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Slow day by the seaside
Andrew Alexander
After the relative drama of the great tax battle and Charles Kennedy's return on Tuesday, there was a sluggish air about the conference on Wednesday morning.
It was a busy day for at least one person - education spokesman Sarah Teather, who delivered not one but two set-piece speeches in the hall sprinkled with jokes. Whether she will be starring in the Liberal Revue on Wednesday evening remains to be seen.
Vince Cable brought his speech on economics to life with some Powerpoint charts, which at least one person was heard claiming to have understood.
His criticism of Labour's handling of the economy was daring for a third party, but it was also convincing.
The party can count so many economists among its MPs that Cable's claim his team could outshine Gordon Brown's at the Treasury did not seem so incredible.
Senior MPs were keen to capitalise on the feelings of harmony surrounding the freshly-approved tax policy and Cable was uncompromising in his warning that the party could not keep promising to throw money around if it wants to be taken seriously as a party of power.
The theme of the day was fairness, a baggy umbrella for discussions and votes on subjects including schools, hospital nutrition, bus deregulation and human trafficking.
While activists continued with the hard work in the hall, Sir Ming's staff seemed to be hard at work preparing for his big number on Thursday.
The speech - at noon, if not high noon - will be preceded with a hi-tech slide show and music and the clapometers will be at the ready to see if this is the week the party takes him to heart.
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Published: Wed, 20 Sep 2006 17:22:19 GMT+01
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