Ming places Lib Dems decisively to the left of Labour

 Ming Campbell’s speech to conference just now removed any doubt about where the Lib Dems fit on the political spectrum. In a passage criticising Gordon Brown he charged that “New Labour remains Blue Labour” and throughout Campbell sought to place himself to the left of Labour.

Overall, the speech was strong with well-delivered jabs at both Brown and Cameron. His joke about Cameron that “Margaret Thatcher would have to concede: He turns if you want him to. The laddie’s all for turning” should get him some good play on the evening news. While his litany of Brown’s failings was powerfully delivered. The section on foreign policy was a crowd pleaser but does show that the Lib Dems are now, absurdly for a supposedly serious party, fully signed up to the idea that George W. Bush is more of a threat to the world  than Iran.