Welsh Liberal Democrat conference

Nick Clegg's Liberal Democrats are a growing irrelevance in Wales. They are shouting louder and louder to try and fill smaller and emptier conference halls.

If Kirsty Williams wanted to make Liberals relevant again she could start by demanding an end to the Tory war on Wales. Instead the Libs seem to be saddling up alongside Westminster coalition partners to denigrate the public sector in Wales, using the same bogus arguments and dodgy statistics for political gain. And they have failed miserably to support Wales on rail electrification.

There is simply no point in voting Labour in the European elections, they are too scared to have a voice on Europe and squandered billions of EU funds.

The Tories are a mess. Cameron continues to pander to Euro-skeptics and to UKIP.

And then of course, there is Plaid Cymru – who want to have their cake and eat it. They cannot credibly call for Welsh independence yet proclaim they stand for Europe.

Plaid might be infighting and sacking people over attacks on UKIP, but the irony is, they have similarities: they are two separatist parties and both of them could take us Out of the EU. Plaid’s dream of independence could threaten thousands of jobs. Yes they sneer at UKIP, but you don’t fight little England nationalism by trumping it with Welsh nationalism.

The build-up to the Scottish Referendum is now in full swing.

The Party leaders – me, David Cameron and Ed Miliband – have, in a rare moment of consensus, all set out our hope that Scotland chooses to remain in our family of nations.

Their parties have now agreed with our long held view that, should Scotland reject independence, that decision must trigger greater powers for Holyrood and the Scottish people: voting no must not mean no change.

And the ground-breaking work that Ming Campbell has done on what further devolution to Scotland can look like is providing a concrete vision for those of us who want to see September 18th be a giant leap towards Home Rule. But while all eyes are on Scotland, this referendum represents an important moment for Wales. Because why not further devolution to Wales too?

... remaining in Europe is the only way to protect three million British jobs. Because working with our neighbours is how we keep Britain strong – ensuring we can do all of the things we cannot do alone: promoting trade, tackling climate change, fighting cross-border crime. Because in the modern world there is safety in numbers. Because we always stand tall in the world when we stand tall in our own backyard.

Where are the supposedly pro-European Labour party? Or the supposedly moderate Conservative leadership? The country is finally having it out about the single biggest issue facing our future – and where are they?

Absent. Hiding. Missing in action. Paralysed by their own internal divisions. Too scared to speak up for the national interest because it’ll cause them too great a political headache.

It’s party-before-country from leaders who sort of half say they’re IN, but who don’t have the guts to actually come out.

Say what you like about the Liberal Democrats – and people do – but at least we have the courage of our convictions. At least we are willing to stand up and be heard, even when our views are less popular but we believe they are right.

So we will fill the void left by our opponents – make no mistake. Between now and May 22nd we will continue to fight for staying in Europe in order to protect the Britain we love.

Last week, Ed Miliband came to Wales with a half-baked promise to make changes to the Welsh settlement, missing out a whole range of important recommendations made by Silk.

Where Labour failed to meet those challenges; the Liberal Democrats will rise to them and I will be the first party leader to fully commit my party to including those proposals in our 2015 manifesto.

The Silk Commission recommendations will be the blueprint for our 2015 manifesto.

Unlike other parties, we are a democratic party and the final manifesto will be approved by our members, but I am clear that just as the Silk Commission has recommended, I want us to fight the next election proposing that we take on the recommendations of the Silk Commission to give you the tools you need to get on with the job.

Because in the General Election next year, Welsh Liberal Democrats in this hall, and beyond, will be able to say to the people of Wales: yes, we are the party of devolution, arguing for it since the days of Lloyd George, yes, we have and we are delivering on our promise of strengthening devolution and yes, we are the only party that is willing and able to give the people of Wales more and better devolution.