that if‘ai‘ii : rut-m“ “a bow moral, to place that instruction to the queen —— bow moral. left with no choice but to accede to it, i think that hurts the queen in an impossible position which, a responsible prime minister would not have done. and to argue for this five week shutdown, in total contrast to the convention where even when a queen's speech happens we talk more about five days, usually. then, we have a government, a prime minister who will stand with a prime minister who will stand with a straight face in front of a group of police officers and when asked if he would obey the law that parliament has passed, basically say that he will die in a ditch rather than do so. it is dangerous times when those tenants of our

constitution are being dismissed like that and i think having a written constitution is the protection we need and it is long—standing liberal democrat policy for a good reason. jo, thank you. there are any questions arising out of that in the current political situation that we are and in terms of brexit and the constitution generally. let's have a look around. hands up as high as you can. the gentleman on the far right of the hall, with his hand up in a blue shirt. can we have a microphone over there? stand up, sir. thank you very much indeed. stirling and clackmannanshire and a question for jo, i've devised something i learned oi'i jo, i've devised something i learned

on the football terraces that i think we should all say now and again. jo, jo, superjo, superjo swinson. the question is, as a scottish mp, following in the footsteps of others, do you think you could explain federalism to the english once and for all? controversial water's! i'm going to invite one more question. the young gentleman down here. that was your question? the lady in blue. we'll get a microphone to you as well. stand up for me, please. please give

us stand up for me, please. please give us your stand up for me, please. please give us your name stand up for me, please. please give us your name in question. i'm soo from brundtland lib dems. i'd like to agree with what you've been saying and younger people would expect us to put a constitution in place. that's the impression i'm getting. thank you for the chant, i'll have to teach it to my son who isa i'll have to teach it to my son who is a keen football fan. in terms of federalism, i think there is... we need to come together as a family of nations who are in a genuine spirit of partnership. it's not about one being dominant over the other, it's not about the uk entity being in

control, it is about the power resting in those places, those different nations coming together and, of course, as liberal democrats, it is not about being content with centralisation at that level of scotland, england, wales or northern ireland as well. we know from scotland what it is like to have a scottish government that is a centralising government and takes power up from local communities to the centre. we are a party that wa nts to the centre. we are a party that wants to disperse power to make sure that individuals and communities have power over their lives and that power comes together to be able to achieve more, whether that is through our united kingdom or indeed through our united kingdom or indeed through the european union or in international matters, how we can work with other countries at organisations like united nations.

in terms of young people, sue, i totally think that one positive thing, because i like to look for silver linings, i'm an optimist, that we have seen the last few years isa that we have seen the last few years is a reinvigoration and an awakening of interest in political matters from young people. i think that is very healthy and many of them a look at the way things are done and this is not exclusively young people, to be fair, and shake their heads in dismay at what they say and i have particularly felt that in the last few weeks where bbc parliament has a p pa re ntly few weeks where bbc parliament has apparently become viewing data —— de rigeur. i've lost count of the

number of people that say to me, i watched your speech, and i'm like, the one that was at 12:30am? fine! we were debating incredibly important matters are sitting in parliament but despite the fact we we re parliament but despite the fact we were debating incredibly important matters, it was laughable if it wasn't so serious, the way in which many but not all mps were engaging with it in a kind of braying and bravado environment that it was about one—upmanship, as if it was some kind of students debating society rather than talking about issues of huge national importance where people out in the country are worried. i think there's a lot that we need to do to change our politics that young people and people of all ages look at and say no, this is ridiculous, we must be able to do better. thank you very much for that

and thank you for the question about young people because that provides a really good link into our next question which is from samuel bruce online and he wants to ask, what can be done to encourage more young people to get involved in politics and the party? i'm a big fan of getting more young people involved in politics. i was, getting more young people involved in politics. iwas, back getting more young people involved in politics. i was, back in the mists of time, the youngest member of parliament when i was elected at the age of 25. i was often asked by broadcasters, what can we do to get more young people interested in politics? i sometimes thought, you know, you're asking a young politician. i'm not exactly typical, so politician. i'm not exactly typical, so i'm probably not the best person to ask, but i think it is about releva nce, to ask, but i think it is about relevance, i think it is about engaging ina relevance, i think it is about engaging in a way that, as far as possible, strips away the stuffiness and the procedure that gets in the

way of the issues and just having a very straightforward conversation, there can be, it's fair to say, quite a bit of patronising attitudes towards young people in politics. i have experienced, in my time, so i would generally encourage you to engage with young people as adults as far as possible. obviously there are some safeguarding and imported protection issues that we need to bearin protection issues that we need to bear in mind when teenagers are being involved in our party and when we see amazing speeches like niamh earlier today, who i very much hope i will be able to meet, and who will be back at school tomorrow, so actually having a confidence where pa rt actually having a confidence where part of the confidence is at the weekend, which i know is a change that was brought in a few years ago when it used to be much more that conference was during the week, that's important to make it actually possible for young people to come

along and to engage and let's just listen to what young people have to say. and ask them questions and let them ask us questions and engage. i find one of the most enjoyable things that i do as a member of parliament and i know that councillors and other mps and representatives do this, too, is to go to local schools and to talk about politics and democracy and the job and to take questions and it's a lwa ys job and to take questions and it's always so refreshing. my favourite age group to talk to is ten—year—olds. ten—year—olds know quite a lot about the world so they can ask really interesting questions but they got no self—consciousness at all so they will just ask you anything and it's great full stop and if you can explain something in simple terms to ten—year—olds, then you've probably understood it so

it's quite a good test. i would encourage that engagement in a genuine spirit of inquiry rather than making assumptions about what young people have to offer because i wa nt to young people have to offer because i want to see our politics and democracy is diverse and representative in all ways including both ends of the age spectrum, it includes not writing people off when they reach retirement age and not assuming that summary doesn't have a brilliant perspective to offer because they happen to be a teenager. i can't promise any ten—year—old is what i wonder if there are any young people here who may want to askjo any questions. a lady in the front. if we can get a microphone to you, that would be marvellous. it is a race between the stewards to see who

can get there first. what is your name and question?” can get there first. what is your name and question? i am emma from cannock chase. i am still young. absolutely! it is my first conference. ijoined absolutely! it is my first conference. i joined the absolutely! it is my first conference. ijoined the party in may. as somebody wanting to be more active in politics, from your personal experience of being a working mum, how can i be active as a lib dem and also balance my family life? wonderful. one more. lady on the front row. what is your name? olivia lewis, west berkshire and newbury. a similar question. i am now a town councillor. i have two young kids. iwonder now a town councillor. i have two young kids. i wonder how brave the lib dems might be in terms of looking atjob shares lib dems might be in terms of looking at job shares for mps, may be suggesting bringing in a carer's allowa nce be suggesting bringing in a carer's allowance at the town council level, because i am trying to bring more women in. i am struggling with baby—sitters. women in. i am struggling with ba by—sitters. it women in. i am struggling with baby—sitters. it is not easy. but i think some structural changes, some

brave structural changes from the top down, would make a real difference. i think you might be well placed to do that. great question. thank you very much. well, great questions. first of all, emma, i like to think i am still young. i don't always feel it these days. i have got a new category which i am going to share with you, and it is called politics young. i am still politics young. when i speak to school pupils there is no way they think i am young. i can remember life before the internet, so that makes me very old. how do we change oui’ makes me very old. how do we change our politics to be genuinely inclusive of people with different caring commitment, i think it an excellent question. and i was delighted to see that earlier today there was a training session which was about how to campaign when you have young children. i understand that it was attended, very well

attended, importantly by both women and men, because men's roles as fathers is hugely important, and i know you agree, jeff. just around conference in the last couple of days i have seen a lot of babies and small kids. i think that's great. i have enjoyed some gorgeous cuddles. i saw luciana earlier when she was arriving earlier with babies ion. —— babies ion. we should be inclusive in that way because we need to be able to ensure that people can participate. and that is also about flexibility. it is about not having too fixed an idea in our head about what a good lib dem activist looks like. it is not always about delivering 400 leaflets before brea kfast. delivering 400 leaflets before breakfast. sometimes it might be telephone canvassing, which can be more invisible when you are doing it from home. but is so, so good at

reaching people. and i think back to when my first son, andrew, was very, very small and i was on maternity leave. once we had got through the first three months and he started to be sleeping better at night, when he had his lunchtime nap, i got on the phones, because we were just a few months away from the scottish independence referendum, and i basically tried to speak to ten members of the public in my constituency about that referendum and the final call would always be when he was waking up and sometimes i would get to ten, sometimes it would only be five. people with young kids will know the on predictability of what they throw at you. —— on predict ability. i am very aware of my role as leader to develop a way of doing it differently. i cannot do this in exactly the same way that vince did it. and to be fair, vince did not do it. and to be fair, vince did not do it in exactly the same way that tim did it, who did ita

it in exactly the same way that tim did it, who did it a little bit differently to how nick did it. and one of the things that i have two forge a path for how to juggle, as well as my constituency being 400 miles from london, is doing it as the mother of a five—year—old and a one—year—old. and there is no doubt that has an impact on how i do the job. i don't think it makes me a worse leader, a worse mp for that. but it does mean i do if evening engagements. i want to put my kids to bed at night sometimes at least. you know? applause. i do a lot of conference calls at half past eight in the evenings. so i think it's just about being prepared to be flexible and open to how people need things to be done differently. within local party associations, ta ke within local party associations,

take that into account and consider times of meetings, ask people what might help, think about the events that we run that are social events and have some family friendly in the same way that we have some that are not based around alcohol. just think that different people have different lives and we should be making our politics as inclusive as possible in all of those ways. thank you. i am going to see if there is one last question on this topic before we move on. and i am going to ask ruth over there ruth, would you mind standing up for me, please. there is a microphone coming towards you right now. give your name and ask your question will stop rita from calderdale, currently deputy mayor of top end then in west yorkshire. -- top and on. when i was a working mum a few years ago i was

also a councillor and so forth, one of the ways i was able to attend a party conference was that there was a crash. and i was actually part of the team that campaigned for this, which included having a sit in on the front row of the leader's speech with young liberals and their babies who we made sure made noise. do we have to make a noise again, or can we expect you as our first female leader to get at that very vital function back at conference? cheering. jeff is looking at me with interest now. we are going to look at it, i will say that. you have got the answer already. first of all i will say, i will remember conference two or three years ago when andrew was little and he was in the crash, it definitely helped us. that was a lwa ys it definitely helped us. that was always a great strength. —— crash.

we have an access stand where people can make donations to support others who need extra assistance and i think that is also good and i am sure like many others, i contributed to that by buying my own conference pass. i think is good liberals we would never just leave pass. i think is good liberals we would neverjust leave something up to the leader to sort out. i think i can trust that people make noise whether they are babies or activist, so whether they are babies or activist, soiam whether they are babies or activist, so i am sure the campaigning will continue and we have that commitment from conference committee chair that it is going to be looked at, which i think sounds positive. we have heard this loud and clear, don't worry about that. thank you very much, jo. let's move on to our next question, which is from william tennyson from harlow. he asks, how important is mental health to a lib dem government? how will you tackle the mental health crisis? well, william,

i think this is a great question. it is an area which is of huge importance. first of all i want to pay tribute to norman lamb and the amazing work you did on this. —— he did on this. in some ways we must ta ke did on this. in some ways we must take for granted now with that of the importance of mental health is clearly defined in our politics. but when norman started to fly the flag, it was liberal democrats putting this issue forward, there was not the broad consensus that does now exist across the political spectrum. and that consensus is really good progress. what hasn't quite been matched is the resources and the policy is to turn it into a reality for people's lives, because there are still far too many people waiting far, far, far too long, to

get the help and the support that they need. and in particular i find it heartbreaking to hear from children and young people who can be waiting for months and months and months. that is appalling for anyone at any age. but if you are eight yea rs old at any age. but if you are eight years old or ten years old, the proportion of your life that is passing when you are waiting for more than a year for treatment, is absolutely huge. and it is such a formative time. i think what has been so powerful is the way in which the stigma around mental health is being broken down stop and i know you're at a conference i have heard many members share their own personal experiences of dealing with mental health challenges. we all know in our own families people who have struggled, or are struggling,

with different types of mental illness. and being able to talk about it is an important first step. but then we do need to make sure that of the services match that ambition and our goal should be nothing short of full parity, that you get just nothing short of full parity, that you getjust the same level of service with the speed and the quality if you break your leg or if you have a breakdown. it should be the same. and i also think that we need to be engaging in positive mental health in the public health way, so that it is not only about dealing with people when they have already reached a point that they are feeling they need to seek medical assistance. we have messages about how people can eat healthily

and improve their lifestyles by exercising, by avoiding smoking and alcohol and other drugs that might have an impact on their physical health. and i think we need to be promoting positive mental health in the same way too. and that is partly about our wider policies around quality of housing, around the natural environment and green space and access to the arts and sports and access to the arts and sports and leisure facilities, because all of these things can't support people and help to build resilience, so that people are less likely to face mental health problems, or if they do, they have more different avenues available to support them in their recovery. thank you very much. is there anybody would like to ask a question about any topic relating to mental health and policies we should adopt and so on? there is a lady standing up and so on? there is a lady standing upjust over there

and so on? there is a lady standing up just over there by the stairs. right there. thank you. name and question, please? hi, jo. i right there. thank you. name and question, please? hi, jo. lam dj foster, i am 17. i am from abingdon. lama bit foster, i am 17. i am from abingdon. i am a bit offended by the comment you made earlier where you can paired student debaters to parliament. i think we are much more mature. —— impaired. —— compared. mental health means a lot to me. about a year ago, i got diagnosed as autistic. i had to wait over a year and a half for my diagnosis. but that's not what i want to ask you about. so at the moment there are young people across the country, across the world, who are currently burning themselves out trying to fight the climate crisis because adults are unwilling to step up and admit there is a problem and they are letting young people fight the battle for them. i am getting

emotional but i am one of these young people. so my question is, on friday, are you going to be attending or supporting the global strike for climate? attending or supporting the global strike for climate ? will you attending or supporting the global strike for climate? will you stand with young people who are going through this crisis right now and will the lib dems take a stand, listen to young people and do what we want them to do? thank you. i will invite jo we want them to do? thank you. i will invitejo to answer that right away. thank you. that was such a powerful question. and it is shaming for the generation of adults that it is children and young people who are this strong, amazing voice that we are seeing. the energy in the

environmental movement right now, that has come from people like greta thornburg and all of those who she is inspiring so the schools strike for climate, who are out there with extinct rebellion, who are making this case. and i am so excited to see that energy. but equally, recognise the points you make. that this would not be on the shoulders of young people to do on their own. we should be standing side by side, together, to make this case. and yes, yes, iwill together, to make this case. and yes, yes, i will be, together, to make this case. and yes, yes, iwill be, on together, to make this case. and yes, yes, i will be, on friday, supporting the global strike for climate. i will be in glasgow where there are events. i will be there in support. and i know that so many liberal democrat representatives are. layla moran who has been a massive

supporter of the school strike for climate. it is important that we harness that energy and use it to create real political change and the liberal democrats will absolutely be at the heart of that, so thank you for being with us and for what you are doing. we have a debate here on climate policy tomorrow and i'm hoping conference is going to have a really good debate. i'm sure it will. are there any other questions on mental health? the gentleman in the red t—shirt. please stand up, sir. then the lady who had her hand up. i work for a mental health charity. i work with people of all ages, most of them adults who have mental health problems and they are trapped by anxiety and by the way that they think and feel and there isa that they think and feel and there is a solution to this and it's an

expensive one. it's talking therapy, psychotherapy. i'm a benefits advisor and many of my clients can't afford to pay for that. what can the lib dems do to extend this to people not for a few weeks or a few months but for however long they need it? thank you. yes, madam? obviously good mental health starts at home and one of the most important things is that everybody in this room who supports the liberal democrats goes underan supports the liberal democrats goes under an enormous amount of stress and pressure when it comes to election time and so everyone here needs to be as supported as much as we need to be able to cope with supporting our communities and the areas in which we need to go and campaign. if we really are these

champions for mental health,, how can we at this moment don't have mental health training, first aid so that we can go and deliver that and we can help the people better and we are better equipped to deal with it ourselves? thank you, hannah. two brilliant questions and to take the first one about talking therapy, you say it is expensive. i get there are upfront costs but there is also excellent research. richard layard wrote a wonderful book which set out the case, an economic case, for creating increased access to psychological therapies and if you do that, what you reap in benefits from that in terms of people being able to get on with their lives and the reduction in other health

problems, the improvement in their ability to contribute within their working environment and indeed in their relationships at home as well soi their relationships at home as well so i think we should be prepared to invest in this issue but we should also recognise that this is a win—win because it is helping people to make the contribution that they wa nt to to make the contribution that they want to make within their own personal lives, within their families, their communities and wider organisation. i think it's an essential way forward and the key point that you make is that the rationing of that at the moment, because there is such demand and you've got some logistical issues about literally how do you train up enough new people to be able to deliver this and do that quickly enough? that rationing can mean that people go on a course and it is not long enough and they do not get the results that they need and i think this is one of the ways and indeed we have policy about increasing the number of people working within

mental health, providing additional roles so that people can get that support that they need. then i think hannah's point was a really sound one, how can we better understand how to help people who are struggling with their own mental health because those of us in elected office or standing for office will often find that there are individuals who need that support and how do we do it ourselves? and i've been to so many lib dems training events and we like to be superhuman, almost, and what we expect of our candidates, of our agents, of our organisers, of our teams. one of the phrases that sticks in my head is if you want to win, you have to be unreasonable about what you expect. i can feel torn because in one sense, i know thatis torn because in one sense, i know that is partly how i got elected, i

set myself