and rounded individual for having a love for all these different musical genres and to that point, so too is Nick Clegg.
We've been in government now for just over 4 months. In a way, we've got used to this very quickly. As a party and as members we've had to get ourselves into this new mindset and we have done so. So much so in fact, that, and particularly to newer members who know little else, we almost take the fact that we're in this position with a pinch of salt and just get on with it. But, taking a step back, yesterday was actually an incredibly historic day for our party. Monday 21st September 2010 was the day that Nick Clegg MP, Liberal Democrat leader, first addressed his conference as the Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdon of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Really? After all these years of opposition, of mergers, of false dawns and dashed hopes, we're actually there. In goverment. In control. It really is an amazing thing.
Morning Media Mayhem! I got up early at 6.40am to get to the media centre in the Echo Arena to hive a few interviews on Welsh Radio. On arriving I realised that I'd left my security badge back in the hotel room but thought that they'd probably be relaxed enough about it and just let me in. Not now that we're in government! All change! I had to dash back to the hotel, then dash back knowing full well that I may now miss the live slot. As it happens, when I came dashing into the media centre, Oliver Hides the Radio Wales presenter was introducing the package on the Lib Dem conference and Jenny Randerson AM who was being interviewd with me, frantically pointed in my direction behing Oliver's back to let him know that I was in the building! He was barely 30 odd seconds away from introudcing us when I took my seat! Never a dull moment! The interview went well and at 7.45am I repeated it with another in Welsh for Radio Cymru alongside Myrddin Edwards.
Academies Bill & the West Lothian Question After a break back in the hotel, I made my way back to the conference centre and sat in on an excellent debate in the main hall about the Academies Bill. The party are against the policy and there's much discontent that the coalition have moved ahead on this issue even though it wasn't in the coalition agreement. So it was an unsurprisingly lively affair and I was rather pleased that the 'rebels' won and voted down what was seen by many as a 'wrecking amendment' put forward by the leadership. The motion was passed comfortably to the approval of many there. It certainly proves that conference can be as awkward as ever! I actually decided not to use my vote at the end of the debate as the Academies Bill is only applicable to England and not Wales due to devolution. So, in the light of the 'West Lothian Question', I felt it right that I don't interfere as a Welsh member in a matter that only involves England. After all, I wouldn't want the English telling me what to do!
Kirsty Williams
We then had a barnstorming speech from Welsh Lib Dem leader Kirsty Williams and we were all there as 'Welshies' to support her. It was very well received by conference and afterwards I was told by our media man Richard Thomas that her reference to Richard Livsey in her speech as a 'gently giant' came directly from my blog post that gave him that name. I was pleasantly surprised and pleased to have played a small part then, in what was an excellent performance by our Kirsty.
Lib Dem MP Bingo!
A gang of us decided on lunch at the Albert Docks and whilst we waited for our food, we decided to test oursevles on how many of the 57 Lib Dem MPs we could name without the aid of google or wikipedia. We actually did very well and named about 52/53 of them. I then decided to use this information and play 'Lib Dem MP Bingo' to see how many of thoe 57 I could spot in conference! I've spotted a good few of them in previous days of course but for the remainder of conference, I'm making a particular effort of keeping an eye out for those I have yet to see. I suddenly took great delight during the afternoon when I spotted such MPs as David Heath, Malcolm Bruce, Mark Hunter and John Leetch simply because it meant I could cross them off my list! I'm currently on 35 and would hope to extend that into the 40's before the end of play on Wednesday!
The Main Event - Nick Clegg's Speech I've been to plenty of conferences in the past to know that you need to get your seat in early for the leaders speech.We arrived in good time yesterday but already the auditorium was filling up. It wasn't long, when, to my amazement, the whole room was full. In 15 UK-wide conferences, I have never seen delegates being turned away from the auditorium because there's no room left! Instead, they used an 'over-flow' room with a live link for other delegates to watch Nick's speech. I gather that even that was over half full!
So, indeed, here we were listening to the Deputy Prime Minister address us as our leader. We really have come a long way as liberals over the years. His speech was surprisingly short at a little over 35 minutes (Charles Kennedy's speeches used to last for 50 minutes to an hour). But I thought it was a very well crafted affair and went down well with delegates in the hall. One of the biggest rounds of applause came when he reminded conference that the new coaltion goverment is scrapping ID cards - damned right! He also got a good yelp of approval when he maintained that the Iraq war was illegal. So it was a good speech and there's no doubt in my mind at least that it was well received by the members.
Socialising After changing into my evening attire back in the hotel, the rest of the day went by in a relaxed manner with the only desire being one of catching up with old friends around the conference bar (and tracking more faces to cross off on my Lib Dem MP Bingo of course!). After a very nice reception given by Park Printers, we went to the annual official Welsh Lib Dem Night at the Cornmarket in the city centre where I gave another clip (but this time pre-recorded) for Radio Cymru. I bumped into one of our Ceredigion supporters Kathy Bracy who was with friends in the city for a PCS Union gathering. It was good to catch up with them during the evening.
The Randomness of Lib Dem Conferences (No.1) I do enjoy the quirky occurrences that often happen in Lib Dem conferences and the people you meet who have random associations with others! Well, back at the conference bar in the Jury Inn last night was no exception. I found myself talking for some time to a pleasant enough chap from Portsmouth. It turns out that his uncle was Ray Crawford who was a member of the Ipswich team that won the league title under Alf Ramsey in 1962, won 2 English Caps and scored 2 of the goals in the giant-killing FA Cup shock of 1971, when, now playing for Colchester, they beat Don Revie's Leeds United 3-2! I must admit, it tickled me!
I also had a real in depth conversation with a really nice guy about faith and human motivation. He's a Hindu and he had what I thought was an excellent outlook on life, despite having had some tough life experiences to deal with including losing his mother when he was just 18.
It was also great to catch up with Rhiannon Wadeson again in the conference bar and to remind ourselves of our fantastic birthday trip in Latvia back in 2008!
It's the mixture of the surreal and the profound which we find at conference like this that just makes it so unmissable!
The Randomness of Lib Dem Conferences (No.2) I had the interesting experience also, after the Nick Clegg speech, of bumping into the Times journalists Daniel Finkelstein and Matthew Parris in the hotel lift and then at the conference bar in the evening, I bumped into Tory MP Nigel Evans in the toilets. These really are bizzare times in which we live!
Revenge on McDonalds The bar finished relatively early I felt and before we knew it we were the last there (quite a fete in itself!). So an eclectic group of 5 of us decided to walk down to the nearby McDonalds for a 'drive-thru' early breakfast. With it being just a few hundred yards away for where I'm staying, this seemed ideal. So we walked into the drive-thru to make our order. There we were confronted by a rather embarassed young man who told us that he couldn't serve us. The reason? We weren't in a motorised vehicle! Apparently, on health and safety ground he couldn't serve us as the drive-thru was for those in 4 wheels only and not on two feet! We tried to make him realise that at 5.30am, there was no real danger of us being run over by an errant car whilst being served by him - but he stood his ground! He did seem pretty embarassed at the fact that he wasn't able to take our money for an order because of this technicality but not to worry, we had a cunning plan!
Nick Love decided to go to the main road and hail down a taxi. On doing so, we all went around the corner from the drive-thru jumped into the aforementioned taxi, drove back through the drive-thru, and ordered our meals from a dumbfounded young man! For the sake of paying the taxi driver the cost of driving through the drive-thru, it was worth it for the 5 of us just to get the reaction from the McDonalds staff!
Suffice to say the actual food itself was pretty hopeless, so with our hotel breakfast bar nearly open, Nick and I decided to wait until 6am to get a proper breakfast, before going to bed!
A historic day came to an end then with a characteristic liberal rebellion against authority!
Never before in a Liberal Democrat conference have I ever felt let down by former F1 World Champion Damon Hill - until today!
The enjoyment levels of the night before at conference can usually be tested by whether I've been able to make breakfast the following morning. Well, yesterday morning I failed and the same can be said for my room mate Ali Goldsworthy. So we both put up a forceful show of unity in having a much needed lie-in!
Damon Hill Let Me Down! I decided that my first main event of the day would be one that I've been looking forward too ever since the conference directory landed on my doorstep a few weeks ago - the Motor Sports Association fringe! It was in the Hilton Hotel so, along with Nick Love from York Central Lib Dems, we made our way through blustery rain and past the uninspiring group of demonstrating Union activists towards an event that was advertised as having both Damon Hill and Tony Jardine present. As a big F1 fan, this was exciting stuff! So imagine my disappointment, when, having arrived early to beat the expected masses, we found that neither were present! Admittedly we had the very fine replacement of 2 time Le Mans 24 hour winner Allan McNish to listen too but no mention at all of the fact that two of those who were in the original line-up weren't there - no apology or anything whatsoever! Perhaps in an odd way it was a good thing. As it turned out, only about 25-30 of us were there in total. Had we known that those originally promoted as being there wouldn't turn up, the figures could've been even worse!
Nick Clegg Q&A It was a quick dash over to the Echo Arena for the first time in the day at 2.30pm for the afternoon session of conference and the Welsh Liberal Democrat presentation. There were a few technical glitches but what stood out for me was the excellent performance made by our Welsh Assembly candidate for Montgomeryshire Wyn Williams. It was the first time I've heard him speak at a conference and in front of such a large crowd, I thought he did a smashing job.
We then had the informal but popular, Nick Clegg Q&A Session. The autitorium was full and there were some good questions asked of Nick by members (and some bad ones). Notably, there were good questions asked about pensions, Pakistan and the future direction of the party - all of which Nick answered well. He was in feisty but amusing form and was very well received by delegates. It was good to see Nick also field questions from the audience that hadn't been pre-selected by the conference committee. One of those asked off-the-cuff was by one of our Aberystwyth students Rory Roberson who got a question to Nick about FE funding. He asked the same question of Vince Cable the night before so he's had a good and productive weekend fair play!
Lunching with the English Defence League Having not eaten all day, I decided to join the student gang who had already gone over to our adopted 'local', the Baltic Fleet for a late afternoon lunch. I'd watched a BBC4 documentary about food in the North recently and noticed that the word 'Scouse' comes from a local dish served in these here parts. It's basically a kind of meat stew/broth/cawl with red cabbage and I decided that I wanted to try some whilst I was in Liverpool. Well, here was my chance, and it must be said, it went down very nicely indeed. Less so were the group of 20-30 or so members of the Merseyside branch of the English Defence League who were eating/drinking/generally making some noise in the room next to us. The police had been tipped off and were keeping an eye on the pub as we arrived. I hope they didn't think that we were with them!
Awards from Nick Clegg After a break back in the hotel, it was time for the annual Campaign Department's 'Oscars' awards ceremony. Every year the department gives awards out to local parties and campaign teams who have made a significant contribution during the year. Last year, I was delighted to receive an award on behalf of Ceredigion from Nick Clegg, and this year again, in front of our peers I was delighted to do so once more. Nick gave us a bottle of House of Commons champagne for having the best Poster/Stakeboard effort around the country (which I later found out at the bar annoyed our colleagues in Cornwall!). A group of around 15 of us huddled around Nick for a photo and it was great that the whole team that have made it here to conference could share in the event. It's very nice to be appreciated by your colleagues and this annual event is always a pleasant opportunity to celebrate the best practise of local parties the length and breath of the UK.
The Celtic Fringe (with Nick Clegg...again!) Considering the fact that Nick Clegg will be going to the UN later this week and will be missing the end of conference, we really have been spolit rotten in having his company today! First there was the Q&A, then the much more intimate gathering of senior campaigners at the 'Oscars' ceremony and now, last thing at evening after a group of us 'Welshies' had had a Pizza Express evening meal, we had a joint Scotland/Wales social in the good company of the main man himself as well as Kirsty Williams AM and Tavish Scott MSP (kindly sponsored by the good people at ASDA). We've rarely had an opportunity to get together in such a way in conferences past in my memory so it was good to get the 'Celtic representatives' together in one room for an hour of bonhomie.
After an hour or so at the conference bar afterwards, I went back for an uncharacteristically early night at 1am to prepare for live radio interviews this morning. But as is ever the case, it was great to see some old and familiar faces during the evening. But there's still a few I haven't seen who I know are lurking around here somewhere so one of my mission's for these last few days will be to find them!
So, after the abysmal local election results last Thursday, Nick Clegg today used the first anniversary of the forming of the coalition government in Westminster to announce that there would be a more "muscular liberalism" on show to demonstrate "the real Lib Dem input" at the heart of the of the Coalition Government in London.
