Paying through our nose to lose our freedoms

“Paying through our nose to lose our freedoms” was the line of our Scottish conference in Perth. Tavish, of course, was referring to the introduction of the government’s ID card scheme which is a waste of money especially during a recession. His ‘up and at ‘em’ approach to politics was in abundance during his first leader’s speech to the main conference.

We had a buoyant weekend as we celebrated our coming of age. Twenty years since the merger it’s hard to believe how far we have come. It was great to hear from Bob Maclennan, our joint party leader in ’88, who made well composed speech spiced with the regal and passionate.

But we also celebrated Vince Cable’s stunning performance throughout the recession. Vince has an incredible ability, in his measured style, to encapsulate the issue in a single phrase. Referring to RBS and Scottish independence he said it would be like a bank with a country attached such were the relative sizes of the two.

All in all a good effort which will set us up well for George Lyon’s Euro Election in June.