You have to hand it to Sir Ming for his ability to warm the crowd. Describing a Glasgow meeting for an early parliamentary bid in 1974, he talked about an attendance limited to his wife, agent and the janitor of the school hosting the event. The wily agent brought some extra chairs in before taking the Campbells to dinner so that the local paper could report that "extra chairs had to be brought in..." Extra chairs really were required last night but many stood to hear the former Lib Dem leader rally the troops on the "paradox" of British attitudes to human rights abroad and "irrational attacks on the principle" at home. Looking to the Rule of Law, an integral part of which is human rights, he said: "Libya has come out of the darkness into the sunlight." He noted the absurdity of ill-informed sceptics thinking that the European Convention had been imposed on Britain by Europe when the post-war reality was "the exact opposite".
Newly anointed Privy Counsellor Tom Brake talked of his party's positive contributions to civil liberties - though Liberty had been a more "critical friend" in office. "As a good friend would be" said Shami to warm audience applause. He likened the myths peddled about the Human Rights Act to those used by the BNP in local election campaigns - "asylum seekers get free TVs and BMWs you know!".
Julian Huppert MP said that the HRA was "non-negotiable" for Lib Dems - being asked to defend it was as odd as trying to explain why he breathes. He read from Liberty's pocket-sized guide to the Act's precious contents... no torture, free speech etc and, echoing the late great Tom Bingham, asked which Articles opponents disagreed with.
Yasmin Alibhai-Brown warned the Liberal Democrats against complacency in office - "the illusion that we've done it when it's never done." She reminded the audience of past pledges to children in asylum detention and likened the moments after the riots to those following 9/11 in terms of political rhetoric and public mood. Just back from the Middle East, she warned of how acutely young people in that region spot UK hypocrisy on human rights. "We need to be more humble and more watchful," she said.
The audience seemed happy for the politicians to be pinned down to direct pledges on protecting the Human Rights Act - not the ECHR in Strasbourg but the enforcement provisions of the HRA at home. When asked what they would do faced with a Bill to dilute the Act, all three MPs said they would vote against it. CCTV has its place and (by consent of course), we have these promises on film.
