Svalbard Diary, Day 1: 'Twas on the Monday morning, just as the sun was rising...

Dawn broke, somewhere near Stansted Airport. It was fearfully early, not a time of day I am familiar with, but the flight was scheduled for a 7 a.m. departure, and there really wasn't an option of taking a later one and having a lie-in.

And so, I hauled myself somewhat unenthusiastically out of bed, into (and out of) the shower and into some clothes. Thanks to Ros's enthusiasm for being early, we took a gentle stroll around the hotel to ease my daily quest for my ten thousand steps, before boarding the coach to the Inflite Corporate Jet Terminal, tucked away on the far side of Stansted Airport.

On arrival, it was clear that there was a problem. The absence of an aircraft should have been a giveaway, really. Apparently, a part was needed, and we weren't going anywhere until it was found and fitted. What this meant was that our scheduled afternoon explore of Longyearbyen, Svalbard's capital, was likely to be lost, and with it the walking opportunity I had been counting on. There was no choice but to walk laps of the rather small lounge. Lots of laps...

But we did eventually set off on the four hour flight. It is slightly hard to credit that, in such a short time, you can be somewhere so remote, but that's the wonder of modern flight, I guess.

Longyearbyen Airport is not a thing of beauty. Interestingly though, there is no customs or immigration check - you collect your luggage from the carousel and go. We were bussed to the ship and welcomed aboard with a glass of something sparkling and vaguely grape flavoured. It was going to be alright...

Nadia Cenci learns a valuable lesson just too late...

And so, as I suspected, it came to pass that Nadia Cenci's tenure as Leader of the Conservative Group on Ipswich Borough Council came to a sorry end. It didn't take very long, her resignation coming on Monday without much suggestion that it wasn't inevitable.

Her apology was a fulsome one, and whilst only Nadia knows whether or not it was sincere, she might hope that it doesn't necessarily mean the end of any political aspirations she has much beyond being a Borough councillor.

I fear that she is, however, done for in that sense, because the other problem with the internet, beyond the risk of saying something you wouldn't normally put into the public arena, is that it never goes away. Search engines are entirely unforgiving like that and, if she ever puts her name forward for anything, it will be there, and used as a stick to poke her with.

I am also reminded that, only too often, those describing themselves as outspoken are, ultimately, usually found placing their privilege above their principles, as a former Leader of the UK Libertarian Party did a few years back in a particularly sorry example of the genre. When his job was under threat, he rowed back only too rapidly from his often vile attacks on opponents.

Funnily enough, with freedom of speech comes the freedom to accept the consequences, which is why one has an obligation to consider the implications of one's words and actions beforehand. That's because, as Chris Mounsey found out, the consequences don't just necessarily fall upon you, but on those around you - family, friends, work colleagues, for example, who probably weren't consulted first.

In this instance, can Nadia be trusted to look after the interests of the council tenants of Ipswich? Are her views those of her fellow Council Group members? More importantly, what do those council tenants think? They have votes too, and I wouldn't be surprised to see Ipswich Labour activists use this against the Conservatives in the months to come.

This Committee isn't working like I'd hoped. Can I start over, please?

And so, I've just spent an evening at Federal International Relations Committee. Not one of the organisation's finest hours, although by no means a painful one. However, it isn't going as I had hoped, nor is it achieving what I think it might. What is its secretariat to do?

But what do I think is wrong?

First, and I can see the irony here in what I am writing, the Committee is too bogged down in process, leaving too little time for the creative part of our role, advising on policy, considering ideas. The notion that policy might be squeezed into a ten minute slot at the end of the meeting when time is against us does seem to me to be a bit of a nonsense.

Second, there is not enough discipline. It is no use submitting a written report to the Secretary by e-mail forty-one minutes before the meeting starts. Effectively, that means a verbal report, and they're always a problem - I've never yet heard a verbal report which didn't run on beyond the time taken to note a written report, especially if those receiving the report are required to do something.

So far, my entreaties for written reports have been taken as a request to be ignored or, at best, the deadline is treated as optional. Which is fine if your Secretary has nothing better to do. Sadly, I do have other, better things to do. In other words, your inadequacy is not my problem.

What I would like to do, therefore, is find ways to reduce the process stuff and increase the intellectual stuff. So, more written reports, submitted in advance, perhaps seeking approval of the minutes online, rather than at the meeting. More papers that suggest ways of progressing matters rather than attempting to address them on the hoof. More collaborative working by the Committee, new sub-committees perhaps to deal with the  process stuff.

Hmmm... sounds like I might be talking about a revolution. Although, given my role in this, let's call it an evolution. I know, let's call it "building a better walrus". It worked for me, so why shouldn't it work for Federal International Relations Committee?

So much lack of organisation, so many choices...

Given what I tend to end up doing for the most part, it often surprises people to discover that, not only do I find bureaucracy a bit tedious, I find process a bit restrictive. I am a bit of a grasshopper, in that I like to hop from task to task, doing whatever appeals to me at the time. That does not, obviously, engender absolute reliability, in that tasks tend to get done when I remember them. Fortunately, I have a very good memory and a willingness to do things at unusual times (normally between midnight and three o'clock in the morning.

It isn't, to put it mildly, always the most effective use of my time. I rely on a keen memory to get me by.

Ros, on the other hand, being outcome focused, has tried, tested and efficient systems to ensure that important things get done. And so, I am encouraged to find my own system, one that works. I've got one for work, and it does work quite well, I think, but it wouldn't be right for the rest of my life.

Luckily, in the modern era, there are plenty of people who want to organise your life for you, and I'm trying one out at the moment. Only time will tell if it works, but what harm is there in trying?

Dyb, dyb, dyb, in coastal Dorset...

It would be fair to suggest that noting that I have been on a day trip to Poole today would not obviously be the prelude to a tale of enjoyment. You wouldn't rank Poole that far up the chart of non-attractions in Dorset, let alone on a regional or national scale. Perhaps that's fair, but not necessarily accurate. Yes, Bournemouth has beaches and seaside fun, Swanage has a certain quirky charm, and Lyme Regis has the romance of the French Lieutenant's Woman, amongst other things. Poole, on the other hand, has ferries to the Channel Islands and France - a place to connect rather than stop.

I'd never really been there, apart from a few days when I stayed at the then Holiday Inn to save money on the cost of a hotel in Bournemouth. I didn't actually explore Poole at all.

The railway station is not a great gateway to the town, surrounded by ugly concrete buildings, some of which are only too obviously derelict. And the route to the Old Town and the Quay is not as obvious as it might be, leading you towards an overpass of unfortunate ugliness. But stick with it, and you soon find yourself in the High Street, heading towards the waterfront.

Keep going, and you'll find yourself in amongst some rather more interesting architecture, before turning left at the museum and reaching the Quay.

Time for a boat ride. Get the Brownsea Island ferry, because whilst Poole itself is alright, it's when you get on to the water that you begin to appreciate the charms of its setting. Poole Harbour is the second largest natural harbour in the world, offering sanctuary to an armada of small boats, plus plenty of kayaks, jet skis and dinghies.

And then you get to Brownsea Island itself. Not huge, but big enough and nowadays maintained by the National Trust and the Dorset Wildlife Trust. So, what's special about Brownsea Island? It is the spiritual home of the Boy Scout movement, where Baden-Powell held his first camp for young men. Even today, Scouts, Guides and the plethora of age groups come to the island to camp and learn skills.

I was never a Scout. It wasn't really me, and the idea of camp never appealed. Lots of people would disagree with me on the subject though, and who am I to argue?

We could probably all agree, however, that red squirrels are a thoroughly good thing, and they're one of the many animals that live on the island - some two hundred of them, apparently. We didn't see any, because they tend to stay in the cooler upper branches on hot days.

There's an interesting visitor centre, a fine Victorian church and a decent little cafe, as well as some nice walking opportunities.

Once you've finished your visit, the boat takes you back to Poole by completing the circumnavigation of the three main harbour islands - Brownsea, Furzey and Green. It's a pleasant ride and you get to see the northern shore of the Swanage peninsula.

In the sunshine, it was all rather lovely, and an excellent day out. I've also spotted a potential hotel for Federal Conference in September...

I wonder what other surprises Dorset has been keeping from me?

An Ipswich Tory has a social media misadventure...

I have to admit, I don't pay as much attention to local politics in Ipswich, our county town, as I might. Whilst I work in the heart of the town, and thus am there five days of each week, I can't say that I have an attachment to it which is anything other than functional. The shopping isn't as good as that of Norwich, or even Bury St Edmunds, and you just sense that it hasn't always been well-served by a County administration that is dominated by people who don't live there.

And, in truth, those of the town's politicians who are on social media often come across as unnecessarily aggressive and confrontational. It's the sort of politics that I was happy to leave behind when I left London nearly a decade ago.

But, bits and pieces of the online debate do cross my timeline, and, on Friday, I noticed that Nadia Cenci, the leader of the Conservative Group on Ipswich Borough Council, had made a comment about the survivors of the Grenfell Tower disaster which was, at best, grossly insensitive and, at worst, downright unpleasant.

Reaction was instantaneous - it tends to be when there's blood in the water - and hostile too. Nadia defended herself. It was a mistake, she'd meant to refer to the left-wing activists causing trouble, an interpretation which didn't have much to commend it. And then, she was gone. Six years of tweets deleted at a stroke.

Given that in her Twitter bio, she described herself as "outspoken female", it seemed odd that she'd simply bolted for the hills like that. After all, if you are outspoken, you stand by your comments, unless they're factually inaccurate, I'd have thought. Admittedly, 'outspoken' is a word used instead of the more accurate 'rude', 'unpleasant', or even 'callous', and whilst it may not reflect who Nadia really is (and I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt here, Nadia), I was reminded that, surprisingly often, Twitter is a window into people's souls.

Nadia had a series of choices to make when this incident blew up. First, to apologise or stand by her initial thought. She did neither, instead trying to weasel out of it with the old "it was badly worded and I meant something completely different" routine. It seldom works. And then, once the explanation had failed to convince, a credible apology might have dealt with the matter. Unfortunately, deleting your whole Twitter oeuvre leads the more cynical to wonder what else was there.

And now, the story has reached the Daily Mail at a time when the Conservative Party leadership appear desperate to be loved. You wouldn't be optimistic for Nadia's future, even after her fulsome apology. It may be time for her to do some good works by way of rehabilitation. And maybe reintegrate back into social media society over the coming months... with a little more caution this time, perhaps, Nadia?

Creeting St Peter: the importance of a neatly trimmed bush...

I can't remember if I mentioned that I was co-opted back onto the Parish Council last year somewhat unexpectedly. At least, I hadn't sought to return, nor had I expected to be asked to do so. You know how these things are. But I was, and it was (and is) nice to be back.

I was particularly delighted at our Annual Meeting, to be nominated as Vice Chair, a position I happily accepted, even if it involved very little actual effort. Machala, our Chair, is very good - brisk with the agenda but keen to allow Councillors to participate and have their say. Combined with Jennie, our relatively new Parish Clerk, the Parish Council is a far more amicable place than once it was.

Monday night saw a rather full agenda, including a presentation on the new business park, "Stowmarket East", which will emerge on the fields that lie south of the A14, east of the A1120 and north of Mill Lane. I can't say that we're terribly keen, but our former Conservative District Councillor sold us down the river on that, and all that we can really do is minimise the damage done by having a bunch of warehouses filling half of the gap between the village and Stowmarket.

We discussed the report of our current Green District Councillor, Keith Welham, who is far better than his predecessor, and the lack of a report from our Conservative County Councillor who, having been re-elected in May, won't be as assiduous as he was in the run-up to the election. We also noted that the Suffolk Constabulary don't talk to us any more. We're not alone - the relationship between our local police and the towns and parishes has faded away in recent years - and you wonder what our Police and Crime Commissioner really does in terms of communication with the local communities asked to elect him every four years. But I digress.

The nature reserve was the subject of much discussion. Basically, the problem stems from having a boardwalk in a bog. The boardwalk is made of wood, which rots and needs constant repair, which we can't afford. It is, frankly, an ongoing health and safety risk, and given that we have a responsibility towards users, it is a perpetual worry. I am not optimistic about its future as a visitor attraction.

We also considered the village traffic problems. How many problems can a village of two hundred souls have, I hear you ask? Well, parking is a problem, especially for households with teenagers and older children. Everyone needs access to a car, and so where can they be left? The answer is often in the street, making the narrow lanes even narrower, and making getting tractors and other bulky farm equipment through the village impossible.

But also, the village has a T junction in its centre, and traffic coming out of The Lane has to emerge almost blind into Pound Road because the laurels in the front garden of the corner cottage are rather overgrown. Thus, the need to have someone ask them to trim their bush.

It's all go in Creeting St Peter, I'm telling you...

Just another uneventful train journey...

Usually, it's a simple seventy minute trip on Greater Anglia from Ipswich, where I work, to Liverpool Street, our London terminus. However, it isn't the most resilient piece of railway line, and when things go wrong, they can go spectacularly wrong. As a result, and because I normally have to commute from Stowmarket to Ipswich and back, I am a keen observer of Greater Anglia's Twitter feed, watching out for delays and cancellations.

Except that, on Thursday afternoon, I was distracted by that 'work' thing. You know how it is, you're in the midst of a project and lose sense of time? Like that. I had a train to catch, the 18.13, stopping only at Colchester en route to the big city for a dinner date with Ros.

And so, at six o'clock, I set off for the station. On arrival, a Greater Anglia staff member asked if I was heading to London, saying, "If you run, you'll catch the train on platform 2!"

I didn't hesitate, and threw myself onto the train just in time. But what was I on? It wasn't the 18.13 - it was only 18.10 - so I checked the Greater Anglia app. No sign of the train. We were due to call at Manningtree, Colchester, Chelmsford and Stratford. No sign of this train on their live departure boards. It was going to London though, and that was good enough.

So, what had happened? It was a lovely afternoon in Ipswich but, apparently, it hadn't been so good in Norfolk. Lightning strikes and flash flooding had paralysed the signalling systems, and the overhead lines were damaged between Norwich and Diss. Thus, trains were all over the place.

I had been lucky this time. Whilst the train was slower than usual, I was only ten minutes late into Liverpool Street and on time for dinner. Greater Anglia had got me there...

Keep calm, and give our MPs some space...

No declared candidates, lots of rumours, and the first signs that the leadership contest may not be the edifying, inspiring event that it really ought to be. Not a great start.

I am disturbed that members are already urging individuals to declare their intentions to run. Look, the job of Leader is a tough one. It requires the post holder to make sacrifices that most of us cannot comprehend. It exposes you to increasingly microscopic and often hostile examination of your life, the lives of friends and family, and makes you the bearer of the dreams and aspirations of Party members, not all of whom display sufficient tolerance when things don't go to plan. In short, you've got to be pretty bloody committed in order to want the job.

MPs are people too. They juggle the various elements of their lives in order to fulfil their obligations to constituents and to their loved ones, just like the rest of us.

So, let them have the time and space to talk to partners, family and trusted friends, consider the implications and then announce their decision. Don't pressure them to be what you want or need.

As for the nascent attack lines against specific MPs, let me take this opportunity to utterly condemn Dominic McCaffrey for his written assassination of Jo Swinson in the Independent. Attacking one person on their record without having the decency to run a fair comparison with their presumed preferred alternative is shabby in the extreme, and if there is any suggestion that he has colluded with another candidate as part of the drafting process, you can be confident that my support for that person will be limited at best. Ironic really, given that she isn't actually running...

So, less conjecture, more patience is my advice. And, once we've identified the field, then let informed debate begin.

Queensbury Rules for a modern Leadership contest

Great, another leadership contest... just what the Liberal Democrats were crying out for. Or not, perhaps. Frankly, whilst Tim didn't handle the whole 'gay sex' thing terribly well, and a far better response was available than the one he gave, whilst he had the support of my friends in the LGBT community, I was willing to turn Nelson's eye towards the matter. It is his actions rather than his personal beliefs that actually impact on people's lives, and it seems that his record on Parliamentary votes was well nigh impeccable.

But it wasn't to be, and the grey men came for him. It's not clear who they were yet, and even less clear who exactly they spoke for, and I can't say that I'm awfully impressed. Jonathan Calder has already put it rather well when he suggests that whilst you can claim to be a democratic Party all you like, if a decision of the membership can be overturned by an anonymous cabal, you don't really have proper democratic control.

And, like Bill Le Breton, I'd like names too, if only so that I know who to hold to account. However, unless we're going to quiz every potential suspect, and we can validate what responses are given, the identity of the 'delegation' can only be conjecture, and a witch hunt would be deeply unedifying. That, of course, hasn't stopped elements of the Party in the past...

As to the succession, I know as much and as little as anyone. There are only eleven potential candidates, which does rather narrow the field, and some of those will rule themselves out as the days pass by.

I'm not minded to indicate support for any candidate at this stage. Until nominations close, the nature of the field is unknown, and whilst if given a range of choices, I might prefer one candidate over another, until offered an actual choice, I'm not disposed to providing even a glimpse of my thought process yet.

However, I would like to offer some advice to anyone out there thinking of running (in no particular order);

1. Don't go negative. If you do, I'll assume that you don't have as much to positively offer as your campaigning might suggest. If you win, I'll think less of you, and to be honest, you need me rather more than I need you. After all, without me, and thousands like me, you lead a shell of a political party. And as for me, I could give the time and energy that I currently expend on the Party to something else, or in a different way. Oh and if you lose, you will probably have damaged the winner. I recall both Huhne vs Clegg and Lamb vs Farron achieving that only too vividly.
2. Offer a vision. Vision is important. Yes, I want a shining city on a hill, yes I want chocolates and a long-stemmed rose. Or a pony. But definitely a vision for the Party. Have one, and articulate it.
3. Talk to people beyond the bubble before you get elected. Find out why the volunteer Party volunteers, and tell me why it should volunteer for you. Demonstrate that you understand how the Party really works - some of the previous job holders really haven't got that, and it's made the relationship between leader and led rather prickly. I also expect you to work with the Party President and respect their office...

There's probably more that I should include, and I'll probably revisit this before too long, but one should always get some thoughts out there whilst they might be noticed and make a difference...

There isn't enough popcorn in the entire world...

I ought to admit now that my expectations for the election, from a Liberal Democrat perspective, were pretty low. Like the experts, I was fearing net losses and, if you had offered me a nil gain, nil loss outcome at 9.55 on Thursday night, I would have taken your hand off at the elbow.

That wasn't because I thought we'd run a bad campaign. Far from it, I was quietly impressed with what was said and done. Perhaps I had grown weary with the years of disappointment and loss.

But I tuned into the BBC's election night special to check on the exit poll figures, only to find that it perhaps wasn't going to be as bad as I might have feared. You know, the triumph of hope over experience  and all that. It wasn't right though, was it?

And now we know that what was probably the worst election campaign by a ruling party in living memory achieved its utterly deserved denouement, failing even to achieve a majority. My night was spent with a sense of cheerfulness that I wouldn't have expected a few hours earlier, as Theresa May melted down before our very eyes. I admit, it felt good, despite our losses in Southport and Sheffield Hallam. The wins were that little bit sweeter, Jo in East Dumbartonshire, Wera in Bath, Jamie in Caithness and best of all, Layla in Oxford. Vince and Ed, Norman and Tom, Tim surviving a nail biter and Christine in Edinburgh West, and all against a backdrop of Conservative disappointment.

This has undoubtedly been the worst Conservative administration I have ever experienced. Some may have been more malevolent, but this one has been utterly incompetent, devoid of any vision other than of doing whatever it takes to maintain Party unity. In return, a sizeable number of supposedly moderate Conservative MPs, such as Jo Churchill and Dan Poulter here in mid-Suffolk, went from being publicly pro-Remain to utter silence in the face of a hard Brexit. Principles, anyone?

And now, it appears that the answer to the question, "how many coasters does it take to prop up Theresa's wobbly conservative table?" is ten. What it does for the Good Friday Agreement is anyone's guess.

So, with the Tories now in full-on recrimination mode, a weak, discredited leader and shackled to a bunch of Protestant, socially regressive zealots who also want a soft Brexit, what could possibly go wrong?

I'd be buying shares in a popcorn company, if I were you...

Liberal International: the cost of everything, the value of nothing?

Ah yes, Liberal International. Seventy years of bringing together liberals from around the world, but for what? I had reached Andorra, and was thus able to consider the question in situ, so to speak.

And it is an interesting question. Our membership of the ALDE Party has some practical value, especially whilst we remain in the European Union, in terms of allowing input into policy making, and the pooling of knowledge and experience within political models similar to our own. On the other hand, the tangible benefits of being able to interact with liberals from West Africa, or of policy making when there is little means of delivering it internationally are harder to discern.

There isn't an awful lot of money available, so much outreach is directed through such organisations as the Westminster Foundation for Democracy and the Friedrich Naumann Stiftung, whose funding is provided by their respective states.

Yet, whilst the benefits to a party like the Liberal Democrats aren't immediately obvious, there is no doubt that providing a forum for emerging liberal parties in the developing nations is of tremendous value to them. Knowing that they have sister parties in the major democracies, and the platform that Liberal International offers, allows them to accrue credibility in the eyes of their local communities, and acts as a shield against the worst acts of sometimes corrupt, sometimes authoritarian ruling administrations.

Liberal International also offers a means to bring regional groups together, and this is particularly true in Africa, where the African Liberal Network is increasingly providing opportunities to exchange best practice, encourage solidarity and develop new activists, especially from under-represented groups.

If you believe that one of the moral obligations upon developed democracies is to provide a beacon to the emerging ones, then paying our annual subscription to Liberal International is one of the easiest, and most obvious means of doing our share. And, from a personal perspective, it reminds me that, no matter how disheartening our own politics can be, one cannot fail to be inspired by the struggles of some of our sister parties in places such as Cambodia and Nicaragua.

It is easy to dwell on the cost of our membership, and wonder if the money couldn't be better spent on more campaign tools at home. But it must be nobler to consider the value of our membership in terms of what it enables others to do towards building stronger democracies and creating stability in areas of volatility.

To Andorra la Vella by... now I think about it, how?

I had decided to be part of the Party's delegation to the 70th Anniversary Congress of Liberal International partly because it sounded interesting, but also because it was an excuse to add another country to my list. And so, I had booked a hotel in Andorra, and flights to and from Toulouse. I hadn't really given it much more thought than that.

And you know how things are, you're busy with other stuff, and you don't really get round to doing quite as much research as you ought to. That's particularly true if you aren't taking your wife, who would fret about such things.

In fairness, Ros had intended to come, but the unexpected calling of the General Election had led her to decide that her place was at home, or at least in or around a target seat in the East of England.

So, on a fairly ordinary Wednesday morning, I set forth for Heathrow Airport's Terminal 5 for the relatively short flight to Toulouse. I had booked into an Ibis Styles hotel opposite the railway station as much for convenience as anything else, as my outline plan was to take a train up into the Pyrenees and wing it from there. After all, how difficult could it be?

Toulouse was alright, I guess. My mood was not lifted by the pretty mediocre hotel - just don't bother with the Ibis Styles Toulouse-Matabiau is my advice - and I would rather have been with Ros than in a strange city on my own. I found a bar near the river, had a beer and followed the news from home before getting an early night.

The next morning, rising earlier than I might usually do, I set off to the station to buy my ticket to L'Hospitalet pres l'Andorre, some two-and-a-half hours up the valley of the River Ariege. The usually accurate guidance of the Man at Seat 61 website was that, if there wasn't a connecting bus into Andorra, a taxi should be fairly easily found.

It was a pretty enough ride, with the river accompanied by the railway for most of the journey, through some of France's most lovely scenery, and I was beginning to relax by the time I reached my next transfer point.

L'Hospitalet pres l'Andorre station in the snow.
Luckily, when I got there, the only snow
was on the mountains...

L'Hospitalet isn't a big place, and there weren't many people about once the train pulled away. In fact, with the station unstaffed, there appeared to be nobody around. There was, I eventually discovered, a sign with a telephone number for a presumably local taxi company. With rather more hope than expectation, I rang the number, and was told, yes we can have a taxi to you in about five minutes. I was, I admit, relieved.

And, five minutes later, there was my taxi, driven by a women a bit younger than I am, but with sufficient English to understand what I wanted, and to explain that they didn't go over the border very much, due to the number of people crossing the border to take advantage of the duty-free shopping in Andorra. The French Customs officers don't like it much, it seems, and the local taxi drivers have taken the hint. However, an Englishman with a suitcase wasn't likely to bother them much, especially as I was travelling into Andorra and not out of it.

It's quite a drive from L'Hospitalet to Pas de la Casa, the first settlement you reach when entering Andorra from that direction, with hairpin bends and sharp climbs, but it wasn't too long before I was being dropped off at the bus stop for onward travel to Andorra la Vella.

Buses run that route every half hour, costing just over 6 euros, and I didn't have to wait too long before I was on my way. I had reached Andorra, and a Congress awaited...

If you can't beat them, leave the country...

It's been a bit quiet around here of late, partly because I haven't felt inspired to write very much, but also because I've been away on Party business. I'm not allowed to canvass support for Parliamentary candidates, and the nearest target seats are a long way from mid-Suffolk in any event, so I've attempted to fulfill my obligations as a member of International Relations Committee instead, travelling to Andorra and Ljubljana to attend first the Liberal International Congress and then the ALDE Party Council meeting.

They've been interesting, in rather different ways, and perhaps I ought to report back. So, over the next few days, expect tales of travel and drama, of policies discussed, intrigue and adventure.

I'll start with a journey...

Mid Suffolk - a quick and dirty review

The story from Mid Suffolk is a familiar one in the aftermath of yesterday's County Council elections, and you could describe us as being the national picture in miniature.

I've had a quick look at the results, division by division, and to put them into perspective, compared them with 2013. This is what you get;

• Bosmere - 987 votes, 38.9% (up 136 votes, +5%)
• Gipping Valley - 1,030 votes, 40.1% (up 317 votes, +8.1%)
• Hartismere - 258 votes, 8.7% (up 129 votes, +3.5%)
• Hoxne and Eye - 470 votes, 14.5% (up 332 votes, +9.4%)
• Stowmarket North and Stowupland - 181 votes, 6.8% (up 112 votes, +3.8%)
• Stowmarket South - 789 votes, 32.8% (up 251 votes, +9%)
• Thedwastre North - 199 votes, 6.4% (up 88 votes, +2.1%)
• Thedwastre South - 1,346 votes, 46.7% (up 624 votes, +17.5%)
• Thredling - 455 votes, 15.4% (up 306 votes, +9.7%)
• Upper Gipping - 122 votes, 4% (up 87 votes, +2.8%)

Our vote across the District increased from 3,455 to 5,837, or from 13.8% to 20.6%. Overall, we went from fourth in 2013 (behind the Greens) to a clear second place. The overall figures are;

1. Conservatives - 14,457 votes, 50.9% (up 5,708 votes, +15.9%)
2. Liberal Democrats - 5,837 votes, 20.6% (up 2,382 votes, +6.8%)
3. Greens - 4,280 votes, 15.1% (up 381 votes, -0.5%)
4. Labour - 3,191 votes, 11.2% (up 207 votes, -0.7%)
5. UKIP - 620 votes, 2.2% (down 5,283 votes, -21.4%)

So, whilst we've lost a County seat (Bosmere), and I say that with a degree of personal sorrow, we can be proud that we gave it a good shot, that we've re-established ourselves as the real opposition to the Conservatives in Mid Suffolk, and that we have something to build on for the General Election that follows.

Just as UKIP came from nowhere in 2013, they've disappeared just as unexpectedly in 2017, and the Conservatives benefited hugely from that in a way that even the experts hadn't predicted.

The Conservatives will, if Brexit goes as wrong as one fears it might, be very unpopular by 2019. If we hold our nerve, we might be the beneficiaries of that, made possible by our showing yesterday.

A member of Federal International Relations Committee quietly does his job...

Things tend to happen whilst I'm away. Mostly, they're good things, and they happen to me/us. It is, potentially, more complex when they happen somewhere else, and the calling of a snap General Election whilst Ros and I were in Tallinn fell into that category. But never let it be said that I am remiss in the performance of my duty.

Thanks to Robert, our Chair, forwarding a key e-mail to me from the Party's Policy Unit, I was able to put out a call for Foreign Affairs input into the manifesto, and, with much thanks to Paul Reynolds, I think that we've come up with some useful material (I'm looking at Federal Policy Committee to endorse it), which I submitted on our behalf in good time for the deadline. I have done likewise with the submission of the Liberal Democrat European Group.

I also involved Brussels and Europe Liberal Democrats, who have come up with some interesting ideas to attract the support of UK nationals living abroad - their membership has risen even more spectacularly than that of the Party as a whole, and the number of overseas voters will be much more significant this time. Again, I trust that Federal Policy Committee will use some or, preferably, all of it.

By chance, Ros and I have met with their Chair, Laura Shields, over drinks and dinner in Tallinn with friends and family (Ros's, mostly) to talk about their role in the campaign and what might be done to support them both now and in the future.

We are scheduled to send delegations to both the Liberal International Congress in Andorra (18-21 May) and the ALDE Party Council meeting in Ljubljana (2-3 June), and I've started the arrangements to replace those who were intending to attend but now find themselves 'otherwise engaged', not unreasonably.

Considering that we were on holiday, that's not bad. But I had miles to travel still, before I slept...

Did you ever have a sense that the Conservatives weren't quite so ready for an election?

The starting gun is fired, the commentariat are up and running, and there is a frenzy as everyone gets ready for the campaign ahead. Me, I've got things to keep me occupied, but I've still got time to think.

And I have an odd sensation that, whilst one could not envisage a better set of circumstances for a snap election - twenty points plus ahead in the polls, Opposition in apparent meltdown, no obvious domestic threat - there's something not quite right with the Conservative campaign. Don't get me wrong, a majority Conservative administration still seems 'bolted on', but amidst the shambolic start to the Labour campaign, there is a sense that the Conservatives weren't really oven ready.

For, ultimately, Brexit was won by a coalition of groups whose mutual interests beyond winning the vote were mutually contradictory. The free traders and the anti-migration lobby, the sovereignty campaigners and the racists cannot be reconciled, and Theresa May must either know that or be astonishingly naive, and I don't believe that for a moment. Thus, the preparation for a series of retreats after the desired majority is obtained, with the hope that, five years down the road, all will be forgiven and forgotten. That might turn out to be astonishingly naive.

In a campaign that will doubtless centre on Brexit, we still aren't clear what their position is. What are they intending to negotiate and why, what sort of Brexit do they really want? There has been little so far to suggest that they have any sense of the compromises that will (not might, will) be necessary to secure a good deal, nor is there much clue as to what they believe would be the implications of no deal. They certainly don't appear to be anything other than gung-ho about it.

On tax, there appears to be no firm commitment to hold tax rates as they are, and whilst as a pragmatist, I can see the attraction of leaving one's options open, I'm not sure that the totality of current Conservative support would agree. And, in fairness, why should they, given what they were promised?

A series of retreats have already been signalled - 'barista visas', quotas for agricultural workers, bankers, nurses and doctors, construction workers, students - which will only serve to disgruntle those who voted for Brexit to stop them coming. And, even if you make exceptions, are key sector migrants being offered enough security to make it worth coming? Anecdotal evidence suggests not. In any event, the slump in the value of Sterling makes it necessary to rethink the rates of pay on offer to make good the reduction in the value of earnings sent home.

The question is, is anyone capable of asking the right questions and, even if somebody is, is there anything willing to contemplate the answers? Labour are in a world of pain, conflicted on Brexit between those who see the European Union as a capitalist club of neo-liberals and the pragmatists who see Europe as a means of protecting their supporters from the worst excesses of the anti-regulation zealots of the Right. Jeremy Corbyn is never going to ask the right questions.

As for the Liberal Democrats, whilst it is interesting to see how much coverage they are getting already - it's almost as though the media are rediscovering them all over again - it is uncertain that they will elbow Labour out of the way to establish themselves as the real opposition. But with the Scottish Nationalists focussed on a second independence referendum, they may be the only credible challenge to Conservative hegemony.

No, I'm convinced that the next six weeks or so will serve to demonstrate exactly where Conservative weaknesses are for the next five years. Watch very carefully and take notes. They might be very useful one day...

Out of the darkness, into the light...

It has been a rather more cheering day here in the pearl of the Baltics, Tallinn. The buzz of political debate has given me a sense of urgency, so I've been getting on with the sort of tasks that fall upon me to perform.

And yes, I've spoken to my Regional Candidates Chair and the Chair of the Brussels and Europe Local Party, exchanged e-mails with the Chair of Federal International Relations Committee, the ALDE Party Council delegation - we're due to be in Ljubljana the weekend before polling day, and I'm expecting some withdrawals, not unreasonably.

I've also offered some support where it might be useful over the next seven weeks, so we'll see how that goes.

Meanwhile, I'm in the Baltics, on holiday, and it's a perfect place from which to contemplate the notion of being European. From Estonia, the concept of being part of Europe is so much more obvious than it appears at home. For a country with a population of just 1.3 million people, on the edge of the Union and facing the Russian bear at close range, the notion of pooling some sovereignty in exchange for a range of benefits is more than simply transactional. Freedom was hard fought for in these parts, and you don't just blithely give it away.

But you are willing to consider the benefits of a larger roof, and better protection against the elements, the opportunities that come from being part of a vast market when you have confidence in your ability to compete and thrive, the freedoms that come from travelling to your neighbours and friends, of education and trade.

It seems that our Government on one hand believes that we can strike out as a global trading nation, yet lacks the confidence to believe that it can build a better Europe from within. And as for those who not only want to leave the Union but are desperate for it to fail, one can only condemn them for their pettiness and spite. Fine, leave if you want to, but don't interfere with something that those who remain want to succeed.

The history of the Baltics has often been of the tragic kind, with the urge for freedom suppressed by more powerful neighbours time and again. For more than a quarter of a century now, they have been making their presence felt on the world stage, and perhaps we should listen to their voices and find ways of benefiting from their experiences before we close the door on our way out of the European Union.

Cry, my beloved country?

It is dark, and I am afraid.

And I am moved to 'pick up my pen' and 'write'. Hopefully, it is for the best.

A General Election has been called, with a fractured, crippled Opposition, liberal forces recovering from a near death experience and with a Government who, despite showing all the signs of having no idea as to how a modern economy works, seem determined to apply shock therapy in a manner comparable to that applied to the economy of the Soviet Union in the 1920s, albeit hardly on the same scale. My recollection is that the latter didn't work so well.

Governments come and go. If you're old enough, that knowledge offers some reassurance. And, as a liberal, you're relatively prepared for defeat. The catch is that, whilst there has always been something that philosophically separates the two main parties, they have enough in common that you can be reassured that our society will remain evolutionary rather than revolutionary.

Not this time.

A governing party that intends to fundamentally change our relationships with our neighbours in pursuit of an ideological chimera will, in doing so, risk what many of us thought was the comfort of a community working to bring neighbours together. Oh yes, it wasn't, and still isn't, perfect, or even close to perfection. But it had potential, it had kept the peace, and it created opportunities and freedoms that we hadn't previously had, and quite appreciated once we'd got them.

And whilst some Conservatives chuntered on about how awful the whole thing was, we didn't take them seriously, especially as what they offered as an alternative really wasn't very attractive. And, the more you dug beneath their rhetoric, the less attractive it became. They were persistent, though.

Their opportunity came, in the shape of an ideologically vacuous administration, mired in cynicism after years of austerity, with a Labour Party veering towards anti-globalisation. And they certainly took it.

God, I hate them for that.

The expectation, as it currently stands, is that whilst the Liberal Democrats will recover somewhat, the Labour Party will suffer a crushing blow and the Conservatives will gain a majority large enough to inure themselves against short-term unpopularity and by-election defeats. I hope that this doesn't come to pass, but some of my lifelong optimism has been knocked out of me over the past few years.

Thus, my sense of fear. A fear that our country will be changed forever, a country where blame and recrimination displace the decent, tolerant, imperfect society where most of us tried to rub along. A fear that we stop looking outwards to see what we can do to build a better world. A fear that we become mean-spirited and suspicious of our neighbours. Because that is the sort of society that some of our opponents appear to aspire to.

But there is only one thing to do with fear - confront it and use it to your advantage. 

And so we must, as individuals and as communities, send out a message that we are better than that, that whatever our political beliefs, we believe in a broadly internationalist approach, in working with our neighbours for a common good. And, regardless of the result of the election, perhaps our efforts will cause an incoming government to hesitate before it takes irretrievable steps towards severing our ties with the European Union...

The Zen of Committee (how not to annoy the Secretary)

I am known to be a fairly placid soul, and so when I suggested to a sympathetic ear this evening that I had a fairly radical proposal to improve future meetings, it was borne of much frustration. And so, whilst it is unlikely that any member of Federal International Relations Committee will read this, this seems like a good time to speak up on behalf of Committee Secretaries everywhere...

The lot of a Secretary is not an exciting one. The drama, assuming that there is any, tends to happen elsewhere. But, if you are one of those people who do the job because it matters (and I acknowledge that many end up in the role because their arm has been twisted), you will, I hope, appreciate what follows. And what follows is some tips to keep your Secretary happy.

1. Keep to deadlines

Your Secretary doubtless has other things to do, and sets deadlines to ensure that he or she can fulfil Constitutional requirements without having to stay up until 1.30 in the morning.

2. Written reports are always better than verbal ones

I hate verbal reports. They require much more effort to record than a circulated paper which can simply be referred to in the subsequent minutes. And if the Secretary has sought written reports in advance, and you choose to ignore that, you are showing disrespect. I take a mafiosi style view of disrespect.

3. Do not read out your written report

The Committee can read. Really, they can. They have all sorts of skills if you give them a chance, and the whole point of circulating your report in advance is so that they can read it. If they choose not to, that's their problem, and I have a tendency to heckle people who ask questions that were answered in the document they chose not to read.

4. Read the reports circulated to you in advance

Do as you would be done by. See also point 3.

5. If you want to raise something, put it on the agenda

There is nothing more dispiriting than reaching the end of an agenda when, at the point where 'Any Other Business' is reached, there is a deluge of items for discussion. Your gallant Secretary is tired, having had to be alert throughout the meeting, and the chances are that everyone wants to go home, or to the pub, or somewhere.

But if you are going to raise something that isn't already on the agenda, do try and warn the Secretary in advance so that he or she can ensure that business is moved along and that there is sufficient time to air the issue properly.

6. The agenda is not for turning

Raising items out of turn is not helpful. It makes the minutes disjointed, confuses the flow of a meeting and flusters the Secretary. I put my heart and soul into that agenda, and you just toss it aside like a used handkerchief...

So, remember these six points and you will make your Secretary's life happier and more fulfilled. Remember, a Secretary is for a full term of office, not just for Christmas...