The new Liberator explains why conference rejected much of the supporters scheme

The new issue of Liberator was waiting for me when I got home from work. So what's in Radical Bulletin, the section that tells you what going on in the Lib Dems?

It explains why the Lib Dem spring conference in York voted to reject many of the proposed elements of Vince Cable's supporters scheme.

And it was quite a defeat. As the magazine says:

though historians have scratched their heads, it has been hard to recall when the party establishment last took as monumental a kicking at conference as it did over the 'extras' to the supporters scheme in York. 

Was it Paddy Ashdown's prototype free schools in 1994, or the defence debate in 1986? Either way, something pretty unusual happened.

Radical Bulletin also reports claims of bullying and favouritism in the Young Liberals and an aborted selection in one of the Lib Dems' most promising target seats.

You can find two free articles on Liberator's website

There's the magazine's take on the potential contenders – with varying degrees of probability – as the next leader following Vince Cable signalling his retirement.

In the second, Paul Hindley wonders why the Lib Dems won’t grasp Liberal policies in place over decades offer solutions to the crises of Brexit and inequality,

The other articles in the magazine are:

• Getting on without us? – The UK may end up absent but European Parliament elections will be held in May. David Grace assesses the ALDE group’s chances
• What’s the record of the last man standing? – Vince Cable probably did not intend to become leader in 2017, but as others fell away the job was his. How did he do, ask Ruth Coleman Taylor and Mick Taylor?
• From riches to rags – Lorraine Zuleta charts Venezuela’s fall from wealth and democracy to poverty and repression under its socialist government
• And they’re off! – With 16 candidates already in the field do the Democrats have any hope of finding someone who can beat Donald Trump asks James R Davidson
• Porn baffles the Tories – The Government’s bid to stop minors accessing porn sites is technologically illiterate and bound to fail, says Natasha Chapman
• A gap in the classroom – Claire Tyler finds poor early years provision has created regional attainment gaps for school pupils
• From the toilets of history – The TIGgers and Liberal Democrats may want to do deals – there’s a textbook example from 1981 of how not to do this, says Mark Smulian
• Of catchfarters and virtuecrats – A new Social Liberal Forum book shows why the problem with Labour is lack of radicalism and how Lib Dems should fill the gap. Iain Brodie Browne explains
• Look before you leap – The Liberal Democrat Federal Board’s adoption without consultation of a definition of Islamophobia leaves some women, LGBT+ people and dissident Muslims unable to answer their critics, says Toby Keynes
• Targeting the wrong target – Despite the problems with targeting highlighted by Michael Meadowcroft in Liberator 394, Chris Davies is still to hear a better idea

And there are letters and reviews too.

There is, of course, also Lord Bonkers' Diary, but I have managed to persuade the old boy that we need not start posting it here until tomorrow.

Anyway, the conclusion is clear: you should subscribe to Liberator.