Two good things about last night’s meeting of the party’s Federal Policy Committee - one from the point of view of Lib Dem policy-making, and one a bit more personal.

The one that should benefit the party’s policy-making is that we had ‘early’ discussions of two areas where FPC will be taking policy papers to autumn conference this year. One of the points about our policy-making process that many, including me in Wasted Rainforests, have made, is that FPC should take much more ownership of the policy papers that it takes to Conference in its name: in the past FPC has only had a full discussion of the final paper at a very late stage, when printing deadlines are looming. So we have changed the process and last night’s meeting was one of the first occasions when we had a full discussion of what you might call a ‘pre-final’ draft of two papers that the world will be seeing in the run up to autumn conference. Not having the pressure of a full final paper and an imminent deadline allowed for some quite full and helpful discussion of the issues. We’d already had discussions of them both with the chairs of the working groups, and it should all help to contribute to more considered and consistent sets of proposals from FPC to Conference.

The point of more personal satisfaction to me was that I went along to last night’s meeting expecting to chair the whole meeting, and that’s what happened! That might not sound very remarkable but in two and a half years as one of the FPC’s Vice Chairs I think that’s the first time it ever has done. The other commitments of the Chair and other Vice Chairs have meant that I have chaired more of more FPC meetings than others in that time, but often it has proved very difficult to predict when the Chair (ie the party Leader, who not surprisingly has a fairly complicated diary) will be able to be present. I’ve often turned up then and discovered that I’m in the hot seat - and have often had to do a lot of boxing and coxing during the meeting as MPs are called away to votes. Deputising for the Chair in taking charge of the meeting is obviously rather a core part of the job description of being a Vice Chair, so I’m not complaining, but it certainly does make planning some coherent discussions a bit more of a challenge! I recognise this point is hardly of earth-shattering significance to everyone else, but it made the whole evening a lot more easier and more pleasant for me!