I am, as most regular visitors to this blog know, a bureaucrat rather than a politician. My usual place is where I'm least likely to be noticed - House of Lords correspondent for Liberal Democrat Voice, for example - but, tonight, I found myself in the role of guest speaker for the AGM of Ipswich Liberal Democrats, with the task of talking about the EU referendum.
Luckily, Ros knows vast amounts about this stuff, and had given a really good speech about it on Saturday night, so I blatantly stole the core content, embellished it with a few laughs, and delivered it as my own. Alright, that's a bit of an exaggeration but Ros's knowledge, and the dinner table conversations we've had, have left me pretty well briefed.
I know the Local Party in Ipswich pretty well, and the venue, in Christchurch Park, was a gentle stroll from my office, and so I was in good time for the business element of the evening. Surprisingly few arms were twisted to fill the various Officer roles, and my turn came soon enough.
And, actually, it seemed to go well enough- people laughed at the jokes, the debate was lively and the questions were really good, challenging and thoughtful - something that I love about Liberal Democrats. We talked for about fifty minutes before a few of us adjourned to the nearby pub for a swift pint and a few tales from our past.
All in all, it was a fun evening, and if I had to do it again, I probably would. So, thank you to my Ipswich colleagues for inviting me, and I hope that you enjoyed it...
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