This Conference season is showing why the Liberal Democrats are needed more than ever. We are the real voice of Opposition to the Conservative Brexit Government and the only party fighting to keep Britain open, tolerant and united.
Labour under Jeremy Corbyn are not up for the fight whilst the Tories are floundering without the proper Opposition they need and deserve. This Government has one of the biggest decisions facing them of recent times, they will be responsible for the UK leaving the EU. A judgement of this magnitude needs a strong Opposition to ensure the right decisions are made at every step of the way. With this Labour party, at this time, that won’t happen.
With Labour scrabbling amongst themselves, and the SNP obsessing over how they can best play their cards to get Scotland to abandon another union, it is up to the Liberal Democrats to act as the Opposition this country needs.
With this weight on our shoulders the Liberal Democrat conference in Brighton was optimistic and upbeat. The Lib Dem fightback is happening up and down the country as Liberal Democrat campaigners and activists are winning seats from Labour and the Conservatives and making a real difference in their communities. Since May 2015 we have gained more seats in by-elections than all the other parties put together.
British politics has been in turmoil this summer in the wake of the Brexit vote, each party is turning in on itself without a clue of what the future holds for Britain. The Party conferences this autumn will only bring this closer to the surface. Corbyn has won again, the Labour infighting will continue. May will have to glue together the schisms in her own Cabinet, and will, perhaps, be brave enough to reveal some of what her favourite phrase ‘Brexit means Brexit’ actually means.
But the Liberal Democrats, under Tim Farron (who now happens to be the longest serving national party leader in Britain) have remained united. Our Conference this year shows that we were getting on with it, laying out a credible plan to fund the future of the NHS, securing a school system that works for everyone, and building an infrastructure for the 21st century that will leave no one behind.
We are united under our vision that Britain should remain tolerant and open. That Brexit shouldn’t mean pulling up a drawbridge to the rest of the world, hiding away from our friends and neighbours. This summer the divisions within our country have been exposed, old wounds have reopened as racism and hate crime has bubbled up to levels we haven’t seen in decades. As we look forward we face a frightening future but we must not let this vision become the reality.
In all this infighting, in all this division and mistrust, in the wake of our massive decision on Europe, we must build a Britain that works for the future and for everyone living here. The Liberal Democrats will lead that fight.
