Tim Farron offered just such a hostage to fortune today at the Lib Dem conference. Download it today and continue to enjoy STV News wherever you are.
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In his speech Farron repeated his calls for another referendum on “the as-yet-unknown Brexit deal”.
Clinging to his hope of the United Kingdom remaining within the bloc, Mr Farron said: “We trusted the British people on departure in the June referendum, we should now trust them with the destination”.
Mr Farron, who past year replaced Nick Clegg as leader of the Liberal Democrats, is a devout Christian with a mixed voting record on LGBT rights – though he is now an outspoken supporter of equality.
“Lonely, unclean, uncaring. It’s a few years back, but as I fought to get him out of that place and into somewhere better, it occurred to me that this was a standard experience for too many older people and their loved ones”.
Describing the European Union referendum result as being like a “bereavement”, Mr Farron said that a meeting with Leave voters made him realise that then chancellor George Osborne’s warning of a harsh Budget if the country did not choose Remain backfired badly.
And he is adamant that a strong opposition is needed in Westminster at a time when Prime Minister Theresa May has demonstrated her confidence by pushing for a new generation of grammar schools in England.
But for his domestic policies, the former Labour leader still has admirers and it is a canny bid by Mr Farron to seek to win them over; after all, TB did win three elections.
“You’ve had three months”.
“If we trusted the people to vote for our departure then we must trust the people to vote for our destination”.
But f ormer business secretary Sir Vince Cable has warned that a second referendum “is not a panacea to anything” and urged the party to accept the June 23 result and consider what concessions it is prepared to make.
“What are these people doing, jostling for position in a sideshow. Let me be blunt with you: The risks is for you to do nothing”.
“We should be very careful about the company we keep”, Cable said.
He said: “Your presumption is that all the 48% who voted to remain in Europe would want to see a second referendum”.
The Lib Dems proved it once again by tearing it up at their annual disco, which is, needless to say, the party of the year.
“I think Tim’s absolutely dead right”, he said. I think that everybody is utterly equal.
Liberal Democrat members also voted for nine priorities for Brexit negotiations, including securing Britain’s membership of the single market, and calling for MPs to have a vote on the government’s negotiating mandate before Article 50 is triggered.
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The prime minister has ruled out a second referendum, a parliamentary vote on triggering Article 50, or even making her Brexit plans public until after Article 50 has been triggered.
