The annual Social Liberal Forum conference is always nourishing for the Liberal soul. There’s always some proper intellectual heft behind its discussions and deliberations.

It takes place today in London. By the time you read this, I’ll have been up since before the crack of dawn. That 6:25 flight from Edinburgh is not my favourite way to travel but I couldn’t justify the cost of the sleeper.  The last time I was on this particular flight, it didn’t even leave until after 11.

The theme of the Conference is “The Retreat from Globalisation.” That takes the morning and the afternoon will include a leadership hustings (free to all Lib Dem members to attend) and a look back at the General Election.

Here’s how the day will unfold:

Morning theme: The Retreat from Globalisation

10am: Refreshments
10.30am: Welcome
10.35am: William Beveridge Memorial Lecture “Is a liberal and democratic society compatible with globalisation?”, William Wallace
11.30am: Global conflict, Prof Sir Lawrence Freedman
12.10pm: Global warming, Ed Davey MP and Mark Campanale

Fringe meetings

11.30am: Universal basic income, Helen Flynn
12.10pm: “What would a 21st century preamble to the Lib Dem constitution look like?”, Seth Thevoz

12.50pm: Lunch

Afternoon theme: Where do we go from here?

1.30pm: Leadership Q+A
2.30pm: Refreshments
2.45pm: Perspectives on the General Election, Sarah Olney, Caron Lindsay, Joyce Onstad, Daisy Cooper
3.45pm: Reflections on the General Election, David Howarth
4.30pm: Close

No doubt people will be tweeting from the event, using the hashtag #slfconf.

We’ll obviously have a full report in the next few days.

* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings. You can find her on Bluesky at caronmlindsay.bsky.social