liberal democrats

On the eve of a vital vote on taxpayer subsidies for nuclear power, we've published the results of an exclusive opinion poll which shows that the majority of people - 46 per cent - oppose any future subsidy for the nuclear power industry - compared to less than a third who support it (32%).

A while back I got a letter from the Lib Dems telling me "Trident will not be renewed this parliament - not on a Liberal Democrat watch”.

This ran though my mind today as I watched Defence Secretary Liam Fox stand up in parliament to pronounce ‘thunderbirds are go’ on the next phase of building a replacement for Trident.

This morning the Lib Dem conference voted unanimously for a review of the decision to replace Trident, and finally managed to prod their ministers into making some noise on the issue. This is a huge step forward for the majority of Britons who aren't convinced of the need to spend £97 billion on cold war weapons whilst public services are being slashed. Simon Clydesdale, our man on the conference floor, explains the implications:

Shirley Williams was asked recently what it was like being in bed with the Conservatives. She cannily replied that it was actually a case of two beds. And this morning the Lib Dems took the opportunity to make their bed in a distinctly different style to their Tory coalition partners when they voted to adopt an emergency motion on replacing Trident.

Deputy leader Simon Hughes opposes Trident replacement: "the case is winnable and we must not yield."

Monday and Tuesday at conference have been a bit of a rollercoaster for Team Trident.

Political conferences, stuffed as they are with politicians and media types, are always awash with rumours. And as we followed the speeches, the press coverage, the tweets and just plain old chatted to people we swayed between pessimism and optimism.

Under pressure: Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne © CC/David Spender

Climate campaigner Louise Hutchins reports from the Liberal Democrat party conference:

Here in Liverpool amongst the Lib Dem faithful, there is a mood of embattled determination to give their leaders the benefit of the doubt – for now. There's also a keen awareness that delivery on some of the party's touchstone issues is urgently needed to stem the haemorrhaging of support seen in opinion polls.

Greetings from a bustling Liberal Democrat party conference in Liverpool! Team Trident (aka Simon, Zoe and me) are here to talk to people about one of the big issues of the day – whether or not the coalition government proceeds with hugely expensive plans for a new generation of nuclear weapons in the midst of the biggest cuts to public spending in living memory.

With the Liberal Democrats' first conference since they entered government looming later this week, we commissioned a poll to see how party members are feeling about Trident replacement. Not surprisingly, given that the party campaigned on scrapping 'like for like' replacement during the election campaign, not many are in favour.