As you know, I managed to grab 10 minutes with Vince, his wife Rachel and some delicious sandwiches just after his speech on Sunday.  You can also read Parts 1,  and 2

I asked him what he wanted to have accomplished by the time we gather in Brighton for Conference in September.

Well I think there are some very specific areas where good work has been initiated – learning accounts, medical technologies, taxation. that will be some meaty stuff to talk about.

But Brexit is going to be the big thing….

We will have a greater understanding by September of exactly where we are in the Brexit cycle. Hopefully the message of hope that this can be stopped will be clearer but even if it isn’t totally clear we will then have one month to stop it and October may be the crucial month so people need to be prepared that this is the time for the big push and to back up what’s happening in the party and at conference with stuff on the streets. That’s crucial.

We are the only party that is mobilising people to argue back with street campaigns. We need to build up the tempo on that working with other campaigning groups. We’ve already started that. It doesn’t stop at the local elections. It needs to keep going over the Summer as the key decisions will be made in the Autumn. I hope that people’s confidence that this is doable is fortified by some victories in the Spring. If we can get the Government defeated on the customs union, that’ll be a start. It’s not the end but it’s certainly the start.

It’s good to hear people explicitly talk about Brexit being stopped. Tom Brake basically told the  Brexiteers (Tory and Labour) he was going to take them on and win when he spoke in the Brexit debate on Saturday morning.

Pebbles into the pond

So it’s all about ideas, Brexit and party reform:

In terms of what Conference will be about firstly some interesting policy stuff, secondly Brexit – we’re getting close to the point of no return and hopefully some more thinking about the sort of pebbles I threw into the pond this morning, about changing the nature of the party,  more inclusive, the Canadian model that may take concrete form.

Who knows where the ripples will end up…

* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings