Younger readers may not believe me, but we used to take the Lib Dems seriously, or at least more seriously. Leaders of the party – Paddy Ashdown, Charles Kennedy, Nick Clegg – were, if not wildly popular or successful, unthinkingly assigned in the public mind to the same bracket of status as the Labour or Tory leaders.  

After about 30 years of progressives trashing the nation, and sneering at its heritage and culture, they now expect us to rush lustily to its defence

After about 30 years of progressives trashing the nation, and sneering at its heritage and culture, they now expect us to rush lustily to its defence

Today’s five-way split in British party politics (six if you count the SNP, seven if you count Restore) is disconcerting in many ways. The flailing of both Labour and the Tories should, in the normal course of things as we understood them, have sent people scurrying to the Lib Dems. But they are polling on average at only about 10 per cent, frequently coming fourth or even fifth. 

Today is the final day of their conference, but nobody has been paying very much attention. It is hard to focus your mind on today’s Lib Dems. Your........

© The Spectator