The third event in the Student Life Tours took place last week in Nottingham. TheYoungConservative has once again done a review of the event:

The hallmark of these tours has been the quality of questions we’ve received from the audience, underscoring the rich pool of talent and promise the next generation of conservatives comprises. Chairman Will Bickford-Smith ably chaired the meeting, ensuring a broad scope of questions reached the panel.

A few highlights which hadn’t been asked at previous stops included,

• Is Barack Obama America’s Tony Blair? For our part we submit no, he isn’t. This wasn’t, as come commentators have called it, a landslide – Obama won roughly 7% more of the popular vote than McCain, and the Democrats have failed to secure enough seats to prevent the Republicans filibustering. Certainly, the next two years up until the mid-terms in 2010 will be hard for Right in America, and this election was certainly the ushering in of a new era, but it wasn’t an American 1997 moment.
• Has Brown bounced back? We feel it’s nothing stronger than a political dead-cat bounce. Glenrothes isn’t game-changing for project Brown, much as they’ve tried to capitalise on it. Brown may come into his own in a crisis – but he creates them himself – and vox pops show voters equate Brown with the credit crisis. The polls show the Conservatives consistently not only leading, but leading sufficiently to win a General Election; and whilst in the past month our lead has dipped, it should be noted that includes a correct for anomalous polls such as our 52% position, and that our lead is growing again.
• What to do about the seemingly impending breakup of the Union. Tongue firmly in cheek we mused that if the SNP want to turn Scotland into the East Germany of the British Isles, let them, and when it fails, welcome reunification. More seriously, the devolution project has gone unchecked and Scotland allowed to drift. The Scottish Parliament has been allowed to assume the trappings and stylings of statehood. If an incoming Conservative administration wants to save the Union then it must get a grip on devolution once and for all.

In the words of Chairman Will, this event was his society’s “biggest event of the semester, if not the year.“

Related posts:

1. The Student Life Tours are back
2. North East Drinks Event