I shall be in London tomorrow for the first Liberty League Annual Conference.
Venue is the National Liberal Club which holds a lot of memories for me. Years ago I used to spend a great deal of time there, attending meetings, dinners and so on. Some events I organised myself, using club members to sponsor them. I thought about becoming a member myself but never did.
The club was also the venue when friends gathered to celebrate the life of George Miller-Kurakin who died, aged 54, in October 2009. George was a member and we met there many times when we worked together in the 1980s.
I remember being drawn to a 1915 portrait of Winston Churchill by artist Ernest Townsend (1880-1944). Townsend's Wikipedia entry describes the portrait as "among his notable works", adding:
This picture now hangs in the National Liberal Club in London, but it was not hung until 1944. Churchill had been unavailable to unveil it in 1915, and when he was available, he was no longer popular in the Liberal Club. The portrait was mothballed and retrieved for public viewing only following Churchill's success in 1944, when he was belatedly asked to unveil it.
I discovered later that Townsend was the younger brother of my grandmother's father (which makes him my great great uncle, I think).
Anyway, the Liberty League was founded earlier this year and I was delighted to be asked to speak at their inaugural event, the Freedom Forum, in Birmingham in April.
The Liberty League's primary purpose is "to help inform, recruit and develop supporters of liberty", with particular emphasis on students and recent undergraduates. Its network currently includes student societies in Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield, Warwick, Leeds, York, Bristol, Exeter – even Oxford and Cambridge.
National groups affiliated to the Liberty League include the Adam Smith Institute, Institute of Economic Affairs, Cobden Centre, Legatum Institute, Big Brother Watch, Liberal Vision, The Freedom Association and The Free Society.
There are three debates tomorrow – one in the morning, two in the afternoon – followed by dinner. The after-dinner speaker is Steve Baker MP, co-founder of the Cobden Centre.
I have been asked to follow him and deliver a suitable toast. In honour of George Miller-Kurakin, I suggested that each guest be given a shot of vodka which I shall invite everyone to knock back (not sip!) in remembrance of a true freedom fighter.
I'll also toast the Liberty League and libertarians everywhere. Well, someone has to.