Reflections on the Paddy Rally

Last night the Liberal Democrats held their widely advertised rally in the Thornbury Leisure Centre, a rally intended to help Steve Webb win the newly establish seat for the Thornbury & Yate constituency.

Webb and his guest Paddy Ashdown mingled with the crowd shortly before taking to the stage (the first time Ashdown had done so in this area since visiting Yate in 1996). I was struck by Webb's introduction for Ashdown, which really made me realise how important it was for such a large figure in politics to be visiting us, even if it was only for one evening.

Ashdown opened with a quote from George Bernard Shaw about the necessity of making a crowd laugh if you're going to tell them something serious. Thankfully Ashdown is an able speaker, and he was able to manage this really well, because the four giant challenges he talked about were not subjects that are to be taken lightly.

1. Financial Crisis - Ashdown argued that we have the largest national debt ever and that repayment will be essential. He attacked Tory policy (the strongest opponents to the Lib Dems in this area) but I was glad that he did not take the easy way out by bashing his opponents based on their past governments.

2. Political Crisis - "politics has become a framework for careers" says Ashdown, just before proposing a great new reform act like that of 1832. Interestingly the argument here was the Westminster need not do half of what it does, but that power should be more evenly distributed locally.

3. Afghanistan - A less local issue, but one that was used as evidence to show how power has shifted away from the nation-state and on to the global stage, out of the reach of our elected representatives.

4. Global Warming - I knew this had to be mentioned eventually, and it was. Ashdown argued that if you're seriously concerned about climate change then you should stick with a party that have warned us about it for roughly forty years, as opposed to those who have only recently picked up on it because it is fashionable.

Following Ashdown's talk a number of questions were asked of him and Webb, most of which were very enlightening. Apparently 20% of the nations money is made in the city, and with our industrial base depleted we will need to look into what Ashdown called "tradeable-goods" and not just industrially produced goods - all as part of a desire to continue to have a strong economy without the environmental expense.

Ashdown was also posed a number of questions about the armed forces, which he said needed to retain their capability of engaging in large scale military options, while also being made more suited to modern warfare now that the enemy is within as well as without. This is why food, health & other civil concerns now have security elements, and why Ashdown argues that all security forces need to be brought together in a more coherent fashion.

The last major question posed was about energy consumption, which led Ashdown to argue that rather than focusing on technologies like nuclear power to help increase our consumption rates, we should invest in energy conservation technologies - a policy that saves money and power.

One final point: Webb and Ashdown were asked if there will be a debate between all three chancellors and leaders of the main three parties. Apparently both are confirmed, so we can look forward to a national debate soon.

Did you attend the Paddy Rally? Would you absolutely refuse to cross it's threshold? Either way, be sure to comment on any of the issues I mentioned above and their local implications, or better yet, tell me about something I neglected to mention!