Conference Report

Published on Mon 1st Oct 2007

Jonathan Chatfield welcomed Ming Campbell's speech at Conference

Ming Campbell closed a successful Liberal Democrat conference in Brighton with an attack on "the cosy consensus" between Labour and the Conservatives. In a passionate and powerful speech he committed the Liberal Democrats to 'rattling the cage' of British politics.

Ming also used his speech to launch a sustained attack on Gordon Brown's record, arguing that despite all the talk of change very little has actually changed. "Brown hasn't taken the tough decisions to tackle climate change, he hasn't scrapped ID cards, he hasn't brought the troops home from Iraq," said Ming.

He went on to set out a personal credo influenced by his experience over the last year visiting some of the most disadvantaged people in Britain. He set out how, under his leadership, the Liberal Democrats will confront the difficult issues and take the tough decisions that are necessary to create a country that is free, fair and green. He also proposed a new initiative for constitutional environment rights drawing on examples such as Spain where the citizen's environmental rights are guaranteed in the constitution.

SE Cambs Parliamentary Candidate Jonathan Chatfield said:

"This was an inspiring speech. Everyone in the hall was impressed by its strength and passion. And the positive response of the media shows Ming Campbell's stature is recognised outside the party as well. The speech was a great boost for the party and it rounded off a conference that put the Liberal Democrats way ahead of the others on tackling pollution and poverty."