By Sir Timothy Garden
The Liberal Democrats were in a difficult position. They were holding the first of the Party Conferences in the aftermath of the attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon. As a party, they pride themselves on encouraging real debate from the local members, and they are seen as the natural home for the pacifist tendency. All of this could have made it difficult to rise to the demands of the times. Yet the atmosphere throughout the 4 days has been one of maturity.
The agenda was adjusted to ensure that the first day could be devoted to the new global crisis. However, before the main event, procedures required a mini debate on the administrative arrangements. It seemed incongruous to be listening to a passionate exchange about the rising cost of creche facilities at the Conference, to be followed by an equally emotional call for better disabled access at some of the fringe events. Both were doubtless worthy causes, but were less than appropriate as a warm up act for the discussion about the war on terrorism. The media reports on the emergency debate (such as they were) emphasised the calls for restraint and aid rather than military action. In fact most speakers were clear that a military response would be necessary, and the advocates for non-violent action were in a very small minority. The carefully crafted motion supporting action but with proportionate use of military force was carried unanimously, which speaks volumes for how the Lib Dems have become a serious political force. The summing up, which delivered the votes, was done in masterful fashion by Susan Kramer, the unsuccessful Lib Dem candidate for London Mayor. She is showing herself capable of handling much broader issues than just the London tube.
The speech by Charles Kennedy which followed the emergency debate was serious and statesmanlike. He has tended to leave the foreign policy issues to the safe hands of Menzies Campbell in the past. He may, like many leaders before him, find that he needs to develop his expertise in defence and foreign affairs. He certainly made a good start, and captured the mood of the delegates.
While the intention of the change in agenda was to be able to get on with normal Party business subsequently, the gathering crisis remained uppermost in delegates' minds. At a consultation meeting on Defence Policy (your writer had a hand in the preparation of the discussion document), there was an extraordinary consensus about the need for an increase in UK defence spending. Speaker after speaker argued for extra soldiers, extra equipment and extra money. While there were calls for the removal of Trident, the main battle tank or the planned aircraft carriers, there were equal numbers of advocates for continuing these systems. No one argued for a reduction in resources for defence. Strange times indeed.
On the second day, the highlight was a speech by Digby Jones, the Director General of the CBI. It was the first time any holder of his post had spoken at any Party conference. He wowed the delegates with a breathless delivery of the case for industry as the servant of the individual consumer, and hence aligned with Liberal principles of individual rights. By implication, he castigated the public sector for its focus on the provider of services rather than the recipient. He is a good salesman, and brought the auditorium to its feet for a standing ovation. Yet much of the Party still has its heart with the public rather than private sector, despite calls for a more realistic approach from the leadership. It will be a difficult area for Charles Kennedy in the coming months.
The most significant speech of the third day came from Menzies Campbell. He wryly reminded his audience that Foreign Affairs (apart from the Euro) had featured little in the General Election, nor for that matter in recent Lib Dem conferences. He declared that he had failed to convince his shadow cabinet colleagues of the need for greater defence spending. You could almost hear him say "Well, you ken now". He gained a good response to his declaration that Lib Democrats were all about "foreign policy with an ethical dimension". Robin Cook lives on. Without once naming the United States, he gave a litany of multi-lateral issues in arms control, the environment and international law, where the world now had to work together. He also said that the UK would have to bite the bullet of higher defence spending. It was good performance from the most heavyweight of politicians within either the Lib Dems or the House of Commons. It will be interesting to see if the calls for more resources for the armed forces are led from the Liberal Democrat benches in the House of Commons.
The party president, Lord Dholakia, did not continue the non-partisan serious lines of both Kennedy and Campbell. He gave a speech on the shortcomings of the Conservative party which would have gone down reasonably well in more normal times. The biggest turnout of the conference was for the debate on improving the number of women MPs. Fierce speeches supported one complex formula after another. The paradox of trying to enforce quotas in a liberal democratic context was tearing the delegates apart.
The conference finished to the traditional leader's speech. It had been a difficult conference for Charles Kennedy. He is at his best with amusing one-liners, but they were off limits this week. He had held together the delegates so that there were no headlines to be grabbed by the unrepresentative attention seekers. There were few headlines at all given the press focus on the "war on terrorism".