London - The Liberal Democrats leader, Mr Paddy Ashdown, buoyed by victories on devolution and PR for the European elections, will call on his party to take greater political risks in the future in a deeply personal speech at his party conference in Eastbourne today, writes Rachel Donnelly.
One of the key themes of Mr Ashdown's 60-minute speech will be a robust defence of what he believes are the party's achievements as a result of closer links with Labour.
u165 million in extra funding for higher and further education, he said student fees would become the equivalent of a ["]student poll tax.["]