I enjoyed this conference; it was stimulating with only one debate which I am still uncomfortable with. This was from Liberal Youth, Scotland who, in the interests of equality proposed that marriage and civil partnerships should be open to both same-sex and mixed sex partnerships and that approved religious and humanist celebrants should be able to legally solemnise and celebrate such marriages if they wish to do so- Two brave women spoke well against this but it was carried almost unanimously with a few like me voting against ( though it seems likely that a number of those absent on Sunday morning might have been against it). It is I think muddled thinking and unnecessary but I am not one of those who jump to the defence of marriage as a particularly Christian institution particularly as it is thought of in our secular society! I think we really need to think and pray this through.
Otherwise Nick Clegg gave his usual strong and well reasoned speech. He is so good at integrating his main message with a specific one for his audience, whether for Tavish Scott and Scottish Liberal Democrats or the Salvation Army! (His speech was also featured in the Holyrood Magazine) Danny Alexander looked at General Election preparation with more specific input from Alistair Carmichael for Scotland, and Ros Scott was there to cheer us on. Ming Campbell gave an informed commentary on the Chilcot enquiry. There were some important debates on Green Energy Commission, a new fair society,fair start for children, reversing the centralisation of Scotland, tackling problem of a generation of unemployed young people, fairer fares, and a really good Q & A session on 'cleaning up politics' with Jim Wallace and others.
I found Perth Episcopal Cathedral on my way to the Conference Centre from my B & B and went to a 9am service and had an interesting chat with the Provost.
Full reports to be found on the Scottish Liberal Democrat website
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