The Vision Thing

I am sitting in a conference hall in a Warsaw hotel. 300 other centre-right activists, politicians and associated hacks are here under the umbrella of the European Ideas Network, a rather impressive pan-European grouping that works to stimulate political thoughts among like-minded people associated with parties that are members of the EPP.

Among the other attendees are several Conservative MEP’s as well as some MP’s, including a couple of shadow ministers and  a shadow cabinet member or two.

What is really striking is the level of debate. Some of what is being discussed is really mind expanding stuff and I am very much at the junior end of the attendees. The discussions have a theme, “The World in 2025″ and there are some very impressive speakers coming up. My first impression though is overwhelmingly positive and this is for one main reason: there are big ideas here, there is vision and the contrast with the managerial nature of politics at Westminster at the moment is very stark. Some of what is being said is inspirational and for those of us who are followers of politics that is exciting.

So, over the next day or so I will do my best to blog some of my thoughts as they happen and offer my flavour of what is happening here.