- RT @libdemvoice: Special #ldconf live tweet coverage http://ldv.org.uk/19553 << must remember to tweet responsibly #
- My prediction: all amendments will pass / be accepted and the final vote will be about 80/20 in favour. #
- Another prediction: with queues everywhere, we're not starting or finishing on time. #
Hall is pretty chocka – this is the first of 3 blocks listening to Andrew Stunnell. http://flic.kr/p/82vYhh #- Stunnell: like Louis XVIII, Labour have forgotten nothing and remembered nothing. #
- Stunnell: greenest, most radical, most redistributive programme for generations. #
- Big, big round of applause for @drevanharris. #
- Erudite crowd: first two speakers have quoted such diverse figures as Louis 18th and Woody Allen. #
- In addition to LDV team, try @ChrisWhite17, @EdFordham, @StephMog, @po8crg, @joswinson #
- Sharing a pew with @chriswhite17, baronesses Hamwee and Barker, and a new member from Notts. #
- Applause for student speaker calling for our MPs *not* to abstain on fees, but to vote against. #
- Heh, @camdenjo gets applause before even beginning to make her case for the Human Rights Act. #
- Jo Shaw: Ken Clarke and Dominic Grieve? You could do a lot worse. Featherstone and McMally will help greatly. #
- Wouldn't have put "obloquy" in buzzword bingo for today. #
- @prateekbuch sadly not. in reply to prateekbuch #
- Man, these seats are not ideal for a four hour meeting. #
- David Rendel: our amendment was shortened. What's left is not contraversial in this room. I want to debate what was removed. #
- Rendel: there should be no further negotiations without a commitment to PR. #
- Linda Jack is waving a pair of fluffy pink handcuffs with a menacing glint in her eyes. Nothing changes, eh? #
- Eek. Tony Greaves is missing front teeth. #
- Greaves: now is not time for triumphalism but magnanimity. << hear, hear. Not tenor of template artwork, tho. #
- Greaves: time for triumphalism will be when we win again in 5 years time. #
- Rep from Rhondda: it's Labour who have let down the valleys. #
- Rep from Rhondda: No Lib Dems in Welsh office. None of the Welsh Tory MPs either. And no sign of agreement on Barnett Formula. #
- Nader Fekhri is first to speak against the motion as a whole. Trenchant outlining of differences between parties. #
- Mood in hall has changed a bit. Fekhri: tread carefully for you tread on my dreams. #
- Ted Lord, former staffer on Conservative London Mayoral campaign, does a wicked impression of William Hague. #
- Lorely Burt MP tells us the NEC is in her constituency of Solihull. #
- @po8crg Linda Jack was against? I was too distracted by the props. in reply to po8crg #
- Popped out of main hall for a bit to find dozens of people having their own fringe in the sunlight and cafes. #
- No journalists, the tiny number of protestors have given up and gone home. Handful of our hi-vizzed brethen. #
- Good news, #ldconf #tweetup tweetuppers: the pub is opposite the hall and open til 8pm. #
Ah. Now I understand. Our MPs must have pressed this at some point. http://flic.kr/p/82u2zx #- @iaindale wonder if it was the ash cloud? in reply to iaindale #
- Think I just saw two people storming out. "Can't believe it's come to this." So not everyone happy. #
- "I'm chair of my local party – probably because I didn't say 'no' quick enough." << big club, that. #
- Ah – it was our last speaker who was telling voters on the doorstop to vote us to keep the Tories out. #
- And now our first address from a cabinet minister. *wipes tear from corner of eye* An truly historic moment. #
- "I come from Denmark – a country where we actually talk about things before we take decisions." #
- Canterbury tories have apparently been heard describing the coalition as a Lib Dem arse grafted onto a Tory body. #
- Hah, @prateekbuch rehashing his "counterfactuals" piece for LDV as an intervention. #
- First Liberal power since 40 years before my birth, says @alexwilcock – let's not wait another 40 years. #
- @markpack are you counting my beard or is it only beards on platform? Can't, unfortunately, drive in sandals. in reply to markpack #
- No rolling back on equalities on my watch, says @lfeatherstone to rapturous applause. #
- Featherstone: when I called for trans rights, the Tory frontbench were ok. But backbenchers cried "perverts" at me… #
- Featherstone: …we are here to hold the Tory rightwingers in check. #
- @markpack *looking round* there must be well ever a thousand here, have you really only seen 7 beards? in reply to markpack #
- Cripes, Simon Hughes fires up hall into standing ovation. #
- @markpack nice of @edfordham to paint his toes specially. in reply to markpack #
- Ldv correspondent @chriswhite17 on the "anorak amendment" about local government. #
- Labour gained seats on councils in Haringey and Doncaster despite their abysmal record there, says @ChrisWhite17. #
- Graham Watson recalls David Steel telling us to prepare for government. It's been the most thorough preparation in political history. #
- Watson: embracing Dan Hannan will be harder than hugging a hoodie. #
- (predictive text mangled that to "hug a goodie" which is an odd mental image) #
- A member intervention from Gedling, which I know is near Nottingham, but which the hall may not. #
- @stephentall @helenduffett @markpack I'll help get him into the slot. in reply to stephentall #
- Intervention speaker calling for justice for 5,000 dead and dying victims of contaminated blood. #
- Increasingly despairing of this conference. Not one call for a reference back. And only one person edging towards a separate vote call. #
- Dinti Batstone: Easy to be smug about women in parliament when you have safe seats. Just ask Kramer, Goldsworthy, Gidley. #
- In 20 mins we move to the votes. Cor. Gotta fit in 9 amendment summators first. #
- The businessmen Vince Cable described as "nauseating" are now writing him grovelling letters. #
- And hall gets to its feet again for Dr Vince Cable. #
- RT @CharlotteGore: RT @naomimc: Oh, embarrassing. Civil servant memo on how to talk to Tories…http://bit.ly/aIMCy2 << tory roleplaying! #
- Ah, a constitutional nicety I had missed. All amendments have been accepted, so they don't get voted on or summated. #
- McNally: typical Lib Dems: huge hall. Fancy set. Standing room only. Overwhelmingly positive speakers… And we make it a closed meeting. #
- McNally: Tony Greaves came to see me and we had a full and frank discussion. Now you know what happened to his teeth. #
- McNally: if the HRA is repealed, I walk. Huhne: me too. #
- Huhne: never thought I'd see McNally and Greaves agree. Baroness Barker on my left: they often agree! #
- Huhne: we kept our promise about who we would talk to. And we will keep a lot more promises in government. #
- Very strong support for HRA. #
- Cor. Almost unanimous on each of the 10 votes. At most, 20 people voted against the amended motion in favour of coalition. #
- Clegg slams "North Korean" result. Never thought he'd hear Evan Harris say nice things about him. #
- @LonelyWonderer McNally's joke. in reply to LonelyWonderer #
- Clegg: even if you ignore the numbers, take it from me, the Labour party were, in their hearts, already preparing for opposition. #
- Clegg: genuine suprise at how much agreement achieved with the Tories. #
- Clegg: I know the stakes are high – for me personally as well as for the pastry #
- Erm, that should have been: Clegg: I know the stakes are high – for me personally as well as for the party. #
- Clegg: I have found your trust in me and my colleagues humbling. We won't let you down. #
- Oh, there's Tom Brake! *swoon* #
- @dr_nick Ah, yes, my tweets were showing up in a box on a website today. in reply to dr_nick #
- @libdom I heard the police saying that too. But there's always some police at conference. in reply to libdom #
- @dr_nick It was in the day time! in reply to dr_nick #
- Just wrapping my nephew's birthday present. Bit worried that the over elaborate packaging will detract from quite a small present actually. #
- And slightly freaked out by the sudden realisation that my cat is older than my nephew. And always has been. #
- Think I just became 1,000th person to follow @evansmother #
- @dr_nick well you could have told me! 🙂 ps am srsly worried Noah will be disappointed with present – will be like pass the parcel! in reply to dr_nick #
- @libdom I've been working late in conference centres when Special Branch sweep the drains for bombs. Always entertaining, that. in reply to libdom #
- @gedrobinson #ldconf usually votes on annual reports after the years have finished, too. in reply to gedrobinson #
- @mithomas20 oh no, not again! in reply to mithomas20 #
- @qwghlm … presumably canon printer works with … other sorts of operating system… are you sure printer is at fault? in reply to qwghlm #
- @celticchickadee there were around 2,000 people there – more than at some of our ordinary conferences! in reply to celticchickadee #
- @FrancisUrquhart @markpack was counting beards and sandals and came up with depressingly low figure 😦 in reply to FrancisUrquhart #
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