Spend an extra hour campaigning to thank Nick for killing Snoopers' Charter

Before I even start, I know there are many Liberal Democrats up and down the country for whom giving an extra hour to the campaign would mean having to re-write the laws of time and physics and nature. But then, you are not likely to have time to read this post if you're in that situation. This is aimed at those of you who maybe don't have elections or aren't directly involved in a campaign.

I'm a great believer in showing appreciation when someone has done something good, even if you think it's something they should have done anyway. It's polite and everyone likes being thanked for stuff. We can sometimes be pretty quick to take someone down when they do wrong, but not quite so fast to give credit when they do right.

After the secret courts fiasco, I had fully expected to have to spend the Summer fighting a new and equally pernicious Communications Data Bill. That was never on the cards as I understand Nick never had any intention of letting it go ahead. I don't think this was entirely due to the fact that he knew the membership would freak out completely if he did. I think he actually had learned his lesson from the outcry last April when the problems were pointed out to him.

This is a very good example of the party working together to deliver the right result. The fact that people like Julian Huppert and Dr Jenny Woods were able to get in there right at the start, before it had gone too far, helped. The role of that infamous and fractious phone call between the great and the good and some humble bloggers can't be underestimated, either. Essentially, everyone listened, learned and kept talking. This is a good thing and lessons must be learned for the future before any legislation is agreed to. I've been saying for a long time that there has to be more attention paid to consulting the party before we agree to legislation. The Queen's Speech in two weeks' time will be an indication of whether that's been done for this year.

But, back to the point. Nick has done well and has earned our thanks. We need to make him feel some sort of tangible reward. So, what I'm asking is that those people who have time to read this spend an extra hour delivering leaflets, phone banking or otherwise helping the local election campaign, over what they were already planning to do in order to show our appreciation. If you have no elections where you live, you can make phone calls easily by signing into Connect and spend time speaking to some voters. It couldn't be simpler.

We could make thousands of calls in that extra hour if we put or minds to it. How will you spend your extra hour?

Oh, and by the way, Richard Morris has it right - The Divine Helen Duffett deserves credit for organising the bloggers' call in the first place. If you want to show your gratitude to her, cake should do it. Where's Sara Bedford when you need her?